016: Semek Constellation

ENTRY 016: Semek Constellation

The exoplanet Luca II is located beyond the area of the galaxy known to humanity—but the Semek Constellation is working on that. The loose coalition of twenty-six macromorph satellites in orbit around Luca and moving throughout the star system are coordinating their sensors to form a single vast radiotelescope the size of a star system, scanning the alien stars, trying to place Luca within transhumanity’s model of the universe.

Twenty-three of the Semek macromorphs are sponsored by hypercorps, and “manned” by employees or guest researchers. The other three claim to be independently owned. The radiotelescope configuration for the Semek Constellation requires near-constant radiocommunication so that the respective satellites can coordinate their efforts and share processing of the vast amount of astronomical data. Below this overhead, the member-morphs of the Semek Constellation engage in social and scientific forums, gaming, even virtual romances and feuds.

The personalities of the Semek Constellation vary, but aside from a mutual interest in astronomy and xenoscience they tend to have a streak of the explorer, a desire to make their mark and discover something new. The Constellation peer-reviews its findings for periodic infodumps which are highly regarded for their quality and content, and members of the Semek Constellation almost always have impeccable reputations in scientific circles. In hypercorps where the Semek macromorph is a rotating position, competition is usually very fierce.

Given the harsh conditions of the Luca system, each Semek satellite is designed to survive periods of high-density micrometeorite impact and be self-sufficient in terms of power and the materials for continued operation for a period of months or years. The network itself is adaptive and can reconfigure to take into account the sudden, temporary loss of satellites that goes offline, though obviously this reduces the capabilities of the network as a whole. Supplies are most often brought in through the Vulcanoid Gate, and then lifted up into orbit by local shipping.

Seeds

• Pathfinder hypercorp is coming close to completing a six-month rebuild of its Semek Constellation, and the competition for which employee researcher will be resleeved into the macromorph has grown fierce. Player characters may be drawn in by research candidates that want to eliminate the competition…or protection from the same.
• Rumor has it that the Semek Constellation maintains a secret ground-based buffer station where all their raw data is archived before being reviewed, edited, censored, and published. A bug or sniffer program inserted into the ground station could provide a wealth of data that many astrotech companies and researchers would pay well for—provided the player characters are willing to brave the unknown dangers of Luna II and whatever security measures the hypercorps have in place in and around the station itself.