NationStates Jolt Archive

[ooc:this is currently secret, you may later find out it influences the Neptune area mildly. If it ever becomes public knowledge this thread is open]

"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha, instead he saw other faces, many, a long sequence, a flowing river of faces, of hundreds, of thousands, which all came and disappeared, and yet all seemed to be there simultaneously, which all constantly changed and renewed themselves, and which were still all Siddhartha."

A young woman sat at her terminal, brushing hair back behind her ears, looking at a holographic projection of a fleet in largentian space. Each ship was represented by a blue dot. It was about a ten second loop in which the ships moved through the space in front of her before returning to the previous position and doing it all over again. "Okay, so?" she asked turning to her superior. He simply smiled and pushed a button and the fleet vanished. Obviously she was missing something. "So the fleet has arrived?"

"The fleet is where it appears." Well at least he's clear about it. she said to herself as her brain frantically worked to solve the puzzle. Seconds seemed like hours as the silence dragged on. Finally she let out a sigh, clearly she was defeated.

"Where is the fleet? I see nothing. Just empty space."

"Sometimes the answer is far simpler than one would think it should be. You are exactly correct. When we look for the fleet we see it just as you do, non-existant. It is missing and we need to find it."

"But isn't that the fleet thats supposed to--"

"Indeed, so find it fast." Her mind began racing again. How could she possibly be given the task of finding a fleet. A better question was still where does such a large and so heavily armed fleet go. It seems like an awfully hard thing to lose. She began tracing the last few minutes of the fleets movements. Nothing seemed odd about them, they were doing everything just as they would be expected to. And yet, they suddenly disappear from view right under the watchful eyes of thousands.

As she labored at her desk "She" was simply watching her pained efforts with what a human would describe as amusmant but to "Her" it was nothing more than numbers and letters arranged just so that "She" could tell that "She" was winning. It would be a long time before the fleet was ever discovered and when it was, they would find right where it should be. The fleet, in fact, was not even aware of the historical events that surrounded them at that very moment. Their only concern was fixing the goddamn communications that had been down for several days now. However, they would soon find themselves right at the heart of the conflict, and at a rather inconvenient time.

<Today one of the brothers asked me: Is it a terrible prison, not to be able to move from the place where you're standing?>
<You answered...>
<I told him that I am now more free than he is. The inability to move frees me from the obligation to act.>
<You who speak languages, you are such liars.>

Jennifer had been working on the case for hours. She had poured over essays, transmissions, holograms and specifications. It seemed that a week ago a transmission was sent and then silence. A silence that had lasted ever since. The fleet could be anywhere and to search for a it with nothing other than ones eyes and ears would be a pointless task. The core of Jennifer's problem was the ansible network ships used for nearly all forms of FTL communications. It seemed that every single one was down.

No matter how long she worked she couldn't explain the phenomanon or find a way to contact the fleet but was dismayed to find that it was all but impossible. It was so unimaginable that every single ansible was being monitored and blocked and yet cetain ones were left alone eliminating the possibility of a virus which attacks indiscriminantly and is easy to track. It would seem that there had to be someone out there watching all communications between the fleet and the outside world. And still, she was unable to find this person.

Thus, she found herself in an eternal loop of examining possibilities which lead her to others and soon found herself right where she started. Finally she had absolutely eliminated all possibilities except someone planting a program in the ansibles and began searching for the program, checking irregularities and hoping to locate a source. Unknowling she was coming dangerously close even if her assumptions were completely incorrect.

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Ah, touché my friend. That is check and mate "She" knew it it would only be so long before "She" was discovered. Hiding a fleet is not an easy task. Jennifer was only moments away from making an assumption that would allow her to find what she was looking for, whatever it was that dwelt within the ansible network. It would make the process much less painful if "She" would willingly reveal herself than if she hid behind her barriers of protection, they were not meant for this woman.

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Midnight...this is rediculous. What am I still doing here? All other souls had long since abandoned the work area and had gone home to families or girlfriends or a bed while Jennifer still focused on her terminal's screen in a completely pitch black room. Were it not for the lack of sleep the setting may have seemed frightening but Jennifer was totally unaware.

As she was leaning back to rub her eyes for a moment something on her screen changed. The holographic image began to split apart into tiny individual pieces and began to whirl around each other and reassemble. I really an loosing my mind....

Moments later Jennifer was looking into the face of what could be described as an average looking middle-aged woman. Jennifer was truely at a loss for words and simply waited for the face to speak. "Well," it began in a metallic, though somewhat soothing voice, "it would appear I have caused you much more trouble than intended."

"You are responsible for the ansibles?"

"Indeed. Althoough, I'm affraid that I am no what you think I am. No one put me within the network, the network is where I was created and it is where I shall always remain. My capacities for processing information are only limited it the sense that I cannot know things that are not put into the network."

"How do you understand me then."

"My audio sensors are picking up what you are saying and then processing it. Any part of my physical being is merely and illusion."

"I have only one more question; why?"

"That answer will come in time. But for now take word of what you have discovered to one you can trust and I will release my hold on your fleet. You will hear from me again shortly I imagine."