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]

High. It all requires upper level access, which none of us have. If we could communicate directly with Captain Drake, it would be different. I haven't seen him messaging lately.

[But they talk to him through L3TH3, so...]

With the systems down, there may be workarounds for individual systems, if they're running on automation. But installing a central system is tricky, and I'm not an AI specialist.

[anesthetic_rage]

He was on a 'rest period' when we last heard from L3TH3, so that's probably a no go. The man's likely to have periods of in and out for consciousness, being honest there. So we likely can't get that from him.

[Grunt]

Obviously propulsion and life support have workarounds. I'd say shields are a priority due to possible collisions since navigation is essentially shoot without bridge access. We're essentially on rails here.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Well shit.

Not that they have any direct means of contact when L3TH3 isn't handling the connection, anyway...]

Did you have data on current course and potential obstacles?

[anesthetic_rage]

Minimal. We weren't 'expecting' anything, but half the damned obstacles we run into aren't exactly planned. Most asteroids qualify as dark matter if they're far enough away from a heliosphere. Ship can't pick them all out of the dark in the nebula.

[Maybe they'd get lucky...]

Good news. There's a lot more empty space out there than asteroids. A LOT more of it. Bad news? We've got shit luck.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Well, when he puts it like that, this is an existential horror.

Rin goes to pull up their CL-10 to start running numbers, only to run facefirst into the fact that the ship files are completely inaccessible, and grimace.]

How many hits can the ship take.

[anesthetic_rage]

[... oh, so he was going to make him run those calculations?]

Give me twenty-four hours to crunch the numbers. I have to approximate the acceleration we're moving at and the normal acceleration on average of a comet or smaller asteroid. I don't have exact figures on our hull strength but I should be able to approximate...

...

Ahem. Less than we god-damned want to happen. That's the short version. We might be able to take a hit but dont bet on it.

[itdoesntlikeyou]

[Well, theoretically Rin could take the hard data from Zaeed and run it themselves, but that might just put Zaeed under scrutiny again when L3TH3 comes back online -

If L3TH3 comes back online. They're feeling less optimistic about that by the hour.]

Great. So we aren't going to explode immediately, just when we hit something wrong.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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]

[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?]

[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...