The Seasons of Wither

Well, the Beltane ritual was... unsettling to be honest.

To begin at the beginning, as I discussed previously, I was invited to be a participant in the ritual/celebration personally by Lady Rowan. I believe, or did at the time of the invitation, that this was done as a courtesy, possibly as a way to mend some fences, or a reciprocity of my invitation for her to have a satellite office on Vanishing Point. It now seems there was, perhaps, a deeper purpose in the invitation.

I will not recount much of the arcane details of the ritual, itself, as I couldn't possibly do such.... hocus pocus justice in my words, especially since I have little understanding, or patience, for that matter, on the mystic rites of the Sisterhood. I won't deny their abilities, as I have seen them first hand, however, I have no trust of that which I cannot quantify scientifically. To my mind, there is no such thing as unknowable... simply unknown.

The ritual did appear, at first, to be proceeding as expected, though that is merely supposition on my part, as I had no idea what was ACTUALLY expected.

There were fancy, flowery words said, drums beaten and dancing, which, while clearly part of an arcane rite, I will admit, i found enjoyable, though, clearly, Bast wasn't very amused.

It was during the dancing that several, indescribably energy emanations began to form which were dramatic and all, but, mostly a light show.

It was the sudden appearance of an abstract entity in the form of some kind of faun-god that caused things to go pear-shaped, at least as far as I could tell.

The entity claimed to be Sernünnos, the mythological aspect of the wild huntsman and embodiment of chaos. I can't discount the possibility that this is his true identity, but I am skeptical. I don't have faith in the existence of such higher order (no pun intended) beings.

The entity proceeded to rage and bluster at the Pythia before eventually calming... to a degree.

At this point, I must concede the fact that my mind was mostly preoccupied with calming Bast as much as I could, as the overwhelming thought in her mind was the urge to blindly attack. I find that perhaps as disturbing as what happened next in the Sanctum, as Bast has not once, since her evolution, felt the pull of her more base instincts.

However, I was aware enough of the situation in the Sanctum to see that Rowan, after conversing with the entity, took it upon herself to leave with it.

I am not unfamiliar with matter transference as a mode of transit, and, while not having run a scan on my wrist thingy, I am quite certain that's what we witnessed. The end result, however, was as intended, I'm sure, by the entity.

They both vanished.

I have a history with the Sisterhood. I do know they function, essentially, on a different level than most Time Lords. Tuned into a different frequency, to, again, inexplicably borrow a Terran parlance. I don't pretend to understand them.

I do know, however, that I cannot trust things that occur within that Sanctum at face value.

The appearance of an "embodiment of chaos"... The disappearance of the Pythia... The arrival of the wild huntsman...

It is claimed by the Dreamers that this was prepared for by Rowan.

I cannot help but think, however, I was personally invited to this occurrence as a way of delivering some kind of veiled message to me.

It is clear that there must be a way of tracking her. Since I don't believe it wise to hold as much faith in the arcane as the Sisterhood does, I'm going to... try to keep an eye on her from Vanishing Point.

Fleet Week

I have mentioned before (as did the Gold Usher in her communique to me) my penchant for restoring and flying conventional spacecraft. A hobby, of course, but something I've become quite skilled at.

I've previously talked about Asteria, my first full-sized starship, and Helios, my private "yacht", as well as Asteria's shuttle, Konshu. But these are not my only ships.

Over the years, I have found and rebuilt numerous classic spacecraft and kept them either in my personal employ, given them to friends, of kept them in the service of Patrex.

I've found these derelict hulks adrift in various sectors, in various states of repair (or lack of repair) but always abandoned. No crew, no sign of what happened to them, just... floating through space. There seems to be nothing linking them in terms of location, etc...

But there IS something that has been nagging at me.

These ships all seem to have been constructed using a unified philosophy. Tachyon pulse drives of various sophistication or ion drives. Nearly identical navigation systems. Even the hull configurations bear an almost familial connection in their elegance.

It causes me to wonder...

Is there, somewhere, a space-bourne society from whose fleet these ships hail?



And, if so... Will they come looking for them?

New Beginnings, Bridge-Building, and Unexpected Missives

It is official.

A bit over three years of my own (and The Collector's) relative time, several near design disasters and several hammer-smashed thumbs later and Vanishing Point II (I'm going to stop with the pretentious "II". It just annoys me) is up and running and accessible by the Time Lords and Ladies of New Gallifrey.

The station's A.I. (whom I have named Isaac) keeps the stations systems running well, though I do need to tweak his interpersonal systems a bit.

As fresh and clean and new and shiny as the station is, I will admit, it doesn't yet feel like home.

It will take time, I suppose.

In other news.... Bloody Earth culture... Not sure why it invades my vernacular so often. As far as I remember, I've only been there a few times...

Regardless.

Aside from the completion of Vanishing Point, I have also been attempting to build a few bridges with the government of New Gallifrey. Since I'm technically a part of it, I suppose it's time I start living up to that responsibility.

I sent a hyper-cube to the Gold Usher and now.... Pythia? (I may have been a member of the Jade Dreamers in the past, but I never did get the hang of the mystic side of them. Not sure I ever will) inviting her to have a kind of... satellite office... on Vanishing Point, since, even though the station is the Patrexe chapter house, it is still New Gallifreyan soil.

This morning, I received the following reply:

                                                                          Lady Pythiaremystrætoriaquintafeiraiovisea

                                                                Gold Usher to the High Council of Time Lords

                                 Great Mother and High Cardinal to the Chapterhouse of Jade Dreamers

                                                                                                            Office of Gold Usher

                                                                                                                    The Panopticon

                                                                                                                        City of Lethe

                                                                                                                        New Gallifrey                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                        19/04/16                                                                                                                         

                                                                                      T-T Capsule Comm: rowan.thursday

Lord Akbalrajulbindarkowaritalsahib

Commanding Officer and Governor of Vanishing Point

High Cardinal to the Chapterhouse of Patrexes

Vanishing Point Temporal Station

My Lord High Cardinal,

             Formally, as Gold Usher of the Panopticon, I express that body's congratulations to you on the timely re-establishment of your Chapterhouse. A polite nothing you might think, but on deeper consideration a thought perhaps to be re-evaluated. We are both, in a sense, Housekeeper and mouthpiece to the sentient architecture, and such architecture is perforce symbolically attuned to its nestlings. The Citadel of the people of New Gallifrey greets its kin restored.

I am sorry that my warning words did not altogether preserve the folk of your Chapter from harm. What could be said, was said. Relations between my Chapter and yours have been wary for some time, since before you joined it. Did I not prophesy once that you had a long journey to take?  The shadow of that future which you fear has overcast much.  You must know, I think, that your own fate is uncertain but still in jeopardy - indeed I do not see your path ahead clearly. There are roads ahead which lead to ruin, others which seem brighter, but whether or which among they point to absolution from your blighted destiny, or merely postponement; no prophecy yet says. Perhaps you will think that that is well. What manner of man would choose to know the hour, minute, and manner of his final dissolution unto dust? Only he who would seek to cheat the clock - and that man stands thricefold slain, in some secret vault.  Seek not his road, my friend!

Let us turn now from this dreary matter, upon which it is no hard thing to say too much.

Upon the matter of representation and access to the ceremonial rites, aboard Vanishing Point, I gratefully accept your invitation and concur, it would be appropriate that the Ceremonial Office of Registry, over which my state office administrates, should have some representation, in a sizeable community of ordained citizens such as yours. The Wild Cat is a K-Series Mobile Administrative Domicile - limited sentience, but she will serve perfectly appropriately in both spatial and secretarial terms as the representative facility of the Office of Gold Usher aboard Vanishing Point, if you are satisfied with her conduct. Please don't be overly surprised if she takes on the form of one of your private collection of vintage craft before too long - her neural matrix is young, and her chameleon circuit instincts seem to have a passion for discretion and propriety that befits this department almost to the point of parody. I occasionally suspect Nereid of spreading a certain subversive influence around the department's technology; it's the sort of thing she would find amusing.  In any event, all being well I shall arrive personally to ensure that the Wild Cat has settled herself in and ordered herself appropriately, once time permits me absence from certain other duties.

In turn, I should like to formally extend to the kith and kin of your House and Chapter, and to yourself, invitation to attend the rites of the Sabbath of Beltane, held within the Sanctum of the House of Jade Dreamers, at month's end. You are aware I think, of certain legal penalties under House Law, which did hang upon you should you enter that jurisdiction, following your enforced departure therefrom. To claim that all is forgiven and forgot would be folly; the wise do not forget their lessons, and to forgive implies a prior intent of vengeance, whilst, in truth, who may yet know the measure of the threat we both guard against - least of all yourself, perhaps? Yet Beltane is a festival of energy and rebirth, new life - indeed the root in ancient tongue, belátanna, bears striking similarities to the Old High derivation væillattanü , that is, 'regeneration', and old soup should not be retained ever more unconsidered.

At my invitation you may enter in safety and with the surety of the word of the Pythia that such ongoing legal ramifications, rather than yourself, if you will forgive the pun, will be suspended in consequence, and that the watchful vigilance of the House shall preserve all as it should be.

Though Lords of Time, we can none of us erase that which is already written upon the passages of the celestial clock; nor unwind the centuries until those days ere the old Panopticon fell - or since blood and false nobility tore down the House of Prydon and set in motion this change in all our fates- but we may, I think, indeed, I believe it is the very purpose of the Great Discourse of the Titans, which is history, that we must learn from each turn of the wheel; for what is Time, but that we bear witness and set order upon it? The Wild Hunt is nothing without reason, experience, and understanding- its counterpoints and paramours in the Great Work. 

Yours Sincerely,

High Cardinal Pythiaremystrætoriaquintafeiraiovisea

Gold Usher

It intrigues me that Rowan has accepted my offer and has made one of her own.

Is she up to something?

I really don't know. She's always been inscrutable.

But I do know I will be welcomed to participate in the Beltane rite without being obliterated.

Or imprisoned.

Or forced to dance the Daltharan Polka for six thousand years.

That's something, anyway.

Time Keeps on Slipping

If my calculations are correct, in the standard timeline, roughly two weeks have passed since the destruction of Vanishing Point... well, the OLD Vanishing Point.

That is the interesting thing about this bubble of non-space-time. Since there is no time here, it seems to pass at differing rates. It almost seems to expand or contract as to suit the needs of those within it, though that it most likely my imagination.

Regardless, while roughly two weeks may have passed OUTSIDE the bubble, The Collector and I have been hard at work WITHIN the bubble for just over three years.

And I can say that the construction of Vanishing Point II is nearing completion.

The design and technologies of the new time-space station are vastly different and improved over the previous one, with all systems having undergone a MASSIVE upgrade, from the transmats to the food machines all the way up to communications and secondary Temporal Control.

The last systems to be put into place will be Isaac, the A.I. Rasa designed for the station, and the new dimensional transduction gate.

 I've run some tests on Isaac and, while he is able to run the station very well and perform all necessary tasks... his interpersonal skills are... well, let's just say I'm hoping he learns quickly. Still, being the Time Lord designed "brain" of the new Vanishing Point, his presence will prevent the possibility of a repeat of the fate of the old station.

And, just in case, I'm going to keep a few extra... protective measures.

If I Only had a Positronic Neural Net

The design work and planning for the new Vanishing Point has begun. It's surprising how many improvements I'm able to incorporate now that I have the ability to build it from scratch using proper Time Lord technology.

The main systems are all a quantum super-leap over the previous station. Sensors, communications, temporal back-up... all thousands of years more advanced than the earlier incarnation. Even the transmat system has been improved to the point that the old one might as well have been a covered wagon.

The non-time-space bubble in which the previous Vanishing Point was situated has finally stabilized, and so construction will be there.

Early in the planning phase of this project, I realized the true advantage of the upgraded systems. Artificial Intelligence.

I realize that some may think this idea foolish, given the fate of the earlier station, however, the is, dare I say, method to my madness (at least in this instance).

The Cyberiad code which had infested Vanishing Point I had proven completely incapable if infecting the Time Lord components of the station. This station will be composed entirely of said components. An artificial intelligence designed with Time Lord technology and systems would be equally impervious to that code. It would also give the station the ability to actively fight back against any such digital incursion.

Also, any remnant of the Cyberiad code was obliterated when Vanishing Point I was destroyed, but that's a different matter.

So, I am going to install an advanced AI on Vanishing Point II.

There is, however, one small hitch to my plan.

My skills with designing and creating artificially intelligent systems is slightly superior to my skills with weaving straw into planet-destroying super weapons, which is to say... non-existent.

So, I have been in contact with Rasa, from Arcal. The creation and programming of AI are amoung his specialties. I will admit, I contacted him based on reputation, as I have not encountered his expertise in this matter, myself. I can only hope it's not on par with his TT Capsule piloting. (Rasa, if you've accessed these logs, I kid.)

My hope is that Rasa with be able to design an AI capable of running the station autonomously, keeping life support, gravity, etc running while making any adjustments necessary to the trans-dimensional anchor keeping the station stable in its non-time-space bubble.

And to serve drinks.

Dwindling Numbers and Homelessness

Recording this from Bifrost now. An odd feeling, since it's been a long time since I've done that.

I've had a few days to let sink in all I've lost recently.

Two of my Ordinals are missing. SOMEWHERE in time and space, since Studera was materializing when Vanishing Point detonated. We have had no contact from them, no response to our hails, and no trace of the TT Capsule at all.

Then, there's Vanishing Point.

As I've said before, I SHOULD have wanted to obliterate the place straight off. For some reason, though, I grew attached to the place. A part of me broke when I had to blow the place. It was also Patrex's chapter house. Now it's gone. For the nonce, we are using Asteria. A bit ... cozy, but she'll serve.

And, finally, Ned.

Okay, that's really more a loss for The Collector than for me, but, still, it's a loss.

So now I'm left trying to pick up the pieces.

I've asked The Kat to search for Dracony and Henry, which she's now off doing. No idea when she'll be back, or if she'll be back with them.

I'm preparing for the inevitable investigations, interviews and inquests that will follow. Given my past, I'm fairly certain they will be thorough, decidedly uncomfortable and likely involve microscopes inserted in places microscopes are not designed to go. Regardless, I'm prepared for them. In this particular case, I am innocent.

Nataleigh, having lost Ned, has been traveling with me for a time. I'll admit, it does make me nostalgic for our earlier escapades, which, being a respectable Cardinal now, I will NOT relate here.

We are running scans for both Studera and Ned (And Idare, which either ran away with Ned or vice versa. It's hard to tell, given everything else running through my brain.) and I am planning.

Specifically, as I said previously, I am going to build a new time-space station. I am working on designs and systems for the new station.

If I wasn't still stinging from my recent losses, I would likely be feeling like a Dh'rchk during a feeding frenzy.

Vanishing Point was built quickly by a megalomaniac and slave labour out of technology which was of a lower level than that of Time Lords. It always felt like it was going to fall apart any moment and I often had to hit things with a spanner to get them to function properly.

This time, I'm designing it and will be in charge of the systems and construction. This time, it will be built using technology that is considered cutting edge by the Time Lords.

We still have access to the bubble that Vanishing Point sat in, though scans have shown it to be somewhat unstable at the moment. I believe it is still experiencing shock waves from the destruction of Vanishing Point. Bifrost is continuing to monitor. If it stabilizes, we will build the station there. If not, I will request permission to create a new bubble.

If there was anything that could even be REMOTELY considered a slight positive to come out of my experiences with my future incarnation, it's that I've had time to study the engineering used to create the bubble and I THINK I can replicate it.

As for the new station, I have decided I will call it Vanishing Point, like its predecessor, though for my own reasons.

It is where, I promise, my previous destiny vanished.

Vanished Point

I should have seen it coming.

Seriously.

It's not like I didn't know the Chronarchs had incorporated Cyberiad technology into their own.

I was held prisoner on that station for over a century. Once freed, and having taken possession of it for New Gallifrey, I restored the systems myself, patching in Time Lord technology where I could.

I SHOULD have seen it coming.

Okay, let's start where I left off...

I locked Vanishing Point down because of this virus. I couldn't trust it to not cause harm, or worse, somehow infiltrate a TT Capsule. It was bad enough that it had taken over so much of Vanishing Point, a time-space station siting at the nexus of two distinct universes. Giving it domain over time, as well would be cataclysmic.

And so, I gathered a team of those specializing in robotics, artificial intelligence, as well as telepaths, an agent from the Celestial Intervention Agency, and, through sheer happenstance, a Constable with the Chancellery Guard, who had been tasked with bringing a shuttle craft in for me to examine and, if necessary, repair.

I'll note, at this time, that both Dracony and Henry were aboard Studera and en route. I received communication that Studera seemed to be refusing to approach the station. 

We gathered at Vanishing Point after I reopened the dimensional transduction gate and began a sensor sweep of various systems, starting with Temporal Control to see if it had managed to infiltrate any of the Time Lord systems. It hadn't, but we still found some odd and unexpected things.

The Collector managed to find traces of some kind of silver dust that seemed to exude trace energy, the likes of which none of us were familiar. It was... no help.

Our next stop was ops. An area which was largely still built with Chronarch systems, hence, far more vulnerable. It was here that things began going wrong.

Our sensors and scanners indicated we were surrounded by this code. REDACTED theorized this silver dust we found may have been the actual code and that we weren't dealing with a mere program, but possibly a physical presence. Even at this point, I don't know if that theory was right, wrong, or somewhere in between.

Regardless, though, some members of the team displayed signs of  agitation and wanted to get out of ops. I'll admit, if this behaviour had been displayed by anyone else, I'd have suspected the virus had somehow made the jump to biological entities, but, given who was displaying these behaviours, I knew, instead, we were definitely dealing with a sentient bit of technology.

During our investigation in ops, our Constable triggered some kind of feedback in one of the control terminals which caused the virus to flee the chamber and my wrist thingy traced it to the medical level. Rather intense worry began to swell in me upon finding this out. We hurried to that level.

It was here that my worst fears were realized.

It was clear the code had made its way to the nano-gene lab. I am cursing myself for not upgrading the lab to match the one in Bifrost. There just... seemed to be more priorities, and the lab was always something of a back up in my mind. But I should be BETTER than that.

When we arrived in the nano-gene lab, the main chamber was already active, the nano cloud roiling about a vaguely humanoid form.

When it was scanned, it became clear what we had been dealing with...

A Cyberiad base code.

The beginnings of a new Cyberiad.

And it had found a way to start its army.

In the chamber was... well... I'm not sure how to describe it.

It was almost a proto-Cyberman, but not solid. It was almost gaseous.

And it was composed of millions of individual nano-genes, each with a full copy of the code. Each one capable of fully converting a life form into a full Cyberman, infused with nano-genes with the same, self-replicating code.

A nearly unstoppable army the size of a single man.

While I don't know for sure, I theorize the only reason we survived was due to it not having a full understanding yet of its true nature.

REDACTED and I tried to hold this... thing off as it approached, while the Collector led the rest of the team to Asteria and the shuttle the Constable had brought in for study and Nataleigh's own ship, Tinkerbell.

Some people may question why TTCs weren't brought in.

Those people are, frankly, idiots.

We couldn't risk that thing or its code gaining control of a time travel device.

So the shuttle and Tinkerbell launched. Asteria couldn't be powered up in time, but she was undocked and her shields raised.

REDACTED and I then transmatted to Helios.

There was... no choice.

I had to trigger Vanishing Point's self destruct.

It was at this point, we lost all contact with Studera. I can only surmise the blast blew the TT Capsule, and my Ordinals off course. For now, they are lost.

The three ships were flown through the debris field to a temporal gate, leading us to SL space...

And Vanishing Point was gone.

I will reiterate here what I told the gathered (and shaken) members of my team once we landed by the Eye of Orion.

New Gallifrey needs a time-space station.

Vanishing Point fell into our laps, but we made it work for us.

Now, it's gone.

But I will rebuild.

A new Vanishing Point, constructed of proper Time Lord technology.