Entry 1 - Implants

The data-net was buzzing today with the new Bio-Web line. Honestly, the marketing blitz is almost sickening. They’ve managed to make neural integration sound like a spa treatment. The specifics are…intriguing though. I spent a good half-hour on the ‘Sensory Enhancement Package’ page. Market price is holding steady at 7800 credits, a bit steep considering it’s still preliminary testing phase. The positives, as they list them, are frankly ridiculous: heightened tactile sense, direct neural link to visual data feeds, and an ‘enhanced appreciation of music’. Negatives are equally dramatic: potential for sensory overload, mild cognitive dissonance during initial integration, and a vaguely ominous ‘data-leak risk’. They always underplay that last one.

I’m mostly looking at this for trade purposes, of course. The scrap dealers on the lower levels are always desperate for the latest tech, flawed or not. I could probably flip a few units, while I'm stationed here on Sector 9. I could make a tidy profit. But…that neural-linked visual feed…that does sound useful. Imagine seeing fights with pirate fleet from a birds eye view, direct mapping into your retina, no cumbersome visor. I pushed it down the priority list. Today, I'm just trading. Tonight, I sleep.

Entry 2

The ‘Cybernetic Muscle Augmentation’ implants from KyrosTech are making waves. They’ve clearly invested heavily in the visuals this time - glossy renders of impossibly sleek limbs, all sinew and polished plating. Price point is sitting at 12,200 credits. This is the high end of the market, for sure. Kyros claims a 30% increase in raw strength, improved endurance, and ‘superior agility’. The small print, of course, mentions a risk of ‘muscle fiber rejection’ and the potential need for ongoing cellular regeneration treatments. Typical.

The scrap guys will love this. They have a fondness for anything that makes lugging heavy metals easier. I can practically hear the haggling now. I could probably get double the listed price on the black market for these… Maybe even triple. But part of me…I looked at the images for longer than I intended. I've been lugging reactor scraps for cycles now. Imagine doing it without that ache in my back at the end of the day. I dismissed the thought. Trade is the only priority, I remind myself. The day is done, the credits are counted.

Entry 3

The market’s been flooded with salvaged ‘Neural Interface Modules’ today. Looks like there was a raid on a low-level distribution hub. Prices have plummeted. You can pick up a basic module for under 500 credits now - a fraction of their usual cost. This is interesting. They're all marked with some kind of code, 'Prototype Delta'. That's usually bad news. They’re likely flawed, unstable, maybe even dangerous. Positives, if any, are buried under disclaimers about unpredictable neural spikes and memory corruption.

Honestly, nobody would be stupid enough to buy this for personal use. But...if something like this was stabilized... imagine the possibilities. Fast access to data streams, real-time hacking capabilities, no need for cumbersome consoles or interfaces. I could... well, I could be more efficient in my trades. No, that's me finding excuses. The scrap dealers will have a field day with these. I’ll probably pick up a handful on the cheap and triple my investment. This cycle is over. My curiosity might be growing though...or am I just worn out today?

Entry 4 - Phoenix Log.

Another jump, another system. Phoenix hummed like a contented beast as we slipped out of warp. Today’s destination: the dusty backwater of Xylos Minor. My manifest was a mixed bag, as usual, but it was the neural interface modules that had me humming a restless tune. I’d picked them up cheap on Kepler-7, 500 credits a pop. The merchant had practically thrown them at me, muttering about ‘flaws’ and ‘unstable connections.’ I didn't much care, they were something to shift. I still believed they had a use. Blackie, my little beetle alien, was scuttling around the cargo hold as always, antennae twitching as he wrestled with a loose coil of tubing.

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Entry 5 - Xylos Minor Log.

Spent most of the day making contact. A few shady characters lurking in the spaceport cantina, and a couple of legitimate merchants who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. Tried to hawk those neural interface modules. They were met with a mix of raised eyebrows and outright dismissal. One guy, a G'kar with scales like chipped obsidian, offered me a handful of shimmering crystals in exchange. “They enhance psychic focus, might make those things work better,” he’d rasped. I wasn’t sure how much psychic focus would help a dodgy neural interface, but the crystals did look pretty. Another trader, a jittery human named Mel, traded me a box of repurposed drone parts. Claimed they were prototypes from a now defunct corporation. I’m starting to feel like I was running a weird swap meet. It was something I suppose, better than sitting with a pile of rejects.

Entry 6 - Xylos Minor Log.

The haul of oddities is starting to weigh down the Phoenix. I got offered a weird sonic pistol today, and some seeds that supposedly grew glowing plants. I was starting to have my doubts about this venture. This whole thing had become a strange experiment in interstellar bartering. I even traded some nutrient paste for a rusty old repair droid. It followed me around like a lost puppy. I was in a bit of a mess. My cargo hold was a kaleidoscope of technological misfits. I decided to try something new. Headed to the black market dock on the far side of the station. Figured if anyone appreciated a pile of junk, it’d be them.

Log Entry Seven

I got a comm-hail, a scrambled transmission from a contact I haven’t dealt with in years. I had put out a trade deal on the black market, a few months back. Now some research guru down on the black markets of Xylos was interested. The details were hazy, but the intent was clear: he wanted those prototypes.

Specifically, the flawed neural implants I’d picked up from the decommissioned colony on Cygnus-7, the barely functioning ocular augmentations salvaged from that old orbital station near the Rim, and a handful of the prototype synaptic boosters I got from a dodgy medical supplier on Kepler-186f. A real mishmash, a collection of broken dreams and bleeding-edge tech. I usually kept these types of things for scrap.

But this guru, he wanted them all. He offered a price that was…unsettlingly high. Like credits were just useless trinkets to be thrown around. It got me thinking – anyone would buy that sort of stuff if it was on the market, but getting it is the hard part. You had to be in the right place at the right time. Most of these were snatched hours before some system authority incinerated them, or pulled from derelict wrecks. Some were simply smuggled by contacts with their own little stockpiles. It was a strange collection, but he wanted it as a bundle.

The sheer amount of credits he transferred made my head spin. Enough to seriously consider that next step. I’m not hurting for ships, not by any stretch. I’ve got the Phoenix, my trusty cruiser, always ready to get me out of hot water. Then there’s Mule and Hydra, my workhorses for cargo hauls. Wraith, the old carrier, has pretty good cargo hold for a carrier. And Tanker, I usually use Tanker mostly to refill the smaller ships and the five light frigates I use as protection. But this kind of cash…it could justify something bigger. Something… different.

I've been thinking about a heavy frigate. Maybe something with more firepower, or maybe the new modular design from the Nereus Shipyards, a transport that can carry more, maybe a bit faster than the Mule. A dedicated freighter, something like Leviathan. Maybe it’s time to add a capital ship to my fleet. I’ve always been eyeing the Monolith class. They are bulky but they can pack a punch…it is really big though.

The whole thing stinks of something. The price, the desperation in the comm-hail. Something big is brewing, and this research guru, whoever he is, seems to be right in the middle of it. But, damn, I can't deny that this haul could change everything. I need to be careful though, but the temptation of a new ship…it is really strong.