All about Terraforming

[spaceshipit]

Hello everyone! We're sorry again for the long wait before updating, but we're finally here with information about those terraformers that have been acting up on the toxic moon. Every passenger interested is welcome to pitch in and help with the problem... And for those who aren't likely to get involved, this will be the final week on the polluted moon before the Marsiva leads the Drift Fleet away from this star system and into the next drifting week.


THE POISON MOON

Anyone who has been investigating the source of the moon's woes--scientifically, magically, or otherwise--continued to find that the evidence all hints toward the same underlying fact: the worst of the pollutants are coming up from deep within the earth because of whatever the central terraformer is doing, and this trend will continue until something is done about that fact. The local government has been debating about it for some time, but the decision has finally been made to let this mysterious Drift Fleet take a look at the heart of their moon. They don't know when this many brilliant (and augmented) minds will be visiting their little trash-heap again, so... they are ready to take the risk. This may be their best change.


INSIDE THE TERRAFORMERS

Following a guarded path deep into the most tangled and toxic part of the nearby wilderness, passengers seeking the terraformers will descend into a crater-like valley that the central terraformer calls home. All of the terraformers scattered around this section of the world look about the same--like aged, black, monoliths jutting up out of the ground. Their surfaces are rather featureless and overgrown, but their sheer size is impressive. Few buildings on the moon rival their size, and the scale of the central one outclasses the others by far.

However, these casings are only the tip of the iceberg compared to the feat of engineering hidden beneath. Most of the terrforming apparatus is below the ground, drilled deep into the bedrock. To those who are familiar with space-age technology, it seems likely that the terraformers were deployed from orbit, and then automatically drilled down and expanded upon impact with the moon's surface.

The central terraformer has numerous hatches by which a person could enter (though some are impractically high up on the outer walls, or buried in the earth). Once inside, it quickly becomes clear that the creators of this structure didn't spare a thought toward anything but pure function. This machine is an absolute workhorse--not as slick-looking as some of the other technologies they've encountered here, but it will probably outlast them all by millennia. The stark, unadorned passageways all link up to corridors that eventually fork in two directions: toward the main core of the terraformer, or out into the "roots" that branch down and outward from the center of the machine. Anyone can explore the insides of the terraforming complex, but the space isn't particularly user-friendly. No matter how deep or far they go away from the core, it seems like the structure just keeps going down further. Eventually the passages will get too small to travel through, like arteries turning into capillaries. Aside from basic lighting and ventilation, there is very little catering to human presence. Nothing along the way is even labeled, aside from identification numbers stamped into various pieces of the structure. Only the very heart of the core is where commands come and go; the structure itself is not something meant to be full of workers maintaining and running things.


THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM

The command center at the core has been dubbed the "Cortex," and passengers must be allowed through many layers of command by their local guides to reach it. After clearing the final barrier, they're let in to see a much more dazzling and technologically-complicated array than what lines the corridors in the rest of the structure. Generators and screens and layers of walkways surround a gleaming net of energy contained within a massive bulb. The way the energy tangles together inside the bulb, and plasma flows through wires and tubes like nerves, the whole system seems to mimic something living (especially to a certain few passengers--coughVashcough,) but the Cortex is mercifully not actually a living or sentient system.

The Cortex is essentially an incredibly complex processor, based on fluids and plasma instead of metal and simple electricity. Passengers investigating the Cortex may scan and record information about it, but cannot remove samples of anything. And, perhaps most notably, passengers who have experience with any sort of terraforming technology will notice that aspects of the Cortex bear uncanny similarities to what they're used to from home. Nothing is an exact match, but the resemblances are hard to ignore. Additionally, any passengers with lab support, engineering, pilot, or communications augments will find odd bits of knowledge in their heads related to the programming and functions of terraformers. The previously untrained will not suddenly become experts, but their augments should at least help them understand the basics of what they're looking at.

One thing is for sure: reprogramming the central terraformer by hand seems impossible. It's no wonder the inhabitants haven't figured it out. Users can control and program a few details relating to the facility itself, but the majority of the system is self-running, and doesn't follow typical, logical computer instruction. The Cortex is receiving its commands through a much more complicated and hardwired means than whatever the computer consoles control.

In years past, the inhabitants have attempted to open the base of the Cortex and remove what they assumed was some sort of battery, but the machine didn't shut down as expected. Curious passengers are allowed to see for themselves. This important-looking cartridge can be removed from the Cortex without a problem... and once opened, there isn't much inside save for a very gummy residue. Whatever was once inside is probably continually cycling through the circulatory system of the machine--in constant contact with the motion, heat, and conductive liquid...


WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Months ago, passengers discovered that the gumballs Atroma asked them to transport had some kind of a complex code or map written out in their molecular structures, which only activated when the gummy substance was exposed to heat and repetitive mechanical stress. Anyone who had kept notes, samples, or entire gumballs can confirm that the gunk in the machine is the exact same stuff. It's entirely possible that installing a new gumball's worth of material and running some kind of purging protocol on the old stuff will completely reprogram the Cortex to follow whatever code is encrypted on the newer 'gum.'

And that's the catch, of course. There's no telling what sort of instructions are coded in the 'DNA' of those gumballs, and there is an entire moon's worth of living creatures riding on that gamble. Luckily, it's not up to the Drift Fleet to make the ultimate decision on the fate of this world.

There is a powerful committee in charge of the environmental decisions on this moon, and they report directly to the ruling party. Their rule is law, their decisions are absolute, and all they want from the Drift Fleet are reports. Once the central terraformer is open to exploration and tinkering by the passengers, the environmental committee expects copies of all information discovered and calculated. They will be open to hearing all opinions and reports, from which they will ultimately make their final decision amongst themselves.


---

This week, the committee will be debating and trying to reach said decision. During that time, you guys are welcome to play out threads in the terraformers, work on stuff in ship labs, have characters discuss and debate, or build theories on the ever-thickening plot behind the gumballs. The rest of the toxic moon is still open to be played in as well!

At the end of next week (Sunday), we'll make another post with the conclusion, as well as a little bit of info for the start of our next drifting week. If you've got any questions about any of this, ask it in the QUESTIONS thread below!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[spaceshipit]

Got a question about this event? Ask it here!

Re: QUESTIONS

[tallasaking]

So Tyrion is ... a very small man. How far can he get into the system next a full sized man?

[spaceshipit]

The half-man can get 50% further. /smartass answer

But yeah, he can get into smaller passageways, but he'll still run into the same problems anyone else would, just at a smaller scale. Truth be told, even a mouse-sized passenger would eventually run into passageways that grow to be too small if they travel far enough.

[goldenglasses]

Vash no likey the looks of this. I'm assuming if he did try to reach out with his Plant powers (as it does seem similar, even if it's missing the living Plant part) he wouldn't actually get a response as there's nothing 'living' in the machine. Did I read and understand that right? Or would he sense something use to be there or anything you might like him to pick up on?

[spaceshipit]

Yeah, the thing is not living, even if there are some eerie similarities to the Plant-based technology. So, if he does sense anything about it, it wouldn't be from anything that was living, trapped, suffering, anything like that.

It's just really, really uncanny how similar to Plant technology a bunch of this is.

[nerdeology]

Is it safe to assume that masks are still required in all of this, or are there filtered areas?

[spaceshipit]

The interiors of the terraformers have some kind of air filtration system going on, but it's probably safest to keep the masks on.

If actual tests are done, the air is less dangerous there than outside, but not perfect.

Re: QUESTIONS

[axiomed]

LATE but can Charles reach out to the Cortex with his powers? How much could he do?

[spaceshipit]

Hmm! Can you be a little more specific? The Cortex is a complicated system, so it's hard for me to immediately say one way or another. What can and can't his powers affect/access?

Re: QUESTIONS

[chaosse]

Is it at all possible to sabotage the terraforming stuff? And just make the moon...worse.....

[spaceshipit]

Not unless you know how to reprogram the artificial DNA in a gumball...

Plottening

[universal_charm]

Kirk is all about exploration! He's been doing preliminary research with genetic testing of the plants he has gathered - calling for extra such help here.

So, if anyone would like to team up, he would be down for an exploration party. He will also be presenting findings to the board for his genetic testing of the plant material and whatever else they find in the terraformers. He will most likely also make recommendations because HE IS CAPTAIN KIRK AND DAMN THE SYSTEM.

Re: Plottening

[tallasaking]

Tyrion is down for this. Also, figuring out this is the gumball from before.

...He might have cracked it open, without anyone noticing. He might have run some tests.

There were no missing gumballs though, so someone else will have to do the full chemical analysis.

Re: Plottening

[universal_charm]

Kirk did not think of this, so, yes, good Tyrion. And I'm sure they will think of something!

[dancingmd]

Count Beverly in for this expedition!!! She's got her tricorder and it's got all the info she got from the gumballs on it!

[universal_charm]

YES. He knew he could count on Star Fleet.

/hi-5

[beathach]

raises hand yes hello i want to explore with jim kirk

[universal_charm]

Yes, good, come be part of the landing party Hank

[goldenglasses]

Vash wants in. He may be able to help with navigation and getting to the heart of things as he's had a bit of experience with a similar terraforming set up.

[universal_charm]

Always good to have people with experience! So Vash is more than welcome. Just please don't cause an actual stampede, Vash. Kirk does not want to play Indiana Jones.

[spontaneouscombustion]

Ooh, can Pinkie come too? It's not as honed as, say, Applejack's would be, and she doesn't have a lot of experience dealing with pollution, but all earth ponies have a latent magic that allows them to tend the earth, and her family farms rocks so she has a little geology knowledge. Not to mention her engineering augment.

[geonomy]

Clay is definitely down for this! He's got some findings of his own here, which he'll show to Kirk later in their thread, and he'll do some research of his own as well. But going as a team is something he'll really want to do.

[save_the_souls]

With Beverly and Clay going (and he knows Kirk too!), Allen would volunteer to go along! Scientifically there's not a whole lot more he can provide, but he'd want to go along for security reasons. Just in case you know- the terraformer is full of bears. Because that'd suck.

Otherwise feel free to use him for heavy lifting.

[firstrebel]

waves arms around enthusiastically

I mean, let's do this!!!

(Also, Hera did keep one crate of gumballs secreted away on the Golden, just fyi.)

plotting

[diplomacme]

Padme has been investigating the moon since they've arrived, so she's going to be investigating the central terraformer for sure. She has some experience with similar technology, though she's nowhere near an expert. She's paranoid suspicious as to whether this was really an accident, but she'll be keeping that to herself unless it's someone she knows.