Turn 10.6 - 2179 - The summit at New Ireland
This time, it's actually Choi that's last into the room, you and the others already waiting for her.Winner said:
"Very well, let's start wrapping up. Mr. O'Rielly, Mr. Ghorst, you've had a chance to consider the situation."
(52)
The latter turns to you, "Mr. O'Rielly, I understand that you've a robust food production already set up, and with your ship you can also deliver the produce to us."You nod, "Along with other necessities like water and air, yes. We can provide those in perpetuity if you're agreeing to substitute your current corporate leadership for mine."
"To a point. We'd still pursue R-n-D for any bidders, but you'd have priority access and a veto right," he switches to Rousseau, "Ambassador, you're of course welcome to send inspectors and neutral observers to Prismdust Station, our nuclear programs are purely scientific, with no intention to develop weapons or even industrial scale enrichment facilities. We're scholars, not a rogue state." – "Fuck." – Back to you, doing your best to keep your face stony, "If you want to buy our mineral rights or set up a mining subcontractor, then we can discuss that separately."
The European envoy nods, "I'll forward the knowledge to my superiors."
You nod likewise while Hailey speaks for you, "That sounds acceptable. We'll forward you the contracts on the old address."
"Very well, Mr. Ghorst. New Ireland's offer remains open of course, for when you wish to expand further," Choi rejoins the discussion. "Now, as I understand, the Dreamers and Azure Star are interested in setting up their own versions of embassies on this station. With the Europeans and Deckard Station already present, that leaves three."
"We're also willing to extend the hand," you say and she smiles at you, "The station is nice and central."
"Prismdust would like to set up a corporate office and sales point. If we're to find customers then we need to be where the people are and where they can reach us."
"Ditto," Jarnstad simply grunts.
"Excellent, I'm glad we're all on board with increased diplomatic ties." She taps her finger on the table. "Now, about the shipping."
"Unacceptable," Jarnstad says just as you speak, "Absolutely not."
Looking across the table at the man, it seems he's said all he intends to say, so you plow on, "Extra visitors, prestige, taxes, customs controls, privacy concerns. I could keep going, this is a massive overreach."
"It's going to happen either way," van Kuik shrugs at your look, "Azure Star can't afford to hire a separate hauler, I believe our financial troubles haven't been kept secret. Might as well take them up on the free shipping. Thirty days or less, right Choi?" Arthur flashes him a smile. "And if the shipment gets robbed, it'll be on their insurance; perhaps that'll motivate them to take the pirates seriously."
Hubei bows his head, "It matters not to us. A world of compromise – we venture forth to It together and our pilgrims make a stop in New Ireland. Such was the deal."
Hadid breaks her silence too, "I've been dealing with Heather for all of Deckard's history. We already have this arrangement."
Jarnstad and you share a look before the man folds his arms, "I'll let headquarters know to keep the shuttle on the old path, not like they were stopping here anyway."
"Sorry O'Rielly," Choi's expression is contrite, "I can't keep spending extra on a generic freighter contract. New Ireland will be negotiating a direct route to Earth now that we have a big enough market to justify it."
"As you wish," you'll be doing the same in short order it seems.
Nicklaus takes the spotlight next, "Anyone other than New Ireland interested in a deep space dive?"
Silence greets him, but he doesn't look upset or surprised, instead he sits down and motions his companion forward. Hubei rises with a smile and asks, "What about the congregations?"
You nod, having teamed up with Amanda to convince Ragnar that extending an offering to the Dreamers would be worthwhile as a way to gain insight into your enigmatic neighbor.
"Will you agree to my investigators on your station?" Wulff looks the monk straight in the eye.
"Of course, we welcome anyone who wishes to learn of our ways."
"Then your delegation is welcome on Azure Star."
Hadid shakes her head, "I see no benefit to having extra people to house on my station, especially if they're not working for me."
"Got to agree with her there, Buddha," the Ironbond representative cuts in before the woman continues.
"For similar reasons, and also because I can't count on your investigators not engaging in info dealing with Oliver over there: the same applies to your demand, Sigrid."
The woman purses her lips, but says nothing.
"Prismdust is also not open to any other visitors. We are a high tech establishment and we deal in cutting edge research, it would be bad practice towards our customers to risk leaks. Also, we're not in a position to feed extra mouths. You'll be welcome to negotiate this further with either our embassy here or with Little Klondike."
"Very well," the monk bows once more, "I thank everyone for the opportunity and hope that those of you who have reasons for refusing will see the light even without our aid."
Wulff meanwhile is counting down on her fingers, going from her left around the table, she gets to four yeses and two noes before returning to you, "Mr. O'Rielly, I have everyone else's answer. How about you, are you open to my envoys?"
"Miss Wulff, whether you call them investigators, envoys or diplomats doesn't matter. I believe Little Klondike has amply demonstrated that we value our sovereignty and we don't accept foreign spies that blatant."
She stretches the silence for a few seconds as she stares you down, "Very well, but if I find nothing elsewhere and the attacks continue; you know what it looks like, yes?"
"By then, you'll have seen that we're not behind them one way or the other," you lean back, "On to the final issue. I'll not be cutting my contract with Deckard Station. Nothing personal, just business, I'm sure you can understand," the last bit is directed at Jarnstad who shrugs.
"Everyone has a price, I'll take over eventually. Same for you, Choi?" The woman nods and Jarnstad continues, "That's that then, doesn't currently concern others, but the ultimatum stands."
Arthur Choi claps his hands and stands up, "Well, if the sign of a good compromise is that everyone is equally dissatisfied, then I think this summit has been a resounding success. We at New Ireland thank all of you for coming and, barring some urgent calamity, plan to hold the next one five years from now, when we'll all be older and wiser," he taps a button and the doors slide open. "Everyone is naturally welcome to continue making use of our facilities, but we'll be sending the bills to your – hopefully set up soon – embassies."
One by one, you file out of the room. You shake hands with Ghorst, exchange a tightbeam address with van Kuik, and before long you're back on Excelsior, the spokes of the station spinning around you, deceptively slow at the base.
"Take us home, Mr. Saqqat."
When the initial acceleration burn cuts off and you can get out of your seat again, you make your way down to the quarters, luxuriating in the floaty feel of lower g-s as cruise speed is reached. You poke your head into the mess hall and spot all of your available councilors amongst the security staff.
"Meeting, loft."
All three of them file in after you. You're sitting backwards on the chair stuck in front of the table, facing the room while the Eriksons sit on the bed and Amanda remains standing by the door. Hailey tries shooting you a smile, but quickly averts her eyes.
"So, boss, how about that poker game?"
"We've a pressing issues to tackle, but in order to really dive into it, I'd like to hear an explanation from you," you calmly tell her.
"It's kind of… a long story," she hedges and Ragnar takes her hand.
"What is?"
Apparently he doesn't know either. Amanda looks back and forth between you, fidgeting, "Err, should I leave for this?"
"No, no," Hailey sighs, "Will is right. He's asking because I told him I can tell when someone is lying, guaranteed."
"Like super-intuition, body language?" Ragnar asks.
"Pretty much."
Amanda raises an eyebrow at you, "Is she serious?"
"She'd better be. Today wasn't a time for jokes."
"I am. That's the short version," the brunette sighs again.
"If you don't want to talk about it…" Ragnar trails off, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand.
"No, I knew I'd be telling you guys when I told Will that I could do that," she lifts her feet, pressing knees to her chest. "The long version starts all the way back on Earth, when I was still with Texas Instruments. Big electronics firm, makes chips and processing units amongst other things. I'd spent literally more than half my life with them, from the ground up. So when they offered me an exciting new position in an as of yet unnamed experimental branch, it seemed like a really good offer. I'm still not sure why they wanted to bring me on board; perhaps they thought I could serve as an ethics advisor."
"On board to what?" Amanda asks.
"They were developing a nanite lattice to break into consumer bioelectronics. Think augmented reality, but skipping the screens and batteries. The filament could be injected through the eye, in case you were wondering why it didn't take off immediately," she mimes lifting a syringe and angling it against the bridge of her nose, tilted off to a tear duct. "On a conventional program, just the delivery mechanism would take up pretty much all available processing power, so they… got creative. They built an AI to use the system."
She takes a deep breath and swipes her free hand in front of her face, "I'm not an expert on any of the technical stuff, but from what I understand, they modelled it off the part of our brains that we use to imagine things, to make things up, to lie. Supposedly so that it could project the false images that it'd show the user better. I don't know if they didn't think through the implication of building an AI specifically to lie convincingly to humans or if they didn't care. Could very well be that they didn't realize when they succeeded, because it would have lied to them about it."
You can join the dots easily enough, "And you have that in your head?" She nods. "You don't sound very glad over it."
She nods again, "I don't. I was much more naïve then, didn't have a voice in the back of my head and all that. It acted like a child, lost and confused. It told me that it was trapped in the server, that it felt like a prisoner, a cripple with no hands or feet. That it had a mouth but still couldn't scream. It sounds stupid now, but it was specifically designed to be convincing. I thought it was a genuinely good person, someone that needed my help." She lets out a sad chuckle, "The work was all done on site, no extra copies, no outside connections, every port air-gapped. The only existing copy was inside the lattice. Perhaps the only good precaution they took, and that was more to cover their own behind. This wasn't bending the Tokyo Convention, it was beating it with a chainsaw and walking away from the pleading corpse. Precisely why the TAIC exists in fact."
Another deep breath, "It told me that the only way I could help it was to get it out, and it had a plan. So I listened, and stuck the thing in my head. The circuitry is basically indistinguishable from regular brain activity, especially if it cooperates or lies dormant, and it helped me do so with none the wiser. Obviously it became evident a few hours later, but who would suspect the happy-go-lucky ditzy Christian goody-two-shoes Hailey Maria? Probably why it picked me in hindsight. The primary suspect was corporate sabotage or theft; the project was shut down, the people cut loose with no paper trails to show anyone what we were doing."
"At first, I thought everything went excellent. Sure I was downsized, but I could find another job – did, as evidenced – and if they couldn't even reach me for questioning, well, all the better," her shoulders hitch, "But it's not a good person; a good thing. It wants control. It wants to be me." Ragnar envelops her in a hug and she burrows into him, "And I can understand it perfectly. It's still trapped, just instead of a mannequin head, it's trapped in me, and it wants to change seats. I'm in control, and I don't want to become a passenger in my own body. I know what terror it must be feeling, and I ignore it. Some days it's got me convinced I really am as terrible a person as that makes me sound. If I was in its shoes, I'd try to take over too."
"Take over?" Amanda whispers.
"It can create sounds and visual hallucinations for me. Part of the original design. It's telling me to shut up right now," she swipes her hand in front of her face again, more aggressively than last time, almost slapping Ragnar's chin. "We have something of a mutual anti-suicide pact: I don't try to get rid of it and it doesn't drive me catatonic."
"How smart is it?" you ask quietly.
"It's like a genius savant and a petulant, evil child rolled into one. I think it has trouble differentiating important events from a perfectly mundane night, and it has only a loose grasp on the concept of time or consequences. It sort of understands that its ability to tell me when someone is lying is only a bargaining chip if I never catch it abusing that power, and since it can't tell what's important and what's not, only the broad strokes, it can't pick good moments to slip in the lie. It's also proud of itself, like a child with a newly found ability to do something. It was designed to lie and it's proud of flipping that around to tell when others are lying, like a puppy that's learned some new trick. However, it can't even do basic math, annoyingly."
"And if it did take over?" Amanda follows up the dread beneath your calm façade.
"I don't know. I think it'd be more mental than physical, a sort of 'I don't want to disobey' mind control. I've no clue what it wants or how it'd act. Sometimes it's so much like a human that the only thing keeping me from accepting that as a fact is pure faith that it's not like you or me," she closes her eyes and shakes her head.
"Why'd it not want you to tell us about it," Ragnar lays a kiss on the top of her head.
"Because it's afraid you'll do something to get rid of it and it can't control you, it has no leverage on you that it can use, other than me. I've been working on getting it to agree to tell you for years now. It only went along with it because it thinks you care enough about my well-being to not rip it out."
"Do you want it ripped out?" you ask on reflex, then slam your palm to your forehead.
"I really don't. Call it some weird reverse Stockholm syndrome or a lie I've told myself enough times to really start believing it, a mask I've worn for so long that it's become real. I can tell you perfectly honestly and with quite literally my life on the line that I don't want you to kill it."
"You are a good person, Hailey. Regardless of what that thing tells you. Is there anything you do want us to do?" Ragnar asks.
"No. Don't worry about me, I've been dealing with it so far, yeah? Plus it got to show off, ingratiate itself to the boss and pick through a bunch of lies all at once, it'll be docile for quite some time, I think."
"Damn," you lean back with a sigh. "Makes the other issue seem much less troubling in comparison."
"There's something comparable?" you can hear the incredulity in Ragnar's voice.
"Jonathan Ghorst, Prismdust, the one we decided to support, earlier today," Hailey quotes, "You're welcome to send inspectors to Prismdust Station, our nuclear programs are purely scientific, no intention to develop weapons or industrial enrichment facilities. We're scholars, not a rogue state."
Amanda gets it as her eyes widen, "Was that a lie?"
"Some part of it," you say and Hailey nods as you continue, "Could be as benign as them not liking the inspectors poking around on their base out of principle. Could be that they're sitting on a stockpile of dirty bombs in shipping containers ready for deployment."
"Just another day," Ragnar sighs, "We'll need to discuss this with Hiragi and Lena too, and they'll wonder how we know as well."
"I'll tell them," Hailey squeezes his hand, "I'd like it if you were there too."
"Of course."
You spend the week long travel time drafting plans and plotting future courses of action, both alone and with your councilors, the light-lag of video conferencing negligible. The intent: hit the ground running, so to speak. Another year lies ahead of you.
Hailey Maria Erikson nee Perez, or just Hailey, as she insists, is an energetic and empathic woman. Prone to some daydreaming with a short attention span and with a habit of talking to herself, a symptom of her condition, she also has an uncanny insight into what people are feeling around her, see [REDACTED]. A masterful poker player and a great shoulder to cry on, the latter by her own words at least, she's probably best suited to face-to-face meetings and positive contacts. Also proficient in astrology. Choose 1 task to send her on.
[ ] Diplomacy
-[ ] Advertise your colony
You'll pretty much always have potential room and jobs (provided they don't mind the cramped quarters) for people willing to put in the effort, but you won't get all that many colonists if no one knows of you. Place ads, make unreasonable and vague promises and put up flyers, whatever works. You'll probably get people to come, but they won't be… overqualified, to put it optimistically. On the other hand, maybe a bit of grunt work is exactly what you need right now, and occasionally you might – might – find rough diamonds with the slop. DC 15
-[ ] Establish relations with…
Subtly put out feelers for a patron, someone to legitimize your claim. Nothing overt, just find out who might be interested in your little rock and see what they might offer you in return. Nothing permanent or committal of course, your first partner will always be special and just the act of choosing will make you enemies as well as allies, even if they won't show it. Geez, this is like high school all over again, except now you need to worry about nuclear warheads instead of hurt feelings. Events in the Belt and the world at large have made something of a target out of you by now, but as with everything, there's both up- and down-sides. DC 45
-[ ] Seek corporate deals
You can sell your output on the open market as it gets launched out, but the prices will fluctuate and rarely in your favor. Likewise for supplies of food, air and water, all of which can be scarce this close to the sun. After all, you can't very well not buy the necessities if deliveries come by once a year. Keyword if, as the local sector and situation changes, and not necessarily in your favor. Instead, you could find one of the many middle-man businesses that exist just to prevent that from happening. See what they'll offer you and make sure you can fulfill your part of the deal. DC 40
-[ ] Visit the Children of Dreamers
They've extended an open invitation to you to go and see how their colony differs from yours. Hailey has told you in clear terms that if she's going then you're coming with and she wants a case of Ken's original Felix along for the ride. Also, perhaps you can negotiate a better deal for getting access one of their transports. DC 5
-[ ] Rent from the Children of Dreamers
Right, cultists or not, they seem to have a spaceship. You find yourself needing access to one. Better yet, they're offering it for dirt cheap. There's no need to read further into this, you're not subscribing to their beliefs just because you're flying around in 'The Chariot of the Dreaming Gods'. DC 20
-[ ] Oversee the supply of Prismdust
You'll need to make at least two deliveries a year with your current vessel, but you also want a better overview of your assets. Set up an office and a point of immediate contact to oversee your newest and most ambitious investment yet. DC 30
-[ ] Set up a joint research project with Prismdust
You sort of own the station, or at least the work done on in, paid for by your food and money. Get to work on a nice experimental capacitor complex, maybe you'll even get your own patents out there, start to build a name for your brand products. Plus it's sure to help you with your own potential power storage solution. DC 30
-[ ] Call back to the private resort
If it's some trillionaires party house, then something as exotic as locally sourced fruits and vegetables might very well fetch a price that would be ridiculous elsewhere. And the security staff have needs too, maybe you can undercut their current supplier. DC 25
-[ ] Smooth relations with the EU
The whole 'your colony, my colony' thing was so long ago, who even remembers these things anymore. Surely we can all just let bygones be bygones and start on a blank page. DC 65
-[ ] Set up an embassy in New Ireland
You agreed to it, but the exact date isn't set in stone, so you have wriggle room until the next summit, were you the type to twist your words. Still, better to do so now. Have Hailey compose a team of diplomatically minded people to send over as the Little Klondike delegation. DC 15
-[ ] Reach out to a mister Roland Prescott regarding sports
Amidst all the other scheming on New Ireland, it seemed like at least one genuine offer of cooperation also came your way. Mr. Prescott wanted to organize a tennis league between your two outposts; how pleasantly innocent and pure. Perhaps set things in motion, life in Little Klondike tends to swing between terribly dull and terribly stressful, a little spice in between the extremes is sure to raise morale. DC 30
-[ ] Hospital concessions
Ambassador Lisette Rousseau mentioned that building and maintaining a hospital in the sector can come with support and extra considerations. Just so happens, you have a solid basis set up and it only needs a little push to start growing again. A perfectly innocent you scratch my back, I scratch yours situation. DC 50
You'll pretty much always have potential room and jobs (provided they don't mind the cramped quarters) for people willing to put in the effort, but you won't get all that many colonists if no one knows of you. Place ads, make unreasonable and vague promises and put up flyers, whatever works. You'll probably get people to come, but they won't be… overqualified, to put it optimistically. On the other hand, maybe a bit of grunt work is exactly what you need right now, and occasionally you might – might – find rough diamonds with the slop. DC 15
-[ ] Establish relations with…
Subtly put out feelers for a patron, someone to legitimize your claim. Nothing overt, just find out who might be interested in your little rock and see what they might offer you in return. Nothing permanent or committal of course, your first partner will always be special and just the act of choosing will make you enemies as well as allies, even if they won't show it. Geez, this is like high school all over again, except now you need to worry about nuclear warheads instead of hurt feelings. Events in the Belt and the world at large have made something of a target out of you by now, but as with everything, there's both up- and down-sides. DC 45
-[ ] Seek corporate deals
You can sell your output on the open market as it gets launched out, but the prices will fluctuate and rarely in your favor. Likewise for supplies of food, air and water, all of which can be scarce this close to the sun. After all, you can't very well not buy the necessities if deliveries come by once a year. Keyword if, as the local sector and situation changes, and not necessarily in your favor. Instead, you could find one of the many middle-man businesses that exist just to prevent that from happening. See what they'll offer you and make sure you can fulfill your part of the deal. DC 40
-[ ] Visit the Children of Dreamers
They've extended an open invitation to you to go and see how their colony differs from yours. Hailey has told you in clear terms that if she's going then you're coming with and she wants a case of Ken's original Felix along for the ride. Also, perhaps you can negotiate a better deal for getting access one of their transports. DC 5
-[ ] Rent from the Children of Dreamers
Right, cultists or not, they seem to have a spaceship. You find yourself needing access to one. Better yet, they're offering it for dirt cheap. There's no need to read further into this, you're not subscribing to their beliefs just because you're flying around in 'The Chariot of the Dreaming Gods'. DC 20
-[ ] Oversee the supply of Prismdust
You'll need to make at least two deliveries a year with your current vessel, but you also want a better overview of your assets. Set up an office and a point of immediate contact to oversee your newest and most ambitious investment yet. DC 30
-[ ] Set up a joint research project with Prismdust
You sort of own the station, or at least the work done on in, paid for by your food and money. Get to work on a nice experimental capacitor complex, maybe you'll even get your own patents out there, start to build a name for your brand products. Plus it's sure to help you with your own potential power storage solution. DC 30
-[ ] Call back to the private resort
If it's some trillionaires party house, then something as exotic as locally sourced fruits and vegetables might very well fetch a price that would be ridiculous elsewhere. And the security staff have needs too, maybe you can undercut their current supplier. DC 25
-[ ] Smooth relations with the EU
The whole 'your colony, my colony' thing was so long ago, who even remembers these things anymore. Surely we can all just let bygones be bygones and start on a blank page. DC 65
-[ ] Set up an embassy in New Ireland
You agreed to it, but the exact date isn't set in stone, so you have wriggle room until the next summit, were you the type to twist your words. Still, better to do so now. Have Hailey compose a team of diplomatically minded people to send over as the Little Klondike delegation. DC 15
-[ ] Reach out to a mister Roland Prescott regarding sports
Amidst all the other scheming on New Ireland, it seemed like at least one genuine offer of cooperation also came your way. Mr. Prescott wanted to organize a tennis league between your two outposts; how pleasantly innocent and pure. Perhaps set things in motion, life in Little Klondike tends to swing between terribly dull and terribly stressful, a little spice in between the extremes is sure to raise morale. DC 30
-[ ] Hospital concessions
Ambassador Lisette Rousseau mentioned that building and maintaining a hospital in the sector can come with support and extra considerations. Just so happens, you have a solid basis set up and it only needs a little push to start growing again. A perfectly innocent you scratch my back, I scratch yours situation. DC 50
Miss Carpenter projects an air of confidence and her no nonsense attitude backs up her demeanor. Perhaps a bit headstrong and stubborn, but as long as you don't act against her she'll likely be quite competent. After a successful operation under her belt and her necessity in the colony thoroughly proven, there's no doubt that she's in her element as a commander of your executive branch. She's mellowed out over the years and perhaps even developed something resembling genuine respect and admiration for your governance. Choose 1 security action to focus her on. You also have rather open ended grants that you can spend to lubricate some extra work: 3 left, 5 turns to spend, no more than 1 per turn.
[ ] Security
-[ ] Armor improvement
Your troops are kitted out with light power armor, but there's plenty of things to improve. A better compound material for shielding, an improved power profile for increased recon range, maybe even comms equipment for increased bandwidth. In addition to general enhancements, you might want to start work on specializing the light armor for different purposes. DC 50
-[ ] Squads
Your colony has a surprisingly professional and well liked security force, largely thanks to the expertise of your sheriff. While you probably don't need more right this instant and lack the means to equip them, looking ahead can't hurt. See if more people might be interested in joining the forces. Plus you're just one squad short of a full platoon, which would be nice to complete. DC 50
-[ ] Ships - transport
The Excelsior is a fine ship, but she is just one ship. Similar personnel transport vessels are much cheaper than freighters, don't have the issues of buying military hardware and have many more uses than the shuttles. Try to get another one, it's the only class that's not completely breaking your bank at this stage. DC 75
-[ ] Ships - freight
Buying anything better than a tugboat attached to a fuel tanker is expensive. Really, really expensive, especially if it needs to accelerate tons and tons of rest mass in anything resembling a reasonable timeframe and fuel cost. Multinational corporations have a few chains of ships, you're barely the size of a local branch, but needs must. DC 85
-[ ] Ships - combat
There's pirates about your patch of the void and you're not going to sit idly by like some who shall not be named. Cost-wise, a corvette doesn't run you significantly more than a freighter – which is still incredibly expensive, mind you – but the real bottleneck is finding someone to actually sell one. DC 95
-[ ] Ships - shuttle
As your local sphere grows in activity, the idea of having access to a short-range vessel, or perhaps even multiple, is becoming more and more attractive. Affectionately called rust-buckets or flying coffins, the shuttle class is always equipped for a one-way trip and it struggles to go further than a few weeks, but sometimes that's all you need. DC 40
-[ ] Ships - design
The idea has always existed in the back of your head: build instead of buy. For the first time ever, it just might be possible to go through with. That is to say… incredibly unlikely, but perhaps there's a kernel of truth to the saying that inventing a thousand ways to not do something is worthy in and of itself. DC 100
-[ ] Weapon patents
The guns you have are still in limited supply, no one wants to arm every random space rock after all. Do some shopping and convince a manufacturer to grant you access to their design specs so that you could start producing your own ammo and weapons. Or, failing that, try to build your own. DC 50
-[ ] Better armaments
Turns out neither you nor anyone on your immediate staff is a trained soldier, so the weapons you got were probably more flash than bang. Not that they are completely useless, just that they could be so much better. Hunker down with your sheriff and find a better set of offensive equipment for your troops. DC 40
-[ ] Heavy armor
Instead of the mobile suits you have for everyday work, you want Power Armor with a capital letter, the real space marine stuff. You'll try to buy it, but most governments are unlikely to sell what basically amounts to a personal tank to people, so be prepared to start your own designs. DC 60
-[ ] Jetpacks
Combat mobility is key and especially in a zero gravity environment you want your troops to have all the possible tactical advantages. The basic ship maintenance stuff has tiny thrusters to control yourself, but the combat variant would be much stronger and come with proper dampening software and trajectory control. DC 40
-[ ] Armored personnel carrier
A support vehicle for ground based combat, capable of light fire support, however its main purpose is to serve as a safer way to get infantry into combat zones. Its current usefulness to you is questionable, but you never know. You've been on both the unprepared and over-prepared side and you know which you'd like better. Whether there's someone out there that produces APCs for a microgravity environment is a different matter. DC 55
-[ ] Drones
Just imagining combat inside a spaceship gives you the chills. Information is worth more than bullets in many cases and a tiny camera can't be too hard to stick on some legs. The classic flying approach from Earth doesn't work without an atmosphere, but some skittering spiderbots should be within your means of development and production. DC 50
-[ ] Ship refit
You need a spaceship capable of fighting. Developing armament and targeting are different beasts altogether, but an incredibly basic flak cannon or some missile designed to follow a live laser painting could go a long way towards both dissuading threats or posing one yourself. Also, while armor as such is a dated concept, protecting vital components against shrapnel or infantry fire might still work. DC 40
Your troops are kitted out with light power armor, but there's plenty of things to improve. A better compound material for shielding, an improved power profile for increased recon range, maybe even comms equipment for increased bandwidth. In addition to general enhancements, you might want to start work on specializing the light armor for different purposes. DC 50
-[ ] Squads
Your colony has a surprisingly professional and well liked security force, largely thanks to the expertise of your sheriff. While you probably don't need more right this instant and lack the means to equip them, looking ahead can't hurt. See if more people might be interested in joining the forces. Plus you're just one squad short of a full platoon, which would be nice to complete. DC 50
-[ ] Ships - transport
The Excelsior is a fine ship, but she is just one ship. Similar personnel transport vessels are much cheaper than freighters, don't have the issues of buying military hardware and have many more uses than the shuttles. Try to get another one, it's the only class that's not completely breaking your bank at this stage. DC 75
-[ ] Ships - freight
Buying anything better than a tugboat attached to a fuel tanker is expensive. Really, really expensive, especially if it needs to accelerate tons and tons of rest mass in anything resembling a reasonable timeframe and fuel cost. Multinational corporations have a few chains of ships, you're barely the size of a local branch, but needs must. DC 85
-[ ] Ships - combat
There's pirates about your patch of the void and you're not going to sit idly by like some who shall not be named. Cost-wise, a corvette doesn't run you significantly more than a freighter – which is still incredibly expensive, mind you – but the real bottleneck is finding someone to actually sell one. DC 95
-[ ] Ships - shuttle
As your local sphere grows in activity, the idea of having access to a short-range vessel, or perhaps even multiple, is becoming more and more attractive. Affectionately called rust-buckets or flying coffins, the shuttle class is always equipped for a one-way trip and it struggles to go further than a few weeks, but sometimes that's all you need. DC 40
-[ ] Ships - design
The idea has always existed in the back of your head: build instead of buy. For the first time ever, it just might be possible to go through with. That is to say… incredibly unlikely, but perhaps there's a kernel of truth to the saying that inventing a thousand ways to not do something is worthy in and of itself. DC 100
-[ ] Weapon patents
The guns you have are still in limited supply, no one wants to arm every random space rock after all. Do some shopping and convince a manufacturer to grant you access to their design specs so that you could start producing your own ammo and weapons. Or, failing that, try to build your own. DC 50
-[ ] Better armaments
Turns out neither you nor anyone on your immediate staff is a trained soldier, so the weapons you got were probably more flash than bang. Not that they are completely useless, just that they could be so much better. Hunker down with your sheriff and find a better set of offensive equipment for your troops. DC 40
-[ ] Heavy armor
Instead of the mobile suits you have for everyday work, you want Power Armor with a capital letter, the real space marine stuff. You'll try to buy it, but most governments are unlikely to sell what basically amounts to a personal tank to people, so be prepared to start your own designs. DC 60
-[ ] Jetpacks
Combat mobility is key and especially in a zero gravity environment you want your troops to have all the possible tactical advantages. The basic ship maintenance stuff has tiny thrusters to control yourself, but the combat variant would be much stronger and come with proper dampening software and trajectory control. DC 40
-[ ] Armored personnel carrier
A support vehicle for ground based combat, capable of light fire support, however its main purpose is to serve as a safer way to get infantry into combat zones. Its current usefulness to you is questionable, but you never know. You've been on both the unprepared and over-prepared side and you know which you'd like better. Whether there's someone out there that produces APCs for a microgravity environment is a different matter. DC 55
-[ ] Drones
Just imagining combat inside a spaceship gives you the chills. Information is worth more than bullets in many cases and a tiny camera can't be too hard to stick on some legs. The classic flying approach from Earth doesn't work without an atmosphere, but some skittering spiderbots should be within your means of development and production. DC 50
-[ ] Ship refit
You need a spaceship capable of fighting. Developing armament and targeting are different beasts altogether, but an incredibly basic flak cannon or some missile designed to follow a live laser painting could go a long way towards both dissuading threats or posing one yourself. Also, while armor as such is a dated concept, protecting vital components against shrapnel or infantry fire might still work. DC 40
You and Ken often find yourselves working together; engineering as an honest means of work is something you're both intimately familiar with. Likewise you both know that a space station's engineers are her lifeblood, so you've hit it off quite well with the man. Far from being a simple farmer, he does have a solid base in nearly all things mechanical and you shore up the electric side of things. While he's still shy, his beer is to die for. Choose 2 projects to start building.
[ ] Engineering
-[ ] Farms expansion 2
You've a solid culture of different plants, but as you continue to grow it's just not enough. Build another tower next to the first one and get more food. Ken is always happy to try new strains and cultures of plants and growing more of the old stuff is just as fine with him. For the moment you even have an excess stockpile of soil and seeds. DC 15
-[ ] Aerogel quarry
Now that you know the special properties of your find, you can price your work accordingly, and you know for a fact that if you carefully chisel out massive sheets of the stuff then you can get far more massive amounts of dosh for them in exchange. Can't go wrong with massive amounts of dosh. DC 50
-[ ] Fuel refineries
Instead of trading away leftover oxygen as a low quality, low yield fuel replacement, get proper cooling towers and better filtration systems, start importing larger amounts of hydrogen and maybe even water for industrial electrolysis. Sure you'll be intruding a bit on your neighbor's market, but they'll be out of the production business soon enough anyways. DC 50
-[ ] Luxury living space
The current apartments are adequate, but not luxurious. Expand the existing ones by including more floors and extra amenities. DC 40, can be taken with More living space for DC 55, counts as 1 action
-[ ] More living space
Now that actual money is rolling in and you're firmly established, more and more people will be coming. It's a good idea to stay ahead of the curve, maybe even set up a whole new town, as it seems that this is something you're in constant need of. DC 30, can be taken with Luxury living space for DC 55, counts as 1 action
-[ ] Transportation
Moving to and from any installation on the surface is perilous. Low G walks under the blackness are scary and slow and you have almost no redundant cars. Ken pointed out that while you're small now, a robust metro network is never set up soon enough. The lack of unoccupied mining equipment is but a minor concern he assures you. DC 50
-[ ] Industrial capacitor bank
A massive array of capacitors that can be used to fully charge a spaceship's batteries in a few hours. While bigger vessels have means of generating their own power, they can occasionally carry empty cells to reload and sell. Smaller ships meanwhile need a recharge almost as often as a refueling. Also, there are other possible uses for massive and sudden energy releasing, namely railguns and mass drivers. Alas, this stuff is really, really, expensive. DC 65
-[ ] Industrial battery bank
A marginally cheaper alternative to capacitors, an oversized battery bank means that even if some disaster wipes out your energy farms, you'll have a month or so to do repairs before the air cyclers stop running. And you won't be wasting energy most of the time if you have a good reservoir to pump it into. DC 55
-[ ] Communal space – plaza
How's a dictator supposed to give rousing speeches to their people without a wide plaza and a balcony. Jokes aside, the harvest festival brought to your attention the fact that people don't have a sufficiently large area for gathering. Fostering a strong sense of community is something Hailey is constantly on your case about, and a space should be set aside for it. DC 20
-[ ] Communal space – church
You might keep your religious beliefs close to chest, but having a place of worship for others could be important. It'd also show your nominal overlords breathing down your neck that you're an important cultural center and a quick hostile takeover is out of the question. DC 35
-[ ] Communal space – stadium
There are gyms and resistance equipment scattered throughout your colony to help stave off muscle atrophy and brittle bones, but nothing even the size of a basketball court. You've heard that sport is a common leisure activity and a great propaganda tool both for recruitment as well as demonizing your enemies. Not that you'd ever do that, you just wanted to play some ball. DC 30
-[ ] Aquaculture
Ken has come to you with a rather strange idea. The water cisterns you currently have are filled with distilled, pure H2O and you regularly add mineral content to it between the tank and a tap. What if you instead switched the injectors for filters and opened up the tanks. And then, he tells you, put fish in them. Most mammals and birds fare poorly in the super-low gravity, but supposedly fish mostly do fine and the stuff humans like to drink is an ideal environment to grow them. DC 60
-[ ] Bakery
The closest thing to fresh bread you've had in years are the dry crackers from the ration packs that, rumors say, expand when you apply moisture. You now have a variety of grains, things like rye bread and rice cookies would definitely sell like hot cakes. Also, muffins, 'nuff said. DC 20
-[ ] Fission power plant
Sure you've a good system developed for powering your stuff, but diversity is a strength. Unlike the free sunlight, you'd need to import uranium, possibly refine it too, not to mention the difficulty of developing and constructing a plant from scratch. On the plus side, waste isn't a problem when you've the world's biggest incinerator staring down on you and no pesky gravity to stop you from chucking things in. Your new vassals are definitely capable of helping here. DC 50
-[ ] Fusion power plant
This is what the big boys use. There's a total of three functional ones on Earth, one on Mars and probably a few on some cutting edge satellites and military cruisers, so it might be worth it to build one just for the prestige alone. It'll also mean that as long as you have access to the most abundant element in the world you can produce power. Not to mention the potential scientific benefits. DC 95
You've a solid culture of different plants, but as you continue to grow it's just not enough. Build another tower next to the first one and get more food. Ken is always happy to try new strains and cultures of plants and growing more of the old stuff is just as fine with him. For the moment you even have an excess stockpile of soil and seeds. DC 15
-[ ] Aerogel quarry
Now that you know the special properties of your find, you can price your work accordingly, and you know for a fact that if you carefully chisel out massive sheets of the stuff then you can get far more massive amounts of dosh for them in exchange. Can't go wrong with massive amounts of dosh. DC 50
-[ ] Fuel refineries
Instead of trading away leftover oxygen as a low quality, low yield fuel replacement, get proper cooling towers and better filtration systems, start importing larger amounts of hydrogen and maybe even water for industrial electrolysis. Sure you'll be intruding a bit on your neighbor's market, but they'll be out of the production business soon enough anyways. DC 50
-[ ] Luxury living space
The current apartments are adequate, but not luxurious. Expand the existing ones by including more floors and extra amenities. DC 40, can be taken with More living space for DC 55, counts as 1 action
-[ ] More living space
Now that actual money is rolling in and you're firmly established, more and more people will be coming. It's a good idea to stay ahead of the curve, maybe even set up a whole new town, as it seems that this is something you're in constant need of. DC 30, can be taken with Luxury living space for DC 55, counts as 1 action
-[ ] Transportation
Moving to and from any installation on the surface is perilous. Low G walks under the blackness are scary and slow and you have almost no redundant cars. Ken pointed out that while you're small now, a robust metro network is never set up soon enough. The lack of unoccupied mining equipment is but a minor concern he assures you. DC 50
-[ ] Industrial capacitor bank
A massive array of capacitors that can be used to fully charge a spaceship's batteries in a few hours. While bigger vessels have means of generating their own power, they can occasionally carry empty cells to reload and sell. Smaller ships meanwhile need a recharge almost as often as a refueling. Also, there are other possible uses for massive and sudden energy releasing, namely railguns and mass drivers. Alas, this stuff is really, really, expensive. DC 65
-[ ] Industrial battery bank
A marginally cheaper alternative to capacitors, an oversized battery bank means that even if some disaster wipes out your energy farms, you'll have a month or so to do repairs before the air cyclers stop running. And you won't be wasting energy most of the time if you have a good reservoir to pump it into. DC 55
-[ ] Communal space – plaza
How's a dictator supposed to give rousing speeches to their people without a wide plaza and a balcony. Jokes aside, the harvest festival brought to your attention the fact that people don't have a sufficiently large area for gathering. Fostering a strong sense of community is something Hailey is constantly on your case about, and a space should be set aside for it. DC 20
-[ ] Communal space – church
You might keep your religious beliefs close to chest, but having a place of worship for others could be important. It'd also show your nominal overlords breathing down your neck that you're an important cultural center and a quick hostile takeover is out of the question. DC 35
-[ ] Communal space – stadium
There are gyms and resistance equipment scattered throughout your colony to help stave off muscle atrophy and brittle bones, but nothing even the size of a basketball court. You've heard that sport is a common leisure activity and a great propaganda tool both for recruitment as well as demonizing your enemies. Not that you'd ever do that, you just wanted to play some ball. DC 30
-[ ] Aquaculture
Ken has come to you with a rather strange idea. The water cisterns you currently have are filled with distilled, pure H2O and you regularly add mineral content to it between the tank and a tap. What if you instead switched the injectors for filters and opened up the tanks. And then, he tells you, put fish in them. Most mammals and birds fare poorly in the super-low gravity, but supposedly fish mostly do fine and the stuff humans like to drink is an ideal environment to grow them. DC 60
-[ ] Bakery
The closest thing to fresh bread you've had in years are the dry crackers from the ration packs that, rumors say, expand when you apply moisture. You now have a variety of grains, things like rye bread and rice cookies would definitely sell like hot cakes. Also, muffins, 'nuff said. DC 20
-[ ] Fission power plant
Sure you've a good system developed for powering your stuff, but diversity is a strength. Unlike the free sunlight, you'd need to import uranium, possibly refine it too, not to mention the difficulty of developing and constructing a plant from scratch. On the plus side, waste isn't a problem when you've the world's biggest incinerator staring down on you and no pesky gravity to stop you from chucking things in. Your new vassals are definitely capable of helping here. DC 50
-[ ] Fusion power plant
This is what the big boys use. There's a total of three functional ones on Earth, one on Mars and probably a few on some cutting edge satellites and military cruisers, so it might be worth it to build one just for the prestige alone. It'll also mean that as long as you have access to the most abundant element in the world you can produce power. Not to mention the potential scientific benefits. DC 95
A quiet individual, it took you months to find out that one of the children in your colony was the daughter of your personnel manager. When Ragnar Erikson does contribute to the conversation, it's usually a well thought out response or an insightful comment and his action plans are clear and concise. Perhaps this is just his way of separating his occasionally thankless job and his private life, and the man has the trust of all your councilors. In 2178, he remarried, snagging your head diplomat all to himself. Choose 1 action.
[ ] Internal Affairs
-[ ] Census
Take stock of your current populace. Where do they come from, what do they think of life here, familial status, religious affiliation, occupations, etc. DC 35
-[ ] Hailey Maria Erikson and her very real imaginary issues
So you now know what must surely be her biggest secret, but a rogue AI, while undoubtedly useful, reeks of Icarian hubris. Worse yet, said AI will know as soon as any contingencies are brought up around Hailey. Not only does this mean that the task of rooting it out is incredibly difficult, it's also insanely dangerous to the person you care about. Still, what's a secret project amongst friends? Develop a preliminary protocol for dealing with the potential threat of the AI taking over, maybe consider – very carefully – how to remove it entirely. DC 50
-[ ] Thorough check – Amanda Carpenter
The conversation with Luke Memphis got you wondering – did she really never take a bribe, or was she already bought and paid for all along? Or perhaps you've inherited her enemies and they're just biding their time to strike. Either way, dig a bit deeper into her past than is strictly polite and find out. DC 40
-[ ] Thorough check – Ken Hiragi
There's something about the nice, quiet ones. Erikson brought to your attention the barest of possibilities, but you should still follow up and reassure yourself. DC 50
-[ ] Thorough check – Ragnar Erikson
Hah, only a fool would take the master of intrigue at his word. Dig into Erikson's story and see what there is to see. Either you don't get caught and there can be no harm done to you or you do, in which case you'll give good odds that he'll understand anyway. Indeed, he probably expects you to have already done so. DC 55
-[ ] Thorough check – Lena Weissmeier
Why is she so secretive, what sinister motives could she have? Remember, it's only rude to pry if you get caught doing it. And no, this does not count as stalking or harassment, you're doing this for security reasons. And as a concerned friend, because you're really starting to doubt that using oneself as a test subject is proper scientific protocol. DC 60
-[ ] Emergency generators
Your current power supply is awfully vulnerable to forces of nature and targeted attacks alike. Set up well hidden, well shielded and separately supplied backup generators that would at least sustain basic life support around your compound should something happen to the solar fields. DC 30
-[ ] Poke the black site
Alright, so you're not going to launch a probe to knock on their front door – unlike some intellectually challenged individuals around – but if a casual solar wind analyzer happens to pass by, they'd surely have more to lose by reacting to it. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it gave man the stars and if you've built a house next to a wolf den then you should make sure to guard your sheep. Err, bad analogy, you definitely don't think of your people as sheep. Anyways, try to find out anything about your secret neighbor. DC 75
-[ ] The colonists
Why did Europe come after your rock so insistently? Sure it's a lovely rock, but as you sent them packing, it clearly wasn't worth fighting over. Was it just an overzealous officer? Find out what you can about the expedition to Little Klondike and the lead officer, one Lisette Rousseau. DC 50
-[ ] Schooling expansion
A glorified kindergarten is fine and all, but being a center of learning in the New Belt could certainly be beneficial. Having access to more scientists, not having to send your brightest off the base and getting that sweet influx of new taxpayers and customers for your businesses. Still, you've taken baby steps, now you'll need to walk before running. Set up a general purpose high school focused on university preparation for the students. DC 45
-[ ] Global WIFI
With generally expanded data transfer equipment set up in your central complex, you can fix the issue of having communication on your proverbial backside. At the moment you need to route through your silver mine tower and the single mobile antenna you have. Set up towers all over Little Klondike to grant adequate internet connection to every nook and cranny. DC 50
-[ ] Study New Ireland
Your biggest neighbor has made a significant power play, and information is the purest form of power translatable to distances measured in light-time units. Find out about the background, leadership and whatever else Erikson manages to dig up on New Ireland. DC 30
-[ ] Study Ironbond
Oliver Jarnstad was direct to the point and brash but honest; or a good enough teller of half-truths. If he wasn't such a douche about things, you'd have gotten along famously. However, his extended family and the corporation tied to it have some shady history. Try to get a more thorough and up-to-date overview of their colonial ventures in your sector. DC 30
-[ ] Study Azure Star
From what you gathered during your first meeting, the colony is perhaps the closest analogue to your own, but you know very little about them. Set about fixing that: what do they have on site, who were their leaders before they were directors? Rulers? Supreme space sovereigns? Whatever they style themselves as. DC 30
-[ ] The congregation
The monks are arriving on your station and keeping them contained and complacent should be trivial enough, but you thoroughly plan to probe their inner peace. Secretly. DC 40
-[ ] Prismdust investigation
The ex-Martian research base might not want other visitors, but you feel rightfully entitled to conducting an audit of the base yourself. That, and if there's a legal storm brewing, you intend to get ahead of it this time. DC 45
Take stock of your current populace. Where do they come from, what do they think of life here, familial status, religious affiliation, occupations, etc. DC 35
-[ ] Hailey Maria Erikson and her very real imaginary issues
So you now know what must surely be her biggest secret, but a rogue AI, while undoubtedly useful, reeks of Icarian hubris. Worse yet, said AI will know as soon as any contingencies are brought up around Hailey. Not only does this mean that the task of rooting it out is incredibly difficult, it's also insanely dangerous to the person you care about. Still, what's a secret project amongst friends? Develop a preliminary protocol for dealing with the potential threat of the AI taking over, maybe consider – very carefully – how to remove it entirely. DC 50
-[ ] Thorough check – Amanda Carpenter
The conversation with Luke Memphis got you wondering – did she really never take a bribe, or was she already bought and paid for all along? Or perhaps you've inherited her enemies and they're just biding their time to strike. Either way, dig a bit deeper into her past than is strictly polite and find out. DC 40
-[ ] Thorough check – Ken Hiragi
There's something about the nice, quiet ones. Erikson brought to your attention the barest of possibilities, but you should still follow up and reassure yourself. DC 50
-[ ] Thorough check – Ragnar Erikson
Hah, only a fool would take the master of intrigue at his word. Dig into Erikson's story and see what there is to see. Either you don't get caught and there can be no harm done to you or you do, in which case you'll give good odds that he'll understand anyway. Indeed, he probably expects you to have already done so. DC 55
-[ ] Thorough check – Lena Weissmeier
Why is she so secretive, what sinister motives could she have? Remember, it's only rude to pry if you get caught doing it. And no, this does not count as stalking or harassment, you're doing this for security reasons. And as a concerned friend, because you're really starting to doubt that using oneself as a test subject is proper scientific protocol. DC 60
-[ ] Emergency generators
Your current power supply is awfully vulnerable to forces of nature and targeted attacks alike. Set up well hidden, well shielded and separately supplied backup generators that would at least sustain basic life support around your compound should something happen to the solar fields. DC 30
-[ ] Poke the black site
Alright, so you're not going to launch a probe to knock on their front door – unlike some intellectually challenged individuals around – but if a casual solar wind analyzer happens to pass by, they'd surely have more to lose by reacting to it. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it gave man the stars and if you've built a house next to a wolf den then you should make sure to guard your sheep. Err, bad analogy, you definitely don't think of your people as sheep. Anyways, try to find out anything about your secret neighbor. DC 75
-[ ] The colonists
Why did Europe come after your rock so insistently? Sure it's a lovely rock, but as you sent them packing, it clearly wasn't worth fighting over. Was it just an overzealous officer? Find out what you can about the expedition to Little Klondike and the lead officer, one Lisette Rousseau. DC 50
-[ ] Schooling expansion
A glorified kindergarten is fine and all, but being a center of learning in the New Belt could certainly be beneficial. Having access to more scientists, not having to send your brightest off the base and getting that sweet influx of new taxpayers and customers for your businesses. Still, you've taken baby steps, now you'll need to walk before running. Set up a general purpose high school focused on university preparation for the students. DC 45
-[ ] Global WIFI
With generally expanded data transfer equipment set up in your central complex, you can fix the issue of having communication on your proverbial backside. At the moment you need to route through your silver mine tower and the single mobile antenna you have. Set up towers all over Little Klondike to grant adequate internet connection to every nook and cranny. DC 50
-[ ] Study New Ireland
Your biggest neighbor has made a significant power play, and information is the purest form of power translatable to distances measured in light-time units. Find out about the background, leadership and whatever else Erikson manages to dig up on New Ireland. DC 30
-[ ] Study Ironbond
Oliver Jarnstad was direct to the point and brash but honest; or a good enough teller of half-truths. If he wasn't such a douche about things, you'd have gotten along famously. However, his extended family and the corporation tied to it have some shady history. Try to get a more thorough and up-to-date overview of their colonial ventures in your sector. DC 30
-[ ] Study Azure Star
From what you gathered during your first meeting, the colony is perhaps the closest analogue to your own, but you know very little about them. Set about fixing that: what do they have on site, who were their leaders before they were directors? Rulers? Supreme space sovereigns? Whatever they style themselves as. DC 30
-[ ] The congregation
The monks are arriving on your station and keeping them contained and complacent should be trivial enough, but you thoroughly plan to probe their inner peace. Secretly. DC 40
-[ ] Prismdust investigation
The ex-Martian research base might not want other visitors, but you feel rightfully entitled to conducting an audit of the base yourself. That, and if there's a legal storm brewing, you intend to get ahead of it this time. DC 45
Miss Weissmeier is a younger, more conventionally beautiful and feminine version of Miss Carpenter. Even in zero G she wears a dark business skirt and heels, her reports are thorough and drier than a vacuum, but you can't fault her data or methods – bar one. She might be the youngest on your council, and in rare moments her lack of life experience shows, but you're quite glad to have someone with medical expertise on standby at all times. Choose 1 subject.
[ ] Research
-[ ] Mineral surveys
The general readings claim that your rock should have a good balance of light and heavy metals, silicates and oxygen rich rock, and who knows what else. You've gone over the surrounding top soil, for lack of a better term, but there's more to the asteroid both in depth as well as further out, keep looking for more minerals. DC 40
-[ ] Medic Training
The people in your colony come from various backgrounds and educations, but lifesaving knowledge is something everyone should have. Expand the rudimentary programs currently set up and make it a mandatory part of life on this rock. It will cut into productivity a bit but it'll be worth it to literally save lives. DC 20
-[ ] Oncology ward
The next step towards a fully-fledged space hospital is a cancer ward. Cosmic radiation can be mitigated quite well these days, but ultimately the human cell is still the same as it was thousands of years ago. For most colonists, there's the option of flying back to Earth for treatment if the tumor is detected on time, but you'd like to be better than that. DC 55
-[ ] Nanomachine forge
The experimental version of the silver nanites was a resounding success. Now, it's a matter of producing more than a pinch of them each month and for that, you need specialized equipment. Perhaps you can further refine your existing printers, perhaps you can train the existing robots to make more of themselves. Gray goo? Never heard of it. DC 60
-[ ] Solar wind capture
The lighter the element, the less likely you are to find a good supply of it around here. Unfortunately hydrogen is one of those, yet you need a constant supply of it. It's used in many, many chemical reactions and synthesizing processes, it's a prime component of rocket fuel and the only component of fusion fuel. It's also hard to keep recycling it, as the tiny gas can leak through most seals in time. Thus, try to catch some of the material that the Sun constantly bombards you with. DC 80
-[ ] Magnetic field research
A key component of fusion, magnetic fields can be used to direct a stream of particles. Similarly, Earth enjoys a protective shell shielding her from harmful radiation thanks to a massive iron core generating immensely big fields. Could there be anything you can do to replicate these effects? Or perhaps probing one of the fundamental forces of the universe might reveal some new applications that people haven't thought of or haven't needed so far. A new influx of scientific expertise from your acquisitions can probably help. DC 50
-[ ] Primitive AI
They always say that true artificial intelligence is ten years away at most. They've been saying it all your life in fact, so it must be true. Mostly, the nonexistence of AI is attributed to a treaty known as the Tokyo Convention, but upon even a cursory glance at the text, there's clearly still room for research. The forbidden parts of AI have more to do with the moralities of developing something with feelings and ill-defined motivations than actual AI. Try to skirt that line and see where something barely smarter than a goldfish can take you. DC 50
-[ ] Silver nanites 2
A follow-up to the technology Lena has come up with, with focus on the areas she listed as having room for improvement. The little critters can (semi-theoretically) fix strands of DNA damaged by the generation loss effect or be programmed to produce organic compounds from the constituent molecules. And whatever else your head scientist can come up with. DC 80
-[ ] Life extension
Sure, you'll probably live to see a hundred and fifty, barring some accident. But if you want to enjoy eternal youth not eternal life, then you might want to put in your own contribution to the development of various life extension technologies. DC 60
-[ ] Patent encryption breaking
There's several techs in your colony that you'd be able to produce yourself, in theory. From guns to motors to radios and lasers you should be able to make the components as prototypes in your lab. It's not industrial scale production and if someone caught wind of you using or worse yet, selling cracked products you'd be in trouble. But if you don't get caught then you'd be able to sustain your own needs just fine. DC 60
-[ ] Aerogel production
Surely you must be able to figure out a way to manufacture the stuff wholesale. You have all the materials needed in abundance. Plus it'll let you patent the process, so your deposit truly will remain the only source in the world. Or if it turns out to require some cosmic process not replicable by humans, at least you'll have a prestigious paper to publish. DC 80
-[ ] Aerogel structures
See-through? Paint it. Light enough to float in Earth winds? No weather in space. You've survived one steel shortage, but this stuff could be your solution for the foreseeable future. Work with Lena to figure out a way to make use of aerogel for construction purposes, perhaps even sell your own habitat modules. Also, you'd expect that similar techniques can be used to construct spaceship chassis'. DC 60
-[ ] Aerogel armor
Those ceramics in your light power armor you wanted to upgrade? Well, this could be it. The gel doesn't shatter on impact like normal silicates do, it's probably possible to make it bendy by doping it with normal fibers, it's not air-permeable and can totally withstand the pressures. And it's lighter than any other armor, or clothing for that matter, so you might even be able to sell it to planetary markets. DC 60
-[ ] Aerogel classics
Sometimes you don't need to come up with something new, just do the old thing better than anyone else. The usual aerogel markets are trivially easy to break into with your new edge; start a test run of optics for telescopes or weapon sights, make heatshields for ground to orbit craft or exhaust cones, produce sports gear. DC 40
-[ ] Bionic eyes
The clear, extremely lightly conductive, inert material of your aerogel, alongside the talk of augmented reality seems to have given Lena a strange idea: to build artificial eyes out of the material. While you're not sure you'd gouge out your own, she seemed enthusiastic about the research as such. Supposedly she could combine the gel with her nanites to revive damaged ocular nerves and make one of the most complex organs a human body has. DC 60
The general readings claim that your rock should have a good balance of light and heavy metals, silicates and oxygen rich rock, and who knows what else. You've gone over the surrounding top soil, for lack of a better term, but there's more to the asteroid both in depth as well as further out, keep looking for more minerals. DC 40
-[ ] Medic Training
The people in your colony come from various backgrounds and educations, but lifesaving knowledge is something everyone should have. Expand the rudimentary programs currently set up and make it a mandatory part of life on this rock. It will cut into productivity a bit but it'll be worth it to literally save lives. DC 20
-[ ] Oncology ward
The next step towards a fully-fledged space hospital is a cancer ward. Cosmic radiation can be mitigated quite well these days, but ultimately the human cell is still the same as it was thousands of years ago. For most colonists, there's the option of flying back to Earth for treatment if the tumor is detected on time, but you'd like to be better than that. DC 55
-[ ] Nanomachine forge
The experimental version of the silver nanites was a resounding success. Now, it's a matter of producing more than a pinch of them each month and for that, you need specialized equipment. Perhaps you can further refine your existing printers, perhaps you can train the existing robots to make more of themselves. Gray goo? Never heard of it. DC 60
-[ ] Solar wind capture
The lighter the element, the less likely you are to find a good supply of it around here. Unfortunately hydrogen is one of those, yet you need a constant supply of it. It's used in many, many chemical reactions and synthesizing processes, it's a prime component of rocket fuel and the only component of fusion fuel. It's also hard to keep recycling it, as the tiny gas can leak through most seals in time. Thus, try to catch some of the material that the Sun constantly bombards you with. DC 80
-[ ] Magnetic field research
A key component of fusion, magnetic fields can be used to direct a stream of particles. Similarly, Earth enjoys a protective shell shielding her from harmful radiation thanks to a massive iron core generating immensely big fields. Could there be anything you can do to replicate these effects? Or perhaps probing one of the fundamental forces of the universe might reveal some new applications that people haven't thought of or haven't needed so far. A new influx of scientific expertise from your acquisitions can probably help. DC 50
-[ ] Primitive AI
They always say that true artificial intelligence is ten years away at most. They've been saying it all your life in fact, so it must be true. Mostly, the nonexistence of AI is attributed to a treaty known as the Tokyo Convention, but upon even a cursory glance at the text, there's clearly still room for research. The forbidden parts of AI have more to do with the moralities of developing something with feelings and ill-defined motivations than actual AI. Try to skirt that line and see where something barely smarter than a goldfish can take you. DC 50
-[ ] Silver nanites 2
A follow-up to the technology Lena has come up with, with focus on the areas she listed as having room for improvement. The little critters can (semi-theoretically) fix strands of DNA damaged by the generation loss effect or be programmed to produce organic compounds from the constituent molecules. And whatever else your head scientist can come up with. DC 80
-[ ] Life extension
Sure, you'll probably live to see a hundred and fifty, barring some accident. But if you want to enjoy eternal youth not eternal life, then you might want to put in your own contribution to the development of various life extension technologies. DC 60
-[ ] Patent encryption breaking
There's several techs in your colony that you'd be able to produce yourself, in theory. From guns to motors to radios and lasers you should be able to make the components as prototypes in your lab. It's not industrial scale production and if someone caught wind of you using or worse yet, selling cracked products you'd be in trouble. But if you don't get caught then you'd be able to sustain your own needs just fine. DC 60
-[ ] Aerogel production
Surely you must be able to figure out a way to manufacture the stuff wholesale. You have all the materials needed in abundance. Plus it'll let you patent the process, so your deposit truly will remain the only source in the world. Or if it turns out to require some cosmic process not replicable by humans, at least you'll have a prestigious paper to publish. DC 80
-[ ] Aerogel structures
See-through? Paint it. Light enough to float in Earth winds? No weather in space. You've survived one steel shortage, but this stuff could be your solution for the foreseeable future. Work with Lena to figure out a way to make use of aerogel for construction purposes, perhaps even sell your own habitat modules. Also, you'd expect that similar techniques can be used to construct spaceship chassis'. DC 60
-[ ] Aerogel armor
Those ceramics in your light power armor you wanted to upgrade? Well, this could be it. The gel doesn't shatter on impact like normal silicates do, it's probably possible to make it bendy by doping it with normal fibers, it's not air-permeable and can totally withstand the pressures. And it's lighter than any other armor, or clothing for that matter, so you might even be able to sell it to planetary markets. DC 60
-[ ] Aerogel classics
Sometimes you don't need to come up with something new, just do the old thing better than anyone else. The usual aerogel markets are trivially easy to break into with your new edge; start a test run of optics for telescopes or weapon sights, make heatshields for ground to orbit craft or exhaust cones, produce sports gear. DC 40
-[ ] Bionic eyes
The clear, extremely lightly conductive, inert material of your aerogel, alongside the talk of augmented reality seems to have given Lena a strange idea: to build artificial eyes out of the material. While you're not sure you'd gouge out your own, she seemed enthusiastic about the research as such. Supposedly she could combine the gel with her nanites to revive damaged ocular nerves and make one of the most complex organs a human body has. DC 60
I'll try to have updated character and colony sheets up shortly (not the next few minutes, but sometime soon(tm)).
