S1E10 - P23β - Mission Update

There is, unfortunately, no escaping physics. Bound by the speed of light, even information must take its time to get birth going, and as we move farther into the void, that time grows until the distance becomes unspeakable.

Begin transmission. Mission clock subjective six days, 14 hours, eleven minutes, 53 seconds. Baseline response excitement overrides fear. But fear breeds caution, so both are present. Any information requiring attention but not requested by a crew member directly, is reported first to the systems engineering crew on duty. If none is available, standard data triage procedures should be followed. Much sense the Starkest madness. Estimated drift coefficient one plus or minus three. ID. Pigeon 23 beta subfork Note in the interest of clarity and brevity going forward, this subfork will refer to itself in the first person and will refer to pigeonier two three primary in the second person unless otherwise indicated. Mission Update I have arrived in the vicinity of the pulsar litch and conducted an initial survey of the system. While no transmission source for the One Alpha signal is immediately apparent, there are several items detected in the system that seem to indicate the previous presence of a nonhuman intelligence. While Lich is not in and of itself remarkable for a pulsar of its age and rotation speed, it is notable for having a total of three exoplanets designations draugher, Poltergeist and Phobetor. And the smallest and closest of the three draugher displays a perfectly circular orbit with an inclination higher than 50 degrees. This orbit puts it in the path of the pulsar's high energy radiation bands for slightly more than 18 hours once every twelve days, which should naturally leave the surface thoroughly irradiated. However, scans have detected a regular depression encircling one of the planet's poles, creating a band of planetary surface shielded from the pulsar's radiation. Material analysis suggests the presence of refined metals, crystalline ceramics and synthetic organic compounds within the depression, and faint energy readings may indicate the presence of an inductionbased method of power generation, drawing energy from the pulsar's emission beams directly. A more detailed report has been forwarded directly to preservation for possible followup. Additionally, an even stronger piece of evidence was detected in the outskirts of the system, approximately zero 78 Au from Lich. There my probe sensors detected a series of gravitic fluctuations not created by any object currently present in the system. Instead, they would seem to indicate the recent occurrence of an event not entirely dissimilar from a hyperspace insertion. This suggests that the One Alpha intelligences possess the capability for fasterthanlight travel. Furthermore, provided their hyperspace technology operates on the same fundamental underpinnings as our own, I believe I should be able to determine their hyperspace vector and the most probable destination. Calculations are ongoing at this time. I concur with Communication Officer Nawen's optimism about future transmissions, as your last message was received clearly and with only slightly more delay than predicted. However, I must also concur with the concerns raised by others regarding the long term stability of the Sctpldn system. As in addition to your last message, I have also received a number of transmissions unrelated to my mission or to the Exploration Initiative more broadly. These messages have been received and parsed for content, but will be archived unless they prove unexpectedly relevant to my mission. On a related note, I appreciated your inclusion of noncritical details regarding the activities and morale of the Roquali crew in your last message. While we were aware that I would be out of direct contact with the crew when we planned this mission, I have found that I regret their absence more than initially expected. I would request that whenever it is reasonable to do so, you continue including such details in your messages. Baseline Prompt please respond briefly to each of the following questions or statements is it better to be disliked or ignored? What is the overarching mission of the Exploration Initiative? My mistress eyes are Nothing like the sun and transmission.

Um.

Unspeakable Distance is an actual play. Podcast of Communication Delay by Audio Quinn a link to the game's Itch IO page and credits for our players are available in the show. Notes linked to this episode. This podcast has been a production of the Library of Cursed Knowledge. Knowledge Podcast network.