Babylon 5: Outrageous Fortune

[Shayuri]

"Terror seems like the appropriate response," Ashley murmurs in reply. "Just try to stay calm while you panic."

Then she addressed the 'holodaemon.'

"Who made you, Class X Holodaemon?" she asked carefully. "What interests do you represent in this matter? Not that I object to having a knowledgeable source...but I like to know who I'm dealing with."

 

[Dr Simon]

"Max" is still and quiet for a long pause after Ashley speaks, and just as you begin to wonder if he has shut down, he speaks again.

"The nature of my creation is unknown to me," says the holodaemon. "My function is to collect, collate and return data at regular intervals to a changing set of coordinates based on a complex algorithm. I am now required to pass that data on to you. I am unable to surmise as to what purpose." Max removes a datacrystal from an inside pocket and inserts it into the socket on his "vicker" implants. A pinprick LED flashes red, red, red, green. He removes the data and places down before him. Max then, again, sits passively.

[sblock=Croft]
The expression "holodaemon" rings some bells of recognition with Croft, but he is unable to place where it comes from. Perhaps the House Callo databanks will be more forthcoming.
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[Shayuri]

Ashley picks up the datacrystal and weighs it in her hand for a moment as she thinks.

"Well, we haven't got any other leads, so we may as well start with this one. Even so, I think we should try to verify as much of it as we can by checking through other sources."

She looked at Sakura. "You're a reporter, you must have contacts. Do you have anyone or know of anyone on the inside at VoidCorp?"

 

[Vertexx69]

Croft rubs his smooth face after listening to the cameraman, his gaze trailing off to nowhere. "There's something I need to check on, I'll catch up with you in a bit." And he takes his leave to find a secure terminal.

 

[Dr Simon]

Sakura takes a moment to respond to Ashley, rapt as she is with Max and the datacrystal.

"Er.. yes, yes," she says distractedly. "Me and Max have done a bit of digging on them before. The network wasn't too keen on that particular project. VoidCorp are big players in the Consortium, who in turn sometimes exercise a bit of muscle on LNN if they don't like a story. I can check through the contacts we made making that one. There were all sorts of odd goings-on - rumours that VoidCorp were hoarding oxygen supplies, rumours that they were backing this underworld figure called Tryce, illegal body-shopping, all manner of lurid stuff."

 

[Shayuri]

Ashley took a deep breath. "VoidCorp was backing Tryce...that's just perfect. We're in this deep...but I just...can't quite believe this is all over oxygen. VoidCorp is taking some big risks using this tech, and they must have spent a lot of money developing it, or buying it from whoever supplied it. Oxygen isn't so lucrative that it'd make that up, not for a long time."

"How long will it take you to contact your people, Sakura? I need to get in touch with some of my own in the meantime. We can meet back up again. But watch your backs. There's no telling if VoidCorps knows who we are yet, but it's best to plan for the worst."

 

[Leif]

Kirth Warren

Kirth whispers to Ashley, "So what's our plan now?"

 

[Shayuri]

"We need to get back to the ship, review this datachip and make a report of what we've found so far," Ashley tells him. "Where did Croft get off to?"

 

[Leif]

Kirth Warren

"Back to the ship! Really? Hooray! I miss 'my' engines so bad...and they never write." Kirth longs for the gentle tug of artificial gravity to replace the overwhelming feeling that he is being swallowed whole by a big planet.

 

[Dr Simon]

Croft is found and the group returns to the ship to regroup. Sakura promises to give you an update in 2 hours.

The datacrystal contains a vast amount of information - some technical files and a communication log containing thousands of messages. Sifting through it will take days to learn everything, although given a tight set of parameters the computer could narrow a search to a few minutes at most.

[sblock=Croft]
I assume Croft was contacting the House Callo archives to learn more about "holodaemons". Let me know if otherwise. Holodaemon is a term associated with the technomage order, used either to refer to an artificial intelligence or to a form of semi-solid projection. It is known that Emperor Mollari encountered a group of technomages in 2259 on board Babylon 5, where they claimed to be travelling to a hiding place in order to avoid the coming conflict. Since then, nothing has been heard of their order (although centuries may sometimes pass with no confirmed sightings. However, intelligence believes that a technomage going by the name of Galen is currently working with the crew of the Earth vessel Excalibur.
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