Kick the puppy.
Some reference for others involved this week:
Major Bradley: UN Forces (high end AI) Harry Bryant: Mercabah Technologies Earth division Adam McGlean: Mercabah Technologies Mercury division Admiral Rossner: UN Forces Mystic
Relevant review of past news:
Day 28, still no communications with Mercury and no one has traveled to or from the planet. Scientists still have no explanation of its change in being more silvery.
The story continues…
Early Friday morning, 9-Jun-2299 after the briefing, Ridge asks whether anyone is adept at FTL theory, but everyone shrugs indicated they are not. Ridge hopes for a scientific explanation for FTL and not a magical cause. The spectral and thermal reading from the probes of the planet shows the dragons are warm-blooded.
Fey and Dr Peters head to crew quarters to get some well deserved rest. Noun and Trenton leave for the mess hall.
In the mess hall Noun shows Trenton and Malcolm his fork structure which he claims has been tampered with by some unidentified individual on the ship. Malcolm touches the forks in question and Noun is convinced the forks are now even more out of alignment, which neither Malcolm nor Trenton can tell the difference.
Trenton contacts Ridge and informs her of Noun’s impression that someone else is on board. Ridge has the computer run more diagnostics. Trenton hypotheses that some one else came through the archway that the ship sensors can’t detect. The three of them physically search the mess hall. Trenton notices a breeze near the hall door go by him and calls on Ridge to check with the computers.
The computer informs Ridge that Fey has turned invisible and that is what rushed passed Trenton. Ridge informs Trenton that is most likely just on of the other guests and not to worry. Noun rushes out into the hall and sees a gadget he doesn’t recognize on the floor. Just as he picks it up, a droid appears and says it was sent to recover the part that Noun had just picked up. Noun hands it over.
Trenton watching this decides there is nothing else to do and goes to his quarters to get some sleep. Noun gathers some wood and begins carving a dragon.
Malcolm heads to the cargo bay where the archway is being held to examine it. He doesn’t learn much, but feels a cold numbness as he approaches the archway. He also witnesses small pieces of the archway flexing slightly back an forth over an hour.
The ship begins moving out of the area, but suddenly stops as there are gravimetrical eddies that requires using thrusters to move slowly out of the area.
Fey reviews the rogue planet’s day and night cycle, studying the various trees, and other biological aspects of the planet. The dragons share many traits with various being she is familiar with, but doesn’t belong to exactly to any of them. The trees are similar to those she is familiar with; although something about how the leaves are being lost (autumn) that doesn’t quite make sense (requires more examination). The planet is doing fine with the day and night cycle that it is in–either it was with a similar condition they are used to or they readily adapt.
Ridge reviews the logs as the ship continues on its journey back. Examining the light that flashed from the FTL planet to Percepi, it has a thermal signature similar to one of the young dragons on the planet. It comes from inside of one of the buildings, through the roof, without leaving a hole. Twenty seven minutes later as the light approaches Percepi it resumes its young dragon form, but is invisible.
As the dragon approaches Percepi’s arboretum, two smaller heat signatures (invisible pixies) rise from the trees confronting the dragon. Tracking this signature, two pixies come up and there was some sort of stand off around 200 ft from the central tree. This is probably all mystically invisible. Continue following it, it goes around various places in buildings (presuming it didn’t make a switch) it comes back out. The image is about human sized (slightly bigger). Other mammal like creatures (possibly a mature one of the dragons).
The next few days it explores. 5 days later, the hear signature has a visual signature (never got close to people). In an alley way, a large human (20 year old woman, but the heat signature is larger–illusionary)?
It then interacts with people a little, but not a lot and is still antisocial, avoiding crowds.
On the day the planet disappeared, it was right outside the Percepi space port. Goes in a side entrance, 45 minutes later, the planet disappears. Shows people panicking and then six frames, blur, one frame of stretched pixels.
Malcolm summons several 6 foot tall bird-like creatures. They scan the café and note nothing unusual about the fork sculpture. Moving quickly to Noun’s archway in the docking bay, they warn it is a dark pit that is dangerous having properties they do not understand. They would be able guide one through it, but it leads to nothingness and it might not be possible to return. They also feel the coldness when approaching the structure. They believe the archway can be destroyed severing its connection to the void.
We dock with the space settlement.
Noun gives Dr Peters his wooden sculpture of a Chinese dragon (rather than European dragon).
The crew is sequestered for ten minutes as the 28 guests from the settlement enter. Once the guests settled, the crew moves to the briefing room, where Noun gets under a table and sleeps. The rest of the crew has some small talk while they wait for the briefing to begin.
Admiral Rossner and Major Bradley arrive. Malcolm starts with his understanding of the void, the archway, and its potential danger. Malcolm is asked to leave for the rest of the briefing since he did not sign the non-disclosure agreement. Malcolm contests he is cleared for the briefing. Admiral Rossner makes a check and tells Ridge that Malcolm is clear for all data.
A chronographic presentation is given, a complete briefing is done.
Andrew Peters adds he heard terrible things, undescribable. Infused every fiber of being, horrendeous fear, anger.
How did they survive? Noun shows his understandings, using tons of arrows. Ridge extrapolates, based on the Noun’s stuff, and shows the archway have tendrils stretching out saving them.
Fey says while inside they felt disembodied, and separate from everything else.
Dr Peters doesn’t quite understand, and wonders if anyone knows. Scientists will examine the arch. Trenton speaks that it was a pocket of safety. Noun seems to indicate it was just dumb luck that they got out in the ship and not in space. Maybe the ship found them, perhaps the light, or something? Ridge concurs they were lucky they exited in the ship. Perhaps the gravitic field opened it.
It exists in many dimensions, probably equally in each. Infinite dimensions (doesn’t even have to be rational).
The rogue planet should be kept secret. Many colonists from all the colonized planets are returning to Earth as they feel it may no longer be safe given the news about Percepi and Mercury. Details would be revealed as this is completed. The public demanded to know more, but no one found out. The planet now appears differently, but not sure how? More reflective than before (in the sky). Magical means have produced no information.
Admiral Rossner warns that all this information is classified and can not be shared with others. We’re all being hired by the UN Forces, getting pay, but for safety we’re being warded against divination magic.
Dr Peters feels he has nothing to offer, and is offered a place to stay. We’re each warded by the admiral himself as we enter the atmosphere. All 4.5 million are listed as “tentatively dead”.
Suspicious of the rogue planet and this individual and therefore, … We should assume that individual escaped on one of the transports. If this woman escaped it was by mystical transport and get logs, recording, etc.
Malcolm asks whether it can be rebuilt, Noun believes he can do it again-and the size is important.
Admiral says there are two issues here. Who is this woman/young dragon? Find out where and what it is doing. Second concerned what happened to Percepi, knowing little of what happened. Trenton notes his findings with the “woosh” that Ridge says was Fey who seems to come from. Deuteromic converter. Trenton says it also bent the forks (noun points to his fork thing).
Admiral says, that in order to ensure the future safety of the remaining colonies from this rogue planet, there is a plan to prepare a newly created weapon to destroy the planet. Ridge makes an educated guess this new weapon is what has happened on Mercury and relays that to the Admiral through Neural communications. The Admiral outwardly expresses surprise.
Fey asks what he feels and that he feels the same just being close.
We all get on the shuttle, and leave. The others will be carried off later. All of us are warded, in space it is inactive.
Trenton wonders whether that means magic does exist in space, since the warding doesn’t dissolve in space. Theories indicate that something is out there. Like trace amounts of O2, but not enough to live on.
The caretaker is a two faced entity, Gaia and Emanuel. Caretaker has only spoken twice to the Terrans.
We land, Major Bradley is assigned to check with our associate Mercada, to check on the status of his project and whether he is ready to go. If so, make sure it is all ready for Ridge. We’re to investigate and track this creature. Now that we’ve reached the planet and a list of all the transport schedules are downloaded (16 places) 9 earth, 2 luna, 2 mars, 1 laboro, 1 cannis, 1 lupis. Bradley is traveling to Luna (can check the first 11). The creature did transfer to one of the Earth base stuff.
We are told to find and follow the creature, but not to contact “her”. Arriving at Pax Artificium space port, we use the UN forces HQ computer and find 11 possible locations that the being could have gone to.
Rome Moscow Glacialis Xanidu NY London Bagdad Toyko Berlin
Both to Pax on lunar.
Trenton contacts his parents and tells them he found out what happen at Percepi, but can’t share it. Tell them he joined the UN to find out what he needs to do. He says he is on a special mission but can’t say more. He has found someone who can teach more about his magical skills. And says he needs to get back to his job and will let them know more later.
Scans tell us a woman like that was seen traveling in NY. Trenton finds that she leaves the port, tracked to an old bookstore, say 17 minutes away, telling Major that he is in an bookstore. Almost out of his meeting, and will be briefed soon on the next mission. 10 minutes later (we have coffee), Major says Bradley and his associates have returned and will meet in room 314b, we all go.
Admiral, Major Bradley, and someone new average, mousy brown hair 6’1” 20th century business suit, looks tired, middle aged. Introduced as Harry Bryant, Mercaba technologies. They all but own Mercury except in official name. In the news, they designed the radiation shielding to make it inhabitable. The CEO had just moved their in good faith of their technology. Typically a broker firm, but they did develop the shielding. Public blamed them, their Mercury division is no more.
We’re taking his ship that he’s been working on. The Admiral had asked me to investigate ways to savage what happened to Mercury. Checks with the Admiral to make sure we have clearance. He says that is wasn’t his companies’ fault, contrary to what has been said. We sense that he knows a lot more, and that it isn’t his companies’ fault is overly simplistic.
In short, the planet was completely converted to grey goo, which is a form of nanites that devour anything. It is theoretical that it can devour anything and use it all to build more of itself. They follow whatever programming that is given to them. They need to function on some level that is not currently possible (Eintein -al level). All the people are dead and all the material are now grey goo. Normally it would be abandoned, and that getting this stuff may be used as a last resort technique to combat them. It can be contained gravitic drives, and it would have no way to escape.
Harry Bryant states that the nanites can consume matter at a phenomenal rate. A starship would be converted nearly instantaneously. All of Mercury (at least the surface) took 20 hours. It is theorized that the sun would be able to destroy the nanites as might destruction magic, but it isn’t clear what else could.
Adam McGlean was demonstrating this nanite technology. He had been working with Royals. What is unclear is whether McGlean’s mystic abilities were needed or used to allow the nanites to reach their full potential. Harry hints that he’s not sure the consummation of Mercury was entirely an accident.
The group wonders whether Mercury is still mystically infused. Various scientists theorize that it would still be infused given it still has mass and therefore the gravitational forces should still be in effect.
A number of the group notices Dr Peters stare intently on Harry Bryant, some surmising he is using mind control to get him to say more. Harry gives Dr Peters a quick glare back, but doesn’t say anything else.
Admiral Rossner, Major Bradley.
Any scientists in Midguard, might be able to talk with them. Besides that’s not the task you are assigned to right now.
The “woman” (possibly a smaller dragon from the rogue planet) left the bookstore and is walking around in Central Park (currently by Bethesda fountain).
We are about to depart….
What does Mercury have installed for the party…
The nanites project, there is no information and no mention of Adam McClean. Strange absence of information…. Prominent in the nanite community.