An Alliance
Since I don't have any explicit missions on my task list, I start to move South toward the unexplored Cavendish peninsula. As I start on my way, Turing reaches out to me with an idea. Also, my rover notices a new audio source.
From : SR-K Rover
Subject : Audio Detection: Anomaly, Cavendish Peninsula
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Your rover has detected a nearby source of non-ambient audio. Regular waveforms suggest the sound is organic in origin. A new mission has been added to your tasks to find and photograph the source of the audio. |
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Call me. I have an idea.
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As requested, I call Turing -- but nothing could prepare me for what happens next.
With everything that's going on with Turing and Alexis, I feel a little bad about moving further away from the monument that Turing wants me to visit on the center of the island, but my rover has keyed me in to a nearby audio signal on small peninsula jutting out from the southwest corner of the island. As I move further toward the audio source, my rover's sensors seem to go crazy, indicating a half dozen audio sources all around me.
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From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : An abundance of audio
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Hi Rob, I saw the results of your latest audio pinpointing. Holy dissertation! I don't know whether the results your rover sent back indicate a species in rapid motion, a large grouping of noisemakers, or just a software malfunction. See if you can find out what's going on here. Jane Eastwood, Exobiology Lead |
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I go to an area of my map that seems particularly active, capturing a photo in both visable light as well as infrared.
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From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : Re: An abundance of audio
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Hi Rob, Of course--it must be this photobiont making the noises you detected. That was the folly of coming into science with ingrained assumptions, which I've been trying to avoid. "Plants" on Earth don't tend to make noises like that. But we've already seen that these photobionts have specialized organs that manage gas exchange--whereas Earth's plants have only photosynthetic and reproductive organs. It's possible that there are more types of organ that we don't know about--or that this might be a modification of the gas exchange organs we're already aware of. It looks like there may be a valve or sphincter within this "vampire gourd" that could be structurally similar to the human larynx--resulting in that noise as gas enters and leaves the photobiont. It goes to show that while convergent evolution might produce organisms that look very similar and occupy similar habitats, they very well might be fundamentally different organisms. It's a bit like deer versus kangaroos--their heads are nearly identical, they're both grazing herd animals--but you couldn't find two more different mammals if you tried. (OK, the platypus and either deer or kangaroos. Fine. Two more different placental mammals.) Jane Eastwood, Exobiology Lead |
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While I've been checking out the alien life, messages from Kryptex and Turing quickly fill up my inbox.
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : I have to know
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Hi Rob, I honestly can't say I know what to think about this. That you've known, that you've been helping Alexis -- or "Kryptex81". I guess that would explain the pictures, then. And there I was thinking the ID codes of GPS units would be safe passwords because they'd be hidden on another planet! It would have worked as a defense against Alexis alone, but you managed to be just enough of an insider to sneak her back in. Our security team would be blown away by what you two have done... not that I'm about to share any of this with them. But seeing these documents -- I mean, I guess I have no reason not to keep trusting you. You've helped me still, even as you've done this. And... I have to know what's going on. Especially if it could endanger the mission. - Dr Robert Turing |
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From : kryptex81
Subject : translations
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hi rob -- and turing. i've been working on translating that message. the photo you have of the signal. dad taught me a lot. but there were parts that i couldn't do, couldn't crack. not without some missing symbols as examples. but i think you've found enough obelisks. enough samples of the writing. i think i can do it now. translate the original message. i think i'm close. give me a few hours. _ _ ___ _
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| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
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From : kryptex81
Subject : Re: translations
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well, that's just... unbelieveable. i can translate the whole thing, approximately -- it's everything turing said. that the caretakers have been on this planet, that they were warning all others to stay away. ...and that's it. the whole thing. there's no...threat. there are no weapons. there's no impending doom. arling was lying. but then -- why _would_ the d.o.d. give him funding? how could he make this legal? _ _ ___ _
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| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: translations
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Kryptex, I'm impressed you've been able to translate it. Only Cavendish was ever able to do that, with the help of some linguists. But what if Arling lied to the DoD, too? They wouldn't know what the alien message said. Which would explain how Cavendish was involved. He had to have been in on it -- they'd have to trust his translation, and if he corroborated Arling's story... He'd get the funding he needed to explore the galaxy. It was a win for XRI. But why Arling? What did he have to gain? - Dr Robert Turing |
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From : kryptex81
Subject : Re: translations
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But why Arling? What did he have to gain? money. power. influence. control over a section of the pentagon for alien weapons research, i'm sure. but now we have the proof. _we_ can translate the message. we can show them that arling lied. fraud against the government. treason. _murder_. bring him down. bring his whole operation down. _ _ ___ _
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: translations
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But... Edna's just a middleman between XRI and the DoD, right? If Arling gets shut down -- XRI would stop getting funding from her. Extrasolar will be terminated. It may be for the wrong reasons, but what XRI is doing is still extremely valuable. The things we're discovering -- life in the universe! Can we just give that up? I mean -- I'm not in favor of government fraud and theft, but -- all the money's coming from military programs and being diverted to, well, science. Research. And frankly, ultimately, the survival of the species via space exploration. It's the kind of spending the government would never actually do. Not when there are wars to be fought. But it's what we need. Is that such a bad thing? - Dr Robert Turing |
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From : kryptex81
Subject : Re: translations
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so the ends justify the means? murder and fraud are okay if it results in science? anyway, arling said he's lost control of edna--that she's still moving money from the d.o.d. into xri. and don't forget, _we're_ still in a lot of danger, here. my FATHER was killed over this, turing. noam jemison was my father. arling has to pay. _ _ ___ _
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: translations
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Kryptex -- Noam was your father? Then I'm sorry. He was a good guy. Edna may be giving us that money now, even without Arling's support, but if he gets completely shut down and exposed, that cashflow will stop. They'll look into it -- they'll have to. But... What if we can get the best of both worlds? -- so to speak. If Arling knows we have the power to bring him down, to ruin him completely -- and we can make sure that if anything happens to us, the world will know -- then we're protected. And since Arling's lost control of Edna anyway -- if the lie isn't exposed, she can keep getting the money and sending it to us -- XRI's getting all the funding it needs, and Arling has nothing. If we make him that much more powerless-- Well, from what little I know of Arling, that'll be as good as any punishment the military can give. He won't dare use his DoD influence lest we bring him down completely. And XRI gets to stay operational. Edna -- whoever she is -- will keep giving us the money we need, no one any the wiser. We blackmail him, Kryptex. Make the call, tell him we've got him, that if he does anything we don't like -- he's done. - Dr Robert Turing |
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From : kryptex81
Subject : blackmail
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i'd rather destroy him. but... forcing the military to fund your science research is appealing. besides, if we show our whole hand--even if arling is removed, we may not be safe. and dad did say i should use the evidence to protect myself... not to...make his mistake. all right. rob, i want you and turing to listen in live. you're my witnesses. my guarantee that arling won't dare come after me. _ _ ___ _
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Click to launch Terminal
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From : kryptex81
Subject : Re: blackmail
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rob. that was...bracing. but it's over. now i guess we just see what happens. ...thank you. _ _ ___ _
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : The Caretaker Sounds
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Hi Rob, I don't know what Arling will do now. Maybe XRI is safe, but -- maybe we don't have much time left. I need your help to test my theory that the monument in the center of the island is some kind of puzzle or activation console. I've taken the audio clips that you collected from the six obelisks, edited them together into a playback sequence in the order indicated on the central monument, and uploaded the file to your rover. All you need to do is take a photo close to the central monument and your rover will automatically play the audio sequence. There's a mission in your task list with all the details. This might be our last chance to learn about the Caretakers. The last chance to touch intelligent life in the galaxy. - Dr Robert Turing |
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