Request for Assistance
Shortly after tagging my rover, I get a message from Robert Turing asking me to visit a specific nearby location to photograph a reflective object.
From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Request for Assistance
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Hello, Rob, First, I'd like to thank you for your contributions so far to the Extrasolar Project! We rely on the determination of volunteers like you to keep this project moving. At the risk of pulling you away from your core mission of exploring the island and identifying new alien species, we'd like to ask for your assistance in a special task. When your landing capsule touched down, the cameras used by the landing system caught a glimpse of a reflective object -- likely a piece of the discarded heat shield. We've reviewed the telemetry data to help pinpoint the item's location. We just added a new mission to your task list to encourage you to take some photos at that location. To help you, I added a marker to your map, about 150 meters southwest of your current position. You may need to zoom out the map view to see it. If you find anything at that location please tag it in your gallery, just as you've been tagging species for Dr. Eastwood. Thank you for your assistance, - Dr. Robert Turing |
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My rover can only travel up to 50m for each scheduled destination, so it takes 3 moves to get to the location indicated by Dr. Turing.
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Kryptex takes a keen interest in your latest photo, but it seems that Dr. Turing would just assume that you move along.
From : kryptex81
Subject : markings on the object
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wait. i took a closer look at the pic you took of that object. there are some kind of markings on it. can you get a better pic? be sure to tag it, that way i get notified. i've hijacked the backend to add a mission to your task list. _ _ ___ _
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| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
|_|\_\_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: Request for Assistance
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From : kryptex81
Subject : markings on the object
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you saw that message from the scientist? this is what i mean. they're lying to you. i found this email, sent just before he made that video. check it out. No choice. Are you sure we should be lying to them? I'm not really comfortable with that. - Dr. Robert Turing Robert, Cover it up. Say it was part of the landing capsule, something broke off on entry. And keep them quiet. - GC Gordon, Take a look at this photograph one of our rover drivers took. Chris has no idea what it is. It's not one of ours. This is good, but -- what do I tell the driver? - Dr. Robert Turing told you there was something going on. _ _ ___ _
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| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
|_|\_\_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
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Following the request of Kryptex, which has been added to my task list, I take another photo of the item from a different direction.
When I tag the item in my second photo, it prompts responses from both Dr. Turing and Kryptex. The message from Kryptex links to a blog of a conspiracy theorist.
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From : kryptex81
Subject : markings on the object
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those markings look like some kind of writing, don't they? it looks familiar... look: http://www.exoleaks.com/#gvtcode i don't know what's going on. but i mean to find out. _ _ ___ _
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| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
|_|\_\_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Thanks Again
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Rob, Thanks for your help with that last mission, but no need to keep focusing on that reflective object. Please move on and get back to your primary exploration missions. Thanks! - Dr. Robert Turing |
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A few minutes later, Kryptex sends another message. I'm asked to go beyond the safe space designated by the team at XRI.
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From : kryptex81
Subject : going further
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look, rob. that writing--i bet if i had more samples of it, i could translate it. maybe it would tell me what's going on. by now you've probably noticed that red line on your map. what you may not have noticed is that xri isn't letting you drive past it. not sure why. i found an archived memo that says they're concerned about rover damage in deep sand, but what if there are more of those objects? i need to know if i can trust you. i just went into your account and disabled your rover's safeties. you should be able to cross the red line now. the memo mentioned some potentially safer regions. just in case, i highlighted those areas on your map where your rover might have the easiest time getting across the sand. _ _ ___ _
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| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
|_|\_\_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
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It takes 3 moves to get to the area marked on the map. Along the way, I take advantage of the 360-degree panorama feature. If you look closely, you can even see the rover tracks going off in the direction where I came from.
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Apparently leaving the designated region was a bad idea. Shortly after I arrive, a flurry of new messages show up in my inbox.
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Tethering failure
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This is bad news. Our rovers are pretty robust, but the JR-class rover that you're driving is not well-suited for deep sand. We have a tethering subsystem in place to keep this class of rover within a designated area, but that subsystem failed somehow and you're headed toward trouble. Ideally, I'd override your rover's command, but it's not that simple. We can usually cancel commands that haven't started execution yet, but due to satellite orbit and transmission delays, once a rover has started moving to its next destination, we're out of options. We set conservative bounds for our rovers, so hopefully we'll be able to bring it back safely. Please direct it back toward the landing capsule as soon as possible and minimize the distance you traverse over loose sand or gravel. - Dr. Robert Turing |
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Your Rover is Stuck!
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Hi Rob, Something's happened. I'd say that this was our worst fear -- but honestly, it's worse than that. Your rover isn't just stuck -- it's not responding to any commands at all. We've been digging through the diagnostic data, but it's not clear what happened. My records seem to show that you're in good standing and you've contributed some influential photographs to our collection, so you've actually qualified for a security upgrade. As a result, I've activated a new rover for you that is still situated near the landing capsule. This rover is more advanced than your previous one, so please treat it carefully, but it should be able to traverse those dunes with no problem. Since you'll now be able to safely drive in that area, please pay your old rover a visit. If you can take a clear photo of it and tag it for us, it will help us diagnose the extent of the problem and decide a next step. I put a new mission in your task list and put a marker on your map of the expected rover location. - Dr. Robert Turing |
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Your Rover is Stuck!
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You Have Qualified for a Rover Upgrade |
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From : SR-K Rover
Subject : Boot-up sequence successful, SR-K Rover
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From : kryptex81
Subject : Re: stuck rover
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hey. my fault. when i realized something had gone wrong with your rover, i hacked your security clearance. didn't want you getting kicked out. sorry about that. gotta be careful. still a lot of work to do. gotta stay on their good side. _ _ ___ _
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| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
|_|\_\_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
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At least Jane seems happy with my work. And she links to a pretty serious blog post on alien life.
From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : Hello rover drivers
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Hello Rob, Thank you for the amount of organism data you've sent in so far. The biology team has already started speculating on how life has evolved on Epsilon Prime. We've been referring to these organisms as "photobionts" for lack of better information, but we don't actually know if they're photosynthetic. (I mean, that is their name. We wrote it down. If they aren't photosynthetic, they will still have the same name, but for the rest of time, there will be a note *Named when VanSust thought they were photosynthetic.) None of them are green, which is the colour of chlorophyll a--the only major photosynthesizing pigment we have on Earth. But as you know, there are many Earth plants where other coloured pigments mask the green colour. We've been collecting tissue from some of the photobionts you've tagged, and will be using a spectrometer on them. This will tell us the chemical makeup of the organisms by heating the samples to incandescence using a heating element on our rover, and then measuring the spectra (or the varying wavelengths) that the sample produces when it incandesces. Given that the oxygen levels on Epsilon Prime are so low, the samples should incandesce nicely without combusting. We will then put samples in the fluorometer--photosynthetic organisms convert photons to chemical energy, but a small percentage of photons escape transformed into longer wavelengths. We'll look for wavelengths of light that are adsorbed by the tissue and emit slightly redder wavelengths. Meanwhile--this is fascinating stuff--you'll be establishing type specimens--via photos, no less--which will form the basis for all future definitions of this species. See my blog post for more details. Please continue to tag as many examples of each species as possible. It helps us measure, define, and categorize. I've gone ahead and updated your task list with another task tracking the number of unique species you've identified. Thanks for your continued support, Jane Eastwood, Exobiology Lead |
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It takes 4 moves to make it back to my stranded rover. As I explore, I'm slowly filling in the map with more detail.
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That's my old rover, but it needs a lot more than a reboot. It's completely disassembled.
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: Stuck Rover
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I just got my first look at the recent photo you took of our stranded rover, and... well... Since you have a level 3 security clearance now, I guess I'll say that it definitely seems damaged somehow. And there are some interesting objects nearby. We'll have to study those further, but I'll take care of that, and your old rover. Despite the damage to the rover, this could be exciting -- I suspect an animal life-form may have been involved in the damage, which could be our first evidence of such life on Epsilon Prime! You can keep this SR-K -- and given that it has the audio upgrade, maybe we can figure out what happened to your JR-S. We've seen no animals, but maybe we can hear one instead! Your rover's passive audio detectors are now active and should alert you to any sounds that exceed a preset decibel threshold. I would like you to proceed up the sandy embankment north of your current position and head toward the island's central plateau. I've marked the region of interest on your map. There's no hurry. If you encounter any signs of animal life along the way, I encourage you to take a closer look. Oh -- and remember that any conversations that take place here fall under the sensitive information non-disclosure agreement you signed when you underwent our security evaluation. The PR people will want to be in charge of when they announce finding animal life, if we do! Dream to worlds beyond. |
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From : kryptex81
Subject : more lies
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did you _see_ the rover? it's completely taken apart. methodically, carefully. not like some animal did it. rob, there could be _intelligent_ life out there. turing didn't even mention that. to you, at least. it's like they were expecting it. check this out: We won't know until we see more. Call Jane, but don't tell her. Take a look at this photograph. The rover is completely disassembled, and there's something lying on the ground beside it. Some kind of pod structure. You think this is it? _ _ ___ _
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| <| | | |_| | |_) | || __/> < (_) | |
|_|\_\_| \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
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Meanwhile, Jane seems to be thoroughly caught up in the biology of the planet.
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From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : Organs and Gases
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I've been talking a lot about convergent evolution; how the photobionts on Artocos superficially resemble desert plants on Earth because both habitats have limited water, and thus organisms are compact to minimize the area that's available for water loss. (Also they have thick skins to prevent evaporation, lots of tiny hairs to reflect excess sunlight, and spines, because making new tissue is water- and resource-intensive.) What I've been glossing over is the giant feathery organs (cnideria), sacs of volatile gas (bulbos), and apparently nonsensical multiple stems (polystems). These things don't prevent water loss--in fact, they probably increase it. Why do photobionts have such expensive structures? (Expensive in terms of energy produced and nutrients gathered.) I now have a probable explanation! Remember way back before we landed--when I mentioned the unusually high hydrocarbon levels in the atmosphere? It seems like heavier gaseous hydrocarbons--like propane--saturate the soil and some low-lying areas. These heavy hydrocarbons displace other gases--which are probably necessary for photosynthesis and respiration. (I'd know for sure if I hadn't sent that equipment up in a fireball--a fireball made worse by the flammable gas near the equipment.) This explains the specialized organs we're seeing! The cnideria probably filter essential gases out of the atmosphere and funnel them to photosynthetic tissue. The bulbos store gases--and since our little fire is the result of oxygen and hydrogen on a bulbo, those are probably the gases stored. We have evidence that the photobionts require oxygen--much like organisms on Earth--and have complex means to gather and store it. Even more interesting--if these photobionts can gather gases with specialized organs, they must have a means of circulating it to photosynthetic tissue throughout the organism. This explains the polystems--root-like structures are used to get minerals out of the soil, but many stems make it easier to supply them with the gases they need to survive. It also means we should look for something like a circulatory system. Plants have only two organ types--photosynthetic and reproductive--but photobionts evidently have several specialized organs for processing Epsilon Prime's unique atmosphere. (Of course, we haven't found reproductive organs yet, so maybe plants are one up there.) That does leave the mystery of where all these hydrocarbons came from. |
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From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : Testing for Photosynthesis
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Hello Rob, Since using the spectrometer caused a fire that damaged our fluorometer, we're going to have to get a little creative to determine if these photobionts are actually photosynthetic. My method is actually quite simple: deny sunlight to a selection of organisms and see if they die. We've scavenged some parachute material from the landing capsule to cover the organisms. However, a member of my team pointed out that killing these organisms is an ethical grey area, especially if there are only a few specimens of a species in existence on the island. Therefore, I have a new task for you, since you've now been assigned our first SRK rover and can explore beyond the dunes that previously prevented us from leaving our initial landing zone: find more examples of the species that we're calling spindlepus, serpentweed, and aircomber, to make sure they're prominent elsewhere on the island, before we kill all the ones by the lander. Thanks! Jane Eastwood, Exobiology Lead |
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At this point, I have a new top mission: make my way to the central part of the island. As I start my way up the sandy slope, one of my images includes an audio clip that was captured by the rover.
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From : SR-K Rover
Subject : Audio Detection: Organic, SE embankment
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Your rover has detected a nearby source of non-ambient audio. Irregular waveforms suggest the sound is organic in origin. A new mission has been added to your tasks to find and photograph the source of the audio. |
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Attracting an Animal
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Listen to that! Wind rustling the plants, waves on the shore! Nothing quite like hearing another planet to make it seem so much more real. I still sometimes can't believe we're doing this. More importantly, do you hear that sound near the end of the clip? Could be the sound of an animal, as I hoped. I've been discussing it with Jane and we have a bit of a theory. Besides the ability to record audio, the SR-K rover also has the ability to play audio, through on-board speakers. We'd like to experiment with what happens when we play back the animal's sound onto the planet's surface. Perhaps it will attract the animal back, or attract a predator, and we can catch it on camera. Take another picture of the location where we've pinpointed the audio source; the rover will automatically play back the sound you recorded when you do, and we'll see what happens. - Dr. Robert Turing |
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Following the instructions provided by my rover's automated alert system, I zero in on the source of the audio, leading me to capture some images of these pecular creatures. For the first photo, I also chose to take an infrared image, which really makes the creatures stand out.
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From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: Attracting an Animal
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It worked! That's incredible -- definite animal life. Congratulations, Rob, you have gotten the very first evidence of animal life beyond our own planet! Well done! We certainly suspected there would be something here, once we determined that life had developed on Epsilon Prime at all, but to actually see proof -- it's very exciting. You've done XRI -- and all of humanity! -- a great service. This is what dreams of exploration are made of. As mentioned, your audio capabilities can detect sounds as you explore. Perhaps there are more animals elsewhere on Artocos. Since you can navigate this rougher terrain, we're giving you full access to the island. Push northward and see what you can find! Dream to worlds beyond! - Dr. Robert Turing |
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