[big]
Timeline Highlights[/big]

From Seed

A condensed overview over key events from seed ship launch to now.

Note: This timeline utilizes a very simple system. L means launch and the numbers are years. L200 is 200 years after the seed ship was launched from Earth. Whether or not the years are Da Vincian or terran doesn't matter much for the timeline as such.

Contents

1 L0: Launch from Earth
2 L150: Contact to Earth lost
3 L200: Arrival in the Beta Hyi system
4 L220: Planetfall
5 L290: The first shivers
6 L300: Moving to second tower
7 L900: First humans
8 L900-930: Environmental issues on the rise
9 L920: Construction of tower top defense system starts
10 L920: Constructing Ringlab Beta
11 L925: First blocker in use
12 L930: Sinian's Seizure
13 L930: Constructing the Garden
14 L945: The second generation
15 L960: The Dambuster
16 L968: Access Point System implemented
17 L1000: The top goes
18 L1000-1002: Need Better Name Goddamnit
19 L1002: The first murder
20 L1008: Kelner discovers his cavity
21 L1010: A second cluster
22 L1020: The killing blow
23 L1020: NOW

L0: Launch from Earth

A handful of Seed ships launched from Earth. One sets course for a promising planet discovered near the Beta Hyi star.

L150: Contact to Earth lost

Contact lost to Earth. Despite it, Da Vinci seed ship continues according to plan.

Official belief: Space dust must have blocked the signal

What really happened: What caused the loss of contact is entirely open. Could be space dust, aliens, Earth collapsing, malevolent programming or whatnot.

L200: Arrival in the Beta Hyi system

Arrival in the Beta Hyi system. Leftover iceberg from ramscoop drive method slammed into planet surface to kick off terraforming.

L220: Planetfall

Planetfall. A first tower to house the terraforming machinery is built in the iceberg crater, some three thousand klicks north of present tower.

L290: The first shivers

TAU charts a series of anomalies. Seemed iceberg ramming set off a series of planet-wide geological changes. Touchdown site becomes less and less optimal.

L300: Moving to second tower

TAU abandons first tower due to above issues and builds a second one further south and deep down in a canyon. The ruins of the first tower is still up there, stripped for much, but not all useful stuff.

Official belief: It is common knowledge that there is a first tower, and that TAU abandoned it due to suboptimal environmental conditions. Some link the fate of the first tower (bad weather) to the potential fate of the second (bad weather again).

What really happened: What really-really caused the anomalies is unknown.

L900: First humans

The first humans on Da Vinci. The terraforming is in trouble and too complex for AI to handle. First 100 humans hatched by TAU to help crack the problem. The first cluster, now known as the Habitat, is constructed to house the new humans and the planet is formally named Da Vinci in honor of the great terran renaissance genius. But the curse of the colony, too much ambition, soon rears its ugly head. Plans start messing with each other and the environmental snowball starts rolling.

L900-930: Environmental issues on the rise

Environmental issues on the rise as planetary systems keep degrading due to human interference and runaway synergistic effects.
Grazers, huge storms haunting the tundras above the canyon systems, become an increasing problem and a contributing factor to making it nigh impossible to go outside.

L920: Construction of tower top defense system starts

In L920, a massive defense system has to be installed at the top of the tower to stop rocks hurled by highspeed winds from damaging the tower hull.

L920: Constructing Ringlab Beta

Construction of Weller's Shaft starts alongside. See Mainstay: Ringlab Beta and Mainstay: Weller's Shaft for further details.

L925: First blocker in use

L930: Sinian's Seizure

Sinian's Seizure: Culmination of a very exciting year, where microbe activity upped its pace for unknown reasons. Sinian was the first human to be killed by an unpredicted strain. It's still believed the culprit was one of the first unchecked mutations of terrestrial bacteria released into the environment. The release is yet another sign of the dissension hamstringing the colony's chance of survival.

L930: Constructing the Garden

See The Hatchery: Sava's Garden for details.

L945: The second generation

In response to the increasing trouble with disease, sickness and the first deaths due to it, the first generation of Da Vincians decide to create more people. Hatch programs are started, generating a steady flow of people over the next couple of years. The colony appears in control of TAU and the hatch process at this point, but future opinions abound that this "meddling" or ordering might have had something to do with the massive hatching event in L1000-02.

What really happened: Might be true, might not.

L960: The Dambuster

An incredibly huge flash flood thunders down through the canyon systems to ram the tower. Colony caught flatfooted. Turns out a black algae designed to raised overall temperatures through greenhouse effect unexpectedly climbed a huge gletcher to the east and managed to melt it. Yet another result of not coordinating terraforming efforts. Suddenly flashfloods become an annual event and warning systems have to be put into place.

Unofficial knowledge: A report later proved the Dambuster was caused by the Black Land Project, a shared project between two small, but very ambitious rings (Green Tilt and another one). The idea was to put out black algae to help warm up the atmosphere and thus get the greenhouse effect going. No action was taken after the report was published, mostly due to the involved ring members' very strong ties with the right people. The report is buried somewhere within TAU's shattered databases these days, but might resurface at the right time.

L968: Access Point System implemented

An economically inclined colonist named Kinnick and supporters implement the access point system in response to increasing problems with too many people and too few resources (camping, stealing etc.)

L1000: The top goes

The tower buster. In a storm-of-the-century, a huge rock slams into the tower top and tears it away. People, space and machinery lost. The massive top fragment is hurled a good distance across the frigid tundra above the canyons, and here it still lies waiting for recovery.

A huge plate ("The great plate") is rushed into place to seal the gaping hole leading directly into the tower core, where everything precious to the colony is stored. Many people die securing the site, and there is doubt as to how long the plate will stay in place.

The tower defense systems are gone as well, leaving the tower at the mercy of the environment. Replacements are begun during the following years, but the colonists never manage to fully restore the former capacity. Now and then wind-tossed rocks will slam into the tower hull ripping it open and letting microbes inside.

L1000-1002: Need Better Name Goddamnit

(Formerly known as the D-Block incident)

Deep inside the tower large clusters of floatbeds quietly and unexpectedly click from Empty to In Progress. It takes a while for humans to notice, and nobody is able to shut it down. In the span of two years, roughly 40,000 people are forcibly added to the population. In the midst of heated discussion and fights over what to do, there is a mad race to up overall life support capacity as the colony rushes to the remainder of recspace - floatbed chambers and locker halls.

L1002: The first murder

Small group of determined colonists venture into the heart of the machine and start flushing floatbeds. Widely condemned, since those inside the floatbeds were likely both sentient and conscious as they died horribly. The murderers as they turned out to be called all got blockers. Some killed themselves, some are still alive.

L1008: Kelner discovers his cavity

Kelner and his team ventures further down through the tower in search of a suitable location for the planned second cluster. They stumble upon a flooded machine hall which becomes the starting point for the Dug-Out when the actual construction begins two years later. The place is dubbed Kelner's Cavity.

L1010: A second cluster

Construction on the second cluster which will become known as the Dug-Out begins in response to the massive inflow of people that began some 20 odd years ago. It was meant to function partly as living spaces, and partly as an emergency lab. The Dug-Out, plagued by fungus and environmental issues stemming from the Dambuster Incident is never a success, and slowly turns into a sinkhole for resources.

L1020: The killing blow

Almost 20 years after the first big one, another large scale disaster strikes. A storm of unexpected magnitude causes a massive flashflood, which in turn hammers through the algae reservoir membrane and floods the fusion reactor below it, causing a brief shutdown and then a massive power spike spreading through the tower.

All systems take extensive damage, an unknown number of people are killed and contact between the two clusters are severed. TAU, already damaged by the tower buster incident, shatters. Critical access to databases and control over many areas and machines are lost. Run-away emergency programmes cause extensive scrapping of microfactories, reducing production capacity to zero in the matter of hours.

L1020: NOW

Game launch (now), a few months after the second flashflood. The colony is sinkholed in trouble and have yet to get back on its feet after the disaster. Much information has been lost and it's hard to get a clear picture of how bad the situation is. In the Habitat many of TAU's databases and swarm processes are unavailable, severely damaged or malfunctioning, and many areas have been sealed off or made inaccessible. Production capacity is still very low as new administrators struggle to get things up and running.
Contact between the two clusters is still unreliable and spotty, but it seems The Habitat fared much better than the lower cluster. Many people are still trapped down in the Dug-Out, struggling to survive and deal with damages.

[big]Access Points (CEP)[/big]

Fragment content

Collaborative Encyclopedia Project (CEP)

Entry: Access Points

Access Points: Intended as a temporary solution to resource hogging and distribution issues. Originally proposed and implemented in L968 by Kinnick of Firmament ring. The system received strong support by a majority of Da Vincians, though some conflict surrounded the implementation. --- Quachi

[big]Blockers (QTG)[/big]

Fragment content

QuickTip Guide entry #55: Blockers

((slightly damaged entry))

A punitive or restrictive measure. A modification to a 'link that will keep designated doors, tube lifts, machines and tools from being accessible to the person wearing the blocker. Assigned by democratic vote or [...] trial

Notes

Information available to colonists on request:

See Fictive Fragment Sources page for more info on fragment origins

Last edited by Darkhawk (2008-02-21 18:44:37)

[big]Debating The Dug-Out, Day 3[/big]

Fragment content

TAU Database Recordings (TDR)

File: Emelyn speaks on the costs of a new cluster, L1011

((audio recording:)) [...] what Saffan wants? To halt all progress, and go back on everything we’ve achieved so far. And for what? For fear of dampness and a bad odour? Only three years ago Kelner stumbled upon a flooded storage hall close to the bottom of the tower. Today we have the rudiments of a second cluster. Soon I believe we will have a valid solution for the population explosion problem. So please tell me, Saffan, what hypothetical fears of yours are gonna keep us from reaching that goal? [...]

[big]Dug-Out Cluster[/big]

The second cluster was built in response to the massive inflow of people that began some 20 odd years ago. It was meant to function partly as living spaces, and partly as an emergency lab. Seeing the tower top come clean off in a single stroke had gotten people worried, and the location at the bottom of the tower was decided upon for safety reasons.

It never worked out quite as intended. There was trouble from the first spit on. The cluster was situated too close to the algae sea in an area still smitten with the after-effects of the dambuster flash flood that had burst through the membrane 30 years earlier. Toxic fumes kept creeping up through the structure, corroding the walls and infecting people working there with new and unknown diseases.

Moving the cluster further up the tower was not an option. Excavations had already come a long way, and relocating the project would mean scrapping even more valuable terraforming equipment. A radical ring known as the Prometheus Gang wanted the Dug-Out turned into a gigantic research station for studying alien life forms, but in the end it was decided to finish what had been begun. And so they went on to complete their oversized version of a WW2 bomb shelter, humid and unhealthy.

Ever since the Dug-Out construction project began vast amounts of time and resources have been spent on it. The continuous attempts to stabilize the environment includes cumbersome dehumidifiers and air purifying units, complex self-activating decontamination programmes, and delicate spore-detection equipment. Not to mention the heavy telefactoring machinery used to clear and set up new segments in the cluster. Nobody can disagree that the project has put great strain on the colony as a whole. The question is: was it worth it?

The journey to the bottom of the tower

Kelner and his team made the initial explorations to find a suitable location for the Dug-Out. They climbed down shafts and passageways used by chimbots to reach the inner parts of the tower. Nothing could have prepared them for the depths and the darkness, for the feeling of being lost like a lurch bolt inside a gargantuan machine. Zillah panicked when she slipped. All they heard was her screams – and the dull thud of her body far below. They scrambled down rough heaps of dead machinery trying to pick out Zillah’s body while it was still warm.

They never found their missing friend. Somehow the intricate layout of the tower directed them away from her. They emerged on a gangway high above a glowing sea of light. As if all the stars had been torn from the skies and stowed away in a gigantic chamber at the bottom of the tower. Huge steely structures penetrated the surface of a still reservoir like the remains of a sunken city. The air was moist and stale, and Kelner told everybody to don their face masks before they wound their way down.

It was soon established that they had stumbled upon a machine hall flooded by the dambuster event back in 700 after planetfall. The specks of light were caused by fluorescent lichen and algae covering the walls and terraforming equipment. Considering everything had to be scrapped and recycled anyway they mapped out the area for future settlement. In time this was to become the central core of the second cluster, also known as the Kelner Cavity.

Only a few of Kelner’s original team are still around. Of the five that managed to return to the Habitat two died of a rampant virus contracted in the Cavity, and one was left incapacitated by an infection in the brain. Still, they are remembered as the pioneers of the Dug-Out. Also by those who deem that their discovery has brought more problems than solutions to the tower.

[big]Farewell To Sava[/big]

Fragment content

Da Vinci Memorial Banks (DVMB)

Jarek Speaks at Sava’s body dump in L977

((audio recording:)) Sava wasn’t only the proud founder of our botanical research station – our garden. She was also a stubborn and a careless woman. She sought answers where others asked questions. She went on where others left off. To her, life was nothing more than a game. And winning was always the opposite of losing. Take this from one who knows. She sure beat the goo out of me when once I stood up against her. Once.

Notes

For more info on the competition between Sava and Jarek see ‘The Hatchery (Recspace)’

[big]
Floatbeds (CEP)[/big]

Fragment content

Collaborative Encyclopedia Project (CEP)

Entry: Floatbeds

Floatbeds: The average floatbed will enable its occupant to stay submerged for an indefinite amount of time under normal conditions. This makes it a perfect escape pod. Even if the floatbed should somehow be ejected from the Core chambers, it will be able to sustain life for a significant amount of time by inducing coma and rationing intake of nutrients --- Maya, Kapstan Collective.

We linking to the specs? -- Quachi

Need focus on original use, thanks --- Gabrad

[...]

[big]Green Tilt (CEP)[/big]

Fragment content

Collaborative Encyclopedia Project (CEP)

Entry: Green Tilt

An influential group working on the modified ecopoiesis, which aimed at taking control of native microbial fauna and flora and using it as a step into a more terran ecosphere. Also the group responsible for the engineered black algae that melted the Gliman gletcher (see Black Land project) -- Maya

Notes

Information available to colonists on request:

See Fictive Fragment Sources page for more info on fragment origins

About Timeline Highlights for Black Land project damages

[big]The Hatchery: Sava's Garden[/big]

Official

Once a serious research station aimed at performing complex botanical and microbiological experiments within an artificial environment, today the value of Sava’s Garden is more of an aesthetic one. The argument is not so much about whether having a greenspace is advisable and productive to the overall mission, but whether it is a proper use of the limited space available in the tower.

When research in Sava’s Garden was abandoned to accommodate a growing community, the few hardpoints down in the back were only left standing because of the insistence of the now disbanded Homeland Ring. Kieran, head of the ring, had to promise to move hazardous microbiological experiments elsewhere, and only use the hardpoints for friendly machinery, such as sharepoints and climate controllers.

Over time a grinding lack of machinery and hardpoint facilities slackened the resistance. Non-pollutive production was allowed, and later the only requirement was proper filtering and waste disposal. Today, with the situation spun almost out of control, anything goes, it seems. Nobody is around to check it, and nobody has the energy to care. However, it does seem inevitable that it will become an issue once again when things have stabilized somewhat. Should the original hardpoint slots covering the garden floor be re-opened, or should the remaining few be dismantled once and for all? And what with sealing off the area and returning to Sava’s vision of a self-sufficient eco-systemic simulator only to be entered in full hazmat gear?

Unofficial information

’The Hatchery (Recspace)’ elaborates a lot on the sparse information given in the "Sava's Garden" write-up.

Sava probably wasn’t part of any ring prior to establishing her garden in the old storage facility in The Hatchery. Her ring - The Greenspace Ring - more likely appeared when followers started crowding around her, supporting her idea of creating an enclosed indoor simulation of an outdoor Da Vincian environment.

For sure, she was experimenting with introducing Terran plants, microorganisms, and perhaps even small insects to a Da Vincian environment, studying the development and potential mutations. It's even possible that some of the greenery seen in the garden today is vested with Da Vincian flora.

After the abandonment of the garden as a research facility, and since Sava's death (see the above link), her notes, observations, and results were stowed away in the stash of The Greenspace Ring. Later the ring was disbanded, and only continued as a small radical fraction of Greenspacers covertly trying to introduce Da Vincian flora in the tower.

This new fraction was never officially organized as a ring, and some believe that the existence of it is just a rumor. Anyway, it never had much success, and nothing has been heard from it in decades. One thing it did manage, though, was doing away with Sava's research results. TAU might have a copy somewhere, but with the current state of the AI it would take some severe digging to find out.

One of the reasons for the anonymity of the breakaway fraction is that it has infiltrated and subverted other rings, such as the Fueler Ring. Pillane might actually be one of the original members of The Greenspace Ring whose name figures on the old ring member list if colonists care to have a closer look.

The "Fungi in the Walls" plot as carried out by The Fueler Ring has therefore actually been orchestrated by members of the old breakaway fraction from The Greenspace Ring. You can be quite sure that Sava wouldn't be very proud of her former fellow Greenspacers who endanger the whole colony in order to carry out their own distorted version of her original vision. But sometimes the apple does indeed fall far from the tree.

[big]Hardpoints (QTG)[/big]

Fragment content

QuickTip Guide entry #34: Hardpoints

Hardpoints are sockets for microfactories. A hardpoint supplies a microfactory with necessary raw materials and power, and handle waste disposal as well. A hardpoint always belongs to an administration bit.

[big]
Homeyer Transmissions[/big]

Overall fragment description: This seems to be a damaged collection of transmissions on the open 'link messaging band between two or more people. It carries the timestamp '1020' and might have originated in the now disaster-struck Dug-Out cluster.

Fragment content

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:18: Ok, let's get this sucker strapped down. I need the lurch bolts down here in a sec. You coming? I'm in the cryoproduction complex, deep storage chambers, ah, 1 or 5. Lemme check...

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*15:06:19: On my way. Passing through chamber radlock now. Man, this is slow going. I should have tried Yveis' crawl space instead.

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:22: Yveis has no clue if it's safe or not - so don't. I'm in 3, not 1 or 5. ID didn't show up properly. Somethings messing with the area network again.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*15:06:24: Whole area's been acting up the past days. It's ancient shit, Sergei. I think [...] would be a good [...] and [...]..

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:26: Homeyer, your signal is dropping below threshold. Just so you know. Forgot swapping power cells again?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*15:06:27: [laughs] No, must be interference from the hullslammer out there. I'll bet you a fistful of PTs that it's going to get a lot worse.

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:28: Coming through loud and clear now. And we'll be fine. Ain't been no storm big enough to shake our socks yet. You planning to make me wait all day?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*15:06:29: Just around the corner [...] Wait ... Ah [curses]. I forgot the bolt driver. It's gonna be pure ass monkey work if [...] I'll be right ... [...].

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:30: No copy to that, you're breaking up Homeyer. You did what?

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:32: Homeyer?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*15:06:35: [intense noise and static] ... something's up with the radlock. I can't get access [...] gonna slip through the [...] and see if I can find a shortcut [..] stay put and [...] deal?

Sergei| N39 36.266 W105 07.400|1020/01/28*15:06:36: Homeyer [...] weird vibrations here [...] wall's doing something strange and [...] offline and I don't like this at all [...] You there?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*15:06:42: [...] not receiving and I think [cut short by a sudden sizzling barrage of noise]

[timeslip]

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*18:01:56:[weak voice] This is Homeyer to Sergei. Sergei, you copy? You out there? Sergei?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*18:02:14: This is Homeyer. I don't know [coughs] what happened ... lot of noise and then .. I was on the ground ... [coughs]. And I think I've got a head injury ... or I don't know [coughs] ... dizzy. Very hot in here.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*19:45:02: Sergei, I think I'm badly hurt and I need you to come by ... uh, get the coords from my 'link location [coughs] ... And we need a laser cutter for the doors, I think.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*19:45:03: Sergei? Anybody?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*19:45:04: [faint voice] This is Homeyer. I am broadcasting from [distorted noise]... chambers and the air is not too good so ... please if you hear this, I need ... [...] signal keeps breaking up [...] find a way out. If anybody is hearing this, I ... [coughs] .. I'm hurt and I need assistance.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/28*21:11:01: [drugged voice] On my last stabshot. Still no sign of assistance. I can .. only assume we are worse off than I though.. [coughs].. and that something big has occurred. I have very little information to work from. Things went so fast ... I think lightning struck around here .. [long silence] ... lightning makes no sense this close to the core ..

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*02:09:33: [weak voice] This is Homeyer calling anybody. I've been sleeping for ... don't know how long [coughs] and I'm mighty thirsty. Tried ... exploring a bit, but seem to get blackouts ... [long silence] ...

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*02:09:45: [muffled sounds in the background] The air is very humid and hot ... My lungs are bust. There's something in here... in the air. I tried the latches on the doors, but they are jammed shut ... [long silence]

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*02:10:23: [hissing in the background] I can't hear any human sounds .. there's a loud hissing from the other side of the wall, like jets of steam. And there's ...been this banging ... [silence] ... now and again, but I don't think it's made by a human... maybe a damaged chimbot ...

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*05:55:00: This is Homeyer at N39 36.266 W105 05.400, requiring assistance ... [long silence] I guess nobody's out there to listen to this, or you can't reach me. I hope we're still in business ... [bad coughing] .. and, uh, that the hull is holding up. Hello?

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*06:12:13: I've been listening to ... some [coughs] ... deep thuds for the past hours and they seem to be related to ... [long silence] .. there it was again. I wonder ...

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*09:42:57: This is Homeyer. I think [painful coughing] .. I've been doing some readings and I think I've ... figured out the noise. As far as I know [long silence] .. I'm directly below the suspended moisture tank array and I think .. it's coming down ... here [coughs]. A whole lot of liquid stored up there.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/29*10:33:42: Here it comes - I wa [a series of massive crashing sounds cut transmission short]

Homeyer| N39 23.266 W105 19.400|1020/01/29*22:15:21: [almost inaudible, loud sounds of rushing water in the background] This is Homeyer at ... I don't know where the fuck I am. I'm in some sort of pipe, and it's freezing cold here. I don't know what happened .. tanks came down, something smacked me down... I'm somewhere else now, uh, and .. .

Homeyer| N39 23.266 W105 19.400|1020/01/29*22:15:22:.. and I'm lying on my back in water - running water - going down past me very fast. I seem to be jammed between something ... If anybody gets this message, try to get my coords off it. I can't see much and ... uh, water is rising again ...

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/30*02:44:13: [echo as from an immensely big room] This is Homeyer ... in, ah, fuck, the Core ... I'm floating in the Core. It must be .. it. I've tied myself to a foam crate but ... the walls are incredible .. I've never seen anything like it. I must be .. uh, above the fermentation tanks .. they must have got flooded .. ahahah [coughs] there's likely all sorts of vicious stuff I'm floating in. I'll try to ... hang on. If anybody gets this, I, uh ... I need assistance badly.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/30*04:55:48: [chattering teeth] This is Homeyer, broadcasting from ... somewhere, somewhere in the Core. Water's risen a lot in the past hours .. I'm simply floating and being pulled up ... can't see the Plate at all, so still more than a click from it ... I think. I can't move ... just float along. Don't think I'm gonna last here ... Sergei, if you are listening to this, I just wanted to, uh, say that ... it's been good. I wish we could have ... ah, this is fucking stupid. I wish we'd talked better. But you know.

Homeyer| N39 36.266 W105 05.400|1020/01/30*08:44:55: [very faint] This is Homeyer. I'm alive. It's amazing ... it wasn't a crate ... it was one of the auxiliary life support modules [coughs] I've managed to get inside it and I'm going to induce a coma ... in a moment. And sleep ... I hope .. somebody hears this .. I'll set the module to broadcast my position ... at low frequency to save .. power and all. If the water [coughs] keeps rising, this won't matter .. but it didn't for some hours and I think .. it's stabilizing. I hope .. somebody hears this. This is [coughs] Homeyer of the Mason Fairly ring logging out for now ...

Notes

Information available to colonists on request

The above transmissions occur just before and in the hours after the power spike of L1020

Homeyer's life support module is still somewhere in the core close to the Habitat canyon. If colonists wanted to put down the effort, he could be retrieved.

Sergei is dead.

[big]Habitat Cluster[/big]

The tower was never meant to contain other clusters than this one. It sits dead centre halfway up the looming structure. This is where the first hundred Da Vincians were released from their floatbeds 120 years ago. TAU had not been able to get a proper foothold on the planet, and Plan B was initiated – introducing people in the tower to help out with the terraforming process.

Then the Habitat only consisted of Ringlab Alpha and a single Floatbed Chamber. Places like the garden and the canyon are later additions. They were decided upon when more people were released and it became clear that an outside settlement was far in the future. The introduction of the first hundred had not been the success TAU’s programmers back on Earth had hoped for. Though all were intent on the same goal not everybody agreed on how to reach it.

Ever since the Rock Incident prompted TAU to activate thousands of floatbeds things have taken an ugly turn in the Habitat. Ambition has lent itself to factionalism and infighting. Now working with somebody means working against somebody else. Starting up one project means killing off another. Too many people, too few resources. Always the same old squabble. Always the same old wounds breaking open.