The plan: follow the radio-isotope fingerprints

We have at last arrived in Shastal. Today there are no excursions yet. Probably the local pirates have to be bribed properly to leave us alone. Meanwhile, we can take in the views of Mezagorm from space. 

I am preparing the measuring equipment that I brought along; these are very sensitive detectors for remote radio-isotopic fingerprinting. 

All the stuff around us contains trace amounts of various radioactive isotopes. The radiation from their decay (or decay chain) can be used to identify these isotopes, and for gamma radiation and neutrinos this can be done at a distance by modern equipment. 

Now, a signal from a single radio-isotope does not tell you much, but you learn much more if you look at the ratios of their signals. Take for example lead; it is always a mixture of a decent number of different isotopes. The precise isotope composition of any piece of lead is determined by the time and place where the lead was made - so it gives you a fingerprint to locate its planet and time of origin, and the more isotopes you include the more accurate you can pinpoint its origin, down to the very mine where the ore comes from, as long as this mine is listed in a sample database. 

Even with remote detection, advanced scanners can perfectly distinguish between materials containing heavy metals from the mad Emperor's era, and similar materials created in the Empire a thousand years later, when the Order of St. Tetrimon was perhaps still using some hideout in this station. They are sure to have left some stuff behind - even if it's just matter somewhere in a trash compactor on station. 

So, the plan is to use the scanning equipment to guide me to the spots in the station - off the touristic track - that have been used by the Tetrimon, perhaps as a relic vault.

A bit of mathematics

Dr. Setun joined us again at one of lady Adelath's tea and cookie confession sessions. Dr. Setun works as a sedative for the old lady, she confessed as much on an earlier occasion. And indeed, she nodded off while he started explaining why Triglavian base-3 computation is superior. Even mister Maulus took a nap, on her lap.

I listened. To me, there is something suspicious about his idolization of the Triglavian system. Perhaps, as a codebreaker during the war, he has been exposed too much to their corrupting influence.

Anyway, here is his argument. Remember that our decimals are base-10 numbers, while our computer bits are base-2 numbers. Some claim we just picked the number ten because that is how many fingers we have, so it is easy for finger-counting math. The first computer builders picked binary because in essence they worked with switches that can be on or off, just two values.

In general, you need more digits to represent an arbitrary number, if you use a smaller base. The number 82 has two digits in decimal, but in binary it is 1010010 : that is seven digits long. In a general base B, the amount of digits required to represent a number N is given by the base-B logarithm of that number, log_B(N). Or, to be precise, the first integer larger than that value.

So, it seems that a larger base, with its fewer digits, is more efficient at storing and manipulate numbers. However, there is also a cost: any digit can take on B values. There are more different symbols in our decimal system than the 0 and 1 of the binary system. So, the overal cost is actually B log_B(N). Now, if you try out several values for B, you will indeed conclude that B=3 gives the lowest cost. Note that, if you do not restrict yourself to integers, the function B log_B(N) becomes minimal when B equals St. Euxon's Holy Constant e=2.71828... for which 3 is the closest integer.

I tried to refute his argument, by claiming that most operations involve two-digit gates, for example addition or multiplication of two numbers. These kind of gates are characterized by B2 entries. So, for computation, B2log_B(N) is the function to minimize. For that case, actualy B=7 is the best number system. 

Hopefully we are not invaded by the Heptavians next.

Mister Maulus

The lady Adelath has been stalking me, requesting I visit her for confessions at least twice a day. Since she confesses more rapidly than she can sin, these sessions become tea-and-cookie parties during which she tells me about her life while I try to shift around on my chair to avoid her pet furrier biting my legs. 

She calls her furrier "mister Maulus", a name given to it by her late husband. She claims that it got this name because as a pup, it would always run away with the holoscreen remote and hide it out of her reach. She considers that electronic warfare. I would like to propose another explanation, related to the verb "to maul" and rabid furriers, but I restrain from making such comments seeing how fond lady Adelath is of her pet.

Lady Adelath has taken almost permanent residence on this cruise ship and knows all the gossip about the staff and the captain. She claims that the captain lost his crew and civilians that he had orders to evacuate, during the Triglavian war. He made a wrong decision, and is now consumed by guilt. Being not of the faith, he cannot be helped by the rite confession...

Table guests

I avoid the main restaurant. It is buffet style, and this seems to bring out the worst in tourists on the cruise. They feel they have to eat as much as they can, it is as if they want to digest at least the ticket prize worth of food. The display of gluttony is too much to take.

My capsuleer status saved me. I got an invitation to have dinner at the captain's table, which is in a fancy restaurant on one of the observation decks. I met some interesting people there. 

The captain is a Caldari Navy veteran by the name of Olkaanen. He appears neurotic - probably that is why he is no longer with the navy but flying a tourist boat. Something happened during the Triglavian war that jarred him, but it is not clear what. 

There was another guest with a Triglavian link: a Gallente mathematician, dr. Michel Setun. He specializes in ternary computing - in which numbers are not base-2 but base-3. So data is not just ones and zeros but also twos. Dr. Setun claims it is superior. He was assigned to a code-cracking team during the Triglavian war.

The third table guest was another Amarrian, and elderly lady, Dame Agatha Adelath. She has no remaining family (or perhaps she cut ties with them), and she spends her retirement on such cruises in order not to be alone. She was quite excited that an Amarr friar was around, she has been trying hard to accentally run into me ever since the dinner.

The Princess of the High Seas

Being used to Amarr ship designs, I find the Victorieux Luxury yacht to be a particularly ugly hull. Clearly, it is not built for those on the outside, looking at it - rather, it is built for those inside, looking out.

The Princess of the High Seas (oh so inaccurately named as it would sink immediately when it would try to land on any planetside body of water) boasts five observation decks - one with a large buffet restaurant. It also has four gardens, a beach hangar with cocktail bars, six holoreel theaters, a host of restaurants all themed differently, two shopping "avenues", and a planetarium. I consider the latter to be an insult to the universe; why  display the stars as small light spots in a dark room when you can just look outside? It is a bit like building a pool at the seashore; also that is an insult, but to the sea.

You may have guessed from the log entry thus far that I am a bit grumpy.

The cause of my grumpiness is that I am constantly disturbed while I am patiently waiting in my quarters till this cruise arrives at Mezagorm. Several times a day, staff from the entertainment crew comes to ask me if I do not want to join in some games or swimming or sports or whatever other nonsense they invent.

All aboard

I boarded the cruise, and brought along several crates of equipment. The staff did not seem to surprised, I think they are used to some of their passengers bringing a lot of luggage. Opera divas, or moviestars, or New Caldari CEO housewives on a shopping planettrip, yes, but and old friar? Well, they did not bat an eye.

Mr. Firth did not join me. He must suspect that this is not a holiday - I never indulge in such frivolities. But ever since my short stint in the war zone, we have an Understanding. When I am out exploring in the Indigatrix, he joins. All other sorts of wanderings, I can do unsupervised. 

I have to say that he (and I think his superiors at the MIO) must be particularly happy. I handed in some potentially very useful weapons - the biodroid. And I did a security survey of the Eve constellation. All very laudable, from my political officer's point of view.

What I am about to explore next, might not be...

Tickets in the mail

I received a letter, including my ticket for the space cruise that I booked to Mezagorm. The letter listed a few possible departure dates from which I can choose. As soon as I validate the ticket with the date of my choice, the booking is confirmed. I took the earliest possible date and made arrangements with mr. Jensen for the library.

I am not looking forward to mingling with foreign tourists in the close quarters of a cruise yacht. I asked for the simplest, barest cabin. It still comes with a jacuzzi and a massage bed. I do not need that, I am used to a monk's cell! All these luxuries tend to detract one from one's duty. But this is the only way to be granted access to the ruins of Mezagorm, so I will endure the ordeal and the complimentary caviar and champagne breakfast.

Foundation day YC126

Yesterday we celebrated Foundation day. It marks the building of the grand basilica of St. Gheinok, which itself was constructed over the very first church, built by prophet Gheinok himself. 

We know accurately when the grand basilica was constructed. However, the date of the founding of the original church on that site is only known approximately. No wonder: it is a staggering fifteen thousand years old! An unimaginably vast timespan separates us from that time, the time of Gheinok. Thoughout all this time, the faith has been passed on, protected from its enemies, spread to the stars. Now it is in our hands, and it is our turn to protect and pass on this most precious gift.

I returned to Amarr for this year's Foundation day celebrations. I again did some history tours for capsuleers, this has become somewhat of a tradition now for me. It allows me to combine my yearly pilgrimage to holy sites such as Mekhios graveyard and Empress Jamyl's titan with the desire to spread the faith by bringing others along.

I was happy to see that there is now also a tour of low-sec sites, Maria took care of that - she is after all experienced in navigating somewhat more lawless space. 

My only disappointment this year was that there was no specific address from the court to capsuleers. It is always rousing to hear the Empress speak to our kind specifically. Perhaps next year.

Metenox

A new age of colonization, that is what they call it at Upwell. 

This new age seems to be happening right here in the Eve constellation. Gone are the old ways: the space stations where civilian and capsuleer ships could dock, where people could meet and trade and socialize, they have all but disappeared. They have been replaced by this monstrosity:

The Metenox Moon Drill. There are a dozen of these new structures that popped up all over the Eve constellation since my last visit, with probably more to come. The few old Athanor stations have all but disappeared. 

These moon drills are fully automated, and populated by a clone work force. But, contrary to the cheerful advertisement, these things do not bring any real colonists. The clones are being shipped around like machine parts, they have no permission to wander off and build a life on one of the planets in the system.

I have not seen any mining fleets any more. The automation and remote control of the Metenox drill brings with it corporate laziness. In fact, I have not seen many capsuleers around in space any more in these far flung worlds at the edge of the Empire. There was a State scientific exploration fleet visiting Eve gate (and, I suspect, checking up on Sedition's activities), but there was nobody of the corporations in control of the moon drills.

Hopefully they will not automate exploration next...

New neighbors

After being released from quarantine, I went back to the Eve constellation, to see the changes. Before going on a biodroid hunt with my LUMEN friends (and being shortly quarantined), I had noticed that the stations belonging to Gjallarhorn Incorporated were under attack from a coalition led by Sedition, without doubt with the blessing of White Sky. Some stations were already laid to waste, with other in reinforced state. The obvious reason for kicking out Gjallarhorns seems to be that they left the No Forks Given alliance. 

Indeed, upon my return, all their stations were gone. The new inhabitants that took their place appear to be a corporation called Cream Popsicles, from an alliance called Churn and Burn.

The updated report on the structures in the Eve constellation can be downloaded here.

As for the Gjallarhorns, it turns out that they have now associated themselves with Purple Helmeted Warriors, who have a presence in Derelik and Providence. 

The Gjallarhorns have headquarters now in Gamis... so, it appears they will become our new neighbors.

Hopefully peaceful ones.

Quarantine meditations

I find decontamination procedures very unpleasant. Especially "deep clean" ones with nanites, first of our suits and afterwards we got them off, also of our bodies. For biohazards this is followed by a quarantine period to test if any remnant entity grows, to a size it can be detected. If that's the case, the decontamination step starts again.

Meanwhile, one has to wait. I made good use of this time to get a first quick view on the biodroid's data. This reveals that the Takmahl used large ocean farms to grow biomass in the form of plankton which would be turned into all sorts of product, from food to cloning to petrochemicals. Barney the biodroid was an enforcer on one of these ocean farms, overseeing slaves working there. 

These farms were truly immense. As they grew, they needed more slaves. Which in turn required more biomass from which to produce new clone slaves, which required larger farms, which... you see where this is headed. It becomes a silly self-sustaining spiral which ultimately grows completely out of control. 

One wonders, why was this growth not capped, or reversed, by Takmahl Imperial decree? I've found some proof in the data that minor holders shared ownership of such gigantic farms via a sort of shareholder system, and they demanded ever more return on their investment. So, growth was purely for the sake of growth. Growth of the ocean farm industry was deemed good, capping the growth was never given any thought, it was economic anathema. Such a system is inherently unstable: when somewhere disaster strikes, the whole edifice collapses. I conjecture that this contributed to the downfall of the Takmahl.

There's a lesson for the modern day to be learned from this, as we are on the cusp of growing our own clone slave cohorts to man new Upwell industry structures. Which extract resources from which we can grow more clone slaves. Which... well, you get my point.

Boarding a biodroid

-continued from July 26th-

Some remaining engineers -now mummified corpses- had locked themselves in the control room and barricaded the door. Ishta bypassed the door to the engineering control room via a service tunnel, and it is a good thing that she did, even though she got a leg injury while crawling through. The door was rigged with all sorts of explosives, including an antimatter device that would certainly take out several floors of the station.

With the Takmahl biodroid controller in place in the control room and activated, Aria was able to transfer her consciousness to the biodroid, much in the same way as we board a ship and gain control over its functions. 

Well, there was a little snag: the biodroid's system identified Aria as being eight years old - the number of years that passed since her infomorph was sabotaged. The biodroid, naming itself Barney, conversed with Aria using children's rhymes. Not visible to us, Barney appeared only to Aria, like the ship's AI "Aura" appears to us when we command a vessel. She managed to pacify the biodroid and steer it to the hangar of the Indagatrix, where it remained inoffensive.

Meanwhile, Prince Seraghis managed to collect a sample of the versipellus entity, as per the MIO's instructions relayed by mr. Firth. We were able to extract from the station. Upon our departure, some instability set off the antimatter device, probably destroying the rest of the fungus, albeit not the entire station.

As we were certainly carrying spores on our suits - and on all material we retrieved from the abandoned station, an unpleasant decontamination procedure was due in the lamp's Medbay. Also unpleasant was that we had to surrender all material to the MIO - I would have liked to study Barney in more detail, even though I was able to download a lot of information stored in its memory. It will take some time to research all this new information but I do not doubt it will shed new light and give new insights into the history and customs of the Takmahl civilization.

Phytodendrite Versipellis

-continued from July 25th-

The Blood Raider station where we hunt for the biodroid was used not just to store loot, but also to develop bionic weapons. That is probably why they brought the Takmahl biodroid there.

However, a biodroid running amok was not the reason the station was abandoned, or lost. It was one of their other weapons which got the better of them. They developed a lifeform looking like an orange fungus, the "phytodendrite versipellus". It consumes those it infects and grows quickly when hydrated, spreading out some sort of tendrils. It weaves it to mimic the form and voice of that which it consumes. It releases spores that spread it to new hosts. It can survive for a long time in a dehydrated form. The biodroid awoke it by watering it using the fire suppression system, in an attempt to stop us. 

We planned to bypass it altogether (it was concentrated on the medbay level), and our suits would keep us free from contagion. However, at that point, mr. Ivan Firth, used his prerogative as political officer of the Indagatrix to order us to take a sample back. It appears the MIO is interested in the fungus as well as the biodroid.

I saw my hopes vanish of keeping the biodroid for academic study... we'd have to hand it over at the closest MIO station. Still, I planned to learn as much as I could from it in the little time that it would be under our control. 

For that purpose, Ishta still had to get to the engineering control room in our sector.

-to be continued-

Return to the Takmahl biodroid

Our operation in the abandoned Blood Raider station in Nalnifan was a success. 

Of sorts.

We did capture the biodroid, but I had to hand it over.

But let me start at the beginning. The plan was to make our way to the command center in order to locate and confine the biodroid remotely from there. The command center was in a part of the station that no longer has power, in a sector rather far away from the biodroid. We could access that dark sector via an elevator shaft that connected to the ship hangar. 

The team, led by Aria Jenneth, had all the necessary expertise. Prince Seraghis was able to decipher the ancient Aridian glyphs to find our way. We did not encounter many obstacles - the lack of gravity in this section of the abandoned station allowed us to bypass the use of the elevator. There was a short skirmish with a dormant sentry drone that woke up - Ishta took it out with a programmable missile we found in an armory. The timing of the missile was in 'heartbeats' - this must be a nod to the Sabik obsession with blood.

As we diverted power from the lone working reactor to the command center, the biodroid noticed our presence. It went to an engineering control substation in its own sector of the station, and took over what station services that it could. Gravity, emergency electrical (including the elevator), fire suppression, maintenance drones... it tried to use all of it against us.

This also offered an opportunity - with the biodroid connected to the station's mainframe we did not need to plug in the Takmahl biodroid controller directly into its cerebral slots. In stead, we can use the connection with the station to link the controller to the droid. This could be done via the engineering control substation in our own sector.

At that point, the MIO interfered.

-to be continued-

On the way out

On my way out of the Eve constellation, I noted a large fleet present in Promised Land. A fleet from Sedition - an alliance working for the Federation in their war zone. What are the Gallente doing so deep inside the Empire? 

I noticed that they have some Metenox moon drills in the constellation, in Exit and Gateway, but as you can see this is not a mining fleet (note Eve Gate in the background: it can be seen from Promised Land as well),

Stealthily, I followed this Loki fleet around, and found that they are the ones attacking the structures of Gjallarhorn Incorporated. I caught them in the act:

After the Fortizar "Midgard" was turned into rubble, and most of the fleet had cynoed to where they came from, I asked stragglers what was going on, but they were very tight-lipped. As to my question who will now take control of these systems, they answered "who knows", suggesting that they are only here for vandalism.

And so, my three-day old scouting report is already outdated. After the mission in Aridia, I'll head back to see if the Sedition moved in and placed their own structures. And I'll update the scouting report.

Opportunity

An opportunity presents itself, for which I need to return with haste to Aridia.

A while ago, I found an abandoned Blood Raider station in that region, apparently used for collecting Takmahl artifacts and loot. The station was on the blooder highway towards Delve, and in it I encountered a functioning Takmahl enforcer biodroid. I know of no other functioning unit, so this represents a truly unique opportunity to learn more about this doomed civilization.

However, I had no luck capturing the biodroid. Several attempts resulted in my clones expiring, and the frequent awakening in medical clones at the Lamp raised some red flags. Friends advised to wait until I could get help to tackle the problem. So, I postponed further attempts, and as the matter was not urgent, it was put on the back burner and dropped from my attention. 

However, my friends remembered their promise, and as it turns out now there is a short window where all members of an elite team are actually free in their otherwise busy agenda.

Aria and Ishta from our Societas, and Prince Seraghis, pacifier of much of the Aridia region, have agreed to help me capture the Takmahl biodroid. The plan remains the same: use a Takmahl biodroid controller to either power down or control the droid. This time however, we plan to avoid direct confrontation (which did not work out well) and try to enclose and then incapacitate the droid remotely using the station's command center.

I am lucky with such a truly stellar team, and confident that we will succeed.

The Black Chapel

The New Eden system is a dead-end star system with a single, barren, moonless planet orbiting its sun. So, there is not much mining or colonization going on. Yet it is often a busy system as explorers, pigrims and adventurers have been traveling towards Eve Gate since time immemorial. There is something mesmerizing about these dancing wisps of plasma, something enticing and inviting like a siren's song that draws you near.

During the capsuleer age, possibly the "Goners" are those that got the farthest using subwarp propulsion. They are pilgrims, who use corvettes to slowboat towards Eve Gate in complete solitude for the rest of their lives. They reached spots just under thirty AU away from the closest celestial body. When there are Goners around to continue their journey, anyone with decent enough scanning skills to probe down their corvettes can make a bookmark. 

The Death Korps of Krieg. must have gotten hold of such bookmarks.

At about 20 AU from Promised Land Gate, in a straight line towards the last recorded Goner locations, they built a secret outpost. This places the outpost outside of d-scan range for visitors to the system. 

It is a hidden Athanor refinery without a moon in sight - suspicious to say the least. And it is named "The Black Chapel", which also bodes ill for visitors. I would not be surprised if it turns out that they have been corrupted by some heresy and built a place to hold demonic rituals and blood sacrifices...  We ought to destroy it.

PS: My survey of current structures in the Eve constellation can be found via this link. I will make a new version when the dust settles down after the conflict between White Sky and Gjallarhorn Incorporated.

PPS: Updated version can be downloaded here.

Scouting Eve constellation

The Eve constellation is rather quiet - nothing unusual there. Eve gate - the Mouth of God - is still as radiant and beautiful as I remember it. I took a picture from a spot near the Kor-Azor and Sisters of Eve research complex orbiting New Eden I.

But perhaps the quietness is just a lull between periods of combat. I saw many stations reinforced or being unanchored on my way here. The focal point seems to be the system of Promised Land. There is a stellar observatory, and a joint Edencom - Imperial Navy fleet patrolling the system. This provides a certain security for miners, and leads to improved mining yields. 

Most operations belong to "Gjallarhorn Incorporated". They have three Athanors, a Fortizar and a Raitaru in Promised Land. All of these stations are reinforced, facing shield timers two days from now. This corporation describes itself as "farmers during the farming season, and fighters during fighting season", and base themselves in low security space. They used to be part of the "No Forks Given" alliance, up to, well, yesterday! While their stations are reinforced in Promised Land, the stations closer to Exit are being unanchored.

The culprit is likely to be our former nemesis in Genesis, the "White Sky" vandals. Nowadays they are represented in the constellation by a group that calls itself "The Death Korps of Krieg.". The dot at the end of the name is important to distinguish them from some other barbarian alliance. Here is what little information we have about them:

The Death Korps of Krieg are Imperial Guard Regiments raised from the world of Krieg. Notoriously grim and fatalistic warriors, they seek to atone for their planet's past rebellion by dying glorious deaths in service to the Imperium. For this purpose, Death Korps regiments routinely request to fight in the galaxy's deadliest warzones, grinding their enemy down through long battles of attrition and siege warfare.

Charming. 

Also, I have not heard of any planet called Krieg in the Empire. At first I thought it was a nickname nickname, or some dialect? But, more likely, they do not refer to the Amarr Empire. Rather, I think Krieg is a world controlled by the barbarian kingdom that calls itself "the Imperium".

Return to the Gate

Mozzidit is a few jumps away from the Eve constellation, which has the New Eden system where Eve Gate can be seen. It has been a while since my last visit. 

I used to spend quite a bit of time there, trying to reach the Gate or at least triangulating it to get better idea of the distance to the Gate. Sadly it lies too far away to reach at subwarp speeds. There is a Kor-Azor led scientific station in the system to study the Gate, as well as an outpost belonging to the Servant Sisters of Eve. 

The theory that I was investigating at that time was that Ilash Toth's expedition was taking the Ametat and Avetat to the Gate in an attempt to unlock it and enter the supposed paradise that lies behind it. The expedition stranded on the way to the Gate or was intercepted by the Jove - both versions of the story go around. 

I was helped at the time because LUMEN owned a station in that system. "Farthest Shore" was the perfect base of operations for me; and in fact it was because I was allowed to use the station that I started to trust the Societas as a force for good. However, these investigations were cut short when our station was destroyed...  

Being in the neighborhood, I feel compelled to go back there and see how the constellation is faring now, and who its current inhabitants are.

Booking

I quickly found the offices of Galactic Tours; the Eve Travel station is well organized. At first, the salespeople at Galactic Tours greeted me very warmly, and gave me a ton of brochures. 

When I told them what I was interested in, they were surprised, to say the least. And they got very nervous.

"It is not a usual cruise for an Amarr priest, are you from the Tetris Order?" (firstly, I am not a priest, but a friar; and I assume they meant Tetrimon in the second part). Even though they did not appear to trust me, in the end they booked the cruise for me. They made very sure to tell me their paperwork is in order, and showed me the permit.

I asked for a simple cabin, but they only have a luxury suite available on the next cruise which, by the way, does not leave very soon. Perhaps they thought the price bump would deter me? Before I became a  capsuleer, it would have been completely impossible for me to pay for this; but for a capsuleer it is loose change...

Anyway, I now have a ticket for the Mezagorm cruise.