conversations.from: system
conversations.value: PRIORITY COMMUNICATION:
  
  This information is for operatives with CASE SUNTOUCHER BABYLON clearance only.  Do not share this information outside of your immediate team or in any non-encrypted communication media.  
  
  Greetings, Team.  As you may be aware, we have been tracking an object of non-human design hiding in the corona of the star in the Babylon system.  The object, codename RASCAL, has proven resistant to any attempt to board or study it.  A recent find at our dig site in the Babylon system has provided us with potential access.  We need to move on this before opposing factions learn of the find.  Deploy to Babylon immediately via the Pandora Gate, make contact with the dig coordinator, Dr. Haskill, and make every effort to access and study Rascal.
  
  Based upon our projections there is a high likelihood of terminal failure and we would normally be reticent to put you in this position, but the opportunity to study this object/ship/organism is simply too great to pass up.  We have appended all the information we have on Babylon and Rascal to this message. Good luck.   
  
  <File Begins>
  Babylon
  
  The Babylon gate opens on to an unremarkable moon in a tidally-locked orbit around a scorched terrestrial planet quite close to a yellow sun. The second extrasolar location to be explored, the moon was named after the mythological city once known as the “Gateway of the Gods.” Initial studies by Gatekeeper researchers found nothing of interest aside from some oddities in the shape and patterns of the impact craters scoring Babylon’s surface.
  
  Later, the Martian Gate was also found to open here, and shortly after Babylon became headline news. One of the study teams brought to the moon by Pathﬁnder had the luck of detecting an unknown object orbiting within the star’s corona. Further analysis determined that it was most likely a spacecraft of unknown origins.
  
  Despite the launch of several probes to investigate the object, further attempts to study or even reach it have been largely futile. The craft maneuvers away from approaching spacecraft and seems to employ cloaking measures that enable it to effectively hide deep within the corona. The probes that have gotten close have been disabled, presumably destroyed by unknown defensive systems. Gatekeeper initiated one recon of the object with a team of explorers sleeved in sundiver morphs; these were all destroyed. Further efforts to reach and study the ship are underway by both Gatekeeper and an inner system hypercorp, Sirius Surveys. Recent maneuvering has taken the ship closer to the star’s chromosphere; should it be able to take shelter there, it will remain out of our reach.
  
   None of the planets or moons in Babylon’s star system seem likely candidates for having developed life. Though it is possible the makers of the craft originally accessed this system via the gate, building the ship here, it remains a distinct possibility that the craft originated from another system and is indeed capable of interstellar travel.
  
  Babylon
   
  Type
  Tidally-Locked Rocky Moon
   
  Primary Star
  G4V (Yellow Dwarf)
   
  Satellite of
  Agade
   
  Gravity
   0.09 g
   
  Diameter
   950 km
   
  Atmospheric Pressure
   Negligible
   
  Atmospheric Composition
   Trace Oxygen and Helium
   
  Surface Temperature (Min/Mean/Max)
   -150 C / 60 C / 450 C
   
  Day Length
   1.5 days
   
  Orbital Period
   1.5 days
   
  Satellites
   None
   
  Gate Access
   Martian Gate, Pandora Gate
   
  
   Impact Crater Analysis
  [Begin Excerpt from Sirius Surveys Report on Babylon Surface]
   I am now reasonably convinced that the atypical and precise nature of the scoring marks over the surface of the satellite are inconsistent with the original micrometeorite impact theory postulated by Dr. Edhino. It is easy to see why it would be the prevailing assumption, with the obvious similarities to Earth’s moon and the fact that mysteries require more work and thus a longer stay here—and who wants that? I have begun to suspect that they actually indicate weapons ﬁre, though why someone would be using this moon for target practice is beyond me. Well, unless they’ve been stationed here as long as I have, in which case “boredom” strikes me as an adequate reason.
  
   Note these samples. Here we have multiple sites found with deep scoring, sand fused. The average depth reaches five meters below the surface, with some going as deep as thirty meters. As suggested in advanced modeling, sites are invariably parallel. The spacing between glass furrows is consistent. It almost looks like straﬁng runs.
  
   Also of interest are the atypical silicates found at thirty-nine impact locations. These samples match each other within a 7.05% variance. We have not found any evidence of the silicates at other (more traditional) impact sites or as part of the moon’s crust. Though precise calibration is difficult, the
   youngest of these samples I estimate to be around thirty years standard, accounting for surface erosion, which is minimal. I’d place the oldest at three thousand years minimum, possibly far
   older. It is quite possible that more ancient samples may be undetectable due to erosion and other environmental factors.
  [End Excerpt]
  
  Incident Debriefing Report
  Subject: Obano Bunuel, Operations Agent, Cyan Clearance
  Assignment: Babylon Rascal Project
  [Begin Transcript]
   We took a nice, slow approach and followed all of our standard operating procedures to the letter. We made a sweep of the area ﬁrst, establishing that our ship was the only one in the immediate vicinity, not that we expected much to be out there. We analyzed the coronal environment carefully to make sure there were no hidden surprises lying in wait. We measured the star’s output against our records to ensure consistency. We tracked Rascal’s position and proﬁle for any signs of response.
  
  Everything was exactly as we expected to find it. Any deviations were well within accepted tolerance levels.
  
  Satisfied that all was according to plan, we steered ourselves on a gradual intercept course. When we were about four hours out, Fernanda initiated the scan sequence. We knew to expect some interference from the solar EM, but we ﬁgured it was a safe range from which to start. We were wrong.
  
  Thirteen seconds into our scans, Rascal’s telemetry suddenly changed. We saw a ripple along the outer hull and ﬂuctuations in the outer shell. Seams appeared where there had never been any before. We were all so excited. Rascal was online, and we were receiving pings. It was scanning us back. I think Zander was the only one with the sense to be afraid.
  
  I was watching Rascal through the long-range sensors as it turned and a series of long narrow ﬂanges or doors of some kind opened on one end. We actually started receiving some data on the interior, but I couldn’t make a lot of sense of what was on the monitors at ﬁrst. Then I realized: Rascal was organic. It was alive.
  
  That’s when we were hit. I’m not sure what the pulse was, but it took out both Fernanda and Zander and crippled my systems. I had just enough time to egocast back out. Then I woke up here. 
  
  I know from the review that those last sensor readings we received didn’t make it back. But I remember, right before I evacuated, that the scans were picking up some intriguing energy patterns from inside Rascal. Possible lifeforms?
  [End Transcript]
  
  
  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Pandora: Saturn's moon Pandora is the site of the first Gate discovered.  It's held by Gatekeeper, a subsidiary of the Titanian government.  A bustling hub of activity tempered by very high security and running on a sharp, Nordic timetable.   
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Gate Control: Surrounded by security, loading bays, and control infrastructure, Gate Control is where it all happens.  Within the containment dome awaits the Pandora Gate. 
  
  The Gate stands before you.  Its alien geometry and the black well at its center eat away at your mind.  Your eyes seem to slip off it and piecing together a coherent view is difficult.  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Babylon: The rocky, tidally locked moon of Agade, Babylon has little to distinguish itself beyond the pummeled surface, research dome, and the presence of a gate
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Agade: A scorched terrestrial planet orbited by Babylon, Agade was largely overlooked until an Argonaut science mission set down in AF9.6.  Now there's an archaeological dig site and possibly the key to a mystery.  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Door: In a shattered corridor of a broken city buried beneath the sands of a ruined world, a doorway shines.  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Rascal: An organic spaceship, apparently alive and aware.  What mysteries and dangers might it contain?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Bridge: No instrumentation, nowhere to sit, no crew, no center.  All roads lead here, but there isn't anything to be seen...
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Dr Anna Carrens: Dr. Carrens is the ranking Argonaut at Pandora. 
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Oleg Rostapoplovich: Oleg is team lead on the Agade dig.  He's been an archaeologist for 150 years, as he'll tell you at every opportunity.  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Argus 313A: AGI tasked with maintaining the base at Babylon.  He presents as a friendly voice and is ever helpful.  He's also wired into an array of defenses and at least one large antimatter explosive device.  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Argonaut Xenoarchaeologist: Skilled in astrobiology, geology, excavation, chemistry, climbing...a little bit of this, a little bit of that - all in the pursuit of knowledge
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Pattern Recognition: Don't knock being able to pull signal out of noise.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Not a tank: All brains, no brawn.  Well, very little brawn, particularly comparatively.  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Explore New Civilizations: Look, there's a lot of universe out there, and some of it used to be populated.  Who knows what kind of cool shit you can find?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Uplifted Octopus: You are a member of one of the oddest biological species uplifted by humanity, neither readily understood by nor readily understanding creatures evolutionarily "closer" to mankind.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Gifted Multitasker: Unsurprisingly, given your species, you're pretty fantastic at doing a whole hell of a lot of things – even very complicated things – at the same time.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Different Mind: You just don't see the universe the same way many other sentients do – your entire neurology is different, and it sometimes shows in your thoughts, beliefs, values, and actions.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Defend the Team: Octopi tend to be loners, but you recognize the necessity of having a social unit upon which you can depend, and you've taken it upon yourself to defend this group.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Savant: Always seeking to expand the potential of the human psyche, Dennis seeks new frontiers and new examples to study and assist.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Fractal Mind: Dennis has reconfigured his own psyche with multiple personalities, so he is able to see things from a variety of different perspectives.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Indifferent: Dennis sometimes misses the forest for the trees in pursuit of knowledge and experimentation.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Find New Psyches: Being a Gatecrasher presents the possibility of finding different *types* of psyches and beings.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Explorer: Driven to test himself against new challenges and environments, Jotun constantly seeks out novel situations and jumps at the chance to explore.  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Many Eyes, Many Hands: Jotun interacts with the physical world through bots.  He has machines everywhere, eyes on everything.  This comes in very handy when trouble comes knocking.  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Non-Human Perspective: No matter how many years he has interacted with people, Jotun still doesn't get their worldview.  Stuck in a single body, and a rotting sack of flesh at that, is... discomfiting.  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Utilitarian Immortality: What's the purpose of living forever if you're not useful?  It is only through service, to others and to the greater good, that we earn our survival.  