Mini-Event

[mnemosynecrew]

EVENT

It happens in the dead of night - so sudden, so absolute, that for a moment, it feels like the ship itself has ceased to exist. The familiar hum of the Mnemosyne's systems vanishes, replaced by an unnatural, suffocating silence. A heartbeat later, the darkness takes hold. Total blackout.

Then, as if the ship itself is gasping for breath, emergency lights flare to life, flooding the halls in deep red. A shrill hiss follows as every interior door slide open in unison.

The system has gone dark. Terminals are dead. CL-10's have no access. Anything reliant on the ship's core network is unresponsive. Even elevators between decks are frozen in place, leaving only the cold, metal emergency ladders as a means of traversal. Synthesizers refuse to function.

And most critically -

L3TH3 is gone.

Not silent. Not unresponsive. Offline.


Yet, despite the eerie stillness, some things persist. Life support remains operational, oxygen still cycles, temperature remains stable. Airlocks are firmly shut. The engines continue their course, thrumming faintly beneath the floors. Even power still technically exists, but there is no intelligence behind it any more. The Mnemosyne is still moving - but without a pilot, without a shield and without defense.

To some, the fact that the ship's quarantine protocols also remain intact is a reassuring sign of system redundancy. To others, it is an opportunity lost. After all, a coup - or mercy killing - requires more than emergency rations and dim red lights.

---

Welcome to this month's mini-event! The system being offline will continue for a week, until the 17th. As the mod will also be unavailable at a computer during this time, direct any questions to mnemonsynecrew@gmail.com for a quicker reply.

As noted in the event, CL-10s won't be able to access the system for anything (work, ship data, etc.) during this time, but it can still be used to communicate between crew and used for personal data.

Comments

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Oh... the settler AI. Right - they'd completely forgotten about that, from the way they jolt just a touch.]

If L3TH3's fucked up that bad, we might be able to copy over functionality. The ship systems are tied into that functionality but an AI would be better suited to adapt with some patches than just rewriting all the command code systems from scratch.

[Of course getting to the settlers and their AI is part of the problem, too...]

We can't draw on power there to activate additional systems?

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Rin actually makes an audible sound at that 'boss', a little ugh that they swallow down the back of their throat within only a moment, distaste muted but still evident. They're quiet otherwise, maybe biting their tongue.

If either of them was more inclined to talk then Rin could communicate that they'd made a sweep of the crew quarters, having been startled awake by the ship's systems dying - they could note that they hadn't seen any messages from Engineering, which might just be a bad sign.

No, instead, they say;]

I'll check secondary controls. Are your comms working? [Check your CL-10 Wolfwood.]

[lastdecember]

[ Rin can grunt all they like. If they're going to act like they're Wolfwood's boss, he's going to call them out on it.

If he knew that Saverem hadn't reported in, this whole trip woul go much differently. But instead, he just keeps heading down into the ship, turning away from the crew quarters and instead moving toward the shield generator. ]

It's working.

[ He doesn't need to check it -- he used it earlier. ]

[anesthetic_rage]

Don't love this, but in the current state we're in, there's no solution and the actual fix will involve me asking L3TH3 for permission or for there to be some sort of safeguard. Which... doesn't solve the problem, but might get us something.

[He scowled and rose, shaking his head. The good news was that they'd probably get some sort of workaround on the shields, and maybe the hangars for the fighters, if not the guns. That was... something.]

When we're not at serious risk of spacing we should look into manual options on the hangars. For the fighters.

[anesthetic_rage]

[He'd get him those numbers one way or another. Admittedly? The physics were probably going to say exactly what he thought they'd say. The ship could endure ... some impacts, but not all.]

Or something too big. The shields should be enough if we can figure out how to keep them up no matter what. You'd think that would qualify as life support when the ship's in motion wouldn't you?

[lastdecember]

[ Wolfwood nods -- they should be able to use the fighters when L3TH3 is inoperable. They won't do much for the smaller impact risks out there, but if an asteroid ends up in their path with the shields down? They have to be able to do something.

And fuck it, no time like the present, right? ]

You want to suit up and we can take a look now? Dunno if there's anything we can do to get those doors open, but it's worth a shot.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Then use them.

[Fucking asshole.

Rin pauses on the ladder, just long enough to catch a last glimpse Wolfwood's retreating form - not monitoring where he's going, but because they need to try another ping on L3TH3. Still nothing.

They're going to run into Wolfwood before this is over, certainly - as all of them try and figure out what the hell to do to restore the ship. But for now, there's still checks to run, to ensure that something isn't about to blow them up, or leave them all breathing vacuum. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

You'd think. At least a debris deflection system.

[Why does that feel like it needs to be put in quotes? It's not like they don't all already know the ship is armed, it wouldn't need a euphemism. Rin doesn't sigh, but they do grimace.]

Saverem says the power output should be fine but the systems are down so it can't be regulated.

OPE_N_Wolfwood to SCI_R_0

[lastdecember]

[ Three minutes later: ]

🖕

[plantussy]

I don't know... everything is separate over there, so it can detach in case of an emergency. It has it's own system, it's own power, it's own engine, an extra shield... I don't know if it has weapons, but probably.

[ Sigh. ]

...but it's all sealed off. It only activates if L3TH3 finds a good place to put settlers.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[So much for that thought... Though Rin pauses.]

There might be a failsafe to activate if L3TH3 goes down. If it can't get into the other ship systems, we might be able to manually shift control. [They consider the power systems.] Can you leave those?

[plantussy]

No failsafe has activated so far, at least. It seems a bit of an oversight to put L3TH3 as the sole program of the ship.

[Sigh. Hindsight and all that. She was supposed to be the pinnacle of AIs, but 20 years alone is 20 years. Who knows what's going on with her now. ]

Leave what?

[anesthetic_rage]

[The good news was that space waalks and manual overrides on the hangars to allow the fighters to get out were an option. The downside was that ... some asteroids were WAY past fighter arsenal level.]

And without regulation we can't safely run the shields. No clue if we won't blow something out.

[anesthetic_rage]

Fuck it. Let's do this. Let's suit up for a space walk, see if the manual override works from outside.

[L3TH3 was going to tell him the same thing later, but he was just going to feign ignorance. Better to not let her know what they realized and make it look like they were dependent. Motioning, he waas already heading towards the locker room.]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Unsinkable ships, right?

Rin, meanwhile, gestures impatiently to the power supplies - they're already moving towards the door.]

Independent power on the other vessel means terminal access. Worth a shot.

[plantussy]

[ History is doomed to repeat itself. ]

You think so?

[ He's already following, though. Maybe Rin is right. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Maybe.

[Oh good, they don't have to explain! Or explicitly invite Vash along on this expedition, other than their incredibly contextless question.

They move briskly away from the power station, despite the dimmed lights and the shut-down systems. It's an eerie refrain of the first time they all woke up on this ship, though this time, at least, there's no body - or there's one body, but it's the ship, lying dead and quiet around them.

Rin pulls out their Cl-10, to send their periodic ping towards L3TH3, frowning as they get no response.]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Yeah... yeah.

Not that Rin ever looks particularly cheerful, but their scowl is something more dour.]

If L3TH3 doesn't reboot on her own we'll have to find additional outside methods.

[plantussy]

[ He's not quite sure what Rin is even thinking about, but he trusts them enough to give whatever it is a try. There are a lot of things that would be a lot better with a new AI that isn't compromised by years of neglect.

It all depends on the systems, though... and that damn access. ]

[anesthetic_rage]

Yeah... this is the problem we've got. Every issue we come across, we get brilliant ideas on what to do for next time. Only... if it's bad enough next time, we might not get a chance to plan.

Thing is, it's all so damned unpredictable.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[By the time they reach the section of the ship that leads into the colonists' closed systems, Rin pauses, looking towards the nearest terminal, then walking up to tap it, gesturing Vash over closer - apparently the personal space requirements can be flexed in an emergency.]

I want to check before we try opening the door.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Ugh.]

Might as well go through and make all the contingencies now.

[They can't actually do that and Rin knows it, but it's better than nothing, right?]

[plantussy]

[ Vash follows along, keeping an eye on things around them. If L3TH3 rebooted now and found them sneaking around here, what would she do?

He's hoping it's not something drastic. ]

Opening a bulkhead like this isn't easy, and I'm pretty sure there are several of them since it can break free from the rest of the ship. Be careful, Rin.

[ He knows they are, but still. ]

...if she wakes up again, don't leave any traces.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

I know.

[If they're annoyed by the warnings, they don't show it, stepping up to poke at the terminal.]

I'll have to convince the life support systems that the Mnemosyne is defunct but there's still environment on the other side. Which is true.

[But also not supposed to happen, so...]

[anesthetic_rage]

Or at least catalogue all the possible contingencies there are... But that's a problem for tomorrow. Or at least, it's one for when L3TH3 is back. Anything else we try is slapping a bandage on whaat we're dealing with right now...