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Warehouse Crates

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jasonbrisbane jasonbrisbane's picture
Warehouse Crates
Hello All, I am running an adventure with the PC's (5) taking on a warehouse that they have accessed via Mesh (they actually have user access but they dont know that due to Edited Memories :) ) The crates inside are used for transporting not so legal materials for Triads and other nefarious organisations (ie Hypercorps) and so they need to be quite secure. (BTW, were on Lunar so whilst there is a "ban" on nanobots, some people have "special" dispensation... Im wanting to know how to make a crate secure and then how to make it hackable, etc... Ive got the following ideas - can you let me know what you think and what you might do to improve them... - created out of metal alloys they are very hard and very light. - They have an access jack for local access only, to prevent hacking via mesh. - there is a ego ID memory that stores allowed egos - the default Admin and the users who are allowed to access the crate. The admin is allowed to add another users from the Admins own memory/Mesh inserts. - The crates contain disassembler nanobots. If the secure crate is openned by an unauthorised person then it releases the disassemblers which then destroy the contents of the container (with instructions to stop at the edge of the crate and to not disassemble the crate itself - all that is left is a gray powder or slurry. - If the person accessing the secure box via jack is not an authorized person then it sends a message to the current authorized admins to see if they are allowed access. The response must come within a certain timeframe (2 minutes) of the access of the nanobots get released and all security users get destroyed - the admin can still reset the box for re-use. This means that those monitoring the mesh can get the communication, and spoof a reply from the admin that the person accessing the box is authorised, or is an admin. The crate then allows access. IS there anything else that you can think would be used in EP setting? Thanks Regards Jason Brisbane
Regards, Jason Brisbane
Lalande21185 Lalande21185's picture
Other things
jasonbrisbane wrote:
IS there anything else that you can think would be used in EP setting?
Yes. They can use miniature radio farcasters to prevent spoofing. They can use scrapper's gel and acid resistant crates to destroy the contents without using disassemblers. The scrapper's gel will also work much faster (it does more damage).
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The Green Slime The Green Slime's picture
Just to play devil's advocate
Just to play devil's advocate: Seems you're describing more courier safes or lockboxes than regular type mass shipping containers. In order of priorities, I'd guess shipping containers are required to be big, light, strong and then secure. Elaborate, networked locking software makes sense (maybe make an indentured ego/AGI live in each one? Like the parable of the gnome in the cave of treasure - he can only leave when someone else takes his place). But could a manufacturer justify the added weight (and implicit risk) of installing self-destruct systems in every crate, particularly in an age when space transport must be exorbitantly costly compared to digital transmission? All it would take is one of your business competitors to bribe a port janitor, and they could have your whole cargo 'accidentally' annihilated with ease. What's to stop the stevedores running an extortion racket on the owner of every crate they deal with? A simple silent alarm would make more sense - a self-destruct would immediately tip off the thieves that the port authority are en route, and ensure that whatever's in the crate is lost, even if it is quickly retrieved. It would have to be something of truly priceless value in the crates for clients to accept that its outright destruction is preferable to accepting the loss, or paying the thieves' ransom to buy back whatever they were lucky enough to steal. The security of mass shipping containers comes from huge size of the things, which plays into the freighters' economy of scale. The bigger the containers, the more you can ship, and the harder they are to steal. You'd need access to a ship/port's computer tracking system to know what's inside, a crane to lift it out of the stack, and a truck to make off with it. So the security comes from the whole system moreso than any tricks and traps built into the containers themselves - I imagine the cost-benefit analysis would be such that anything done in excess of preventing thieves from actually laying hands on the crate would not be very worthwhile. Just getting a single crate out of the system should be a challenge orders of magnitude greater than actually breaking into the crate itself.
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
In my experience the security
In my experience the security of warehouse crates is provided by the warehouse itself. If you have content that is proscribed in some jurisdiction and that jurisdiction is aware of the proscribed material then they will provide adequate security. This would be a secure facility as well as a secure container. If you have content that is proscribed in a jurisdiction but its owner is hiding it from the authorities then the owner will provide containment security; a safe, site security; a secure warehouse or a full time watcher, and operational security; secrecy and quick turn over.

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

The Green Slime The Green Slime's picture
Isn't there also some
Isn't there also some international treaty that crimes committed against the commercial property of nation X, even if it happens in nation Y, get prosecuted under the law of nation X? So if you get caught cracking open a Russian-flagged container in Sweden, you'll be going up against a Russian court and maybe doing time in a Russian prison, in addition to the Swedish charges of breaking & entering/bribery/trespass or whatever. Could up the stakes of the job somewhat if the crates' owners are registered in a particularly harsh jurisdiction.
jasonbrisbane jasonbrisbane's picture
Lalande21185 wrote
Lalande21185 wrote:
jasonbrisbane wrote:
IS there anything else that you can think would be used in EP setting?
Yes. They can use miniature radio farcasters to prevent spoofing. They can use scrapper's gel and acid resistant crates to destroy the contents without using disassemblers. The scrapper's gel will also work much faster (it does more damage).
Where is scrappers Gel listed? Which book? I cant recall seeing this... :( Thanks PS: The crates are fabbed/created by the warehouse owner who provides secure facilities for his customrs to transport goods onto and of of Lunar with the acknowledgement that goods will not fall into enemy hands... or even unauthorised hands... or ego's... Thus there is no Ego/AI inside the crate as this "look" at the cargo, which would be a security risk...
Regards, Jason Brisbane
Lalande21185 Lalande21185's picture
Scrapper's Gel
jasonbrisbane wrote:
Where is scrappers Gel listed? Which book? I cant recall seeing this... :(
It is in the main book on page 323, under chemicals :)
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jasonbrisbane jasonbrisbane's picture
Lalande21185 wrote
Lalande21185 wrote:
jasonbrisbane wrote:
Where is scrappers Gel listed? Which book? I cant recall seeing this... :(
It is in the main book on page 323, under chemicals :)
Thank You! I must admit, I had skipped over the Toxins and Chemicals, etc section a bit so I will go over them. It looks like a good idea for boxes, both inside and out. I imagine a sprayer with Scrapers Gel and then a Zap round... Good for those pesky people who refuse to leave the container alone! Ouch!
Regards, Jason Brisbane