// "Leela" [internal process] wrote: \\ Welcome back to Lh'owon. At least, that's what Blake said when I showed him the coordinates from Hathor's last transport. Does it look familiar to you? It probably changed a lot between now and the last time you saw it: we've arrived here some two thousand years prior. Give me a moment to see if I can connect to the S'pht network... \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ There we are. This place is even roomier than you are, though I suppose that's to be expected for a planetary grid. It still doesn't hold a candle to the Vylae network. Let me see if I can find any useful information around here. My trace of Hathor was approximate - it seems the process of aiming an ansible link is done fractally, refining the resolution in diminishing increments, and I didn't catch the last few cycles of it. We may be on the wrong continent or have missed her by a few years. I'm sure you noticed our entrance here was anything but stable. We're lucky we wound up as low in the atmosphere as we did. Here we go. This is Lh'owon, just as Blake said, and this building is called the 'Citadel of Antiquities' - stop me if I'm covering data you already know.
I see no immediate sign of Hathor, which could mean we have arrived before her, but we should look a bit into public history here to see if there are any signs of her arriving earlier. Roomy as the worldnet is, the S'pht are fragmented into eleven separate clans at this time in history, and I can only access one clan's information from this terminal. I need you to access another terminal so I can pinpoint where we are in time and see if there's any sign of Hathor that I'm not seeing from here. \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ No, I already have access to this clan's network. I need you to access another terminal so I can pinpoint where we are in time and see if there's any sign of Hathor that I'm not seeing from here. However, I do have access to the teleporter grid from here. I think I can put you near a pattern buffer closer to another clan's network. Hang on... \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ Well, I can't find any clear data transfer records that would let me trace Hathor's arrival and movement in the network. The S'pht worldnet seems to function more like a giant neural net, retaining and discarding data in a very nonlinear, unstructured fashion. You should stay here inside the Citadel. I will transport you further into the upper levels. Try not to be seen and disturb as little as possible. Log into as many terminals as you can find so we can access further information. \\ Message ends //
// "S'bhuth" @ [untranslatable] wrote [translated from S'pht]: \\ when came the W'rkncacnter Yrro became an angry master and broke the S'pht into their clans the Olders we were appointed our clans named and numbered and we are called S'bhuth the Older of S'pht'Kr
apologies are due we have no word in our tongue by which to call the Messenger of Yrro sent unto us now in our time of need peaceful are the young S'pht'Kr mindful of our ways intending no harm to our elder brethren their Olders battle for selfish needs with no consideration for the kinship of our people long has S'pht'Kr struggled to bring peace to all our kin but failure has come to us at last
weapons built for our defense now are turned against the S'pht in hatred and in greed wielded by brother against his kin though S'pht'Kr cannot bear to witness nor to partake of this carnage the S'pht'Mnr attack us at our very heart our villages are slaughtered our Defenders overrun and the last of our people entombed within their chambers yet there is known a way to flee a path of ascension awaits S'pht'Kr prophecised long ago by the father Yrro we have awaited only the arrival of his Messenger seek you the pathway far below and deliver our salvation \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" [internal process] wrote: \\ Welcome back to Lh'owon. At least, that's what Blake said when I showed him the coordinates from Hathor's last transport. Does it look familiar to you? It probably changed a lot between now and the last time you saw it: we've arrived here some two thousand years prior. Give me a moment to see if I can connect to the S'pht network... \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ There we are. This place is even roomier than you are, though I suppose that's to be expected for a planetary grid. It still doesn't hold a candle to the Vylae network. Let me see if I can find any useful information around here. My trace of Hathor was approximate - it seems the process of aiming an ansible link is done fractally, refining the resolution in diminishing increments, and I didn't catch the last few cycles of it. We may be on the wrong continent or have missed her by a few years. I'm sure you noticed our entrance here was anything but stable. We're lucky we wound up as low in the atmosphere as we did. Here we go. This is Lh'owon, just as Blake said, and this building is called the 'Citadel of Antiquities' - stop me if I'm covering data you already know.
I see no immediate sign of Hathor, which could mean we have arrived before her, but we should look a bit into public history here to see if there are any signs of her arriving earlier. Roomy as the worldnet is, the S'pht are fragmented into eleven separate clans at this time in history, and I can only access one clan's information from this terminal. I need you to access another terminal so I can pinpoint where we are in time and see if there's any sign of Hathor that I'm not seeing from here. \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ Keep looking; I already have access to this clan's network. I need you to access another clan's terminal so I can pinpoint where we are in time and see if there's any sign of Hathor that I'm not seeing from here. There seems to be a terminal I cannot yet access inside this compound, west of here and several metres up; try there. \\ Message ends //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ No, I already have access to this clan's network. You can find more terminals in the tower to the south of the compound. You know that tall, round building we saw earlier while we were falling? That tower. I'm sure you can find your way there. \\ Message ends //
// S'pht translator active \\ Fires burn, and the marshes of the western hamlets are turning to ash, scorching black the water. The attacks are ruthless and cruel, not a S’pht left alive[?Coherent]. Thus began this war between the S’pht’Mnr and the S’pht’Lhar. \\ End translation //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ Here we are. This terminal's clan has access to a meticulous record of historical events, including astronomical data, that I can use to pinpoint this time in history. And now that I have a second clan's access, I should be able to hack in to more of the network and look there for signs of Hathor. According to these records, the nearby tower contains more terminals. Head there while I search the S'pht worldnet. \\ Message ends //
// S'pht translator active \\ Older foretold that ere the clans are united, ours would be destroyed. As battle rages across the marshes, as innocent S'pht die in the crossfire, we [?dread?anticipate] the possible imminence of our demise. Yet the windows of this citadel have not been closed, as Older foretold, nor will they be. The marshes are far from here, and the Citadel remains a place where all S'pht congregate, despite the minor skirmishes when Mnr and Lhar meet.
If this is not the end, how much more bloodshed must the Hra witness? We would join the Kr in turning away, but they will not have us, lest their appendages be the ones that fulfill Older's prophecy. \\ End translation //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ I believe Hathor came here to destroy the S'pht, or somehow help them destroy themselves, here in the distant past, so as to deprive mankind of their aid in the wars that are to come. As tempted as I'm sure you must be to go out and start killing something to fix the problem, we must be careful not to act rashly here, lest we disturb this timeline even further. Keep logging into terminals; I need more information. \\ Message ends //
// S'pht translator active \\ Report to Leader Anomalous beings detected A most unusual biped just was seen crawling out of the lava ponds. It appeared to be bonded to cybernetics and thus sentient, but not like anything we have seen before. Nearby Mnr and Lhar both fired on it immediately, so it may be an ally of Kr. Moments later, an unusual presence was detected on our computer net, and just as soon vanished. Like the biped, what little we could ascertain bore no resemblance to any entity we know. We have forwarded this intelligence to S'bhuth; hopefully they will have some answers. \\ End translation //
// "Leela" @ [untranslatable] wrote: \\ This is not good news. S'pht computer security appears to be much more capable than I anticipated. We must be more careful to hide our presence here. On the plus side, their failure to recognize us suggests that this particular clan has not had contact with Hathor. Now that I have sufficient access, I'll initiate a planetwide search for Hathor to make sure she hasn't arrived yet. If we're extremely fortunate, we'll have arrived before her and thus have the advantage of surprise when she arrives. Please be patient; this may take a while. \\ Message ends //
interlevel teleports
