un: mori

[setpoint]

This morning, I received a message on my communicator from the username m.muller. When I tried to message them back, all I received was an error. I don't recognize her, but maybe someone else will.

[So Mako attaches a video file. There's a woman with frizzy red hair and freckles on screen, looking slightly panicked. "My name is Martina Muller," she says, and her voice is calm and slightly accented. There's a sudden crash behind her, and she cuts herself off with a gasp. "You have to warn the others! There is a traitor on board. Wherever you are, there is a traitor on board, you have to–"

And then the message cuts off.]

It seems like not everyone received it, so it wasn't a network wide broadcast. As far as I can tell, it came from the station, but I don't know where.

I also tried to unlock one of the doors. I've figured out which wires control the locking mechanism, but nothing I did to override or overload them seemed to work. Has anyone else had any luck?

Comments

un: ripley

[retund]

Maybe it's a warning for us, too.

[ a survivor on the inside shooting out every clip they can get their hands on, or a clever comms technician who set the messages to go out randomly to any live receptors in the vicinity, even after their own death. she assumes the latter was how the last message from an alien death trap was sent to her ship. ]

[setpoint]

Do you think the traitor might still be on the station?

[It's not completely out of the question. Like Raleigh said, there's no telling who among them was actually kidnapped, and who's simply lying.]

[retund]

Yes.
The station itself might be watching, too.

[ Mother had betrayed them aboard the Nostromo. Traitors come in all forms, from the seemingly impartial AI to the lying company man. ]

[setpoint]

The station itself? Do you mean an AI?

[She's hoping that's what that means, anyway, and not another person thinking the station might literally be alive.]

[retund]

I do.
It happened aboard my last ship.

[ The AI’s being in on the conspiracy, she means. ]

[setpoint]

The only AIs I've dealt with weren't advanced enough to do something like that.

[retund]

[ She types lucky you but deletes it. Androids are a mixed bag. ]

AI's and androids are advanced enough to fool humans out here.
You might not even realize that you've spoken to a synthetic person.

[ This place is similar enough to other stations that Ripley understands the tech. She can only assume AI's are at the same level. ]

[setpoint]

[That is... absolutely fascinating, but Mako manages to stay on topic rather than asking a million questions.]

Do you think whatever went wrong here had something to do with an AI?

sorry for the delay!!

[retund]

It's a theory.
A hostile lifeform or contagion on board could also warrant a lockdown like this, as could a fire or chemical incident.

HONESTLY HOW DARE YOU

[setpoint]

I was worried about that. Would there be any sort of warning in the system if it was a contagion?

un: niijima.m

[boazjachin]

I agree with @ripley.

I don't have experience with AIs [like at all she is so out of her depth there] but the number of unnatural occurrences on this ship so far could just as easily be attributed to science as the supernatural.

Is there a way to conclusively prove that the message isn't current? I haven't seen her either, but that doesn't mean much. We can only access a small part of the station.

[retund]

[ someone who agrees with her...amazing. ]

I don't think we can prove anything.

The other message that played when we first awoke and then again on some of the comms would suggest a crisis occurred as we woke up or earlier, at least. The lockdown also supports this theory, but that doesn't mean Muller's warning isn't current.

[boazjachin]

You're probably right.

[Which is vexing. This whole stupid situation is a series of things she can't figure out how to prove one way or the other. It's just plain disorganized.]

Right about that, too. Just because they "ended the world" doesn't mean that the traitor died along with the rest of the crew. If the rest of the crew died. It's possible the traitor is orchestrating all of this.

sorry for the delay!!

[retund]

Exactly.
All we can do is keep our eyes open.
And communicate.

[ and anyone holding back will appear suspicious. ]