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

[tarakan]

[ On the one hand, Hilbert kind of wants to use this to find some way to sneak onto the Bridge and get what he wants (blood samples from the captain). On the other hand, there are so many ways that can go wrong, and with L3TH3 out of commission, it didn't make sense to chance something that might go poorly.

Hilbert wasn't in his room when the power went down. But he has the same thought as Rin: check to see if people are sleeping. So, as he climbs down the emergency ladder, he spots his coworker. ]

Power is indeed down, [ he nods, equally calm. ] Though oddly enough, not completely. Emergency functions remain.

[ After all, they're still breathing. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Probably means the engines haven't blown up.

[Cheerful thought, huh. Rin gives Hilbert a quick look over, confirming that the man is fine, before they turn back away to survey the rest of the corridor. Not that there are any new insights to be found there, but it's better than trying to meet Hilbert's eyes in the dark.]

Functions probably work independently of L3TH3. Her going down might be the source of the problem, but I can't get shit to respond. [Bad choice of words for Reasons but whatever. They're not going to stop cursing in a situation that definitely fucking requires it.]

[tarakan]

I wonder...do you think those odd floating things managed to work their way entirely to L3TH3's core? Suspect there are multiple processing centers in depths of ship to power something like L3TH3. But if enough of them are compromised, could bring entire system down.

[ After all, if you've recently dealt with glowy floaty things knocking out power and also L3TH3 has now lost power...well, it's easy to make guesses. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Thought Saverem said they couldn't get into main power generation. [A beat.] Maybe he was wrong. If he was they could've gotten onto the bridge.

[Another pause.]

L3TH3 was responding abnormally during the last status update.

[tarakan]

[ Hilbert shrugs slightly, trying to appear nonchalant even though that information about L3TH3 responding abnormally is very interesting. ]

Suppose we have no way of knowing at the moment. Once power is back on? Perhaps it will be different.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Oh, Rin hates that thought. They're grimacing.]

Which medical systems aren't responding. [Because there have to be some, right? That's just how these things fucking go. And - oh, shit.]

Have you checked cryopod status. [... is it better or worse if some of those systems went down too?]

[tarakan]

Anything reliant on core network is down. Patient logs, medical scanners, any of the more complex imaging requirements. Can perform frontier medicine if needed, would prefer not to.

[ After all, just because you can stitch someone up in the darkness doesn't mean you want to. ]

Have not checked cryopod status. That and quarantine procedures will be next stop.

[ Because if all of these other systems are failing....it's a valid thought. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Cryopods first. If they've opened we don't want anyone doing something stupid like running out of an airlock.

[They pause to remember the announcement that had played during their awakening.]

They won't have L3TH3 to tell them what's going on, either.

[tarakan]

I can recognize and treat signs of cryosickness, [ Hilbert muses. ] Easier to treat if everything was working, of course, but I can keep people alive. Perfectly fine making station there if needed.

[ And assuming Rin will follow him, Hilbert starts to make his way back to the emergency ladders, ready to head to cryogenics, hoping and praying that people haven't started defrosting. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Rin does follow - better to have a pair of extra hands, if that is the case.]

... Manually opening one will still kill the person inside, correct?

[It's - look. They have to ask. They're not thinking about it! They're not. They're just confirming parameters so that Hilbert doesn't think about it. Definitely that.]

[tarakan]

Oh, absolutely. Especially in current situation, [ said as Hilbert vaguely gestures to the lack of lights. ]

Hypothetically and in extreme circumstances, could possibly save life of person manually removed from cryopod? But would need more medical staff, hours or days of prep, working electricity, and even then, chances of survival are next to nothing.

[ Hilbert's the sort of person who wants to know the odds, even if they're a fraction of a fraction. ]

Foolish to attempt it.

[ hey wait a moment. ]

Why do you ask?

[itdoesntlikeyou]

... Failsafe systems are down in many parts of the ship. It may be important to confirm dangerous actions even if alarm systems are not activated.

[Sure, Rin.

Still, they sound pretty even, saying it, as they follow Hilbert down to the strange arcing center of the ship with its rows upon rows of cryopods.]

[tarakan]

[ When they reach the cryostasis room, Hilbert immediately goes to one of the pods. He can't really get specific data, not now, not like this. But he can at least do a quick eyewitness survey. No signs of melt. No leaking. Everything smells normal. No errors flashing on any displays. ]

Whatever life support systems that are keeping us from floating aimlessly in space, also seem to keep cryopods working. Obviously I will have to make routine checks as long as power is down, but there does not seem to be any big, obvious malfunctions.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Rin hauls themself along one of the tethers to a different pod, and while they glance over the pod itself briefly, they quickly swap to poking a few times at the diagnostics, abandoning it before they can hit any dangerous-looking sections.]

If it was tied to L3TH3's systems it probably would be instantaneous release.

[So: could be worse.]

... Still no response from AI systems.

[tarakan]

I wonder...we have life support, we have basic things like artificial gravity still active. AI should have basic programming, correct? Something that runs as base level, without personality program.

[ At least, that's how it feels to Hilbert. He doesn't know much about AI. He doesn't know how they work. But the idea of there being something baseline, the idea of there being a base to the AI that a personality matrix is built on top of...that makes sense in his mind. ]

Why do we not have basic AI function? Why is L3TH3 completely offline?

[itdoesntlikeyou]

Maybe we're just walking through L3TH3's corpse.

[Wow, morbid. And they're... not entirely sure where that impulse came from, to describe it that way. It feels true, though. Whoever should be occupying the ship around them, it's gone, leaving only the automatic functions, like the ship itself is in a vegetative state.]

There might be a black box somewhere. Like the bridge.

[tarakan]

Even if we did not have highly contagious mutated captain on bridge, would not be able to access the bridge in current, depowered state.

[ Which is a damn shame. Because if there is a black box somewhere, Hilbert wants to poke at it. ]

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[This sucks. They don't say it because of the zappy box currently attached to their spine, but from their expression they're absolutely thinking it, mostly hidden behind the filter mask they're still wearing and the dim lighting in the cryopod bay.]

This would be easier if L3TH3 really had killed the Captain.

[tarakan]

Obviously as doctor, I would prefer if all patients remained alive and breathing with mercy killing as last resort.

[ But as he says it, it's very much Hilbert saying these things because they need to be said and he wants it on the record that he is a good person who doesn't murder (maybe. He's not sure).

That being said, he instantly continues the conversation with, ]

Unfortunately, you are right. I do not know how much technical support and maintenance can be done from our current situation, away from bridge.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[For a while, Rin just lets that sit in silence, as they try and think around that. It's... depressing, to say the least.

Too bad they had to disable all the previous crew's leashes. The systems access would come in handy, right about now. If there's even still a system to access.]

... If L3TH3 doesn't reboot, we may need to rewrite protocols from scratch.

[tarakan]

That is big 'if.' Obviously we will not do anything until situation becomes such that it cannot be maintained.

[ It's not dodging the question. It's not kicking the can down the road. It's taking time, taking course, and waiting. ]

For all we know, L3TH3 will reboot tomorrow, perfectly fine.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Something's wrong if Hilbert has been stuck into the role of being the optimist. Though, given the number of pessimists on this ship, 'relatively optimistic' doesn't have to be more than a few points above...]

Right.

[Fine, if they're all maintaining as best they can - (and isn't that what they've been doing anyway? Going through the motions as best they can, with the situation stuck in an un-ideal equilibrium?) - then there's a few things that ought to be taken care of.]

What systems do you consider priority for triage in this situation.

[tarakan]

[ You can be relatively pessimistic and still be the optimist on the Mnemosyne.

As for Rin's question, ]

Cryogenics, [ said with no hesitation. ] System looks to be running, system looks like it is maintaining course, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Even if enough electricity can be coaxed into unit for me to run simple status report, that could possibly stop future problems in tracks.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

You mean if we have to be frozen again.

[A question, despite the inflection of a statement as it considers the pods, but...]

Consoles are down but there might be manual ways to divert it.

[tarakan]

[ He does mean if we have to be frozen again. But also, you don't have to phrase it like that. ]

There is enough auxiliary power to maintain temperature and life support. Would gladly suffer through system ten to twenty degrees cooler if we could reroute power to something useful.