Last Son of Prano - Chapter 5.

Chapter 5.

10 Days Later.

*PERSONAL LOG*

Why in all the levels of hell did I believe him? He offered no credentials, no proof, no reason to his story. All he had was some slick words and a datacore.

The datacore. Took me 40 hours to sneak into the Great Wildlands with some semblance of safety. Once I was fairly certain I wasn't followed, I plugged it into my comms system as Eyes instructed. Then I sat, stared, scanned and tried not to make too tempting a target of myself. I moved as little as possible and only jumped to another system when I was either evading pirates or bored out of my skull. I've come to rely partly on meditation to keep myself focused, but there's no oppertunity to meditate out here. There's barely time to sleep.

I've done what I could to stay out of the crosshairs, but in the last nine days I've been in over 20 small battles, mostly with the Angel Cartel. Surviving is enough for most because they have a destination, but roaming aimlessly in this gods-forsaken part of the galaxy is asking to die a death of a thousand cuts. Secondary systems started to become a problem 5 days ago, primaries more recently. It's been all I can do to keep nav and comms up. Ammo reserves are pretty dry as well.

Yesterday I noticed the pod-gel was starting to feel odd. Gritty. I ran a check on the life-support systems, half-convinced it was my imagination getting the better of me. Turned out the nanos keeping the synthetic amniotic fluid running properly were starting to malfunction due to extended use. No amount of recirculation, cleaning and filtering can keep this stuff clean forever. It has to be replaced at dock. I've heard of some capsuleers who make a living staying in a pod juiced out of their heads for weeks straight have extended supplies of gel and nanos to keep them going, but I'm not one of them. At this point, the low oxygen and floating in stale filth is probably taking time off my life expectancy. I have food– if that's what you want to call the nutrition drip capsuleers subside on – for a few more days.

I'd hate to think about what I'd be dealing with if I had a crew. Some may say a crew of semi-sentient drones a needless expense, but I prefer to be alone in the void. Living beings don't seem to put out the same spiritual signals as non-sentient machines do. From mecha it's a sort of static that's easy to tune out. Maybe there is something to this Planeswalker thing, this Prano legacy.

I tried to analyze the signal this datacore has been pumping out. If this carrier wave was ever in use it's been so long ago that there's no traffic on it now. I can't even make heads or tails out of the message. It's either the deepest encryption I've ever come across... or it's just noise meant to attract pirates to an easy target.

I could go back right now. I could head back to Hakeri, track that motherless dog down and take my compensation for all this wasted time out of his hide. I could, so why don't I? Well, what if he's right? He was right about me. He was right about me running around in circles, not having a clue or a plan or even a general direction. I've looked high and low as discreetly as I could, but the only things I have been able to turn up on my heritage is dust and trouble. This is my first real clue, and it could very well be the only one I'm going to get. So yeah, I need to risk my life floating here scanning and broadcasting as loud as I can and hope to gods whatever finds me next are not more pirates.

DAMNIT! Spoke too soon. More Angels. No, wait, Thukkers? I didn't know they operated here. Damn there's a lot of them. I count six Rifters, three Ruptures... and a Tempest! Even in perfect shape I wouldn't stand a chance. Opening comms channel. Maybe I can... Huh? They're jamming my comms, along with targeting and nav. I'm completely paralyzed! With the comms jammed at this level I don't even think my clone will be able to activate back in Empire space!

Mother, father, my people. I've failed...

*LOG RECORDING TERMINATED. CRITICAL SYSTEM ERROR.*

I cheated on EVE.

/me gets up on his soapbox, wearing an old jedi robe and sporting the konami code written in red sharpie ink on his forehead.

Brothers, sisters, I have sinned! I have strayed from the hallowed spaceways and fallen for the gritty gun-battles of Gears of War 2, the bloody goodness of Ninja Gaiden 2 and the freaky awesomeatude of Dead Space. All this time, I did not ONCE log into the blessed void of EVE Online!

...

OK, so I get off work Friday and headed straight for Yorkdale mall. Took me an hour to traverse a 20 minute journey. Once I got there I made a really bad mistake. I looked at the racks. I had a pre-order for the CE of Gears of War 2, and money is tight, but I looked, thinking my willpower stats high enough. Apparently the employees of EB Games rolled a 20 before I got there.

Hahaha... multiple gaming references.

I bought GoW2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Dead Space, costing about $202 CDN total. I would have bought R6V2 but I'll have a free copy next weekend.

So, got home, another hour later. REALLY bed traffic. Opened up Gears and got started punching in the codes for free stuff. 48-hour gold account... I'll save that for next year when my current account expires. Flashback map pack, works like a charm. Gold Lancer Rifle, can not download. Huh, try again.. code not valid... WTF?!?!?!?!?!?! I gotta call someone about this.

Got through the single-player missions on normal, just to warm up by shoulders for all the cover I'll be hugging. Active reload is really like riding a bike. You pick it up again really quickly. For everyone who was hoping for a better story mode experience, you got it in spades. Longer, MUCH better acting a story, and the visuals and music really give a lot to the awe-factor. I'm a third way through hardcore, and it's really harder then the first game's Insane difficulty, which fills me with fear of what Insane is like in the sequel.

I tried a bit of multi, but the Live service usually takes a week or so to ease into a game with this large a load. As it is right now there are a lot of connectivity issues, but I'm sure by this weekend they'll be resolved. From what I did manage to try, multiplayer is full-on WIN. Horde is a blast and the other modes are just unique enough to keep things interesting. One word of wisdom though: there's no such thing as a kill-steal when the mode's objectives have nothing to do with kill count. Keep your head in the game and think/communicate/act like a TEAM when it's a TEAM objective.

On to Ninja Gaiden 2. Great game. Brutal in difficulty and in it's bloody ninja glory. There's a demo for anyone interested. I grabbed the Bio-armor and Shadow Walker costume packs. Bio-armor is cool but the Shadow Walker stuff looks like a ninja Power Ranger, and not in a good way.

Dead Space. If you liked Bioshock but wanted more fear factor... get this game. I'm not a fan of horror games and movies because I'm not the type to get afraid easily, but DS had me jumping a few times. It has a good story that's backed up with some good acting and music. Combat is a little unique with odd weapons that mostly resemble industrial tools and non-traditional weak points on enemies. Movement in vacuums and zero-gee works very well. Any HUDs and displays are either on your character's body or projected via holograms within the environment, meaning they illuminate your surroundings realistically and you can rotate around them with the camera. All very interesting.

I did manage to jump on EVE once to check on my sales. Analytical Mind V finished yesterday, so I'm one more big step closer to being done with my learning skills. I kept track of all the news coming out of FanFest, and obviously EVERY PIECE OF NEWS coming out of that wonderful place fills me with geeky wonder and joy. I won't reiterate all the stuff that I'm just scrying from other blogs, as I think that takes credit from wonderful bloggers who actually went and SOMEHOW managed to shake off their hangovers long enough to send goodies over the series of tubes back to we huddled masses. Go check them out.

I think me taking a break from EVE for a while will be good for me. Obviously I'll keep a close eye on my skills, but when I come back with fresh seriousness and vigor, I'll be that much better for it. We're really only talking 2 or 3 weeks at most, and I'll be on to give Quantum Rise a look on Wednesday afternoon. Also have the EVE-meet this Friday, so that counts as EVE time as well.

Comics turned out to be a pretty good batch. I think I'm going to drop Spider-Man from my list though. I appreciate the writing but it's not keeping my interest. The Michael Turner memorial book came out, and it's one of those items that EVERY COMIC READER OR FAN OF VISUAL ART SHOULD HAVE! Wonderful hearts went into this book. The EMPOWERED series by Adam Warren is a great piece of storytelling and art. Sold in B&W TPBs, EMP is funny and sexy and heart-filled. I've always been a Warren fan, and once you give these a look you will be as well.

So that was my weekend. I've got all of $2.64 to my name until Friday, and now you know why. Tomorrow's post will be the next chapter of LSoP. Next weekend I'll looking to set the groundwork for the final chapter. I'll be brainstorming at the meet. Oh, and I'll post pics from the meet (if they don't have a problem with that... A lot of people HATE their pictures being taken)..

Ja.

My life in Eve - Part 7

Lots of games + lots of comics + sushi dinner and toe-socks to keep the wife happy = a lot of money I really should not be spending. Oh well...

First off I really want to thank all of my followers for...following. I'm always craving feedback and even if nobody is leaving comments it is still comforting to know people are reading. I sent out a few "pokes" yesterday at people I suspected were reading, and it turned out well. If you are reading and like my blog at all please join the list!

Spent about $80 on comics yesterday, and after reading half of them last night I'm pretty happy with my stack. I'll give you comic impressions this weekend.

Logged in to EVE late last night just to put some modules up on the market. I'm trying to move some EMP M ammo, and I might drop the price tonight. I don't feel I should waste my time running missions until I can move to Abudban, where a vastly superior agent resides. This gives me time to play some other titles for a bit while my learning skills get trained. I may move before that happens, but probably not for another week. This also will give me time to finish Last Son of Prano.

I've been considering weather or not to talk about who I've decided to cast my CSM vote for. On the one hand I may adversely affect the opinion of others, who should be doing their own research. However, I want to spur discussion, so I'll let the cat out of the bag.

Stephan Pirson. In short, Stephan Pirson seems to bring the most to the table as far as pushing what the CSM is capable of. If someone of this calibre is shot down at the table, then their very well may be no hope for the CSM at all. I'm voting tonight, and I hope you'll share your opinions of my decision with me, positive or negative. A running conversation in this entry's comments would be amazing.

The first bits of news are coming out of Fanfest, and it's already pretty exciting. Talk of a central bank, stock markets and race-specific currencies are definitely dreams come true for many industrialists. My guess for currencies is that there will be types for all 4 empires, and perhaps for pirate nations, and these will obviously be linked into trade mechanics within the banks and markets. ISK will probably still be around at a main currency though.

Another bit of interest for me was possible "adult" content linked to Ambulation. Personally, I'm not against it. One must expect things like booze, drugs and strippers in a galaxy like EVE. Obviously this will not be critical content and restrictions of underage players (of which I doubt there are many) must be in place.

Gears of War 2 was released today. Toronto and Vancouver had to do without Future Shop midnight parties because of a recent run-away kid named Brandon Crisp turning up dead. He ran away because his parents took away his XBox 360. I have a brother at the same age who plays at a near-professional level, so the issues of gaming's effect on youth and parenting is an important subject to me. Expect a rant on it when the Crisp case is over with.

I suspect I won't be on too much this weekend due to Gears 2 and whatever else I can convince myself to buy (or not un-convince myself, depending on how you look at it) after work. A friend of mine is giving me his 360 copy of R6V2 for free, which is pretty nice of him, even considering his owes me a few hundred and a few favours. I've pulled his formally-fat Irish arse out of the fire a few times.

Also need to drop by another friend's place to see his new digs and buy his copy of Burnout: Paradise off him. Might see if another friend wants me to drop by on Sunday. He's pretty depressed and a little company may brighten him up. Sunday is also his only day off during the week. I'll call him at 1000h (which is when Analytical Mind V finishes) and see if he wants me to make the trek across town and bring Gears 2 with me.

Busy weekend. I may actually lose some sleep.

Ja.

My life in Eve - Part 6

My cane is being a pain.

Since I'll be using my Hurricane for mission running until my skills and balances can support my first Battleship (I've settled on the sexy Maelstrom) I decided to upgrade my modules, not having done so in months. I realized only after fitting a shiny new set of 425mm AC IIs that my grid and CPU were going to be SEVERELY restrictive.

After playing around with EFT I could bring my entire loadout to T2 levels, but my cap will end up suffering a bit. Most popular setups for a cane employ shield-tanking, and while I have the skills for it, I usually fly by the rule that if there are more low slots (which there are) then you're better off armour-tanking. This does hamper the weapon-modding options a little, but I've found it works out. In any case I'll keep you updated on it. When I have a final loadout I'll post it here, on my alliance forums and on BattleClinic.

My first point of business after finishing my learning skill training is to get a Mammoth and move myself to Abudban. Looking for it to happen in about 3 weeks. How much EVE I'll get in during those 3 weeks is debatable, since Gears of War 2 is out tomorrow, plus I usually scour EB Games for good used games deals. Still looking for a cheap copy of R6V2.

I find some of the tools in EVEmon and EFT are not very user-friendly. Someone should combine the two apps and let them play off each other. It may solve some inherent usability issues.

Fanfest is underway, and the deluge of geek pr0n should be starting any minute.

I just want to mention one thing, and I'll be posting a more detailed rant on this later. The Ushra'Khan is ALWAYS looking for dedicated capsuleers. RPing is NOT a requisite. We're EXTREMELY PvP ACTIVE in Curse and somewhat in Providence. If you show you have the will to fight and learn and be a team-player, we'll take first-day cadets or 5-year vets. We have corps in every major timezone who are all very active with each other, so you can always expect something to be happening. Of all the alliances out there, we are one of the most renowned in the greater EVE community. If you would like to know more, please contact me in-game (Gigaer) or apply to one of our corps.

ja.

Last Son of Prano - Chapter 4.

Chapter 4.

1 year ago.

Gigaer exited the docking area and stepped onto the expansive promenade of Hakeri VII station. All around him were small shops where peddlers bought and sold goods and services in a desperate effort to eek out a living. Shopkeeps yelled at passer's by, announcing that within their modest establishments were the best products at the best price. Food, clothing, baubles and services of every kind lined the expansive maze. Gigaer frequented this place. Watching people live and laugh and swoon were one his simple pleasures. To him it kept him connected. It was far too easy for a capsuleer to detach from the realities beyond money and combat.

Past the more active paths was a simple pub he chose to frequent whenever in the region. The Serpent's Lounge. There was one on many stations that sported large Minmatar populaces. It wasen't exclusive, but if you weren't Matari then you probably avoided it. Rumor had it that many who chose to live on the darker sides on the law frequented these establishments, which made for a solid clientbase and a foreboding reputation. Gigaer entered and reverse-nodded the bouncer. Gigaer had been doing business with a local tribal agent for a few months now and the staff had come to recognize him. Sitting at the bar, Gigaer saw that the barkeep was already preparing his usual lunch order, so he took out his datapad and accessed information on the status of his Rupture (which was relatively new but took a few hits in a small scrap with a pirate convoy this morning), latest news from across the galaxy, his financials, messages and possible jobs he could take next.

His burger and quafe arrived after a few minutes. Gigaer placed the pad beside his plate and took a swig of his drink while still looking at his balances, trying to decide if it was a good idea to upgrade a few tertiery systems, when the pad prompted him to view a new message that had just come in. Opening his inbox, Gigaer noticed the sender's name was restricted and the subject was “From a friend...”. He wondered if it was just a piece of spam that got through his filter until he opened it up.

To whoever you think you are,

I know who you are, who you REALLY are. I've been watching you for some time and I've realized you need what I have. Meet me in the back alley after you have finished your meal.

Regards,
Ambiguous.

Gigaer turned quickly towards the door, and swore he saw someone leave and turn towards the alley. Normally he would have ran after the stranger, but the message suggested he eat first, and the prices in these places were a little high to just walk away from. It was also rare for someone to be poisoned in the Lounge (it being the social equivilant to sacred ground), so he ate and returned to his other reading, confident the stranger would wait.

Half an hour later (It was a big burger and Gigaer hated eating fast) Gigaer stood at the entrance to a dead-end alley behind the lounge. Gigaer wore a black leather trenchcoat that covered most of his body, black cargo pants with a gear-laden belt and black combat boots. The coat covered most of his torso, but split open at the collarbone and belt. He also had a few accessories, including a gallente handgun and his Kandjal. The stranger stood at the end on the alley, wearing non-descript clothes and reading the contents of an energybar he was already eating, looking none-too-please with what he had just injested. He was Matari, but Gigaer couldn't really spot anything of interest about his face or appearance. Noticing Gigaer walking towards him, he threw the bar over his shoulder and tried to wipe the caramel-like substance on his shirt. They stood a few feet away from each other, sizing each other up for a few seconds before the stranger smiled and reached into his back pocket. Gigaer assumed he was reaching for a weapon and whipped out his kandjal. Quickly extending it, the bladed tip came to within millimetres of the stranger's throat.

“Name, or your head. I'll have one or the other right now. Your choice which one.” Gigaer said directly. The stranger held his smile but retracted his hand from whatever he was about to grab.

“If you're going to kill me, you should at least tell me your name.” said the stranger wryly.

Gigaer hesitated for a half-second. Everything up to this point hinted to this man knowing about Gigaer's true bloodline. Perhaps this man was too dangerous to leave alive, but Gigaer's quest was at a standstill because of a complete lack of information. The contents of the old Amarr datacore were mostly musings on his lineage and destiny, but few specifics were to be found. A test was in order. Best to let the stranger show his hand first before Gigaer comitted to anything. “Gigaer, of the house Kaliso.”

The stranger began to laugh a little. “Amusing. We both surround ourselves with illusions to protect ourselves. The difference is I know who you really are, while you don't even know who you really are.” The words struck Gigaer slightly harder then he thought they would have. The Kandjal retracted and he placed it slowly back in its sheath. The stranger's hand went again to his back pocket. He slowly retrieved a Minmatar datacore. “I'm known as Eyes. I deal mostly in information. I see everything there is to see. I see you. I've watched you putter around, doing jobs for various organizations, not really having any real direction or cause. Sure, you'll hunt down pirates and slavers and think you're saving lives. You post on chatrooms and think you're saving souls. You know you're really doing neither but you don't know what else to do. I was hired to track you down, and if it looked like you were directionless give you this.”

Gigaer cautiously took the datacore and took stock of it. “And what exactly is this?”

Eyes took stock of Gigaer. “Direction.” Gigaer shot him an angry glance, as he was in no mood to be toyed with. Eyes shot his hands up in resignation. “Hey, that's all I was told when I asked. Your instructions are simple. Fly deep into the Great Wildlands and interface the datacore with your comms system. It's programmed to send an automated and heavily encrypted message on a very specific bandwidth.”

Gigaer humphed, “Sounds like suicide to me.”

Eyes nodded, “Agreed, but I was payed very well to give this to you, and before you even ask, no, I can't tell you who I'm working for. If you want my advice, and this is just personal opinion, you'd be wise to do what these people want you to. They know things about you that you won't be able to learn anywhere else.”

Gigaer looked into Eyes' eyes. Gigaer thought of himself as a good judge of character and has been able to sniff out deception in the past. As best he could figure, Eyes was telling the truth, and there was really nothing left Eyes could tell him. Gigaer nodded and walked with datacore in hand towards to docks.

A different kind of change.

Today is a day for change. Changing the way the world does business. Changing the way we see ourselves as a civilization. Changing the way we see ourselves.

Change is something that sci-fi fans are not just familiar with, but comfortable with. We constantly challenge ourselves to see the world we live in and how we can make it better, or prevent its ruin. One popular mode of thought that has come out of sci-fi in recent decades and has gained much momentum in recent years is called Transhumanism. I won't explain the concept because you're more than smart enough to google it yourself (and if you're not, please stop reading my blog. You may infect my other readers with your noobness).

EVEers have more experience with these concepts then they would think. "Boosters" fall into a category of pharmaceuticals called Nootropics, while implants, man-machine interfaces (pods), cloning, transmitted consciousness and general cybernetics are some of the core concepts of Transhumanism and Posthumanism.

I came across a new online magazine called H+. H+ (Humanity Plus) is a term for the transhumanist movement. So far it reminds me of publications like Wired, Popular Science/Mechanics and certain scientific journals. I urge you to support this free publication simply by downloading it via the link. Hopefully it will spur discussion, which I would be more than happy to facilitate.

In other news, the wife and I are healing nicely and my mood is beginning to improve. Thank you to those in the EVE Blogger in-game chat (Shae and BC) for extending kind words. It's nice to know I'm part of a real community.

Details of Quantum Rise came out today and are posted on the official feature page. It's all what we expected, though some may be surprised by how soon it will be deployed. Funny, November 11th is the night of the Toronto EVE-meet so it should be an interesting night. Iron Will V finished last night, and I estimate all my learning skills will be ready (rank 1s @V and rank 3s @IV) in about 3 weeks. I should really run it through EVEMon and set up a schedule.

Tonight I'll be watching the United States Presidential elections, along with an estimated 95% of all other Canadians. I hope Obama wins, otherwise things are going to get really bad. I watched the SNL election special and read some Doonesbury last night, as I enjoy my politics with intelligent humor, because intelligent politics is such a huge oxymoron that extended thought on the concept has been known to cause aneurysms. I'll probably stick to the CBC coverage and periodically flip towards CNN for brief shots of American media propaganda (hehe... being jaded is fun).

Ja.

Not a good weekend.

So last Friday was my family's Halloween fund-raising event, "Scare for A Cure". It didn't go as well as it should have.

Oh sure we got a LOT more people then last year (the line-up to get in went halfway down the block) but we got a LOT less donations (last year was about $5000, this year was $2000). Add on to that plenty of punks who didn't want to follow the rules (like don't assault the volunteers) and plenty of injuries to our crew.

My wife managed to fall down some stairs just before we got started and didn't tell anyone how bad it was. Turns out she was walking on a really bad sprain for 4 hours straight and as a result she's pretty much immobile ATM. I'm proud that she's soldier through but I'm angry that she didn't at least put a tensor band on it or at least tell someone. I'm still pretty beat up myself. It was rather warm and I was wearing a lot of fur so I was boiling. Add on to that running around hunched over for that long (I was a pretty good werewolf) and I've really messed up my back, abs and legs. Everyone's still healing to some degree. I'm so beat up it was hard for me to sit at my comp for long periods, which meant EVE was not a real option this weekend.

I guess I have to understand why there's so much less money this year, considering the market, but I still think people were being extremely cheap. It's a pretty well-off neighborhood. I think next year we should charge a dollar a body. Many kids were going through 5-6 times and didn't donate a penny. We don't even reimburse ourselves for equipment, food, etc...

So yeah, I'm sour about it. I will be for a few days, and I have that right. I won't blog about it though. I'll save you the agony.

EVE-wise, I've decided to move myself to Abudban in a few weeks for a much better agent. Considering it took me a few days to move everything with my cane I'll wait until I can get an industrial running (which is why I need to wait a few weeks). I may be going mostly AFK from EVE for a while. Gears of War 2 is coming out this Friday and I'm looking to start a ranked team. I know some people who can potentially play at a semi-pro level and it would be cool to test our mettle. I'll try and jump on occasionally and obviously skill-training remains a priority.

I tried the Mirror's Edge demo last night and was very impressed. I've been following the game's development for a while and have been anxious to see the art-style and parkour simulation for myself. It's simple yet challenging, and looks wonderful. Controls are fluid and you really don't have to fight with the scheme. There's a good chance I'll pick it up.

I also tried Naruto: The broken Bond and Tomb Raider: Underworld, but was less impressed. Naruto is fun but the controls seem sluggish, plus I'm waiting for a game that focuses on events later in the story. One good thing is that they included the Japanese voice work. Not a huge fan of the TR series though, and there was nothing here to impress me. Rather play Price of Persia.

Looking forward to the New Xbox Experience. Hopefully all the points I've spent on pics and themes will transfer properly.

Ja.