[X] Fire it into the sun. Durrahe has the right of it. Whatever mad idea the Precursors had in mind when they engineered it, you can't think of any value to be had in learning how to implant anarchist ideology. Hell, anyideology. Despite how Lissa occasionally worries about you, you are not an autocrat, and you certainly have no interest in thismadness.
Hm, tempted as I am to make it a day longer for having been asked that less than twenty-four hours after the vote opened, voting has largely settled down on a firm note by now. We'll close here.
[X] Continue limited experiments. With exposure trajectories already charted for you by the Dalatrasses' sprint to fathom the bottom of sapient morality, you have what you need to ethically study this thing. Of course, the prior experiments also show the dangers of the artifact, so you'd best tread carefully. No. of Votes: 55
[X] Put it on ice. This thing is dangerous to study even with detailed notes on its effects, but its principles show promise. It's likely that you simply don't have the technology to productively study it at this point, but you can release the research notes and wait for them to click for somebody. You can always revisit experiments later if a promising avenue of research crops up. No. of Votes: 42
[X] Fire it into the sun. Durrahe has the right of it. Whatever mad idea the Precursors had in mind when they engineered it, you can't think of any value to be had in learning how to implant anarchist ideology. Hell, any ideology. Despite how Lissa occasionally worries about you, you are not an autocrat, and you certainly have no interest in this madness. No. of Votes: 34
[X] Continue full experimentation. While the Lystheni's direction of research was utter madness, they weren't wrong about the sheer potential of this artifact. If it can be invented once, it can be invented again -- and you'd like to know if there's a countermeasure. Authorize a full and proper team, and tell them to get you answers. No. of Votes: 7
[X] Write-In: Super limited experiments. Perform ONE course of experiments, with short exposure of a small number of volunteer subjects, using every sensor available to see if we can detect the mind-affecting mechanism. Run every known form of brain scan on the volunteers to see if we can spot signs of those who have been affected by every means, OTHER than simply monitoring their behavior. If we learn anything, put it on ice and figure out what to do next. If we can't detect the mind control process and can't detect signs of it in victims, throw it into the sun. No. of Votes: 1
[X] Write -In Put in a 'Black Box' and don't open it for another 100 years. One day we'll have the technology and brains to maybe understand the world better and really look into what the principles of this thing. An then maybe we can find alternative uses for this technology. But for now it's simply too dangerous in an era where War with the Racchni is at our door step. Future Prime Ministers may reverse this order before the 100 year mark and begin experimentation but it should be made clear to them the risks this research has. It should NOT be made for political points it should be made as part of very real emergency that cannot be assauged without conventional Diplomatic, Inteligence, and Military avenues. No. of Votes: 1
[X] Continue limited experiments. With exposure trajectories already charted for you by the Dalatrasses' sprint to fathom the bottom of sapient morality, you have what you need to ethically study this thing. Of course, the prior experiments also show the dangers of the artifact, so you'd best tread carefully.
Luckily we have a bunch of minds in various states of exposure to focus our research on. Exposing more people will probably need to happen eventually but for now we've got a bunch of subjects and the option of examining the device itself via drone so we have learning opportunities for a while yet, I should think.
The one mistake that we, as people on the other side of the 4th wall, know not to make: attempting to research reaper tech, and we can't even do that much.
It is very far from a given that this is Reaper tech to begin with, among other things because when have you ever, ever known the Reapers to paint anything pink?
C) Thanks to the Dalatrass willingly exposing tens of thousands of people to the artifact Mengele style we have a much better base of data about mental effects than anyone in canon who wasn't already indoctrinated.
The device bears no visual resemblance to typical Reaper artifacts, causes psychological effects which are at least out of the ordinary compared to typical indoctrination profiles, and was found on a planet whose fate is otherwise not especially suggestive of "yep, Reapers hit this place and left random artifacts behind."
You mean Data tainted by those who were exposed to the Mindfuck artifact.
You're doing that same thing people have done before with this artifact, and conflated the first group of researchers/archivists (who weren't researching it, were hardly even aware of it, just wandering around in a space station where it happened to be housed, and who got influenced)...
And the SECOND group of researchers, who knew exactly what it did, avoided being affected themselves, but deliberately exposed thousands of others, giving us a vast sample size we can examine to figure out if this is like Reaper indoctrination or like something else.
it's similar to indoctrination seen in the games, but it's from very old ruins that where left weirdly intact by the reapers, and seems to be a bit cruder than typical indoctrination. My guess is that it's reaper or leviathan derived weapon. "hard lock as hostile to authority figures" would do pretty well against indoctrinated thralls.
Debateable? The Protheans had a VI that could detect indoctrination with an easy scan.
WANT.
If there is any, any way we can get even a fraction of that capability well before the Reapers arrive, without the Reapers learning of it, it would be worth so very much cost. Because it'd chip away at the existential risks posed by the Reapers being able to infiltrate galactic society with indoctrinated victims.
it's similar to indoctrination seen in the games, but it's from very old ruins that where left weirdly intact by the reapers, and seems to be a bit cruder than typical indoctrination. My guess is that it's reaper or leviathan derived weapon. "hard lock as hostile to authority figures" would do pretty well against indoctrinated thralls.
I honestly don't think it's that similar to indoctrination, except in broad outlines (i.e. "some form of mental programming created by hard-to-detect means"). Reaper indoctrination victims tend to be either batshit crazy (if they're in the process of being reduced to husks), or extremely, subtly lucid while being manipulated in order to achieve greater Reaper penetration of their society as a whole.
By contrast, the victims of this artifact are too lucid for the 'reduced to husks' path as far as I can tell, while also being too unsubtle for the 'manipulating to take over the host society a la the Batarians' route.
That said, I agree with literally everything else you said.
Plus, if we get really desperate against the Rachni...well, it would be FASCINATING to see what happens when a hivemind gets hit with an anarchy brainwashing effect.
I think we'd have to learn how to duplicate this thing to make that effective on a scale big enough to matter, and I don't think we'll turn out to be able to duplicate this device at our present level of technology.
[X] Continue limited experiments. With exposure trajectories already charted for you by the Dalatrasses' sprint to fathom the bottom of sapient morality, you have what you need to ethically study this thing. Of course, the prior experiments also show the dangers of the artifact, so you'd best tread carefully.
The Prime Minister Arrives
Months later...
A shuttle roars through the thin atmosphere over the Prothean ruins, coming in for a landing. Atmospheric fighters cruise by at its flanks, more just barely visible in the distance flying CAP. On the ground, a batarian male in full armor stands to attention, a nervous asari behind him and to the side. Gunfire echoes in the distance.
The shuttle cruises down to the ground, slowly setting down, and the fighters by its side break off to join the others in securing the airspace. The ramp at the front drops, and a squad of soldiers in the finest armor Virmire can produce file out and fan out, establishing a perimeter.
A moment later, at some silent signal, you stride down the ramp, coat fluttering in the breeze.
The batarian salutes. "Prime Minister, ma'am! Welcome to Amalinya IV."
You take a breath, the sound echoing eerily in your ears in the breathing mask. "Colonel," you say, glancing at his rank insignia. "At ease. Give me your report."
He snaps his hand down, nodding. "Colonel Bashir, Seventh Mechanized Infantry. My brigade landed two months ago and began corresponding with the local security teams on the matter of securing this site for your visit." He half-turns and gestures, inviting you to walk into the camp.
You nod and fall in. "By the sounds of it, you encountered some resistance to that."
"We did," he acknowledges. "Mechanical security units from the prothean ruins. The local teams were quite useful in helping us to establish our standard operating procedures. As it is, casualties have been light, despite the security units' quality."
You glance over your shoulder at the asari, who is trailing along in your wake. "And how have my soldiers been integrating with your teams, Head Researcher Sha'reen?"
The woman blinks and jogs to catch up to you. "Um, they've been very professional. No problems. Nothing to complain about."
You nod, looking away. "Then I'll take your report now. Your full report."
She winces. "Ye- yes, ma'am." She swallows. "Well, we arrived back in 492, and we began excavations in 493. That was when we first tripped the security system."
"Yes, the security system," you say. "Let's talk about that. A very...'energetic,' security system, I believe your reports called it." In the distance, the constant gunfire is punctuated by an explosion.
She cringes in on herself. "Ye- yes. Well, um. At first, anyway. At first it was just a matter of the kind of stuff you see in adventure archaeologist fiction. Security fields locking you in a room, poison gas. That kind of stuff. We're trained to deal with that." She sighs. "Then the robots first started showing up."
"Prothean ruins do not generally have security robots," you say.
"Not usually, no," she says. "This one did. I'm not sure why. They started showing up a couple of years after we first tripped the system."
"Mm." You glance up ahead; you're approaching the base camp's central office now. "And they're aggressive?"
"Very," agrees the scientist. "Pushed us right out of the ruins. And a few months ago, they even started trying to come out after us."
"That being what prompted your request for backup," you infer. "Why those units in particular?"
"I mean, everybody knows about the First Marines!" she says, grinning.
Her expression falters under your and the colonel's gazes.
You look away. "Well, we'll see about that." Colonel Bashir steps forward and opens the door to the central office for you, and you step through. "Regardless, I'll need to see Colonel Bashir's more detailed assessments of the security units before I commit to that level of firepower. For that matter, isn't most of the complex underground?"
"It is," says Sha'reen.
"The level of fire support you're requesting is probably not going to be productive, then," you say. "Shore bombardment is not going to be of much use in clearing catacombs." You pick out a chair and sit down. "Much as I relish the chance to make the wet navy justify their upkeep. Let's sit down, folks. We have a lot to cover."
You have arrived on Amalinya to take stock of the situation. In short: in addition to classic adventure tale stuff, this complex hosts an army of killer robot drones. While the drones are constructed with the Prothean's characteristic technological excellence, they are also dumb as bricks, that being the reason for the security team's continued survival. The drones' behavior appears limited to, "identify threat, advance towards threat at a constant and brisk pace while firing continuously." The security team, and your forces now on the planet, outmaneuver and outfight the drones with contemptuous ease out in the open, although the machines do take a lot of killing.
Reassured as to the nature of the hazards here, you have authorized the deployment of army units to Amalinya IV, although you have removed some of the more...flamboyant...requests. No battleships, for instance, nor any wings of attack aircraft better suited to destroying the ruins entirely. No marines in a landlocked operation, even if it is within line of sight of a shoreline. No tanks for an underground operation.
However, there is the matter of the miscommunication, and what you intend to do about it.
Regarding moratoriums: On the advice of somebody in my other quest, we're trialing a new system. Instead of timing the unlock, I'll be manually unlocking the vote in order to ensure that I'll actually be awake to answer questions prior to the voting process. The unlock will be in a threadmarked post following this one. That post will remain threadmarked until the vote closes. If there's no threadmark following this one mentioning a thread unlock, then the vote is not open, one way or the other.
Now, what are you doing about communication with research teams?
[ ] Nothing. You've cleared up the miscommunication, and you see no further need to meddle in the matter.
[ ] This year has showed you the seething pot of madness on which Durrahe keeps a lid. You can't make Virmire's research institutes less insane, but you can ensure that they're communicating clearly. Perhaps it's time to institute a review of their reporting procedures. When you're giving them funding like you are, you'd appreciate being notified of what the hell is happening to it. Gain an option next year to review and update accountability requirements for research programs benefiting from federal funding.
[ ] Write-in?
APPROVAL VOTING. MORATORIUM AS DESCRIBED. THIS VOTE HAS NOW CLOSED.
We've got a mess of tropes here today. Enjoy, folks!
Well we've already ripped up and replaced two ministries wholesale. What's one more overhaul to the fundamental operations of our government?
I realise it's not quite as dramatic as weeding out the corruption in the tax office but still. By their nature, infrastructural improvements are better obtained as soon as possible, circumstances permitting, and IIRC our economy is pretty firmly un-fucked by now? My knee-jerk reaction is to say it's worth it.
This year has showed you the seething pot of madness on which Durrahe keeps a lid. You can't make Virmire's research institutes less insane, but you can ensure that they're communicating clearly. Perhaps it's time to institute a review of their reporting procedures. When you're giving them funding like you are, you'd appreciate being notified of what the hell is happening to it. Gain an option next year to review and update accountability requirements for research programs benefiting from federal funding.
Well, here's our Automated Infantry research opportunity so we can get expendable kill droids to flush out the Rachni. But uh, yeah, institutional review would be a good thing when they've kicked off a robot war and didn't bother to tell us.
What on Virmire would they need battleships for? They're attacking an underground facility, the battleships would only be useful for defensive operations at best and it seems the current infantry forces have that pretty much entirely in hand. It's almost certainly not worth the effort.
Definitely want to take a cargo ship full of robots back. Reverse engineering ancient Prothean tech is something the galaxy is presumably pretty good at, and every robot soldier we throw at the Rachni is a real soldier we're not throwing into a fleshy, teeth-filled, acid-spitting meat grinder.
[ ] This year has showed you the seething pot of madness on which Durrahe keeps a lid. You can't make Virmire's research institutes less insane, but you can ensure that they're communicating clearly. Perhaps it's time to institute a review of their reporting procedures. When you're giving them funding like you are, you'd appreciate being notified of what the hell is happening to it. Gain an option next year to review and update accountability requirements for research programs benefiting from federal funding.
We want to set a precedent of oversight before having people poke around in random ancient ruins.
We OOC know about the Reapers and how they can indoctrinate people with their remnants, and we IC know about the artifact of the Lysenthi and how that fucked people up, so we have good reasons to want there to be some form of accountability.
