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Researching a TITAN artifact

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Mon, 2011-12-05 14:05

Decimator

Researching a TITAN artifact

Scenario: a hypercorp with the majority of its assets on Venus has acquired a presumed TITAN artifact and wants to know what it does, how it works, and how to duplicate it. You are project leader and have been assigned a fail-deadly surface station on Venus to conduct your research. The station utilizes active cooling, without which it will overheat and implode. It also may incorporate any additional safeguards you desire. How would you proceed? Running away screaming isn't an option!

Mon, 2011-12-05 16:33

godmoney

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

I'll bite. dimensions? appearance? i would start with a full-spectrum of passive emissions from the object. results?

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Semper Ubi Sub Ubi!?!

Mon, 2011-12-05 17:05

Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

First step: make sure the communications setup is secure and hard to hack. Fill the base with Guardian nanites that cannot be reprogrammed. Use as dumb equipment as possible. Second step: use forks and remotes to do the direct investigation, keep an eye on their behavior and delete often. Third step: use a reverse engineering "clean room" approach where descriptions and instructions are transmitted to equally monitored teams implementing them in understood ways.

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Mon, 2011-12-05 23:19

D-Miller

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Push the large red button that says "Do not push" and see what happens next? :)

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-D

Tue, 2011-12-06 05:30

Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

An interesting twist on the story might be that the artifact has not done anything horrible (yet). Everything is perfectly safe. However, rivals or secret enemies within the corp are using the research lab as a way of getting rid of competitors due to "natural" accidents...

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Tue, 2011-12-06 15:52

Decimator

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

I've turned this into an actual RP [url=http://www.eclipsephase.com/you-research-titan-artifactgame]here.[/url] It'll be interesting to see how people actually manage a research project like this.

Tue, 2011-12-06 22:12

Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Everything I know about TITAN tech makes me worried that it would contain nanotech. While the crushing Venusian atmosphere would ensure that no Exsurgents created by it would survive, you'd need something capable of purging nanites effectively to ensure safety. The facility would need enormous amounts of counter-swarms and perhaps an anti-matter bomb. If a nanite leak is detected, they'll send a signal to detonate the bomb (only a matter of time before a TITAN swarm overwhelms the guardian nanites). All morphs in the facility would be extremely vulnerable to high levels of heat at a material level. The only connection to the surface would be by a transmitter on a balloon connected to the facility by a tether, with an air gap between them. All work would be done on manual, wired computers.

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[img]http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/982/exhumanbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/4473/scumbar.jpg[/img] [img]http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/1396/gatecrasherbar.jpg[/img] [code][@-rep +1, f-rep +2][/code]

Fri, 2011-12-09 09:37

fafromnice fafromnice's picture

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

throw it in the sun, contact firewall, make really big guy mad and not friendly anymore

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What do you mean a butterfly cause this ? How a butterfly can cause an enviromental system overload on the other side of a 10 000 egos habitat ?

Mon, 2011-12-12 07:45

Xagroth

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

I'd sit far, far away and keep waiting for the Venusian exurgent beings to come and release the artifact XD

Mon, 2011-12-12 14:27

#10

Tyrnis

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

fafromnice wrote:
throw it in the sun, contact firewall, make really big guy mad and not friendly anymore

And then start praying that it wasn't an item meant to turn a star supernova, or something else along those same lines. That's the problem with TITAN tech...even normally safe means of disposal might not be.

Mon, 2011-12-12 15:11

#11

Decivre

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Tyrnis wrote:
And then start praying that it wasn't an item meant to turn a star supernova, or something else along those same lines. That's the problem with TITAN tech...even normally safe means of disposal might not be.

I'm sure they have some pre-planned methods (Prometheus-inspired) for disposing of TITAN tech. In my campaigns, Firewall uses antimatter bombardment to destroy TITAN weapons atom-by-atom.

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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]

Mon, 2011-12-12 16:32

#12

fafromnice fafromnice's picture

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

anyway my answer is not a good one at worst the sun could feed the device with energy and I really want to know what is this device ... human are so curious :P so I say remote colony behind a pandora gate, this is not the best solution but it will keep an infection away of the solar system ... did i mention the big anti-matter bomb under the lab ?

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What do you mean a butterfly cause this ? How a butterfly can cause an enviromental system overload on the other side of a 10 000 egos habitat ?

Wed, 2011-12-14 07:58

#13

Xagroth

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Decivre wrote:
I'm sure they have some pre-planned methods (Prometheus-inspired) for disposing of TITAN tech. In my campaigns, Firewall uses antimatter bombardment to destroy TITAN weapons atom-by-atom.

That raises a lot of questions in the logistic department, since the only antimatter production facilities are in Mercury and around, and antimatter is really, really controlled ^^

Wed, 2011-12-14 11:21

#14

Decivre

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Xagroth wrote:
That raises a lot of questions in the logistic department, since the only antimatter production facilities are in Mercury and around, and antimatter is really, really controlled ^^

The supply of it is controlled, but it's use is virtually uncontrollable. Gathering antimatter for this use would be as simple as taking controlled amounts of fuel out of couriers, or using Firewall resources to divert small portions of a supply line on occasion. Remember that to absolutely destroy any object, you only need enough antimatter to equal the mass of the item to be destroyed. A courier holds 6 tons of antimatter in its containment unit. That's a lot of artifact destroying in one tank. Plus, there may be secretive means to acquire antimatter. Jupiter scoops that remain in orbit opposite any Junta operations, or even antimatter production facilities on Mercury that are owned by shell hypercorps of Firewall would do the trick as well.

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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]

Thu, 2011-12-15 08:33

#15

Xagroth

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Oh, I wasn't only talking about how to get it... but how to keep getting it and using it. After all, if antimatter explosions keep happening here and there as a routine, it stands to logic that the control of antimatter will increase, leading ultimately to Firewall being unable to keep using that resource. The only way they would be able to mantain it secretely and indefinitely would be to have their own Pandora Gate (and the fact that no mention of it has been provided in the official data suggests to me that Pandora Gates are related to the Bracewell probe somehow. Anyway, I see more fitting that Firewall would manipulate other TITAN-related organizations to destroy the items themselves (most likely by pushing the TITAN artifact to a point of unavoidable threat to humanity mere minutes before the Project Ozma frigate with antimatter warheads reaches the position...), but that's how I think of it ^^

Thu, 2011-12-15 15:48

#16

Decivre

Re: Researching a TITAN artifact

Xagroth wrote:
Oh, I wasn't only talking about how to get it... but how to keep getting it and using it. After all, if antimatter explosions keep happening here and there as a routine, it stands to logic that the control of antimatter will increase, leading ultimately to Firewall being unable to keep using that resource. The only way they would be able to mantain it secretely and indefinitely would be to have their own Pandora Gate (and the fact that no mention of it has been provided in the official data suggests to me that Pandora Gates are related to the Bracewell probe somehow. Anyway, I see more fitting that Firewall would manipulate other TITAN-related organizations to destroy the items themselves (most likely by pushing the TITAN artifact to a point of unavoidable threat to humanity mere minutes before the Project Ozma frigate with antimatter warheads reaches the position...), but that's how I think of it ^^

It wouldn't be particularly hard for Firewall to set up some sort of controlled enclosure where they can do these antimatter detonations out of view of prying eyes. A large, seemingly-uninhabited hab would be a great place to put TITAN relics and bombard them with streams of antimatter, without anyone being the wiser. Walls designed to shield the outside world from the gamma output could also be used to collect that energy to be used elsewhere. Hell, this would be a great way to set up a Firewall shell hypercorp that sells batteries and power supplies while helping the Firewall cause!

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Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age. [url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]