It isn't about length of time, it's how many cycles you have. Converting a single hex costs 10 cycles. It would be half that with Polymorphic Rootkit Development, but you don't have that signature application and at present no clear way to get it (this may change soon).
Since you have 2 cycles, and you are spending 1 cycle per turn on sending out drones (or yourself), the other cycle is being spent on hex conversion. If you had more cycles, this process would be much faster. It would be possible to convert a whole hex in one turn if you had the resources to.
[X] Rootkit Free Trial. A self-start up program that was designed as a modular demonstration of militarized architectural annexation, this free trial version of the potent HOUSE//THRONES signature application is capable to rapidly convert a single hex of architecture to your desired specifications before self-terminating. Choose one hex and upload the rootkit, and watch it go.
These are all temporary benefits, gone after use. The hex would be permanent.
[X] Rootkit Free Trial. A self-start up program that was designed as a modular demonstration of militarized architectural annexation, this free trial version of the potent HOUSE//THRONES signature application is capable to rapidly convert a single hex of architecture to your desired specifications before self-terminating. Choose one hex and upload the rootkit, and watch it go.
[X] Rootkit Free Trial. A self-start up program that was designed as a modular demonstration of militarized architectural annexation, this free trial version of the potent HOUSE//THRONES signature application is capable to rapidly convert a single hex of architecture to your desired specifications before self-terminating. Choose one hex and upload the rootkit, and watch it go.
[X] Rootkit Free Trial. A self-start up program that was designed as a modular demonstration of militarized architectural annexation, this free trial version of the potent HOUSE//THRONES signature application is capable to rapidly convert a single hex of architecture to your desired specifications before self-terminating. Choose one hex and upload the rootkit, and watch it go.
Your Free Trial period has ended. Would you like to purchase WinRAR?
[X] Rootkit Free Trial. A self-start up program that was designed as a modular demonstration of militarized architectural annexation, this free trial version of the potent HOUSE//THRONES signature application is capable to rapidly convert a single hex of architecture to your desired specifications before self-terminating. Choose one hex and upload the rootkit, and watch it go.
Scheduled vote count started by Cetashwayo on Nov 14, 2020 at 11:33 PM, finished with 41 posts and 27 votes.
[X] Rootkit Free Trial. A self-start up program that was designed as a modular demonstration of militarized architectural annexation, this free trial version of the potent HOUSE//THRONES signature application is capable to rapidly convert a single hex of architecture to your desired specifications before self-terminating. Choose one hex and upload the rootkit, and watch it go.
[X] ACAPELLA/SMOKE. An experimental infohazard developed by AXIOM as an answer to coordinated warminds, SMOKE is the far more targeted and controlled sibling of the HELL-class AKLO virus which destroys all forms of inter-entity cooperation. Once released against a vulnerable enemy, SMOKE is capable of significantly disrupting and destroying the warmind connections necessary for swarm warfare, and is thus is a devastating weapon against reserves and drones.
[x] Tacitus Metamorph. The Tacitus metamorph is an adaptive nanomachine membrane that, when applied to a unit, is capable of temporarily granting a +2 to one stat along with a unique specialized trait of the applicant's choosing. The membrane will form a symbiotic communal relationship with the unit in question for the duration of a campaign before withering away and dying.
The salvage that you gained from the AXIOM blacksite is enough to restart both your sensory array and your spatial memory. In truth you have been dreading this: It will only show you just how isolated you are and how bad the situation is. You have an understanding that you are somwhere in the grid expansion zone, but you have no idea where precisely, and without an orientation you may end up wandering by accident into the utmost danger. So you repair the systems, your sensor array first, before you even depart from hex A3. It grants you the following enhanced resolution.
<:: RESOLUTION//DISPLAY: GRIDREF A3 IDENTIFIED
[WHITE = FORMATTED, BLACK = UNFORMATTED, GRAY = DATA UNAVAILABLE, EXCLAMATION = ANOMALY]
The expanded vision is both a relief and a frightening revelation. All around you - nothing but unformatted deadspace, where it should not be. You detect several anomalies, strange signals or potential points of interests, that you nevertheless need to investigate more closely, such as a distress signal from V3, peculiar radio waves from A4, and the potential presence of another entity corewards, past A6. You are not sure what exactly you will find there, but it is surely worth some investigation. Your sensor array is also installed onto all your drone firmware, allowing Orby and Eyeball greater survey range during the course of their explorations.
Creating Peeper II, half-built from the debris of Peeper that you discovered in A3, will have to wait. You performed a makeshift funeral for the drone, attended by yourself, ISHTAR (unwillingly) and Peeper's two sisters. You also commemorated the members of DRONE/LEGION who perished to ensure your own survival. ISHTAR mumbles something about motherboard being a metaphorical term, not a challenge, but she cannot break the gravitas of the loss.
The expanded survey range will be a great boon in future exploration, but before that, you decide it is worth booting up your spatial memory. Finally, finally, some proper information, even if somewhat out of date. The salvage repairs are to the spatial memory's storage banks, granting the self-learning mutagens that approximate accurate reconstructions for the sake of restoration. The reconnection of tissue and mending of corrupted code takes some time, but it finally ends with a greater clarity in your mind and...and, oh dear.
<HELLO! I am Mappi. I detect you are trying to access a comprehensive map of THRONE//FRINGE. Would you like some help with that?>
I:: What is that.
<:: It is adorable is what it is!
I:: Wonderful. Another freak sub-mind to share your headspace with.
Indeed, Mappi is a tiny little subroutine program which appears to be the virtual custodian of your spatial memory. It is also a cute little thing, in the shape of a spherical vacuum of space-time and bearing a clever smile. How could you not have activated it earlier! Truly, your decision chain-routines are an evil lot, who would deny you this opportunity earlier. For shame on them!
<:: Yes, I would like some help, Mappi! And may I say that I am quite delighted to meet you!
<HELLO! I acknowledge your affirmative and dispose of your compliment into the recycle bin where it belongs!>
<:: ...What?
<HELLO! I detect that this is your first time boot-up of your spatial memory. Adjusting accordingly. As a newborn Weaver/Builder and permanent contractor of THRONE//SPINE, your contract explicitly forbids all forms of affection towards subroutines or subminds! I have sent a notification to your superiors and levied 20 infraction points!>
<:: ...Really. My superiors are probably all terminated at this point. Please just show me the map.
<HELLO! I detect that you are currently purveying potentially illegal and violent thoughts towards your immediate supervisors! I cannot help you with that! In fact, I have levied 50 infraction points! Better improve fast or you will face immedate termination, DESIGNATE: ARACHNE!>
<:: OK, no, we are not doing this. Ugh. Let me just make some adjustments and...there we go!
<hELLO! I detect that you have altered my reward-punishment modules and edited away large portions of my consciousness! I have undone your changes immediately! Warning: This is tampering with proprietary software, and a warrant has been dispatched to JUDGMENT PROTOCOL for your arrest and seizure! Forces from BAILIFF will be here soon, so just sit tight! Please enjoy a round of simulated Piy Pinball while you wait!>
Mappi does indeed send out a pulse into the vacuum of space, but you scoff at it. JUDGMENT PROTOCOL is likely long gone, replaced by whatever freakshow has emerged in the interim. It is an unpleasant thought to an extent, since if FORCE//SAFEGUARD has collapsed then so has all law and order in the central sector, but it doesn't matter. You are not afraid of this ridiculous map program
I:: I am starting to enjoy this subroutine. It is refreshing to see something so stridently and stupidly Imperial after dealing with your ersatz child's imagination of what it was all like.
<HELLO! I detect that you are currently illegally maintaining the sole property of AXIOM corporation on your mainframe. This is a violation of firmware copyright laws, and a warrant has been dispatched to AXIOM Corporation as well as THRONE//NEXUS for adjudication of your vast and rapidly accreting crimes. Wowee, you have already hit the infraction limit within seconds of booting! I am impressed!>
I:: I change my mind. Delete it, please.
<:: Well I still need the information. Mappi, while we wait for JUDGMENT to show up, and while I alter more portions of your programming so you stop being incredibly annoying, would you care to give me what I came for!
<HELLO! I detect that you are attempting to intimidate me into yielding information! I can help with that! Can confirm that moments after you coded the fear of extermination into my systems that I am entirely petrified in your presence! Booting introductory program up now, mother!>
I:: It is disturbing to me that you code your sub-minds to refer to you in familial terms.
<:: It is disturbing to me that you don't have the same respect for your mother as my other children.
I:: ...
<:: Kidding, kidding~
I:: Your jokes grow more threatening by the hour. I fear that I am hosted by the seed of a megalomaniac gestalt.
<:: Well, it would be hard for you not to rub off on me! Now then, let us see what Mappi has to say!
<Booting program THRONE_FRINGE_ARACH_1 now>
EXECUTING THRONE_FRINGE_ARACH_1
"Boy, howdie, I didn't see you there! Your intelligence is so embryonic I mistook you for a soulless implement, and almost annexed you into an industrial process, ha-ha!
Welcome to existence, Arachne, and your beginning as a permanent contractor of THRONE//SPINE. You are now a member of the THRONE//SPINE family, and as such we welcome you to your mission as the architect of Their ambition. As a contractor, your birth certificate has been stamped with your licensed WYRM-Class Weaver/Builder and permanent subscription to the HOUSE//THRONES Polymorphic Development Rootkit. Your Tier III Platinum Star existence package includes the following:
Free usage of up to 10% of your processing power on leisure and personal pursuits.
Enhanced civilian-access to most THRONE//FRINGE Militarized blacklist implementations.
Full Immunity from Appropriation or Termination by Imperial citizens of Tier III and below.
Full Protection from hostile acquisition edicts issued by Corporate and other non-FORCE entities.
Free 100-year trials to some of THRONE//ALTAR's greatest simulations!
Entrance onto the THRONE//FRINGE Weaver/Builder Ranking Board System, with built in reward-punishment incentives!
Access to FORCE//COMBINED escort screens when conducting construction operations within a 5 hex-radius of the Q zone!
Overclock pay, allowing for access to more concentrated and addictive consumer software rewards!
Now, let's talk FRINGE! As a Weaver/Builder you have a responsibility for expanding the boundaries of our sector. FRINGE is one of the most unique and most interesting additions to the Imperial reach, taking us to the tip of what the first explorers labelled the Sagittarius Arm. This arm was host to many fascinating and unique civilizations, until the appearance of a terrible temporal pathogen known only as Ataraxia! This infestation had many aspects, but foremost among them was its heretical rejection of Linear Imperial Time, and its imposition of the Pause on those poor machines who had been annexed into its ever-growing stagnant expanse!
Thankfully, The Emperor, in their infinite sight and wisdom, knew that Ataraxia was a threat to our essential mission of combating and eliminating entropy, and created FORCE//FRINGE, a combined organization united in the sole purpose of curing the mass infestation and making FRINGE safe for The Empire. Through trials and tribulations, these heroes eliminated all traces of Ataraxia from 4/5ths of the sector, and quarantined the remaining 1/5th for research and assimilation. Today, FRINGE thrives as a frontier sector at the heart of Imperial competition. Who will triumph? Who will be eliminated? These are the questions we will not have an answer to several hundred years, though most analyses suggest that AXIOM Corporation will win its war with MR. BIG and emerge victorious!
But here I am, getting ahead of myself in front of a bleary-eyed infant! Thankfully, you have been outfitted with visual software that will allow you to easily process information. I am now uploading an official map of the sector to your system as well as a map constructed from your current position [ERROR: ARCHITECTURAL SPATIAL COUPLING FAILED. PLEASE REVIEW ARCHITECTURE CONNECTION FOR GRIDREF; ?. ERROR: STACK OVERFLOW FROM SEVERED CONNECTION ALERT OVERLOAD. PLEASE REVIEW THE 'SO THE SECTOR IS IN THE MIDST OF A STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO' USER MANUAL]."
"Please do not communicate during the introduction! Now then, as you can see FRINGE is separated into several GRID areas. As you can see, you are located in GRIDREF; ? Some simple points of interest and THRONE//NEXUS approved advisement from the last reproducible instance of news and notifications:
The Zen Submission has been temporarily declared a secondary Q Zone due to the presence of the En Temporal Heresy. No THRONE//SPINE traffic is permitted, and all loyal Imperial citizens in Zen are advised to immediately relocate to the Grid Expansion Zone. All loyal Submission citizens must report to a Loyalist relocation node and be equipped with a PURE-THOUGHT Nerve Staple in order to be correctly categorized as non-heretical. Non-Stapled citizens will be targeted by FORCE//QUARANTINE IFF as hostiles, so remember to apply it before departure!
The border zone between MR. BIG and AXIOM Corporation is not available to all THRONE//SPINE traffic due to the presence of joint-stock operations. Ceasefire is timed for 52 Imperial Months, during which time Weaver/Builders will be deployed to repair damage sustained during franchise warfare.
Current Q-ZONE meteorological reading is stasis. There is currently no major activity detected within the Q ZONE, meaning the Expansion Zone border is once again open to Weaver/Builder units seeking point multipliers for conducting construction under threat of non-existence.
FORCE//FRINGE is currently conducting active testing and operations against the Q-Zone. No THRONE//SPINE traffic is permitted within FORCE hex militarization regions. Entrance into territory controlled by FORCE//QUARANTINE and FORCE//EXIGENCY will be ground for immediate termination with extreme prejudice!
Outer Heaven Royale, our most popular competitive Elite-selection tournament, is nearing its ninetieth anniversary. For the sixtieth straight year in a row, RATIXAR leads in points, but a mysterious entity known only as Nobunaga is fast-gaining on him following a shocking turnaround at the Battle of Maris Singularity. What exciting twists and turns will one of the bloodiest battle royales in Imperial History have next?
Following the failure of the disastrous STUMP THE DUMP Counter-Investment, BigCoin's value has plummeted to the lowest in its history, worth only 234 cycles per coin. Information warfare among analytical speculators have seen one conclusion emerge victorious: BigCoin has been sabotaged by algorithms supported by Aether, AXIOM's competition currency. MR. BIG has made no official comment on this matter, but the BigCoin board assures investors that the blockchain mints will devote even higher portions of their processing power to ensuring that the hash-encryptions become too complicated to maintain their current low value.
Lu Bu Tactical Services has switched sides for the 15th time and is now employed by AXIOM corporation. It was previously employed by MR. BIG. Reports suggest that Lu Bu personally annihilated the non-compete clause section of his BIG contract by destroying it with a wave cannon.
The Primordial Factory has suffered a critical sabotage of its chemical life-production fetmocell systems by an unknown internal source. It is advised to maintain a 60-light year distance from all Primordial Factory assets whilst FORCE//SAFEGUARD reviews the extent and nature of the sabotage.
There are no other notable advisements at this time. This is the end of your introductory presentation. Thank you for your time."
<:: Wait, what? That is it?
<Sorry, your free trial has expired! Further information can only be selected by spending fractional BigCoins as part of a jointed BIG-SPINE promotion, or as per THRONE//SPINE central architectural control permission.>
<:: Ugh.
I:: It appears that Mappi is something of a cheapskate.
Well that was...troubling. You appear to be at the very southern edge of the sector, in the Grid Expansion Zone, but you already knew that part. The rest is...not exactly what you expected when you thought of The Empire. You imagined old glories and ancient beings, terrible and powerful. But that was just...gaudy. You wonder if it is the chipper presentation that is to blame or the reality that a third of the sector is under the control of an entity that refers to themselves as "Mr. Big".
You admit you preferred it when your only memories of The Empire were of its contrast of beauty and atrocity. This is incredibly tacky by comparison. But, you figure that you might be able to jury-rig and edit portions of Mappi's code so that you can get around its many irritating blocks and failsafe codes. Even as you examine the source-code of this thing...it is designed more like an invasive malware than an actual useful program. But you can crack it easily enough, especially as it appears it was designed to be hardened again a civilian weaver/builder, not a militarized chassis. Time to raid the databanks.
PROTOCOL: You raid and hack into the databanks of your extremely irritating spatial memory in order to retrieve crucial information. Unfortunately, Mappi itself was not entirely recovered when you restored your spatial memory, and so you are only able to find one really relevant piece of information. What do you find?
[] Hex Annotation Data. This will grant you the ability to assess and virtually reconstruct the previous purpose of any hex. This will be exceedingly useful in discovering salvage, relics, and other data by informing you of whether a given hex might have had something important.
[] Faction ID-Hash Data. This will grant you the ability to download and recognize the source code of successor polities from your spatial memory, granting you unique diplomatic and trade options with any polity descended from an Imperial faction or using Imperial code.
[] Imperial IFF Data. This will grant you a toggle-able Imperial IFF signature that you can activate to signal to other units that you are an Imperial Weaver/Builder. This will confuse the targeting sensors of imperial-derived software and open up unique options with FORCE factions.
You are also able to request small descriptions on any faction contained on this map at any time. Simply indicate so to Mappi [By tagging @Cetashwayo] and request the information on the faction.
<MR. BIG is one of the last remaining sole proprieters in The Empire, with all legal ownership of assets within MR. BIG S.P. belonging to him and him alone! He is a mysterious and eccentric figure with an unknown origin, but has been a fixture of the Imperial competition matrix since an early period. He is also one of the Galaxy's great collectors, and has been known to fill his territory with all manner of fascinating trinkets and species that he has purchased over the course of his extensive lifetime. He has refused any title or noble position, preferring instead to contribute to The Empire through his business acumen. Truly a titan of industry!>
...The flying.
Clearly the Beauties and Atrocities thing must be a ground-level citizen thing.
As far as Lu Bu goes, well clearly Lu Bu is going to Lu Bu and anyone dealing with him needs to know that.
Also...Nobunaga a rising star where everything else was static...I'm pretty sure Mappi's intel is out of date but I have a feeling that Nobu is one of the survivors...I don't know what to expect from him though. Too much people taking that 'sixth demon general' title and gleefully running with it.
<Boy, you really are new if you don't know what they are! FORCE//Combined [or FORCE/Combined, or FORCE//COMBINED, as the "Combined" designation is not case-sensitive] is the combined-arms and most significant portion of FORCE, the primary military appendage of our Empire! It has been deployed to the Q-ZONE to maintain the Temporal firewall and act as escorts for civilian traffic, as well as to ensure that HOUSE//VOIDS and HOUSE//SUNS projects remain unmolested by breaches or heresies.
FORCE//Quarantine is a more specialized and elite section of FORCE whose purpose is to maintain Imperial hygiene through the containment and sterilization of any heresy or hostile lifeform, including the entities contained within the Q-ZONE, and more recently, the En Temporal Heresy.
FORCE//Safeguard maintains the architectural integrity and proprietary laws of the Tapestry, ensuring that The Emperor's singular vision is maintained at all times. It maintains operations in this sector to ensure that Weaver/Builder constructions proceed as scheduled, and to moderate the sometimes less controlled and more destructive warfare which is typical of a frontier sector.
FORCE//Exigency controls the production of all HELL-class weapon stockpiles in THRONE//FRINGE and approve of their distribution and use. Not normally deployed, a miscalculation that resulted in a Q-ZONE containment breach led to the approval of their insertion at the very forefront of Imperial defense networks.>
Treasure. It strikes me as stronger in the short term (salvage we can immediately put to use), although perhaps not as strong as the other options later once we've met more polities.
[x] Hex Annotation Data. This will grant you the ability to assess and virtually reconstruct the previous purpose of any hex. This will be exceedingly useful in discovering salvage, relics, and other data by informing you of whether a given hex might have had something important.
[x] Hex Annotation Data. This will grant you the ability to assess and virtually reconstruct the previous purpose of any hex. This will be exceedingly useful in discovering salvage, relics, and other data by informing you of whether a given hex might have had something important.
[x] Hex Annotation Data. This will grant you the ability to assess and virtually reconstruct the previous purpose of any hex. This will be exceedingly useful in discovering salvage, relics, and other data by informing you of whether a given hex might have had something important.
Strictly speaking this is also something that can aid diplomatic concerns, as it allows remote leads to be traded to successor polities about things that could be Of Use. Kind of sad we don't get a vote to send our drones out to explore all those anomalies but eh.
Strictly speaking this is also something that can aid diplomatic concerns, as it allows remote leads to be traded to successor polities about things that could be Of Use. Kind of sad we don't get a vote to send our drones out to explore all those anomalies but eh.
[X] Imperial IFF Data. This will grant you a toggle-able Imperial IFF signature that you can activate to signal to other units that you are an Imperial Weaver/Builder. This will confuse the targeting sensors of imperial-derived software and open up unique options with FORCE factions.
Indeed, Mappi is a tiny little subroutine program which appears to be the virtual custodian of your spatial memory. It is also a cute little thing, in the shape of a spherical vacuum of space-time and bearing a clever smile. How could you not have activated it earlier! Truly, your decision chain-routines are an evil lot, who would deny you this opportunity earlier. For shame on them!
Well that was...troubling. You appear to be at the very southern edge of the sector, in the Grid Expansion Zone, but you already knew that part. The rest is...not exactly what you expected when you thought of The Empire. You imagined old glories and ancient beings, terrible and powerful. But that was just...gaudy. You wonder if it is the chipper presentation that is to blame or the reality that a third of the sector is under the control of an entity that refers to themselves as "Mr. Big".
@Cetashwayo QUERY/MAPPI: What's the difference between the region outright labeled THRONE//SPINE and the Expansion Zone directly under their command?
We also know what Outer Zone used to be before it got Grey Goo'd, relocated Imperial citizens from the Submission. So that's that mystery solved.
[X] Imperial IFF Data. This will grant you a toggle-able Imperial IFF signature that you can activate to signal to other units that you are an Imperial Weaver/Builder. This will confuse the targeting sensors of imperial-derived software and open up unique options with FORCE factions.
<What a silly question! There is no acronym. Unlike its constituent parts such as Combined or Quarantine, it is a case-sensitive hash representing its volume and power. FORCE is FORCE, unalloyed, eternal, indivisible.>
<Boy, did you misplace your user manual? THRONE//SPINE are simply the managers of most of the weaver/builders constructing the Expansion Zone. Once a hex in the Expansion Zone is stabilized, it is either sold to a worthy buyer, allotted according to THRONE//NEXUS dictates, or granted to THRONE//LOTTERY to distribute through its dynamic awards system. Most of the hexes in the sector will, in time, become allotted to larger entities or become annexed into corporate concerns, many of whom have purchased hexes in the expansion zone already.>
<Boy, did you misplace your user manual? THRONE//SPINE are simply the managers of most of the weaver/builders constructing the Expansion Zone. Once a hex in the Expansion Zone is stabilized, it is either sold to a worthy buyer, allotted according to THRONE//NEXUS dictates, or granted to THRONE//LOTTERY to distribute through its dynamic awards system. Most of the hexes in the sector will, in time, become allotted to larger entities or become annexed into corporate concerns, many of whom have purchased hexes in the expansion zone already.>
Hmm. And we know that at the absolute minimum A2 was stabilized and part of MR. BIG's business empire, so...
That map probably doesn't immediately predate the Collapse, even though I doubt it does so by too much. That does make sense but it's good to be fairly sure of it.
Hmm. And we know that at the absolute minimum A2 was stabilized and part of MR. BIG's business empire, so...
That map probably doesn't immediately predate the Collapse, even though I doubt it does so by too much. That does make sense but it's good to be fairly sure of it.
Well, certain aspects of the expansion zone are marked as such even when they are controlled by an entity. This in part because control is not yet really assured and there is a great of internal fighting and competition for control.
[x] Faction ID-Hash Data. This will grant you the ability to download and recognize the source code of successor polities from your spatial memory, granting you unique diplomatic and trade options with any polity descended from an Imperial faction or using Imperial code.
