Just gonna wrap this in a spoiler, as I've only scanned "And here the wheel" thus far - saving a full read for holiday next week.
Not new - and to the real lore-heads it's positively ancient news I'm sure - but I think there have been murmurings that we have discounted the truth already.
We also know that hints are in Galnet, and a couple of Galnets mention Soontill, and its own Artefact. In that case, the scientist mentioned a link to human tech - I have a couple of ideas about that (they're Dark Wheel fakes, or they're the 'glimpse from the future' mentioned in the book).
Again, if we consider how these artefacts appear - the whole thing screams a conspiracy of some sort. These convoys are mysterious with a capital 'm', and fishy with a capital 'f'.
We've talked a few times about the UAs being the source of the plague, but for me it doesn't make sense because it means the fed convoys are responsible for the spread. But what if that's the whole point? The plague is being spread deliberately, by some other means, with tenuous links between the phage-like appearance of UA itself, and the Cerberus agent to provide a plausible cover so that the aliens are blamed by all. The plague is an engineered agent. We're all being played - expertly, and it's all part of a wider plot.
Going with the anthropological principle (I.e. that the sim exists for us CMDRs) - the point of the convoys is not that they are carrying the artefacts anywhere important - they exist for us to be able to liberate them. Perhaps it's for us to make this link to the plague, because there is a conspiracy there, but we've second-guessed it and so are not biting. I think we need to consider this, and, if I'm right, we need to bite, otherwise the story can't move on.
So how do we bite? Ultimately, it might be the case that this doctor on Newton Dock needs to get his hands on a UA. Before that, though, perhaps a player-submitted Galnet from the Arcanonn research group proposing that the UA is the source of the plague, and that efforts will be made to deliver one to Newton Dock to enable further study.
Yes, I know we've spoken at length about in-game mechanics. When it comes to combining cargo, the scepticism makes sense.
Galnet, and selling stuff, are both in-game mechanics, though...
On the other hand, this does not explain the Morse, I know that - but perhaps the purpose of that is to make us realise it's a functioning agent, not just another canister. Location-aware, and all that - many of us had suggested it's because the thing wants to do something at a particular location.
But what if, in 'reality', a UA really is just a Thargoid nav beacon - designed to be dropped anywhere in space and provide local body identification - and there just happens to be a nice supply of them (possibly from a dark place in Soontill, or just a hidden location on a planet in Soontill - both unavailable to us in the current version of the game) with which to sow seeds of conspiracy in our minds...
It's completely tinfoil, I know. But the crux of it is simple, and easily testable. It's not even new - sell at Newton - just with, I think, a proper explanation that kinda fits within the universe around which we fly.
I said we need to get ideas off the table. I think the plague idea, cause, cure or sinister evil plot, definitely needs to come off the table, and this is my call to arms on that idea. Taking action on it is down to those who either have UAs or are able to do a decent Galnet - and as always, we (or I in this case) are all in your debt.
I won't be adding any more ideas till this is proven or disproven.
'And here the wheel' makes a direct reference between Thargoids, the Dark Wheel, and Soontill - in that, Soontill could be the source of many Thargoid artefacts, being littered throughout space as cover for Dark Wheel attacks on Feds - to sow the seeds of suspicion against the Thargoids as being responsible.
The idea being to cause human anger against the Thargs and ensure their extermination by making them appear responsible for attacks actually perped by the Dark Wheel.
The idea being to cause human anger against the Thargs and ensure their extermination by making them appear responsible for attacks actually perped by the Dark Wheel.
Not new - and to the real lore-heads it's positively ancient news I'm sure - but I think there have been murmurings that we have discounted the truth already.
We also know that hints are in Galnet, and a couple of Galnets mention Soontill, and its own Artefact. In that case, the scientist mentioned a link to human tech - I have a couple of ideas about that (they're Dark Wheel fakes, or they're the 'glimpse from the future' mentioned in the book).
Again, if we consider how these artefacts appear - the whole thing screams a conspiracy of some sort. These convoys are mysterious with a capital 'm', and fishy with a capital 'f'.
We've talked a few times about the UAs being the source of the plague, but for me it doesn't make sense because it means the fed convoys are responsible for the spread. But what if that's the whole point? The plague is being spread deliberately, by some other means, with tenuous links between the phage-like appearance of UA itself, and the Cerberus agent to provide a plausible cover so that the aliens are blamed by all. The plague is an engineered agent. We're all being played - expertly, and it's all part of a wider plot.
Going with the anthropological principle (I.e. that the sim exists for us CMDRs) - the point of the convoys is not that they are carrying the artefacts anywhere important - they exist for us to be able to liberate them. Perhaps it's for us to make this link to the plague, because there is a conspiracy there, but we've second-guessed it and so are not biting. I think we need to consider this, and, if I'm right, we need to bite, otherwise the story can't move on.
So how do we bite? Ultimately, it might be the case that this doctor on Newton Dock needs to get his hands on a UA. Before that, though, perhaps a player-submitted Galnet from the Arcanonn research group proposing that the UA is the source of the plague, and that efforts will be made to deliver one to Newton Dock to enable further study.
Yes, I know we've spoken at length about in-game mechanics. When it comes to combining cargo, the scepticism makes sense.
Galnet, and selling stuff, are both in-game mechanics, though...
On the other hand, this does not explain the Morse, I know that - but perhaps the purpose of that is to make us realise it's a functioning agent, not just another canister. Location-aware, and all that - many of us had suggested it's because the thing wants to do something at a particular location.
But what if, in 'reality', a UA really is just a Thargoid nav beacon - designed to be dropped anywhere in space and provide local body identification - and there just happens to be a nice supply of them (possibly from a dark place in Soontill, or just a hidden location on a planet in Soontill - both unavailable to us in the current version of the game) with which to sow seeds of conspiracy in our minds...
It's completely tinfoil, I know. But the crux of it is simple, and easily testable. It's not even new - sell at Newton - just with, I think, a proper explanation that kinda fits within the universe around which we fly.
I said we need to get ideas off the table. I think the plague idea, cause, cure or sinister evil plot, definitely needs to come off the table, and this is my call to arms on that idea. Taking action on it is down to those who either have UAs or are able to do a decent Galnet - and as always, we (or I in this case) are all in your debt.
I won't be adding any more ideas till this is proven or disproven.
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