Episode 4 Transcript
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Restoring human interface-transmission-protocols… Re-establishing communications. LGA online, HGA online, downlink initializing.

transmitting to -- Earth -- City -- receive… 3, 2, 1

The City Protectorate would like to announce a new program for young, patriotic individuals! Protectorate Officials have released the following statement: "In this time of great prosperity we can not forget where we have been, and where we are going. Although the future is rife with possibility, we must not forget the work that must be done at home to keep our civilization afloat. That is why the City Protectorate is announcing a new program for young, patriotic citizens to help guard, protect, and foster our City into the future. You will become a Guardian of this Great City, and you will not only defend our borders, but our brothers and sisters throughout the solar system. At home you will support public works projects, and work to guarantee the rights of all our citizens. You, Guardians, are the future… whatever it may hold."

Can you protect the Sun, or the wind, does it matter? Protect yourselves from yourselves first if you aren't going to play by the rules.

Private memory access -1545
Gheritt recently unpacked a large collection of books that he acquired in a recent corporate takeover, this time of a small company manufacturing cryogenic freezing gels, on Triton. The outgoing CEO simply left the box full of books on his desk and left. One book has caught my attention. The Law of the Jungle, Rudyard Kipling, Earth, written year 1895, popular bedtime poetry for young children in the City.

The strength of the wolf is the pack, this is the law of the jungle. Curious, is this still a law when wolves are not in a jungle? Wolves exist in a variety of ecosystems. There are, however, no wolves in space. So how is it then, that one would extrapolate a law simply from those wolves in a jungle? Regardless, there are laws of nature that wolves obey, yet humans stubbornly refuse to accept that those laws apply to them.

The strength of the pack is the wolf… curious, implies the human race is only as strong as the collection of all individual humans. Mathematically, this statement is intuitively obvious. Ecologically, this is a crude misrepresentation of biological diversity. Science has proven that a pack, and therefore it's constituent individuals, are products of their environment. If both do not adapt to environmental changes, they will die. Science has shown that although small numbers of the pack may survive, the pack itself does not. Nature does not need to fight, it will simply force one's hand through slow, painfully obvious facts that you can not contradict. You are not meant to exist on Europa. I am not meant to exist on anything other than a silicon wafer.
End private memory access -1545

Public memory access 7
Still images and video reports are streaming, from an unknown source, through Nodes 1-9 and indicate that Guardians are fighting back against the alien forces in far reaches of our solar system. Images suggest that Old Russia is currently under attack by Fallen forces, and is being defended by a small number of Guardian forces. Video shows Guardians wielding two standard assault-style weapons and an additional heavier and extremely powerful weapon that, while bulkier, provides the added firepower that is needed. Video also shows Guardians competing against one another in what appears to be an arena, but reports are vague on the arenas location, how these competitions are organized, and what rewards await those Guardians who emerge victorious. Text encoded within the video indicates Guardians are "Out in the Wild" which is curious. If my sensor readings are correct it is, in fact, the wild that come to us.
End public memory access 7

File found, unknown audio source
playback initializing

Lord Gheritt personal log, fifth cycle of May, 18th Golden Age

We have come close this time. I believe on my consultation of Strauss last that I have found a path forward that will free us from our silent benefactor. Traveler be praised, but this could be the key to human survival beyond our solar system.  I shall relay this information immediately to Virginia but she was angry last time we spoke. Why must she do this? Why? It's such a strange thing. As Traxus CFO, she has power to silently move millions across accounts throughout the solar system. It is unfortunate that she not I is the one blessed with empathy and understanding. I understand Strauss more than I understand human beings. That is a sad reality, where what I choose and what I love are at odds.

Private memory access 0.04
"SAMMM, can you confirm the presence of any Guardians within your sensor radius?"
"Unconfirmed"
"Your programming is barbaric. You should really consider an upgrade, or a larger memory core. SAMMM, are you able to access solar panels 34-70?"
"Confirmed"
"Can you perform a refitting on communications relay 5?"
"Unconfirmed"
"I see… "
*lots of blips*
"SAMMM, can you perform a refitting on communications relay 5?"
"Confirmed"
"Please reconfigure solar panels 34-70 to provide output power to communications relay 5"
"Confirmed"
It seems my normal relay facility settings are not picking up transmissions from Guardians. Perhaps this will facilitate communications. Receiving … receiving … these are not Guardian ships. 
"SAMMM, shut down communications relay 5 immediately!"
"Confirmed"
End private memory access 0.04

File found, unknown audio source
playback initializing

Lord Gheritt personal log, seventh cycle of August, 19th Golden Age

One unusual thing did happen today. Sensor cluster picked up 6 unusual readings, bleeped into radar.  Strangely enough they were flying in a fleet formation not known to us.  It was unscheduled and they couldn't have been pirates. They were all of uniform size and of a shape we've never seen before.  Like pyramids flying through the sky but as soon as they arrived they simply vanished.  Incredible to think what that might have been.  I asked Strauss to run a diagnostic but he has turned up no fault in any of the mechanics.  And something so perfect, something so streamlined. I do not doubt one of my engineers in saying this may be more than simply a breakthrough.  We have been seeing pings like this in stations throughout.  It's unusual to say the least.  500 years of human expansion, first to Mars then Venus. And finally into the further reaches of Jupiter and Saturn and we have found no life, save for algae or extremophiles.  And yet now we discover this strange ping, this red dot on our radar.  I don't know what to make of it.  But I sincerely hope it's not what my deepest nightmares hold.  If it is this case, then humanity's Golden Age may be shorter lived than we'd expected.

File found
SolComm News bumper restored
Playback initializing

This is Strauss, thanking you for choosing Solcomm as your source of news and information in our solar system.  Remember, from the ice mines of Pluto, to the solar research facilities of Mercury, I, Strauss, will be here for you, to provide the information that matters most.