"Artificial intelligence has become so powerful not because it has conquered humanity, but because we have willingly submitted ourselves to it." Hudson Von Fulcrum, Philosopher, 2105

Ross 183 - Date: 2600?

Perspective "Thomas Cabot"

We get an interception of Ross 183 after a little over a year, as without liquid hydrogen, we can't do long-term acceleration, only short "bursts" of instantaneous velocity, severely limiting our maneuverability. However, we eventually got into a large elliptical orbit around Ross 183 if the trajectory simulations are to be believed. The ship has certainly seen better days, but it's as prepared as it will be with the deconstruction of most of the reactor three and four sections, patching holes, and extending the "radiators." The USM-VNP-5 is looking more like a ship every day! Not just a drifting piece of junk. Just don't look too close, and it's fine.

Commsys assembled an electromagnetic matter analysis of Ross 183 while we were maneuvering into an interception. The system has many rocky plants and a couple of gas giants. Commsys, earning her wages, also got some eyes on Ross 183 and discovered two gas giants in the outer reaches of the star system, meaning the inner asteroid belt is either huge or a handful of rocky planets are nestled in the inner stellar system. This is honestly just research because I can't use this information. This would be the perfect place to explore and assemble a Von Neumman Sub-system on paper. Still, you can't do that without drones/probes and can't use those without the necessary industrial foundation. Anyway, delving through Exabytes of corrupted data was certainly an experience. Most of it is unsalvageable, but some data is saveable via the recovery program that Mainsys whipped up to automate the task. After that, I began trying to get the VR to work, but with so much processing power being taken up and the two remaining reactors still damaged, I couldn't increase it without shutting down some processes. I modified the command panel so that I could "frame-jack" to speed up or slow down my perspective of time. Quickly, adding some alarm functions to bring me out if there are any problems. I sit back and relax as the days pass into minutes. We approach Ross 183, and I get some reading done.

ROSS 183 - Galatic Date 12'67

Perspective Fylix Zhorna

Vera and I move into new orbits on the outer edge of the debris field to get proper scans. It takes a day or two, but we get into a stable orbit close to the field. Vera is in polar orbit, and I am in an interception orbit a couple thousand kilometers from the field following the ring it makes around the star. "Taking the more detailed scan now, Vera. It will take a while, so I will keep FiSC quiet for now. You should do the same," I say, returning to the Holo screen on my captain's seat. "Yes, sir Commissar sir, I will maintain FiSC sile- really? There isn't anyone even remotely close to here; the Fed doesn't even check on this place." Vera sits in her captain's seat, claws in her lap. "Yes, based on your 'contact,' that's very trustworthy." As she attempts to respond, I cut the FiSC signal as I lay back. A closer look at the anomalous reading from the wide system scan we did a couple of days ago detected a massive electromagnetic signature radiating from a dense portion of alloy that drifted into the debris field. It's a repeating signature, so I have the ship's AI and Tlx attempting to decode and figure out if it was just some error or maybe a derelict that hasn't been salvaged yet, which the boss would be quite happy about, indeed, hopefully, happy enough to forget Vera's 'mistake.' I've already ruled out the possibility that it's the Fed, considering they use mostly sub-space comms and the fact that we are in the boonies along with the rising tensions between the Fed and Union; they won't care if a random scrap yard gets pilfered.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

After a few hours, I retired to my cabin to write my report and sprinkle some suggestions for using some of this scrap. Trying to get some shut-eye before the months of work that will have to be poured into this project. I start getting ready for bed when Tlx sends me an urgent message about the electromagnetic signal. I quickly make my way to the bridge, throwing on something appropriate for a captain: a nice blazer with Fed-issued military fatigues modified in the company's style of orange and red. As I reach the bridge, Tlx waves me with his massive six-fingered primate hand. With huge bags under his eyes, he calls me over. He must be the only officer from the day shift still on the bridge. "Captain! You may want to look at this; it's nothing like I've ever seen; even the AI is having trouble deciphering the data!" I give an inquisitive look as I take a look at the reading. The AI is utilizing over half of its processing power and still isn't a fifth of the way done deciphering it. "So it's definitely a working ship?" I ask with a small smirk and snarl. "Yes, Sir! The electromagnetic signature was some form of primitive radio broadcast in every direction. However, some extremely powerful gamma radiation is also emitted, which may indicate a reactor leak." He says, handing me a holo pad with the report. "Great work, Tlx; let the AI do the remaining work and catch up on some rest. You will need it when we get back to base." He says his thanks as he retires to his quarters for the night, as I do, with a hidden smile across my face.

Ross 183 - Date: 2602?

Perspective "Thomas Cabot"

This is an interesting find, to say the least. Commsys debriefed right when she ran the numbers on the massive belt of refined metal in the inner solar system. Although there are no rocky or gas giants, the only thing orbiting Ross 183 is a ring of debris. It's not so much a ring as a 'cloud' in a donut shape around Ross 183. Judging from the simulations Mainsys ran, this may have been a battlefield, which brings whole new problems and questions as to why there was a fight to begin with. The HCE was notoriously peaceful with all human colonies, and they're the only ones with the industrial might to produce anything even close to this. Either way, this is a very fortunate circumstance; Mainsys just finished running the trajectory calculations for a stable orbit inside of the debris field. Hopefully, we can do some basic RADAR and inferred scans to find any good resources that can be used to repair the ship and maybe even the manufacturing ring.

As we pulled into the circular orbit around Ross 183 into the debris field, every sensor on the ship went black, and Mainsys detected some corrupted files in all the major AI systems, just small byte changes, and rounding errors, but all over the ship is strange and at the same time. After a quick reload from backups, everything was fine, but I had Mainsys make a log for it when we could get a space station set up. Slowly losing hope of finding any human systems because of the obvious aging of Ross 183, we may need to bootstrap an industrial foundation with paperclips at this point...