TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[space_aces]

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

Your journey only happened because of your benefactor, so it begets that it starts at your benefactor as well. SUPERBIA, which is as much of a location as it is an entity, is where everyone's search for Fortuna begins.

There's not much of a welcome party: shortly after their fateful encounter with SUPERBIA, in which they swore to join the quest to find Fortuna, the new Privateers will find themselves afflicted by a sudden change in perspective. See, teleportation is a tricky process, so from SUPERBIA's point of view, why not make the target destination none other than itself? One highly disconcerting moment later, and the Privateers find themselves inside the belly of the beast.

The vast mega-structure is shockingly lonely, void of anyone other than the Privateers. Those who look off the metal satellite and to The Network for intelligence (or take a skim at the Space Wikipedia article) will find out that the surrounding space is clear for lightyears; rumors have it that the place is cursed. It won't take long to understand why.

1

Overclocked

The innards of SUPERBIA are that of an impossibly scaled up computer, and the Privateers start right in the middle of it. You are the spider living in the dusty PS4. Literal rivers of coolant, transistors the size of mountains, landscapes made entirely of circuitry. The sky, bounded by a distant metal ceiling, is constantly alight with coursing electricity that cracks the sky with lightning storms. It can be assumed that the Privateers are the first living things to set foot here, because such a place is not ever meant to be traversed by delicate, organic, mortals that worry about things such as "temperature" or "voltage". SUPERBIA needs not lifeforms to continue its operations; why design for them? Traversal itself is difficult: unscalable walls and perilous drops are common to encounter. The only company the Privateers will find are oddly adorable maintenance robots, which sadly seem too occupied by their directives of maintaining the massive machine to offer any assistance (or even acknowledgement of their new guests).

It is immediately clear that the most urgent priority is to get the hell out of here. Before your adventure ends at the starting line.

2

Skeletons In The Closet

If one stays inside SUPERBIA, either by getting horribly lost or losing all common sense, one will notice a peculiar pattern emerge as one gets deeper into the bowels of the mega-structure. Passages shrink and become more level, and the incredible hostility and danger of the surroundings fade away, until one comes across areas which were definitely intended for humanoid organisms to use at one point.

The construction of these areas is cramped, unfurnished, and dreary; they are reminiscent of artificial environments meant to handle harsh external conditions like a submarine or bunker, but they are entirely livable. One can eventually find distinct rooms, but everything in them has crumbled to dust and their original purpose is nigh impossible to discern. Deeper investigation may reveal the few items that have stood the test of time. While it is more plausible for life to have existed here, that doesn't seem to be the case now. What happened here?

3

The Shipyard

In the opposite direction, when one finally reaches the outer edges of SUPERBIA, they will be rewarded with the place to pick up a spaceship and a stunningly beautiful view of outer space. The outside of SUPERBIA has no atmosphere to get between you and the stars, and they shine brightly, like a beacon calling one out into the first steps of adventure.

The shipyard is already filled with countless space ships of every size, form, and function, all autonomously constructed by SUPERBIA's factories over the countless years. What's the harm in taking one or twenty out for a spin? Even if one has no intentions of permanent ownership of the vehicle, it's not like SUPERBIA will miss it. For a Privateer with a more specific vision, however, there are kiosks around the yard which will allow one to design their very own space ship down to their exact specifications. When the process is done SUPERBIA's matter printers will have it out and space-ready right before your very eyes.

If a Privateer has a ship, vehicle, or large item that they intended to bring with them, they will also find them here, neatly parked in the Shipyard. Why didn't SUPERBIA extend this courtesy to the pilot's themselves? The answer is revealed as soon as the owner makes a closer inspection: the inner contents have been rearranged, like a whirlwind was unleashed inside and assorted loose items thrown around. Now aren't you glad your transportation was given special attention, and the same didn't happen to your innards?

4

Hot Crewmates in Your Area

But how will a single Privateer man an entire space ship? No worries: when one steps into a ship, the strangely endearing maintenance robots will suddenly take acute interest. The robots will follow inside and immediately start assuming the duties of a spacefarer, eliminating the need for extra hands on deck.

Even still, there's just no eliminating the want for a human touch, though. Thankfully even that dilemma has a contingency plotted by SUPERBIA.

Communication devices are easily available on every space ship. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from huge stationary consoles to portable smartphone-like screens. But whenever a Privateer attempts to access the Network, a pop-up will appear, obscuring the whole screen.

Tell me a little about yourself. Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER? What is your best feature?
The device will be rendered unusable until one relents to the pop-up's demands and provides answers to its questions. What will these be used for? The mystery will be solved when a social media app mysteriously installs itself on the same device, with profiles preemptively made for every Privateer. Each Privateer's profile consists of their given answers, paired with embarrassingly candid photographs. SUPERBIA has eyes in many places it seems.

Comments

lu bixing ★ can ci pin / the defectives

[engineers]

1. through SUPERBIA

[ this is

actually kind of incredible. if you're lu bixing, then spaceships, space stations and all sorts of other tech aren't even remotely unfamiliar, but being inside of a supercomputer of some kind is a new one. perhaps you're trying to get out, or at least trying to investigate a little, and along your way, you may see a young man leaning way, way too close to a gigantic wall of circutry, his hand on his chin, peering from connection to connection as if he could, well, understand all of it.

this is definitely a place uninhabitable, and yet, when realizing that someone else is nearby, lu bixing turns and spreads his arms out wide, gesturing at the entire of everything. he's like one inch from falling into a coolant river of hell probably but that doesn't seem to bother him at all.

beaming, he crows: ] Isn't this fascinating? [ is it, lbx? is it ]

1a: robots

[ or, alternatively, you might find him following the path of one of the maintenance robots, reaching precariously out for one of them when it turns its back, muttering quietly to himself. it's something along the lines of really, if i could just get a handle on its paneling... surely, it wouldn't be that hard to get into its system... ]

2. onwards to the edge

[ later, you might find lu bixing in the spaceship area, cross legged in front of one of the design panel kiosks. the ship he seems to be working on is lovely, sleek and dark, and he's working on outfitting it with some kind of shield, typing rapidly into the kiosk until it looks like its just lines of code. he seems perfectly at home doing this, vibing, working very hard on the ship he's creating.

if you seem like you're struggling to design one or use the machine, eventually, there's a friendly voice from over your shoulder - lu bixing's standing at a respectable distance, and he offers a friendly smile and a tilt of his head. ]

Need any help? I know it seems a little overwhelming.

3. age / space / location?

[ lu bixing is never one to miss a chance to talk about himself a little. somehow, in his profile picture, despite it being from an odd angle, he's managed to turn towards the camera and give it an absolutely radiant smile. how? who knows

his answers go something like this: ]

Tell me a little about yourself.
My name is Lu Bixing, former headmaster of the Starry Seas Academy, current resident of the Eighth Galaxy. I like cooking, engineering, and, of course, long walks through the city. Is this that kind of app? (>ᴗ•) Nice to meet you!

Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER?
I like to think I'm a leader. I'd have to be, right? How do you educate kids if you can't be a leader? Well, at least I'm a leader in training, nowadays...

What is your best feature?
I've been told I have great hair. And a nice smile. :)

I wonder if we could update this app to add emoji or improve the user experience. Maybe an option to upload photos? What do you think? What might make this easier for you to use? Let me know, and I'll do my best to implement it!

[ lbx this isn't your program? ]

3

[astrogator]

[Is it his program? Ari Tayrey doubts it. But as he's asking, yes, she does have a suggestion.]

Peace and prosperity to you! How about an option to remove images we don't want? And to add holovids instead? Flat images are very old-fashioned.

[engineers]

They are old fashioned, aren't they? Kind of nice for a vintage vibe, but, well, two dimensional.
They'd be better if they could be printed, if they really wanted to go that far.

I can look into it! Let me get my feet under me and I'll see what I can do.
Seems like this place's doing a lot of having people do things without their consent, huh?
This social media, and then the camera angles... the AI needs some work.

[astrogator]

That is exactly what is starting to bother me about this place. Out in my sector, it's the height of bad manners to collect that kind of data on someone without their consent, let alone use it for public datanet profiles. Privacy is an important value.

I'd appreciate it an awful lot if you did manage to alter it. When you're settled, of course.

You wrote that you ran an Academy? Was that for spacer training, or something else?

[Ari can't help her curiosity. Her own education was entirely individual, and she hasn't heard much about the alternatives except that they're inefficient. Something she is of course far too diplomatic to mention.]

[engineers]

Haha...
Unfortunately, I've been more familiar with the opposite. Privacy is a luxury afforded to no one, at least when it comes to Eden.
Where's your sector? It's starting to sound more and more like people here are from different
well, universes, even. Isn't that incredible?

:) No problem!
And - well, yes, I did, but I'm not sure what spacer training is?
So... probably not!

[astrogator]

I don't think I would like Eden very much.
I can send you a chart of the sector, but I'm not sure how much help it'll be. My homeworld is called Cardalek.
I'm not convinced by the multiversal theory just yet. It's possible, but wouldn't there be a Fortuna and a SUPERBIA in - well, not every universe, probabilistically, but a fair amount of them? The universe is so vast, every one of us could be from a different galaxy and we'd know nothing about the society of the others.

Spacer training is - I guess military training for working on starships, to simplify it.
If not that, then what did you teach?

[engineers]

[ this person... is a kindred spirit ]

I didn't even get into the mood enhancement part of it all!
(Don't worry. I didn't like it very much, either.)
It's mostly destroyed, now, at least.

And you're right, unless perhaps you and I were from some of those universes that weren't so lucky or perhaps unlucky to have such a thing? Then again, that's too small of a chance, too strange of a coincidence.
Even so, society has expanded beyond galaxies and galaxies at home, to the edges of our universe
I've always thought perhaps there could be more, though. Unanswerable questions beyond the Eighth Galaxy and spreading even further as the universe creates itself and grows anew.
Perhaps this is just an even farther flung area, one with some sort of magnetic pull to grab people from across worlds and galaxies alike to bring them all together at once. If so, why us? Why our versions of humanity?
I want to dive into the questions of this place, don't you?

Ah! When you put it like that, yes, that! And a few other things. Mechanical engineering, astrophysics, piloting and mech operations, information science...
It depended on what they were interested in, really. By necessity, they became a little more focused on piloting and mechanical engineering more recently, but you make do with what you have.

But enough about me! I haven't even asked your name.

[astrogator]

I'm Lieutenant Ari Tayrey of the Tradelines, lately second astrogator aboard the TS Prosperity.
Which probably doesn't mean very much, given our distance.
What's the right way to address you? Citizen Bixing, or do you have a title?

As for Eden, places that don't respect people's natural rights and freedoms shouldn't be surprised when they meet a bad end.

I have so many questions about this place, and about the people here too. It's incredible that you've reached the edge of the universe. What's out there? What happens if you try to push past it?
It's not that long ago my people were relying on cryogenics in very slow ships, or sub-c drives with all the time dilation problems. Your technological advances must be amazing.
I wonder if we'll ever find all the answers we want. Do you think SUPERBIA would tell us, if we asked?

I find the cultural differences interesting too. I did all my training shipside, as an apprentice. That's ordinary for career spacers on the Tradelines. We combine defending the colonies with facilitating trade and ensuring all the frontier worlds are well-supplied.

[engineers]

Not too much, but a title's a title! It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant.
As for me, Mr. Lu is just fine! Or Lu Bixing. I'm not so important.

Did you see the area with the bunks and the like? This place was inhabited, at some point. I can't help but wonder what happened - I want to dive into as much of this place as possible. If I can find a way to get into this SUPERBIA, I'm going to ask it.
But that's part of the joy, isn't it? To have questions to even ask. Problems to solve. Things to tinker with and question and understand.

As for what's out there, a lot of asteroids! Hahaha. Right now, the Eighth Galaxy is as far as we've stretched, all the way to the very edge. I think it has to still be growing, based on measurements, so... really, there's no pushing past it yet because there's nothing to push past. Like hitting a brick wall.
But, give or take a few millenia, maybe there'll be a Ninth, Tenth, even Eleventh Galaxy.
As for traveling, with cryogenic freezing - that's not all that far behind! That used to be how things were for us as well, and the practice is still used sometimes for safety.
However, human lifespans have advanced well beyond their original ancient Earth length; almost triple that! The youngest, freshest faces you see could be a hundred, even two hundred.
So, long range space travel has become easier, particularly with the utilization of transfer points and our mechs and things of the like.
What sort of ship is the TS Prosperity? I'd love to hear about it.

I see, I see. Colonies... are you all united under one sort of imperial system?
I have so many questions!
That's fascinating, though, in terms of education. Apprentice training is useful! That's what my students are doing now, one way or another.
There's something to be said for learning on the fly, and my group is
Well, a little rambunctious.
So the hands on work has done them wonders. Less patience for textbooks and the like.
It's not a perfect system, but, I'm proud of them nonetheless.

[astrogator]

[Lu Bixing it is, then, because poor Ari won't manage to pronounce the unfamiliar alternative should they meet in person ('Mer-lu' being her best attempt)]

Peace and prosperity to you! I'd say you're more important than you give yourself credit for. Your work is essential.

I explored as much as I could of that area. I was trying to make a mental map, in case it'll be useful later. Honestly, I found it eerie. The age of it, how long it had gone untouched before our arrival.
I'm curious, absolutely. But also, if at some point SUPERBIA asks the lot of us to bunk up together somewhere like that, I'm going to respectfully decline. It might not have ended well for the last group.

[Her specified reason will be the Tradeliner taboo against room-sharing with people other than one's partner - but it won't be the only one.]

We could make an agreement, if you liked! That if either of us finds out anything interesting from SUPERBIA, they'll share it with the other. Fair contract?

I wonder if our trajectory will mirror yours. We moved past cryogenics about a century back. The Matsukata drive enables transition into L-space, which is a higher-dimensional space. Travelling through it is essentially a shortcut; you can travel long distances in a short space of time without experiencing relativistic effects. It's dangerous, though, and it gives most people space sickness just to travel through it. Astrogators have to start young, because that way our brains can adapt to the perceptual differences.
The Prosperity has a Matsukata drive, along with two ordinary engines for traversing ordinary space. It's a typical Tradeline ship - trade and defence, so big cargo holds, big laser arrays, lots of tiny cabins for a crew of about 250. It was my home for over four years. I miss it already.

It's amazing that you live so long, too. My great-grandmother is on telomerase, and she won't reveal the details but she could be pushing 140 standard years. She looks elderly, but she's healthy. She's still running the Company. It's strange to think that chronologically she'd be young among your people.
If it's not rude to ask, how old are you?

Ah! The colonies used to be governed by our world of origin, but over a century ago we fought the Breakaway War, and now every colony and every Company is independent. Most of them pay Tradeline insurance, because they don't have the population or the infrastructure to support individual standing space militaries. It'd be very inefficient. So we defend all of them, keep the lines of trade open.
You can ask anything you like, I don't mind. What was the world you lived on before you came here like, if it wasn't that Eden?
You sound like a very good teacher to me. Did you have a second, to leave your students with while you came out here?

[engineers]

I wonder if there's a drawing function on this communication device?
If not, we'll have to change that! It might be useful - a map is a smart idea. At least until we can figure out how to get it to scan the area and generate one based on imaging, but drawing is a start.
It is a bit eerie, but maybe the place has been reestablished for human contact only recently - if so, one has to wonder what happened to make it this way in the first place.
It could be anything, but I think you're right; I doubt it was just a pleasant vacation.

And you, lieutenant, have got a deal. :)

As for the drive, that sounds pretty similar to our technology, so I wouldn't be surprised. There are mapped transfer points all over the universe that our ships and mechs are able to jump and warp through, some more difficult than others. It's a bit like the old Ancient Earth game, whack a mole? Where ships can come popping in and out sometimes. Haha!
It's even similar with the sickness. This is so interesting - maybe our universes are even more parallel than we thought!

And that is just fascinating. So that must have been you, is that right? Did you know you wanted to be an Astrogator from the start? And it's amazing to imagine such a large ship. So many of our mechs are piloted one to two at a time, but a whole fleet can be controlled by one person if he's powerful enough mentally and physically. I know someone who can wipe out a fleet in a minute with his neural network. It's incredible!

You'll have to tell me about your crew, as well! It sounds really lively. :)
And 140 - she must be a very pretty lady!
Haha.
I'm only 30! Still a young and vibrant young man with a lifetime ahead of me, to say the least.
Adulthood is just stretched out, if that makes sense. We grow and mature around the same as ancient Earth humans, and then stay that way for a while.

I see, I see!
An interconnected world of independent places... I definitely see what you mean.
You're right, about an inefficient military in that regard, too; that's interesting. It's a place where maybe we are only just learning to catch up with you.

I live in the Eighth Galaxy. It's a place full of character, the last galaxy at the edge of our universe - vibrant and loud and lively. A little bit of a slum, but that's okay.
Most recently, it also became independent from our Union - it's a good change.
The people there are good people. I recently even built a house there!

That's very kind of you. I hope so, even if it's a little by the seat of my pants, right now.
And they'll be alright. I don't really have a second, per se, but those little chicks have grown up quite a bit. I think they'll be happy to have some time free of the nest.
Besides, there are plenty of others around who watch after them the way I have; they're under the watchful eye of their training corps with the Silver Ten anyhow.
I feel like I could talk your ear off, at this rate! Or type it, at least.

[astrogator]

If these devices don't have that feature, I can do the charting on my slate computer. It's kind of a hobby of mine, doing star charts by hand, and I can probably turn that skill to planetside cartography easily enough. Not that we're planetside, exactly, but you take my meaning.

I wonder if your transfer points take you into what we call L-space! We have safe routes, safe places to drop in and out. We call them the lines. They're useful, but they can be dangerous, because if someone wants to attack a starship, they know which systems to lurk in, lying in wait for a ship to drop out of L-space - and at that point, most of the crew will be under sedation to prevent the space sickness. The similarities really are interesting, but maybe they shouldn't surprise us. The fundamental nature of reality remains the same wherever you are.

The idea of one person wiping out a fleet is... quite terrifying to me, I won't lie - but if I'm understanding correctly, that fleet could be automated itself, so there wouldn't be hundreds of lives lost on every ship.
I actually didn't plan on being an astrogator. I wanted a place on a ship with a good captain; I found that ship and a trainee astrogator was what they needed, so that's what I did. I love it, though, so it worked well for me.

My crew were brilliant. My mentor, Lieutenant Savitskaya, looked out for me from the first; our captain knew exactly how to balance profit with duty to the colonies, and I had good friends there. It ended, about a month ago. Captain Kavarai had to return to his homeworld, and sell the ship.
I got stuck on Siduri Station trying to find someone else to take contract with, and now I'm here, I guess.

Congratulations on your independence! Ours was a century back, but we still celebrate Liberation Day every year.
And congratulations on your house, for that matter. I was saving up for a starship of my own, because I was very ambitious back home, and you can't advance to captain if you don't own your own ship.
You can imagine how it was for me, seeing that shipyard and having all that choice!

It's so good to correspond with you. We're all isolated here, so even if we're in competition, I don't think there's any harm in being social. I hope we'll get to have a drink together someday.