Quoted By:
“This specimen was younger. Its silvery mantle-piece was crowned with faded status-markings, signifying a far less illustrious lineage than the aging cadre which contacted us previously. It peered directly into the video feed, jet-black eyes focused forward without a hint of fear. Water-distorted shapes surged in the background – signs, likely, of a habitation module packed far beyond its standard capacity.
“Know that this individual/lineage wishes to pose no threat to you.”
“Know that half of this individual/linage has moved to this vessel.”
“Know that this individual/lineage wishes to return/perish with the rest of its lineage.”
“Know that we shall offer everything that we/this lineage can provide as recompense.”
There was a manually-collated data packet appended to the transmission – decryption keys for civilian-grade comm channels and several inbound/outbound departure orbital departure maps. MERRYGATE scanned through the material dismissively, discarding the vast majority with only a cursory glance. Within minutes, only a tiny sliver remained.
>Roll 1d20, best of three. [DC: 10, 15, 18]
She shook her head gently when I asked for the results of her survey.
“Most of the packet has minimal value, companion,” she said quickly. “The information it contains is either irrelevant or already known to us.”
“But I there is a small portion that could be incorporated into my intrusion datastores. Potentially.” She shrugged. “I maintain that we should disable the vessel. We have no obligation to honor goodwill from animals.”
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.
>ENGAGE. Intercept the vessel and engage. There is no benefit to allowing it to escape.
>TEST. The ship contains a confined population. Its communication keys are now known to us. Perhaps MERRYGATE could find a more productive purpose for its passengers…
- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 27th, PERSONAL JOURNAL