Intergalactic Summit

Pilots;

After surprisingly extensive internal deliberation, Itsukame-Zainou Hyperspatial Inquiries Ltd. issues this formal position regarding both the Sanctuary corporation of the Sisters of EVE and the Pharos of Thera group spoken for by former Sanctuary scientist Taya Akira.

Itsukame-Zainou solicits both the Sisters of EVE and Pharos of Thera for additional information on such matters as have recently come to light, due both to shared duty to address the on-going Drifter Crisis, and to ensure that the methods employed are not increasing the risk we face.

We understand that this request is bold. At the same time, we make this request for a variety of reasons and believe it to be well-founded.

In the first place, the unfortunate truth is that we have not been given reason to trust the Sanctuary.

While the Sisters of EVE and Food Relief do a great many good deeds, the Sanctuary corporation has been involved in a number of questionable acts of uncertain purpose, and operates under the reputation developed by the Sisters’ humanitarian acts without supporting those acts.

The Sanctuary is known to have colonized Thera via unknown means and for an unknown duration, is suspected to be involved in the Syndicate explosion that may have involved an artificial wormhole generator, provides pilots Drifter-developed combat boosters for analysis of ‘unknown tissue samples,’ and most recently is the likely research body responsible for a novel, unvetted cloning architecture likely from Jove or perhaps even Drifter biotechnology.

In brief, we cannot simply take the Sanctuary’s word at face value, especially when the Sanctuary makes explicit attempts to sidestep CONCORD and possibly Society awareness of its activities.

However, we do not necessarily have reason to assume that Taya Akira is anything more than the Sanctuary says: a traumatized former researcher whose fears are out of scale with the danger faced.

While she is a whistleblower and a valuable source for information on otherwise murky and uncertain Sanctuary activities, the most recent of these vague and ominous warnings lack verifiable or actionable intelligence. Her wholesale prescription that wormhole space, Thera, and Drifters themselves are dangerous are instructive as to her position, but we are given no means to assess the validity of her concerns, nor any sense of the scale or nature of the danger.

What danger could Thera be? Is Capsuleer colonization of Anoikis not sufficient to establish our ability to contend with any danger there? What is the anomalous activity the Sisters have detected lately, and how does she draw the impression that this indicates an increased risk of Drifter attacks in known space? Are we to abandon study of technologies far beyond our present capability, to close the door on our only means of securing particular forms of advanced equipment? Are we not best helped by studying and adapting Drifter technology so that we might combat them more effectively?

Pharos of Thera’s purpose is noble but might very well be overblown; we yet lack the context to understand their position, and its implications on the greater cluster, even though we greatly appreciate their desire to share information on what they perceive as threats to cluster security.

Now, in the interest of transparency, we take these steps:

Ms. Akira, Pharos of Thera; those who spread knowledge are always welcome. IKAME personnel have taken station in Aring system, and are prepared to interview you to ensure a greater flow of information to the cluster, along with context adequate to ensure that independent Capsuleers understand the dangers you speak of.

Sanctuary; it is tempting to dismiss the lone voice in the darkness. However, so often we hear only silence from you, and that lone voice is our only source of knowledge. With the assistance of the Sisters-aligned Signal Cartel as an intermediary, we seek a greater understanding of the Drifter Crisis. While the Drifters remain a known threat, we lack knowledge of their operational objectives and methods, and so cannot establish the scale of the threat the Drifters pose. Please help us understand.

To both, we have a variety of questions.

• What is the ‘subtle but steady shifting of Drifter activity’ recently discovered? How does it cause you to believe that Drifter objectives may be changing?
• What are the ‘artificial life systems’ spoken of by Ms. Akira? Does this explicitly refer to the novel Drifter implants replacing much of the cranial space of Drifter cadavers? Or is this referring to the Sleeper medical technologies used to preserve the corpses? Or does this relate to the mention of artificial intelligence systems?
• What bearing does artificial intelligence have on this all? Is AI integration a core component of the new cloning technology? If so, do these AIs have any potential to trigger CONCORD’s Directive Omega-One-Five? Are we aware of any AI being employed by the Drifters, or formerly employed by the Sleepers, that would warrant Directive Omega-One-Five intervention if it were activated?
• Which centers of Drifter activity are being monitored or penetrated? Sisters of EVE fleets are stationed in the five known Drifter Hives, but Consortium explorations of the Hives since the latest announcement have not yet located any anomalous activity. Likewise, we have yet to observe a Thukker presence in any known Hive system, whether by encountering vessels or the remains of vessels.

More questions will surely follow, but these are our initial points of interest.

We remain wary but curious, and willing to assist those researchers who seek our assistance.

In service,
Makoto Priano
Itsukame-Zainou Hyperspatial Inquiries Ltd.

The miscommunication certainly brings some more confusion. Considering the situation I think Taya Akira and her team do a wise thing by staying in a safe and secure location.

Thanks to the Scope, she is in the limelight right now, so that puts her in relative safety. You know, just in case she accidentally shoots herself in the back of her head a couple of times.

Makoto, you were part of the group that found Tukoss's remains over a year ago. The structures he showed, the fleets? They weren't there anymore, were they? Suggesting they could be rapidly mobilized and deployed.

You know what is coming. We waited too long.

Interesting. Thanks for the feedback.

The full quote is needed to begin to make sense of this.


It refers to understanding the very questions you are asking. In short, "Drifter biology" was being studied, and a goal of the research was to understand whether it was natural, adapted or profoundly altered by integration with artificial systems. The artificial systems obviously imply the heavy alterations seen in Drifter biology. The question seems to be whether the biology lead to integration with technology, or if the biology was adapted to interface with the technology.

The former indicates intent by Drifters to become what they are. The latter could imply intent from an outside source to alter what they were before. The implication is that there may be something more powerful than the Drifters that controls them, perhaps an artificial intelligence. If the Empires use similar technology, are they opening themselves up to infiltration?

In regards to the implications of artificial life support systems, do we know any information as to the whereabouts of Master Kuvakei..? This seems like something that would be right up his alley...