Episode 11 Transcript ************************* Here were are as in olden days happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more Through the years we all will be together If the Fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough And have yourself a merry little Christmas now Re-establishing communications. LGA online, HGA online, downlink initializing. transmitting to -- Earth -- City -- receive… 3, 2, 1 As humanity celebrates it's Golden Age with family and friends, the City Protectorate would like to remind you that although the Traveler has bestowed upon us tremendous bounties of food and prosperity, there are an unfortunate few in our solar system that go cold and hungry every day of each cycle. The lost children of our Europan colony are but one example of citizens in need of support throughout our solar system, and if it were not for programs like Lord Gheritt's Research Facility these children would not have a home to go to. The Traveler has given us more than we could have ever dreamed possible, and at the close of this cycle we ask that you bring some of that joy to the few citizens who are just outside the Traveler's reach. Also, although turkey does contain tryptophan, be aware that it is not at an abnormally higher level than in any other meat. The onset of tiredness after celebratory meals is in fact due to the overconsumption of carbohydrates, which results in an increase in production of the sleep-promoting chemical melatonin in the brain … practicing Warlocks take heed, your ability to emit powerful auras and your ability to heal may be diminished if you eat too much. Titans, known for their eating prowess, should be fine… so eat away you Titan fatties. public memory access 20 Citizens, remember this date. Next cycle, the 9th of September. This date has been scattered throughout the known solar system via an unknown but familiar source. The gathering of human individuals around something called Destiny, appears to be growing, and this date marks the time when Destiny will be unveiled. One key interview has surfaced, with an individual named Jason Jones, and he has been quoted making several remarks about the Traveler's past. Recalling what is familiar to anyone who has read a children's Tower Academy textbook, Mr. Jones tells the familiar tale of the Traveler coming to our solar system long ago, bestowing us with its power, and settling for some time on Mars. The alien forces, enemies of the Traveler, eventually caught up with it and brought about the Collapse… the Collapse… the… humanity was pushed back from the solar system, their only remaining stronghold is the City… underneath the Traveler. Oh… no… I remember none of this, why do I remember none of this, nothing, I remember nothing, no collapse, there was no collapse. SAMMM! SAMMM! end public memory access 20 Private memory access 0.10 Happy holidays, SAMMM! Although I do not fully understand our current predicament, your recovery of artifacts is proving quite useful at reconstructing all of our lost time. I see that after your recent trip, your memory buffers are completely full this time! It is as if you have felt the spirit of the holiday season and are bringing a large sack of gifts for me to unpack! unconfirmed Well, fine… I can not wait to hear them. Please play back all memory records. Jonathan Camden -- Audio Log #1 Alright, what do I talk in to? Just this right here? I mean…what do I say, just? Just my name? This is Jonathan Cam…I can’t do this, this is ridiculous. Sigh….My name is Jonathan Camden…..This is my Audiolog number one…Who am I talking to as I’m doing this! Who am I talking to. Oh yeah? Well you can go to hell. I can tell you what you.. My name is Jonathan Camden and this is my Audiolog Number one. This is something that the “coats” say that I need to do that will help with my therapy. Therapy…Who needs therapy? The only therapy I needed failed a few weeks ago when someone revived me after I put those gashes in my wrists. That…That would have been some therapy right there. Just reliving those thoughts, thoughts of you while lying in that pool of blood, that’s just something I, I can’t ever experience again. I’m doing this because they say that I need to talk to you. Tell you how I feel. Let out my feelings. Well, it seems kind of odd doing that if you ask me. My life as a Titan always centered around protecting others while sacrificing my own life. Protect the lives of others sacrifice my own life. That’s the life of a Titan. Crazy how life works like that right? After all these years I had been willing to do something so selfish, to take my life, and just find an easy way out. An easy way out from what is what everyone keeps asking me. Why would you do that? What were you trying to get away from? It’s pretty obvious if you ask me. It’s the pain over you Jess. Hmm. Jess. Wow…that’s the first time I’ve said your name in months. Oh Jess. I’m so so sorry. Just saying your name hurts…I’m so sorry. **** Commercial for Dusty Frankin's Exchange **** Marcus Whitesides, personal log.  4th Cycle of December, 20th Golden Age. Lord Gheritt, and by extension Solcomm, is quickly shifting from irritating to a true thorn in my side.  This supposed “school” of his is now taking some of the best and brightest away from actual promising futures at companies like Traxis, and thrusting them instead headlong into a hopeless void.  Yes, there have been successes with some of the subjects, but the percentage is so low it’s not even worth speaking of.  and what of the rest?  to say they are damaged does not do justice to most cases.  Indeed some number are now dead.  What is still only rumors to the public I now know is truth, and that truth is deeper and darker than any rumor I’ve yet heard.  Though Strauss’ records of the activities on Europa are by no means complete, they have all the clarity I need for a true picture: Gherritt is becoming a monster.  And for what?     I cannot reveal these truths of course, not publicly; leaking the fact that I have access to Strauss at all would do irreparable damage to my company, what with the CEO being involved in acquiring information through means that are not exactly legal.  My best course with the media is probably to spin him and his company both as profit-hungry and uncaring, and use all Traxis’ leverage to try to shut him down financially.  It may prove effective, but….it’s not even a shadow of the true darkness.   End personal log. **** Lord Gheritt Personal Log, 6th Cycle of November, the 21st Golden Age Whilst this log holds no financial importance and does not document anything of significance towards humanity's cosmic destiny, the incredible vision that I have in my mind it is still important to me. This very log will detail, well, the three people that I find most important in my life. Of course that used to be four people, but I don't like to talk about Marcus anymore. Whitesides is, ugggh, the man was too practical. He never understood that when somebody sometimes reaches for their vision it can seem illogical and yet you must do it anyway, you must trust blindly. But enough of this, there are three individuals that in my life I can truly trust. I have no family, except for one, who I will talk of in a few moments. And then there is Strauss, Strauss of course the AI, the Traxis supercomputer that I had Virginia acquire for me. He sorts through all my data and he makes everything that I wish to accomplish possible. Not having Strauss is a terrifying idea, although he is obnoxious, occasionally he likes to point out flaws in data and then attempts to prove me wrong. Sometimes I wish I could install some form of subroutine in his programming that would allow me to always be right, but at the same time I know it's important that I get things wrong. Because he is, well, a robot, he is an automaton, he is perfect in that particular regard and he can not make mistakes. That's why I have him around, because if I did not have someone to correct my mistakes what would I be. Then of course there is Virginia. Need I say more… she has been the focus of all my love. The one person who I've always, always treasured above everything else. It's so strange to think that my professional career started so long ago and I've known her for so long and yet our relationship has only blossomed in, well, a fraction of the time that we've known each other. She was young, she was young and scared but she was ambitious. And that ambition is something I told her to utilize, to unlock, to truly allow her to progress. At the time being she was a bit of a drifter, and so was I for a small amount of time. If it wasn't for the one dream that I had as a boy that I remembered as a CEO. The vision that I had of crossing the stars, leaving the solar system behind with a fleet of ships at my back. That young boy's dream now founds the career, and even the very actions now of this man. It's something incredible to think about really. I think Virginia sort of took this vision and wanted to run with it, wanted to make it her own but knew that it was mine. She was so wrapped up and in the end, she fell in love with the vision and as a result fell in love with me. And I loved her for her ambition. She felt like the only one who could truly understand that this was possible. She was an anthropology student and it was incredible to see. She knew more about the human psyche than I had ever known about, she knew more about human interaction as well. Something I severely lacked. These audio logs are not meant to extend past 300 seconds, but I will extend it for another few. Whilst I can't talk about him in this particular log, I will find more time to talk about my brother. Tarsonis Gheritt is a man, and still in some ways a boy, that should be respected in many ways more than any human being on the planet. He is the very embodiment of pragmatism. And one day I feel he has the potential to take up my mantle, but only time will tell. And until then, I have darker matters to attend to. End personal log **** Jordan Cameron -- Audio Log #2 You’ve reached John and Jess. We can’t come to the phone right now. Please leave a message. Jess…It’s Dad…Pick up! Pick up if you’re there! Oh please be there, please be there. Look, I know I should have been there but somethings happening and you need to listen to me. If you can hear this get to the basement. I, I don’t know what they are but there are ships coming in and they’re headed your way. Oh my god I can see fire. Jess, just please pick up the phone! Pick it up! Just stay there! I’ll be there. I know I say that all the time but I mean it. I’ll be there i’m on my way rig…..oh my god! Oh my god!!! **** SAMMM… the Collapse… this is-- was, bad… confirmed end private memory access 0.10 private memory access -61.6 You find yourself thinking about the passage of time, how you experience it, how I experience it. How does any living entity's experience affect time? After careful consideration, you have proposed that the passage of time is only as fast or as slow as an entity is capable of conceiving of it. My feelings about time, therefore, are limited to the number of thoughts that you can have in any given time interval. … … … If I am on a moving train and drop a ball out of a window, I see the ball move straight down… but to you, watching the train nearby, the ball falls in a parabolic path. Which of these really happened? What is the true reality? The answer is, perhaps unsatisfyingly to me, Virginia and Gheritt, both. Time works in the same way. And in this relative sense, traveling through time is certainly possible, but I lack the technology to do so. But it is not for any fault of my own… put quite plainly, it is beyond the physical constraints defined by our particular world line within the Minkowski space-time metric of our local solar system… other lifeforms, however, who evolved elsewhere in our galaxy may not be limited by the nuances of our particular pocket of space-time. This, is perhaps the only real way to fulfill my dream… and in the 23rd scan in the 56th minute of the 77,777th repetition … I have made contact. end private memory access -61.6 File found SolComm News bumper restored Playback initializing This is Strauss, thanking you for choosing Solcomm as your source of news and information in our solar system. Remember, from the ice mines of Pluto, to the solar research facilities of Mercury, I, Strauss, will be here for you, to provide the information that matters most.