Deep Red

[Insight]

[sblock=Game Stuff]This is an introduction to a new GURPS 4th edition game that's in the planning stages. More information about the game and setting will be provided as this moves along.[/sblock]

DEEP RED


Final transmissions from Dr. Colby Wainwright, technician aboard the Deep Red Mars Orbital Platform, as of July 18th, 2037

April 17
I awoke this morning to a beeping noise coming from the interface. There had been zero activity for so long, I had almost forgotten that I'd built a cybernetic interface to track possible alien transmissions. The entire project was effectively an adapted version of something called SETI, from my youth, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. It never panned out and, during the War, all funding for such things was cancelled. My father had worked on SETI and what I knew of it came from him.

The transmission was faint but wholly undeniable. It beeped incessantly, speaking to me through that interface. Since I was the one who built the interface, I thought that perhaps the communication was meant solely for me. I had a deeper connection to what came through and was perhaps the only one who knew the significance of today's event. What a ridiculous idea.

This is more than mere coincidence or some figment of a transmission from Earth. The beeps were unmistakably artificial and non-random in nature. I know enough of chaos theory to know the difference. These beeps were an intentional transmission. Much more than a simple way for one alien civilization to talk to another. They were, to me, a symphony, a marvel, the first touch of God's index finger against my forehead. It was there, this transmission, for a fleeting moment and then it was gone.

I must tell someone. The world has to know! But first, my find needs to be verified. I'm not about to stake my personal and professional reputation on something that later turns out to be a mistake.

 

[Insight]

April 18
I checked the instrument array. I checked the calibrations. I ran equipment tests -- twice. I tested the recording gear. I tested the network inside Deep Red. I tested the power. After all of that, I had CyberDoc test my hearing and vision. I did all of this before I could even consider letting another soul know the truth. My discovery is real. It wasn't real -- it couldn't be real -- until I knew for certain that there was no other possibility.

At the moment of realization, I am frozen in place, staring at the huge red planet just below. Mars captivates my thoughts at this moment because the transmission could not have come from anywhere else. This lifeless, red orb now held the very real possibility of life, at least that life had at one time existed there and may yet still exist. At the very least, someone had sent out those beeps.

I spent some time today trying to decipher the transmission. Unfortunately, cryptology is not an area of my expertise and simple math cyphers were unable to make anything intelligible out of the transmission. It can't just be beeps. It has to mean something. What is Mars trying to tell me? I stare at that blank red landscape and wonder if any of this is real. Wonder if I'm real. I still struggle to decide whether the inhabitants of Planet Earth that humanity is no longer alone.

 

[Insight]

May 5
It's been two weeks or so since I revealed the truth of my discovery to my planetary masters. I prepared a report, which took the better part of twelve hours to write and rewrite and rewrite, until I was sure it was ready for other eyes to see. It's been more than a year since I saw another human being in the flesh and I fear that my communication skills have atrophied in that time. Still, eventually I was happy enough my with report to submit it to NASA and hope for the best.

Would they think I had gone nuts up here? Would they summon me back to Earth for psych evals? Would an "accident" be arranged to hasten my demise and cover up what I had discovered?

I've been out of the loop for more than a week. NASA had some initial questions for me and then all communication just stopped. Until this morning. It turns out that my little report has made quite a journey since I submitted it a few weeks back. The report had made its way up the chain of command at NASA, through incredibly safe hands with secret clearances, to the Board of Governors, to the Director, and from there, who knows? The NSA? the CIA? the Pentagon? Congress? Evidently, word has now made it all the way to the President of the United States. I know this because Rusty, my ground contact at Houston, has informed me that the President will be delivering a speech to the United Nations, informing all of Planet Earth that intelligent life has been found elsewhere in the universe. Perhaps someone on the ground has deciphered what I couldn't. Perhaps they have learned the significance of the transmission. I doubt this much fuss would be made over simple beeps. I wish they would clue me in on what's really going on.

I guess I need to realize my place in all of this. Still, this is a big moment. I'm sure to be put in the spotlight, and this is something for which a life in academia and science has hardly prepared me.

 

[Insight]

May 7
Rusty just told me that the President's speech to the U.N. will be tonight. NASA has arranged for me a special link to watch the speech live. Or as live as you get millions of miles from Earth. I wait, slightly terrified, to see how this staggering information will be presented to the world.

...

I watched the speech with my hands clenched, my breath shallow, my nerves completely on edge. I was hoping that, somehow, as the speech went on, something of what NASA or some other agency had deciphered of the transmission would be revealed. Though President Gill was eloquent and his words were well thought out, it was plain to me that one of the goals of this speech was to tell as little as possible of details and speak mainly of broad generalities. Still, I was on edge the entire time, knowing that this speech was a direct result of my work. I could barely watch the entire thing. He even mentioned my name! This is a victory for science, for the pursuit of exploration, and for humanity itself. I can barely contain my excitement enough to continue this log.

I know this revelation will have a profound impact on my career and my life. And I know changes are coming in the short term. Everything is different now. I can only hope to survive the ride that's due to come.

 

[Insight]

May 9
To this point, my existence in Mars' orbit has been somewhat mundane. Sure, I'm stationed on an orbital observation platform circling the red planet, a position enviable of anyone in the scientific occupation, but it's been quite routine. And quiet. And lonely. My prior 362 days have consisted of running diagnostics on the sensor array, performing routine maintenance on both internal and external hardware, and reporting my mostly boring findings back to NASA.

The beeps have changed all of that. I've now been in constant communication with Earth. Today, my mission has officially changed from mere observation to that of exploration and survey. I'll be remote-piloting robotic drones to Mars and directing them around the red, rocky landscape. I won't be heading down to the red planet myself, because the good people who designed the orbital platform didn't have the foresight to equip me with suitable env suits for such a trip.

I've achieved somewhat of a celebrity status back on Earth, though I haven't set foot on my home planet in more than a year now. I just finished an interview with the Lunar News Services and after I finish this log, I'll be talking to a reporter from Atlantis Information. I'm in the odd position of being in the spotlight and I'll be honest. It's a little uncomfortable.

 

[Insight]

June 1
A few computer malfunctions and assorted hardware crashes wiped out my prior weeks' logs. I'll try to quickly summarize here.

The last few weeks have been a blur of activity. When I wasn't working feverishly to survey possible colony sites, I've been fielding interview requests, NASA commands, and communications from both the U.S. government and other world governments. I've also been compiling reports for various agencies, some of whom I'd never heard of. The televid interviews were probably the most interesting. Most of the rest of it was pretty boring. Busy, but boring.

The experience has been harrowing, to say the least. I've been lucky enough to catch a few hours of sleep here and there. Who has time to sleep when one is on the cusp of a new era? I can hardly afford to stop and catch my breath.

 

[Insight]

June 3
One of my rovers has seen something interesting and I've been working mostly nonstop to get a better look at it. Meters tell me that this "thing" is metal, possibly aluminum or some other light, shiny alloy, but I can't be sure right now. The camera on my rover died when it was about to capture some more shots and for the last two hours, I've been trying to pilot other rovers into the area to figure out exactly what we've found. Driving these things remotely for several meters isn't much of an issue, but when we're talking about several kilometers, it's more than a little jarring. After twelve hours of this, I was dog-tired. The CyberDoc keeps telling me of the dangers of sleep deprivation, but honestly, I'm about the shut the thing off. I'm fine. Really.

...

OK. Maybe I'm not fine. Maybe I've gone a little crazy, out here... alone. I piloted those bots into the south slope of Calaveras Mons, where my first scouter caught sight of that glint of metal. Now, all four scouters have died. On top of that, I have no additional stills or video to study because all four cameras and backup cameras gave out in right about the same spot. Is it a coincidence? Am I imagining things? Or is some sort of intelligence disabling or destroying my bots? I wish that I could go down there to get a look for myself. What's going on down there?

 

[Insight]

June 4
What started off as simply a curiousity has nearly consumed my thoughts in the past 24 to 48 hours. Given yesterday's results, I've been hesitant to send any more scouters to the southern slope of Calaveras Mons. I have only four more bots and a lot of the planet left to survey. One of them is at Olympus Mons and will be staying there. One is at the northern pole and would take weeks to maneuver into the southern hemisphere. Another is at the south pole and unlikely to move from there. That leaves me with one spare rover and I'm trying to decide whether to send it to the Calaveras site.

My NASA minders are likely to deny any request to divert further resources to Calaveras. They haven't seen what I saw. They don't know what might be there. Metal means technology. Metal means civilization. 70 years of Mars exploration have never revealed anything nearing this sort of find. Investigating this event may fall to me and I hope I'm up to the challenge.

 

[Insight]

June 7
The beeps came again. This time, I was a little more ready for it. I scrambled to the interface console and quickly enabled the recording component. The burst transmission lasted 13.1 seconds. A little longer than last time. I was able to use the interface to compute a possible origin point for this transmission. The TriCalc is still working on the data, but preliminary results definitely back up my initial contention that it came from Mars. Possibly the southern hemisphere. Possibly right where my rovers died. What a surprise.

Rusty at NASA Houston just told me that the brass is sending a crew out here. Not sure about their mission. They'll be here in a week. I can't wait to see another live human being. I could tell Rusty wanted to tell me more, but... They're listening. They're always listening.

 

[Shades of Green]

Sounds great! So, I guess that the PCs would be that follow-up team of astronauts...