- Posting Speed
- One post per day
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Online Availability
- Afternoons to midnight-ish (EST)
- Writing Levels
- Give-No-Fucks
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- Genres
- Hard Scifi, Psychological, Generally weird stuff, fantasy is cool, modern fantasy is also cool, crime/film noir
〘POLARIS.〙- PROLOGUE.
The sound of whirling machinery and digital notifications buzzed around the room as people moved about the office, sometimes leisurely, sometimes urgently. The massive radar system was projected on the center screen, as well as personal ones. It was another day in the Signal Analysis Department, the center of monitoring any shell activity around the Polaris. It was a lunch break, as only a few employees were scattered about the silicon lined room.
And just like that, without a single warning, a notification box sprang into every staff member's screen, along with a sharp ringing sound that caught the attention of even those on break. The center screen's radar map displayed a glowing red dot on the very edge of the screen, some who were too close to the screen tilted their heads completely up just to catch a glimpse of it.
The more senior operational staff looked at each other in confusion, the Outer Communication Layer was the furthest that signals could transmit, there has almost never been a distress signal caught that far from the Polaris. Even the most calculated shell expedition teams rarely wander that far, as communication becomes extremely unreliable at that point.
"Check for the nearest outposts!" A dark haired woman with a commanding aura exclaimed at the scurrying staff members. A few senior members remembered that possibility of a breached underground outpost, it was a rare occasion, but a possible one.
"Search results null!" One voice raised above the chaos.
"Closest outpost is outside of communication range!"
"Distance is considered improbable for travel."
"Commander...signal noise is strong, it is certainly one of our distress beacons...but we cannot rule out the possibility of a false positive."
The room fell into silence after the short amount of chaos, as many realized the difficulty of the situation: it will be hard to decide what to do with this distress beacon. In a location so far away from home, sending out a rescue team would be greatly endangering that team, especially with the possibility of a false positive. But if it was a real cry for help…
"Contacting the Decypher Department and Caravan Teams, we'll-"
"-No." The staff member who made the suggestion was cut off by the commander, "If we let the Caravan Team know, he'll-".
"I will what?" The holographic projector in the middle of the room glowed up for a moment and projected out the image of a man in an administration uniform - Halley Friedmann, the auxiliary commander of Polaris' Caravans. "I am already processing this mission, is there an issue?"
"What?" The head of Signal Analysis opened her eyes wide in shock at the statement, only minutes have passed since the signal was received, yet a rescue mission is already being processed. An extremely dangerous and ambiguous one to boot. "You can't order operators out there in good conscious, you-"
A holographic screen slid into existence as heat in the room rose.
A green "Approved" box and the Captain's signature was on the corner of the projected documents. "I am not ordering anyone to do so, but I want to give whoever is out there a chance." Halley Friedmann's ability was widely known, as he was able to hold multiple full conversations in various places simultaneously.
"I've received a full list of standby operators from all departments, I'm speaking to 90 of them right now."
"90!?" The Signal Analysis Department turned some heads on hearing the number, "how many do you expect to respond to going to a place like, like that?" The commander pointed at the glowing red dot on the radar map.
"About...five, or six? If there isn't enough I'll ask more, oh?" The document that was laid out began to change as profiles of a few operators began to appear.
The sound of whirling machinery and digital notifications buzzed around the room as people moved about the office, sometimes leisurely, sometimes urgently. The massive radar system was projected on the center screen, as well as personal ones. It was another day in the Signal Analysis Department, the center of monitoring any shell activity around the Polaris. It was a lunch break, as only a few employees were scattered about the silicon lined room.
And just like that, without a single warning, a notification box sprang into every staff member's screen, along with a sharp ringing sound that caught the attention of even those on break. The center screen's radar map displayed a glowing red dot on the very edge of the screen, some who were too close to the screen tilted their heads completely up just to catch a glimpse of it.
[MAJOR DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED - Location: OUTER COMMUNICATION LAYER]
The more senior operational staff looked at each other in confusion, the Outer Communication Layer was the furthest that signals could transmit, there has almost never been a distress signal caught that far from the Polaris. Even the most calculated shell expedition teams rarely wander that far, as communication becomes extremely unreliable at that point.
"Check for the nearest outposts!" A dark haired woman with a commanding aura exclaimed at the scurrying staff members. A few senior members remembered that possibility of a breached underground outpost, it was a rare occasion, but a possible one.
"Search results null!" One voice raised above the chaos.
"Closest outpost is outside of communication range!"
"Distance is considered improbable for travel."
"Commander...signal noise is strong, it is certainly one of our distress beacons...but we cannot rule out the possibility of a false positive."
The room fell into silence after the short amount of chaos, as many realized the difficulty of the situation: it will be hard to decide what to do with this distress beacon. In a location so far away from home, sending out a rescue team would be greatly endangering that team, especially with the possibility of a false positive. But if it was a real cry for help…
"Contacting the Decypher Department and Caravan Teams, we'll-"
"-No." The staff member who made the suggestion was cut off by the commander, "If we let the Caravan Team know, he'll-".
"I will what?" The holographic projector in the middle of the room glowed up for a moment and projected out the image of a man in an administration uniform - Halley Friedmann, the auxiliary commander of Polaris' Caravans. "I am already processing this mission, is there an issue?"
"What?" The head of Signal Analysis opened her eyes wide in shock at the statement, only minutes have passed since the signal was received, yet a rescue mission is already being processed. An extremely dangerous and ambiguous one to boot. "You can't order operators out there in good conscious, you-"
A holographic screen slid into existence as heat in the room rose.
[Voluntary Outer Layer General Search Team (Temporary)]
A green "Approved" box and the Captain's signature was on the corner of the projected documents. "I am not ordering anyone to do so, but I want to give whoever is out there a chance." Halley Friedmann's ability was widely known, as he was able to hold multiple full conversations in various places simultaneously.
"I've received a full list of standby operators from all departments, I'm speaking to 90 of them right now."
-
MIR NOVITSKAYA
-
The clink and clank of the Shell Relic Research Wing was unaffected by the chaos in the other departments, it rang on like the sterile, scientific machine it was intended to be, with researchers and scientists working away on the latest findings from the planet.
"Operator Novitskaya?" The research wings were always abundant with good projection and display devices, so it was easy for a digital life form to get around. This was exactly what Halley was doing after he made sure no researcher would mistake him for a virus from the shell, as he approached Mir Novitskaya, one of the standby GPOs he could speak to. According to her files from other expeditions, Mir had quite the knack for shell excavation. Halley had hoped she would take it up for a chance to wander further out.
"Halley Friedmann, from the Caravan Teams." He gave a quick salute to the lab coat wearing young woman, since it was hard for auxiliaries to shake hands or interact otherwise. "I have a deployment request for you, a request, not an order. It's about the shell."
A file opened up, displaying the radar map around Polaris, and the bright red signal that dotted the edge. "The higher-ups deemed it too distant to launch a rescue crew for this, I'm looking for volunteer operators to investigate this on an expeditionary rescue mission, whether it's from one of us or not."
-
SEBASTIAN ERGO
-
The lower residential sectors weren't a good place for digital life to get around, the wiring was aged and the display devices often flickered or were straight up damaged. It was a no brainer as to why most auxiliaries with the semblance of a vanity streak didn't like it around there.
Buzzt-"E-excuse me, operator Sebastian Ergo?" Some of the aged electronics in an alleyway popped with jolts of static as Halley finally tracked down another on his list. This one took a while, so he hoped that despite the voluntary nature of the operation, there would be someone with enough military experience.
"Hello, I'm Halley Friedmann, with the Caravan Teams." A slightly flickering version of the operation briefing opened on the aged roadside digital display as the commander introduced the situation, "I understand you're currently on break, so you can refute this, but this is an official deployment request." The red notice dot on the map document swayed into an oval as the screen glitched again, "it's a recuse officially, but also quite the deep expedition, we won't know what will be encountered...or found."
The sound of static electricity crackled a bit as the display strained with containing a sentient life form. "Please consider it, I will try to send the full debrief to your residence!"
-
PLATON JARKKO
-
A quick scan of the atmosphere in the room displayed quite some concentration of alcohol particles, a physical person probably could smell it, a digital person could sense it from the sheer amount of data rushing in. The management of the building seemed quite shocked about being visited by an administration member, it was almost like they didn't know this place housed a GPO...or maybe they just couldn't internalize it.
"Hello? Operator Jarkko?" Halley showed up early, but it wasn't long until the room's resident returned. "Hi, please, stay calm, I'm with the Caravan Teams, Commander Halley Friedmann." Not a lot of people were used to seeing their civilian displays being used by an auxiliary, so being fast about explaining was key.
"This is a deployment request...well, if you want, it's a request." The amount of alcohol particles that were present did dull the confidence a bit, but the briefing documents were pulled up anyways. "It's quite far away, but it is technically a rescue mission. Getting a high compatibility operator with them would better their chances." Halley understood that Platon Jarkko might not be the best choice, the VDA made it very clear to him...and is still making clear to him currently...and is complaining about how this was in their jurisdiction, but at least he got what he needed.
"Oh right, if you are worried, here." Another document popped open on the screen. "Special Permit for Deployment - Platon Jarkko". Approved by the VDA.
-
VALERIE SOLIN & FRANCOISE MONTAGNE
-
There were quite the amount of alcohol particles in the air, it even made digital life forms feel a bit drunk with the amount of unusual information about the atmosphere flowing into their system. At least the location of it was a bar, where it was acceptable. What was less acceptable was a member of Polaris' administration suddenly appearing on an entertainment facility's display screen, and answering the bar trivia question in the process.
"Hello everyone," Halley tried his best to remain friendly with the amount of civilians present. "Apologies, this may seem unusual, but I need to speak with operator Valerie Solin and Franciose Montagne on an urgent matter, could all civilians present vacate the area?" He flaunted the digital rendering of the Polaris' administration logo on his uniform as the bar employees shuffled nervously. "I'm talking with Residential Commercial Affairs right now, I can assure that you will be compensated."
As the patrons of the location slowly filtered out, Halley took a sigh of relief, being able to knock out two in one in the residential area. It was hard for auxiliaries to navigate some areas, and some residents weren't nearly as up to date on GPO related affairs, even if they could live right by one. It was good though, in some sense. Just like the two operators he is trying to recruit, the semblance of normality was pretty important. Calm, reliable, and more alive than when - the silence of the room cut off that train of thought as all but the two operators have left.
"Right, let's get to business then." The debriefing document with an area map and the bright red symbol displaying the signal received was pulled up on the display. "This is a deployment request from the Caravan Team, I'm Halley Friedmann, and I'm looking for members for this voluntary mission." He announced to the two remaining individuals in the location. "And don't worry, operator Solin, I will handle anything you need to file with Analysis."
-
SAFIRA LENAX
-
"Ugh." Even as a multi-century old auxiliary, Halley flinched quite a few times as he traversed the lower residential area. Not only that the electronics were aging, the infrastructure itself was often held up poorly. It couldn't have been much safer from breaches than the top sector, without any of the comforts to boot. I should talk to Residential Affairs about this too...sometimes, it's not ok to be this close to the engines anymore. The fact that Saira Lenax, a first generation GPO, decided to remain in a place like this with her orphanage was quite the testament to her character.
"Hello there, operator Lenax." There weren't many usable devices for auxiliaries around, so a door answering system will have to do. Halley struggled a bit to remember when was the last time he got this desperate, but went ahead with the mission debriefing, even if the screen was a bit small. "I'm Halley Friedmann, from the Caravan Team, sorry to intrude." The missional files were up, though it was a bit hard to see, "it's a voluntary rescue mission." The terms "voluntary" and "rescue" being put together really felt wrong, and it pressed for some sort of explanation, "the location is quite far away, there are considerable unknowns, an official recuse won't be approved in time, so it's also an expeditionary mission."
The answering machines crackled a bit as it's information transferring capacities were being strained to its limits. "I will leave the debriefing files on your personal devices," Halley took a small bow as he prepared to head off. "Please consider it."
"90!?" The Signal Analysis Department turned some heads on hearing the number, "how many do you expect to respond to going to a place like, like that?" The commander pointed at the glowing red dot on the radar map.
"About...five, or six? If there isn't enough I'll ask more, oh?" The document that was laid out began to change as profiles of a few operators began to appear.
Temporary Rescue-Shell Exploration Team V0915 - Member Requirement Reached.
TEAM ESTABLISHED - ALL MEMBERS PLEASE REPORT TO SOUTHWEST CARAVAN HANGERS
〘POLARIS.〙- CH1: TEMPORARY RESCUE TEAM V0915.TEAM ESTABLISHED - ALL MEMBERS PLEASE REPORT TO SOUTHWEST CARAVAN HANGERS