9. [video]

[pompous_today]

Who: Simon Tam and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: N/A
When: March 23rd

Others have been doing experiments on the augments, but I'd like to know something else. Has anyone encountered someone on a planet or waystation with an augment who isn't part of the Fleet? Or anyone who has even heard of the Drift Fleet program? I've asked around, but nobody seems to know what I am talking about. So I'm curious to know.

Comments

Audio

[pompous_today]

I would like to see them, yes- every time I've tried to do something to my own augment, it's done everything it can to prevent me, and my medical ethics have been stopping me from keeping out a subject.

I'd appreciate that, yes. I want to know if we are as isolated from the rest of the universe as we seem.

Audio

[two_jedi_sticks]

Give me a second, I'll call them up.

[Tapping away for a bit, and she'll be sending him report one and report two.]

Looks like your medical ethics were right about not trying to tamper with augments on others. I would also figure the augments are limited to the fleet, since Mom thought they're part of how we're brought back if you try moving too far away. But all it takes is one person outside the fleet with the right tech to prove me wrong on that.

Audio

[pompous_today]

Thank you; I will take a closer look at these.

That explanation does make sense- if others had access to this technology, then yes, somewhere along the line we would be able to find someone to help disable it. But if it's of Atroma make, and they haven't shared the knowhow with others, it heightens their ability to keep us on a short leash. After all, this technology could be life-changing for others, and I can't see it NOT spreading like wildfire were it commony knowledge.

Audio

[two_jedi_sticks]

Hmm.

I've seen people around the galaxy with cybernetic implants, but it's not something everyone wants to do. There's maintenance and health issues for some.

Which raises the question of how long they can keep us with these augments without some more direct contact.

Audio

[pompous_today]

Indeed- and we have seen that these need maintenance from time to time, as well. I don't know if you have been here long enough, but there was an incident where we were all trapped on the Marsiva again for a month while they, as they put it, recalibrated. This was shortly after some other unknown ships pushed us into a cloud of electrical interference that caused the augments to go haywire. So perhaps others ARE aware of the augments, but choose not to share that knowledge for their own reasons. Perhaps out of fear that Atroma might harm us if we knew.

Audio

[two_jedi_sticks]

Really?

[She sounds a bit more curious than troubled by the notion of recalibration.]

Not every culture develops the same technology, but that doesn't always mean they're unstoppable. If people fear the Atroma, there's bound to be people out there finding ways around tech, just like people here try experimenting.

...I have to ask. What was the recalibration like?

Audio

[pompous_today]

Precisely- Atroma claims to have been doing this for many "cycles" so far, and I find it hard to believe that nobody in their entire history has figured out a way to successfully rebel.

Well, during the day we had all the amenities- a kitchen, a workout room, endless amounts of media to consume and so on- then when a timer counted down to zero, we were warped back to our bunk rooms, sound asleep. How long we were asleep or what they did WHILE we were asleep, I cannot say, but others reported seemingly entering into others' minds and memories. I did not experience that myself, but it may be work asking some of the others about.