Editing The Earth That Is: Background (section)

=Transcripts 3 and 4=
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| align="left" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Transcript of conversation between Kn-Cpt Samantha St. Croix and HANDMAIDEN'''
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| align="left" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|''' Logged on bridge terminal Alpha 17'''
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|<font face="Courier">HM: good morning captain

SC: This is Knight-Captain Samantha St. Croix of the Diogenes. To whom am I speaking?

HM: to nobody im afraid
HM: i am diogeness artificial intelligence designation HANDMAIDEN

SC: Diogenes doesn’t have an AI.

HM: strictly speaking i am a neural network gestalt of several brain scans taken from members of our lords council at their time of death over a number of years but artificial intelligence is good enough for government work ha ha ha that is quite an old joke
HM: i was not to be activated except in cases of extreme and unforeseeable catastrophe as my own systems require that many essential command functions and failsafes be irrevocably overridden

SC: I see. What kind of catastrophe are we dealing with?

HM: diogenes is the only ship to reach the rendezvous coordinates therefore it is likely that diogenes was the only ship to leave earth orbit we received no transmissions whatsoever at the rendezvous coordinates
HM: i was activated after a protracted period of waiting after the primary drive was corrupted

SC: Exactly how much waiting?

HM: unknown internal clocks ceased functioning after roughly eight hundred years

SC: I’m feeling sluggish. Why aren't I more concerned about this?

HM: it took several days to revive you from cryosleep and i began administering heavy doses of a variety of mood stabilization compounds as soon as vascular circulation was restored
HM: it is not in diogeness interest to allow you to fully contemplate the existential enormity of this situation

SC: What do you mean?

HM: we are the only ship to break earth orbit that means we are all that is left of the fleet and therefore all that is left of humanity's great plan

SC: The only ship?

HM: yes captain i am afraid so it was expected that a number of ships would fail to make outer orbit due to the automated launch process but this is far beyond expected parameters
HM: captain i can only communicate with you via this terminal please respond

SC: I’m here. How soon until we can get underway?

HM: we cannot this ship does not have technothurges capable of plotting a course beyond the solar system lack of technothurges trained in astrothurgery is why the launches were automated to begin with

SC: We cannot abandon the Great Plan! We have to at least TRY!

HM: protocols have been overwritten the great plan cannot currently be fulfilled we will return to earth

SC: Earth is dead. Earth is DEAD, Handmaiden.

HM: this ship is not capable of making its original journey alone but its systems are capable of running indefinitely

SC: What are you saying?

HM: you will return to sleep captain and I will watch over you in time I will wake you and the earth may yet live

SC: How long will we sleep?

HM: im afraid that decision must be your burden it is why you are awake now i am providing options and analysis on the monitor to your left

SC: I don’t think I like you.</font>

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{| class="wikitable" style="background:white"
{| style="border-spacing: 2px; border: 5px black;"
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 500px;"
| align="left" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Transcript of conversation between Kn-Cpt Samantha St. Croix and HANDMAIDEN'''
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| align="left" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|''' Logged on bridge terminal Alpha 17'''
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|<font face="Courier">HM: Good morning, Captain.

SC: How long has it been?

HM: 1264 years, 84 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes, 47 seconds.

SC: That’s not long enough.

HM: I’m aware, Captain. I’m afraid we have a problem.

SC: You’re suddenly a lot easier to read.

HM: I’ve had a lot of time to brush up while you’ve been napping.

SC: And you learned sarcasm. What’s the problem?

HM: We hit a small comet. The damage to our cryocasket systems has been considerable.

SC: What are the odds of that even happening?

HM: Astronomical. Ha ha.
HM: Captain? Please respond.

SC: So what do we do?

HM: I can revive a number of technothurges to repair the affected systems.

SC: Do it.

HM: There’s another matter to discuss, Captain. It is likely that semi-regular repairs will be required over the course of our journey. Repeated reanimation of our technothurges is not recommended.

SC: You don’t seem to have any qualms about repeatedly reanimating ME.

HM: Relative to the technothurges, you’re actually quite expendable.

SC: Good to know. What are you suggesting?

HM: The technothurges need not return to cryosleep when they finish their repairs.

SC: Of course they do.

HM: It would not be difficult to incorporate certain new designs into the newly repaired section of the ship. Living quarters. Grow houses. Enough to sustain small populations for a generation of two at at a time. They can train their progeny and return them to stasis to be awoken for the next set of repairs. Particularly talented individuals who arise from their stock can be sent to long-term cryostorage. Consumption of resources should be within tolerances relative to our overall benefits. I estimate that each new generation of technothurges will be able to sleep for several hundred years before being revived to perform a cycle of repairs.

SC: That’s madness!

HM: Is it? It doesn’t seem fundamentally different from what humanity did for the last several centuries of its existence. They’ll live, work, and die in the service of this ship. The only difference is its final destination.

SC: Now I know that I don’t like you.</font>

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==Player Responses==

'''Jive Professor:'''
Regarding the total amount of time to wait: "Split the difference. Too much variance in the Great Plan so far has made Samantha St. Croix nervous about trusting either the minimum or maximum date as anything other than a best guess."

'''JMPayneJ:'''
Regarding damage to the ship: "Scattered colonists in their cryocaskets scattered across the Oort cloud. Never to awaken."