Frozen Soul, and other works: Prologue

(NERV Game Site – Official DAtS Offline Forums)

Number5Alive, Golddigger, BurtBacharach, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, l33tpally, Bennie, SEA-TAC_Sweetie, Requiesce-in-Pace, MacD, HaveGunsWillTravel, Guardian, GunKitty, Chummer, Inquisitor, Lizard, RedFox, SemiSolidSnake, ElfMama, Not_the_Face!, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, AggregatorOfSorrows, M.Mollen, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, BigGunn, Dolcett, Starwatcher, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, Hullu_Kapteeni, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, Queen’s_Bitch, BackDat@55Up, DoYouEvenDPS?, MajorTom, Parca, and DarkAngel are in the chat.

Blaze: So, any news on what is happening on that new world the Black Stars found?

Starwatcher: None. Several ships have gone to the gate address their fleet dialed when it left Nuevo Edo, but none have returned.

M.Mollen: Yes, a few trespassers unfortunately ended up getting caught while we were securing the system.

Knocker: Trespassers?

M.Mollen: Think of it like a store that is under construction. Breaking into the construction site is generally not permitted, yes? Since we were not ready to announce the grand opening, those people who were trespassing were stopped by the Black Star Fleet and given a very simple choice.

Lizard: What kind of choice?

GunKitty: “Become a slave or be destroyed.”

Anonymous3: No way! How can that be allowed?

M.Mollen: Well, if they have a problem with that, they are welcome to appeal to the local legal authority to hear their case.

Anonymous4: Who would the local legal authority be?

M.Mollen: Well, the ultimate military/security authority in the system would be the Admiral of the Black Star Fleet, which is me. However, for civilian matters, the ultimate authority in the system would be the CEO/Owner of the Black Star Company, which is me.

Knocker: How the hell does that work?

M.Mollen: Unclaimed space. First come, first served. So, unless someone comes along with enough force to take it from me, then it is mine.

Anonymous9: So, one of the interstellar governments, then?

Parca: Sure, if they wanted to come ‘the long way’. You gotta go through the Gateway one at a time, remember? Makes for a lovely shooting gallery if someone tries to come along uninvited.

Lizard: But that system is in another arm of the galaxy from the established powers!

Guardian: Which is part of the reason he isn’t worried about anyone trying anything. Unless they tried to come through Nuevo Edo or the Amazon system, they’d end up getting here sometime in the next fifty to sixty years, at the earliest. I’m fairly certain we’d be ready for them by the time they got here.

RedFox: As if they don’t have those Gateways watched.

Hullu_Kapteeni: Of course, we do. Which is why the pirate group heading for Nuevo Edo will be getting a much warmer reception than they had hoped for.

BigGunn: Hah! I knew it! The reason your fleet didn’t go through the Amazon system was because you knew we were there!

M.Mollen: Ooh, are you one of the pirates that were lying in wait on the Amazon Gateway, then? So, which group did you join, the people who don’t know they’re dead yet, or the ones who ran to live another day?

BigGunn: I convinced the others to follow me when it became clear that an ambush wasn’t going to work.

M.Mollen: I see. Well, the analysts have confirmed that, if we hadn’t been watching that system since we first liberated it, you could have done significant damage to our ships. The problems of going through the Gateway one at a time are universal, after all.

BigGunn: Glad to see that, at least, was true.

M.Mollen: Of course, I would have then hunted you down and exterminated or enslaved your clans, as a general principle, but that is beside the point.

MarcoPolo: Moving away from that, are you saying that if you explore closer to Known Space, that any discoveries might be taken away from you?

HaveGunsWillTravel: Yeah. Probably as soon as the nearest pirate lord or interstellar government hears about the new find, they’d send ships to ‘secure’ the system, and you’d be under, say, Imperial or Confederate control. Sure, you might be damn powerful, but you wouldn’t be the absolute head like the boss is.

Starwatcher: For those interested in exploration, the Black Star scout ship that was being built at Dimiya has launched. Two of their ‘gunboats’ escorted the ship out of the system.

M.Mollen: Yes, I am looking forward to seeing what happens with that ship. The crew of three is an interesting makeup.

Starwatcher: Three? Only two people were seen getting onto the ship.

M.Mollen: Ah, paparazzi never change. Anyway, yes, three. The Pilot, Mechanic, and AI. The AI was actually done under an arrangement with the dev team.

Anonymous3: What? Why?

M.Mollen: Medical testing for a new kind of immersion for players who may have… issues with large groups.

RedFox: Wait, there’s AI Nomads now?

M.Mollen: Only a few. It is still in medical testing, as I said, to see if the game can be used to help treat or manage autism.

DarkAngel: The fuck? How would that even work?

Medic_Oversight has entered the chat.

Medic_Oversight: The specifics of medical testing protocols cannot be discussed openly. However, certain facets of how the player experiences the world as an AI has shown positive effects in reducing or removing barriers individuals within a certain range of the autistic spectrum have to communication. As crowds or large groups are a common trigger for episodes and negative behavior in a large part of the spectrum, the test subjects have been put in small-group settings where socialization is necessary, but there is less pressure on the testers than in a face-to-face conversation or large-group situations. This initiative is one of several medical tests we are doing with the advanced EVA-02 medical pods, to help our users have the best game experience they can.

Knocker: Damn. That’s pretty cool. But why partner with Black Star?

M.Mollen: They reached out to me, since I was already in another section of the medical testing program, for those with permanent mobility issues.

Medic_Oversight: All individuals in the Medical Testing Initiative are constantly monitored for health and psychiatric issues, with teams on call to respond to emergencies, and counseling available if necessary. For more details on the Medical Testing Initiative, please visit the NERV website.

Medical_Oversight has left the chat.

Not_the_Face!: Damn, that’s heavy.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: Hey, getting some info from Alpha Centauri! Black Star ships just entered the system via the Gateway from the new address, en route to Sol. Looks like a repeat of their announcement of Nuevo Edo.

M.Mollen: Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

GrimDark: So this time, giving the Empress the first shot at trade deals?

M.Mollen: Exactly. Perhaps next time we’ll talk with the Alliance first, or the Ihm. But now that Star’s Reach is secured, and the infrastructure is starting to come into place, we’ll be opening for business soon.