Tag: ucsd-0001

#Lore24 – Entry #361 – Sci-Fi Month IV #26 – What Lies Hidden in Crystalline Dreams

Transcribed From the Personal Recording Implant of Andra Ganim, Chronicler of the Codex Infinitum

AG:  “This device, UCSD-0001, sounds absolutely remarkable.  You’re convinced that it is of draconic origin, from somewhere beyond the Demon Barrier…has there been any information that you’ve managed to glean from it that you can share with me?”

RV:  “Some, as it relates to our conversation topics.  In many ways, the object is like the most densely packed onion, you could say, each layer we decode revealing something new.  Much of it seems to be standard knowledge, revealing technology not unlike our own, astrogation data, records of worlds we have only begun to identify beyond the Barrier, civilizations that may well no longer exist, arcane spells that are familiar yet distinctly different in their implementations, similar to how they used to be before the Great Cataclysm of Andyllion. 

Other data we’ve pulled from the matrix, though, is much more interesting, revealing things we had only begun to explore, or that is completely unknown to us.  Tell me, what do you know of modern robotics and artificial intelligence?”

AG:  “Well, certainly neither one are areas I have studied, so I would say my knowledge is surface-level at best.  Current robots are generally designed to augment ourselves, through cybernetic replacements or powered armors and exo-frames generally used for construction, loading, and other such industrial purposes, or semi-autonomous drones.  Artificial intelligence has been a much more questionable area of study.  We have basic AI all over the galaxy, for handling simple tasks, parsing and summarizing data, and controlling some functions of the aforementioned drones and armors/frames.  I believe there are efforts to create more advanced versions underway, but thus far, as far as I’m aware, anyway, we’ve never created a successful fully aware artificially intelligent consciousness, due to some breakdown of the various systems that leads to corruption and self-destruction or required termination due to a rampant state where it tries to destroy everything around it.”

RV:  “For someone who hasn’t studied the topic, you’re more knowledgeable than I would have suspected.  Just how deep does your well of knowledge truly go, I wonder?  Anyway, one of the most remarkable discoveries we’ve made within the relic is that of a stable digital intelligence.”

AG:  “…You didn’t call it an artificial intelligence, I see.”

RV:  “Indeed, I did not.  Initially, we thought that is what we had found, but upon further study, and upon its awakening, we learned that it was quite sentient, and far more advanced than any AI we have as of yet managed to create.  When queried, it was very forthcoming about itself and was quite curious where it had been taken.  Apparently, this type of storage matrix was designed not only to record data, but fully digitized personalities as well, creating what it described as a dream-like state in which its consciousness could survive for as long as the matrix itself would remain intact, a crystalline dreamworld you could say.  It became rather distraught when we revealed where it had been found, worried over its fellow beings, in fact, and the state of its home world.  Based upon the data it provided, its home world is unquestionably deep within the Demon Sector, though currently far beyond our reach.  Additionally, based upon our extrapolations, we’re estimating its age at approximately ten- to fifteen-thousand years old.”

AG:  “Remarkable!”

RV:  “Quite so.  The method is not entirely unlike soul transference or trapping that is possible through the arcane arts that I’m familiar with, in fact, simply a different implementation of the procedure.  I believe we may have already encountered others of its kind, too, though I don’t believe the one who stumbled upon them knows the significance of what she has discovered.  Yet another vexation provided to me by the current incarnation of Lila Darius.”

AG:  “I was aware that she was exploring the Demon Sector, but her movements have been very hard to track, and what information is revealed has been filtered through Veylani Transport’s various spokespersons, full disclosure promised at a later date for the sake of the archives, of course.  Whenever that may come.”

RV:  “Indeed.  I have made several attempts to locate her in recent years, yet she remains solidly beyond my grasp, though she is leaving a trail now, one that I’ve already been following with great interest since I’ve managed reliable sources from within the various UEF fleets that have been dispatched into the depths of the Demon Sector.  As much as it pains me to do so, I must give credit to Darius for finally cracking the mystery of how to cross the Barrier, though I have my doubts that this incarnation even realizes just how she came to do such a thing.”

#Lore24 – Entry #360 – Sci-Fi Month IV #25 – Looking Toward the Demon Sector

Transcribed From the Personal Recording Implant of Andra Ganim, Chronicler of the Codex Infinitum

AG:  “There does seem to have been a definite increase in interest in the Demon Sector over the last few years, certainly.  You are saying that it is the will of these draconic souls, such as yourself, that draws people toward it…why?”

RV:  “That is the big question.  I have yet to uncover the exact reason, and may not in your lifetime, or that of your great-grandchildren, even.  It is a vast region of space, far larger than the seventy-two stars that gave it its name in the old days, during our earliest surveys of the region through the Demon Barrier using the crude equipment of the age.  Even I did not realize it at first, but I had a developed a growing interest in the area following the uptick in dragon-souled individuals I had managed to locate, and only put the pieces together later.  The most obvious theory is that there lies something within the Demon Sector that we need to know about, something of vital importance, perhaps to the entirety of our galaxy, even.”

AG:  “Do you believe that perhaps the ancient dragons were responsible for forming the Demon Barrier itself?”

RV:  “Perhaps; their power is undeniably far beyond what even I have obtained since my awakening, and remains my ultimate goal, of course.  Perhaps the remaining true dragons lie at the heart of the Demon Sector, or perhaps the next revolutionary clue along the trail that will ultimately lead us to them.  It is only supposition, but I theorize that our continued interest in dragons, the pervasiveness of their iconography adopted by various peoples throughout history, still prevalent in popular culture today, influenced by their many ruins, is something of an inborn trait hardcoded into our very essences.  It is simply stronger in some of us, those who possess particularly strong souls.  Or perhaps there is a coming awakening of said souls on a grand scale; I simply do not have enough evidence to say for certain.”

AG:  “What evidence have you seen that would lead you to your supposition that the draconic souls are awakening?”

RV:  “It’s mostly based upon a curious series of events that I have only recently begun to piece together over the last century or so.  First was the sudden increase in available test subjects across members of the multiple humanoid races within civilized space; I went from approximately one subject per twenty years, roughly, to suddenly collecting four in one year, then ten the next, and at least twenty per year after that, with each subsequent generation showing more and more of the stronger souls, those peculiar individuals who displayed great leadership ability.  You may have heard that DSM had taken a rather forceful stance on acquiring various smaller companies recently, their owners, CEOs, whatever, simply being paid off and vanishing.  Well, I know exactly where they went.

Secondly, there was the discovery of a particular unique artifact by a mostly insignificant mining company near the world of Ruvale, obtained from one of their asteroid mining operations in the areas beyond the habitable zone of the system.  That artifact was called UCSD-0001.”

AG:  “Was this related to the Ruvale Blockade incident?”

RV:  “It was, in fact, the entire point of the Ruvale Blockade.  Once the existence of the object had been brought to my attention, I initiated the takeover of the company immediately and had intended to seize the object even before the documents had been submitted.  As fast as my agents were in reaching Ruvale, they were still too late to lay hands on the object, however, for the CEO of the company was not only an idiot, not realizing the value of what he had found, but he carelessly allowed it to fall into the hands of a jewel thief of all things.  My agents and additional security forces attempted retrieval, but the locals proved far too willing to aid the thief and her allies in hiding from us.  So, with that status update, I would blockade the planet until I had what I wanted.

Unfortunately, as fast as I had my forces moving, the thief was faster in obtaining passage off Ruvale.  The blockade nearly worked, though; had we been perhaps an hour sooner, we would have had the artifact immediately.  As it worked out, though, it had fallen into the hands of a broker on Sentinel Prime, which then sold it to me once she had obtained it.  In the end, little of value was lost in the endeavor, and the locals were reminded that DSM is not to be trifled with.”

AG:  “What did you discover once you finally had this object?  What was it?”

RV:  “UCSD…Unidentified Crystalline Storage Device.  This was the first object of its kind that I had ever come across in my many years of exploration.  Based upon the data from the mining company’s records, the asteroid which it was mined from was not native to the Ruvale system, had drifted into the mix from somewhere beyond its reaches, for its composition did not match anything else in the surrounding area, even showed signs of intense heat damage and a lingering radiation signature that, for them, was of unknown origin.  For me, it was quite obvious where that radiation signature came from:  the Demon Barrier. 

The company’s initial tests upon this object revealed its nature, as the moniker they gave it indicates.  A form of crystalline storage device that we had yet to encounter or create for ourselves and possessed of microscopic draconic runes upon its surface.  This object is reminiscent of arcane storage matrices from the old days but possesses a much more densely packed structure, allowing for a much greater capacity.  The arcane school of transmutation, specifically of “storing” objects inside these matrices as we have done in the past, and some of us still do, is essentially digitizing the objects and placing them in a static, digitized state until we call them out again. 

Have you ever thought it curious how much of what we know about the methods of manipulating the raw magical essence, magic, resembles modern coding procedures?  How curious indeed beings like certain kitsune are able to magically manipulate data, their curious form of hacking?  I could go into great detail about the nature of this relationship, but for now, I’ll refrain.

UCSD-0001, when I and my top AR&D members began to study it and access what it contained, revealed an amount of data roughly comparable in size to the entirety of the DSM corporate archives throughout the company’s existence, an unprecedented amount of data. We have only scratched the surface of this object, so to speak, though it possesses a hardness greater than diamond, reinforced with protective magic.  We have not even managed to date the artifact yet, in fact.”

LORE24 ENTRY #18 – The UCSD-0001 Incident

Category – Event

A demonstration of power by the megacorp DSM, the UCSD-0001 incident, more commonly known as the Ruvale Blockade outside the official channels, was a show of force by the company, proving that they had the resources and manpower to quickly and efficiently blockade an entire planet in order to secure stolen corporate resources and capture those responsible.  Officially, this demonstration/training exercise went off with only minor issues, the largest of which being a chemical spill aboard one of DSM’s cruisers that resulted in significant damage to the ship’s hangar, and the actual blockade was was fully enforced, tested, and released within 72-hours.  The response of the local populace was stated to be “negative and vocal, but overall insignificant” regarding the inconvenience.

Unofficially, there was much more to the blockade, all of it revolving around the discovery of a relic of unknown origin by a mining company working upon one of more distant planets in the Ruvale system, their corporate headquarters based on Ruvale itself.  The object, listed as “Unknown Crystalline Storage Device – 0001” in company records, was roughly spherical in shape, and only about an inch in diameter.  Within the red-colored gemstone, which was as hard as diamond, were microscopic symbols that were determined to be of an ancient Draconic language; the object itself radiated magic energy.  All attempts at reading the data within the device were unsuccessful, and the mining company reached out to other groups for assistance in deciphering the data contained within the object.

This search for an arcanist put the compnay, and UCSD-0001 on DSM’s radar.  Once DSM had attained knowledge of this relic, their CEO, Rivalle Volcari, immediately initiated hostile takeover procedure of the mining company.  Within two weeks, the company was part of DSM, but its former CEO had gone missing, along with UCSD-0001, just before the final steps were completed.  Moving with remarkable swiftness, having confirmed that the object had yet to leave Ruvale, DSM initiated further measures to fully blockade the planet and secure the object.  The relic had been confirmed to have been taken by the former CEO, and had then been stolen by a third party.  A fast-response security team was dispatched to Ruvale to secure the relic, but the thieves managed to fight their way through the security team and subsequently disappeared.

Initially, a massive manhunt was started locally, with the capitol city, Radermere, being locked down by local law enforcement, working with DSM’s operatives.  Within forty-eight hours, having yielded no results, DSM green-lit the planetary blockade to secure the relic, and their nearest ships were pulled off their assignments and redirected to Ruvale, with others following within a handful of hours.  Hackers intercepted encoded corporate transmissions, however, and word was able to spread on Ruvale of the coming blockade.  Those in the know began preparations to leave the system immediately and spread the word to everyone who would listen.  As it would turn out, the thieves responsible for stealing UCSD-0001 were more resourceful than DSM could have imagined, and were able to smuggle themselves and the relic off-world during the mass exodus of ships that were leaving the planet as the first of DSM’s fleet arrived.