(Unknown Structure, 2200 km East of Starborn, Star’s Reach)
The alien structure was both surreal and mundane at the same
time. You can tell a lot about a species by how they shape their buildings. Not
just the externals, but the shape and placement of the doors and hallways as
well, to say nothing of the placement and intensity of the light fixtures. All
of these things told a story about different species.
Ihm buildings and ships, for instance, have doors that are
wider at the bottom than they are at the top, to account for their tails being
more active, while their door controls are obviously fitted for hands with
claws, and they prefer to have ramps instead of stairs where they can get away
with it. Gauz, on the other hand, build everything extremely sturdily, due to
their high-gravity heritage, and their doors tend to resemble hatches on a submarine
more than anything else, while they rarely have stairs, instead using lifts
between floors. Meanwhile, the Knelfi prefer everything to have more rounded
edges, and so their doors are oval shaped when they can get away with it, or at
least the door frames will have rounded corners if an oval door isn’t practical,
and in all but the most utilitarian buildings the corners of the walls where
they meet the ceilings and floors, or turn corners, have all been rounded off,
and even the stairs are more likely to be spirals than normal staircases. The X’thari,
though? Their ships are all more ‘organic’ in nature, and so you have tubes
rather than hallways, and the doors are usually circular, and formed like a
sphincter.
So, while it wasn’t an exact science, we could tell a few
things about whatever species built this place right off the bat. First, the
halls were rectangular, and made of a white metal that our scanners refused to
identify. This meant the species had advanced metallurgic knowledge, and were probably
‘tool users’, like other races. The light fixtures were the really odd part.
They seemed to be inset into the walls and ceilings, but we did not see any
mechanism, and we wouldn’t have known they were there if they hadn’t started
coming on, raising their brightness by increments until it was like being
outside in the noonday sun. It actually got a bit brighter for a moment, but the
moment we started shielding our eyes, it backed down to something more pleasant
for humans. This told us that whoever built this place expected a variety of
species to come here, and had systems in place to make the local light as
comfortable as possible.
This was all we could tell just from stepping through the
massive doorway. The size of the door meant that the species could have been
much larger than humans were, but the ‘road’ leading to the ‘spacepad’
suggested that this was an area where cargo might have been moved in and out of
the facility, which would need more space than personnel quarters. The fact that
they were expecting varied creature types (as evidenced by the automatically
scaling brightness) meant that this area was also not going to be built to the ‘normal’
of the species’ build.
We were cautious as we moved through the hallway. After all,
the security systems might be on other settings than the cargo door, especially
if we tried to access parts of the facilities we weren’t authorized for (which
was all of them). The fact that we couldn’t scan the walls, much less anything
that might be behind the walls, meant that we were going in blind. I didn’t
like going in blind, unless I had at least some assurance that my group would
have the upper hand when it came to firepower. And that didn’t apply, here.
We approached another massive door, but this one didn’t just
magically open for us. Instead, a blue hologram roughly human size and shape,
but completely nondescript and lacking in detail, like a three-dimensional
render that hadn’t gotten around to adding in things like a nose, eyes, face,
or deciding on gender, appeared in front of us. From all around, there was a
sound that started like fingernails on a chalkboard and ended with a low,
pleasant hum. Evidently, now we were going through audio calibrations. This was
a decent sign, at least. It meant that the facility wanted us to know about it.
Well, let me rephrase. That was potentially good. There was every chance that this could be some
elaborate plot or ploy to draw us to our dooms, but I didn’t think so. Not way
out here in the middle of nowhere. More likely, this was some kind of ‘getting
to know you’ approach to first contact situations, to try and keep things from
getting too weird, too fast.
The hologram was now ‘speaking’. Well, I assume it was
speaking, since it was making noise and performing simple hand gestures with
its nondescript hands. Fortunately, I had a solution in mind. “Raven, do you
think you can work with this computer to work out some kind of translation
base? Knowing what we’re dealing with would help a lot, and it looks like we’re
not moving forward until we get some common ground with this hologram. I’d
rather not go shooting things or blowing them up until I’m certain we’ll need
it. No sense pissing off the alien computer if we don’t have to.”
Raven considered for a moment, and said, “There are risks to
the procedure. This cloned fragment of my core program is currently unable to
communicate with the ship, due to the material used in the building’s
construction, so if something happens, I will lose all memory of what has
happened since we moved into the building. I can use the external communication
devices to link to the computer more safely, allowing us to meet on ‘neutral
ground’, as it were. But there’s still a danger if this computer views the
interface as hostile.”
I considered for a moment, and then nodded. “We don’t have
much choice, since there’s no translation for whatever super-ancient language
this is. Even my Polyglot ability isn’t letting me understand this language. It
might not even be an actual language, but more of a first contact code, like the
Nuevo Edoans used when we first met them, and we are just too alien to these
people to understand what their frame of reference is. Pass the translation to
me as it comes through, and that may help speed things up.”
“Understood, Captain. There is what looks like an access panel
here that I should be able to interface with. The physical access point is
similar to the ones in the historical archives seen when people first made a
physical study of the Gateways. We may be able to communicate on the same
frequencies.”
“Try it, and then use a physical connector if that doesn’t
work.”
Stepping up behind me, Jackie, the leader of the Valkyries,
said softly over the team comm line, “Master, does that mean this is a
Gatebuilder facility? If so, this would be the first time anyone has ever found
anything that could be positively linked to them besides the Gateways
themselves.”
I shook my head softly. “Too early to determine that,
unfortunately. The Gatebuilders are so far beyond our understanding that we’d
simply be guessing at this point. There’s an equally good chance that this was
simply the standard connector and communication protocol of the spacefaring
civilizations at the time, much like how most companies produce communicators
with identical connector sites and power cords, so you can easily share cords
with friends. Well, except those MacRintosh people from the Apple system. Damn
bastards keep everything proprietary so you have to pay extra for everything
they make. Felt good to tell them to go to hell when they came to the Dimiya
office wanting to try and sell their ‘business grade’ communicator plans.”
Jackie chuckled, and said, “But Master, doesn’t Black Star
keep the vast majority of our work proprietary? I certainly haven’t noticed any
fleets with quite our level of tech. And our commlinks are designed to be hard
to hack.”
I chuckled at that. “Ah, but that is a technological edge we
keep to prevent people from undermining our business. We make our stuff better
than other people, and that’s going to cost more. We don’t make all the
communicator ports a unique shape with a proprietary protocol so that they only
work with Black Star communicators using Black Star access cords that can only
be charged by Black Star charge cables, and so on. That kind of business model
is good for pissing people off, in the long run. As soon as someone comes along
with an item that is as good as yours but doesn’t have all your forced
exclusivity headaches, then you’re going to see people picking it up unless you’ve
gotten yourself a cult following.”
Raven cut in at that point, before I could really get into
my diatribe about shitty business practices in the consumer electronics market.
“Captain, I believe I have made contact with the computer controlling the
hologram. It is still unclear whether this is the same computer that is in
charge of the facility as a whole, or a subordinate system. Using the modern
first contact protocols as a base, we are starting with binary code, and moving
into other languages as we form a translation base. Working on English first.
When that is done, further translation packages will be much faster to install.”
I nodded, and said, “Good. What is the estimated run time on
the translation software? I know you’re good, but this is a wholly alien
computer system. Even if it is apparently designed to learn and adapt to those
entering the facility, it should still take quite a bit of time to reach a full
translation, right?”
“Yes, Captain. I estimate that, working alone, with the
resources on hand, the computer should have a working knowledge of English,
enough to facilitate translation of the systems in this facility, at least, in
twenty-four hours at the earliest. However, given your Polyglot ability, we may
be able to reduce that time significantly if we run the translation through
your HUD until you become able to read the language. That way, we can explore
the facility while the system works on language skills.”
“I am uncomfortable allowing the mysterious alien computer direct
access to my HUD, Raven. Route it through your communicator and mine, with double
security checks to ensure that the alien computer is not getting any direct
connection. Allow translations, but no direct contact. When the language
unlocks, I’ll communicate verbally with the computer, rather than exposing team
comms.”
Raven nodded. “I believed that was what you would say, and
have it ready to set up. Unknown how long it will take you to pick up the
language, but this should reduce our time frame considerably.”
I took a breath, and then looked to the group. “All right,
everyone, we’ve got some time to kill while we wait for the computer to learn
our language so we can go wandering the halls without accidentally setting off
security alerts and getting ourselves killed. Rest as best you can, but full
containment protocols are still in place until the tests on this planet’s
atmosphere are done, and we know the purpose of this facility. So armor stays
on. Valkyrie Two, step out and give a report to Catspaw, so they don’t get
worried about us, and pass the word on to fleet.” I paused, and then said, “Raven,
you have a copy of the language they’re using?”
“Yes, sir, but the translation work is slow. This facility
apparently uses a Base 8 number system, but that is a mathematical calculation
which is easily performed. Establishing baselines for nouns, much less verbs or
sentence structure, will take time. A Russian speaker can meet an English speaker,
point at a tree, and call it a дерево, and the English speaker will understand
the general meaning, even if the language is foreign. We’re a few steps behind
that point, since we haven’t begun to translate the visual reference files the
computer has yet.”
I looked to Valkyrie Two, their cracker extraordinaire, and
said, “Think you can rig a physical connection between two commlinks running across
that doorway so that we can access the ships, and maybe bounce some of this
translation work off the fleet? That boost in processing power should speed up
the job greatly.”
Viessa considered that, and said, “Yes, Master, I believe it
can be done. If we run it through the Raven
itself, with Catspaw Four and Raven’s main self as additional checks to make
sure that nothing compromises fleet security, we should be able to increase our
processing power for this task exponentially, at the very least.”
“Raven, risk analysis?”
“Unknown. However, even just being able to access my systems
on the Raven will reduce the projected
time dramatically. We can then decide whether we wish to risk opening the link
to the rest of the fleet. The longer the system interfaces with our computers
without our understanding each other, the greater the chance of exposure or
damage due to accident or miscommunication, but if the entity is malicious or
programmed to perform espionage activities, the greater access it gets the higher
the likelihood of a deliberate data breach.”
I took a breath, and said, “Do it. Keep as close an eye on
it as you can. Limit the link to the Raven
itself until we know more about what we’re dealing with. I would really not
like to spend a whole day sitting on the doorstep while we wait to find out how
to say hello.”
Within minutes, Viessa had the link set up and ready, and we
were getting data coming from the outside, through the facility’s shielding. Raven
looked over to me, and said, “Processing time has reduced dramatically. Unknown
time remaining. Sending translations as they are rendered to your HUD.” I
nodded, and sat down in a corner to study what I was reading. Two and a half
hours later, I received a notification.
Polyglot
Activated
You have now mastered the Qaettel
language. You may read, speak, and write this language as if you were a
native speaker.
|
New Achievement!
Ancient
Polyglot
You have mastered a language that has
been dead so long in Known Space that there are no longer even any records of
its existence. You are the only known speaker of this long dead language.
+1000 Fame
Learning times on all unknown languages
reduced by 10%.
Learning times on all unknown languages
related to a known language reduced by a further 40%
|
You gain a new skill.
Knowledge (Xenoarchaeology) has
increased to 20/100.
+20 INT
|
I sighed, and stretched as I got to my feet. “All right, let’s
see what this hologram has in store for us.”
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Be sure to read my published works!
Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-stuart-grosse/1128941349?ean=2940161995297
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
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Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y
City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1
Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR
The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T
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