Time of a Dream

Cover
Adventure summary:
On the way to the Luk Xing system, your mind immersed in dreams of deep space exploration, a harsh reality brings you back to Earth: the critical state of your finances!
Fortunately, the Kratman station is not far and likely has work to offer to remedy this situation!

The recap

Ship:

Exploration

Vaisseau

Scarab or Scorpion

VRS

Surface scanner

Surface Scanner

Difficulty: Beginner

Duration

45 min

Max distance

231 LY

Time of a Dream


There are no sub-trades when it comes to credit, and both Cosmique Independent Agency and WorldCraft Company have understood this.

For some time now, job offers at the Kratman Terminal, located in the Luk Xing system, have been increasing following announcements of future terraformations organized by the sector's bigwigs.


Safety, transport, deliveries, excavation, maintenance and many other opportunities, which you've already experienced thousands of times elsewhere, are available to you.


But there's one offer in particular that catches your eye. An offer that stands out from the crowd: a reprimand notice issued by the WorldCraft Company. Not really knowing what "a reprimand notice" means, you decide to find out more.
 

A job like any other 



As you contact the local WorldCraft Compagny office, an official explains the situation :


Hello Commander, are you here for the announcement?

All right, I'll explain the situation.


As you know, the extended WorldCraft Company family is delighted to offer employment opportunities following the upcoming terraformings taking place in the Temnet system.


However, one of the members of this large family, a WorldCraft Company inspector, was more than three days behind schedule on his inspection tour.


So we're looking to outside contractors like you to find our inspector and get him back on track.


Intrigued, you accept the assignment, then click on 'Accept the terms and conditions of the assignment contract'. You will then be sent a file to download onto your datapad.


/!\ Internal information for staff only /!\

 

>Planning inspector N°808<


- Inspector General N°808 Bob Somnis 
- Inspection mission with special cargo N°541 
- Company vehicle : Hauler 
- Destination « Temnet  > Onufrienko Terminal - »


That seems to be all we've been able to pass on to you, so let's get to work on Inspector General 808's trail.



There's nothing at the Onufrienko Terminal spaceport, but miraculously a listening post on the Temnet system seems to have picked something up...




Once you've completed this step, move on to the next. 

A lengthy delay


It took a little time and a little luck, but a listening device, ironically from the WorldCraft Company's competitor brand, is present in the system and has picked up something.
 


Once you're in range, you download the message:


 

transponder script DRD-599-A

... Transponder signal DRD-599-A detected

Correspondence with signal detected by listening posts: (Col 285 Sector OR-F b26-2 / Col 285 Sector YC-F b26-9 )


Approximate signal range: 66-68 al

Damn it. So it was true. They weren't lying. How can I do something like that? I need help ... Longitude : 32,7175 ...Help me, I beg you .
 

...Error... 

...Coordinates transmission incomplete...
...Signal lost...


Indeed, your first hunch was right. Bob isn't just late, he's actually disappeared, as the transcript fragment you've just downloaded suggests. But what to do with so little information...



It seems that the signal is too weak to decrypt all of it, but other listening posts have also picked it up. Perhaps we'll have better luck exploring these leads. Go and retrieve the missing data.


Remaining listening posts :


Col 285 Sector OR-F b26-2

Col 285 Sector YC-F b26-9



Once you've completed this step, move on to the next. 

Assemble the parts



Whose idea was it to send listening posts to the middle of nowhere?

You ponder all this on the way to the other two listening posts.


transponder script DRD-599-B

... Transponder signal DRD-599-B detected

Correspondence with the signal detected by the listening posts: (Temnet / Col 285 Sector YC-F b26-9 )


Approximate signal range: 58-61 al

Damn it. So it was true. They weren't lying. How can I do something like that? I need help... Latitude : 33,9175 ...Help me, I beg you.
 

...Error... 

...Coordinates transmission incomplete...
...Signal lost...


transponder script DRD-599-C

... Transponder signal DRD-599-C detected

Correspondence with the signal detected by the listening posts: (Col 285 Sector OR-F b26-2 / Temnet  )


Approximate signal range: 48-51 al

Damn it. So it was true. They weren't lying. How can I do something like that? I need help ... Latitude : A 1 ...Help me, I beg you .
 

...Error... 

...Coordinates transmission incomplete...
...Signal lost...

 


With all the transcripts on your datapad, you can finally move on!


The message seems rather confused and doesn't reveal anything else, however, thanks to the combination and amplification of the signal source, you manage to obtain some valuable information!

Aided by your on-board computer, you can perform a trilateration and thus obtain the target destination.


It's time to tell your employer that you've made progress. Let's hope your message gets through better than Inspector Bob's. To your target!



Cross-referencing the coordinate fragments and using trilateration, we obtain a latitude, longitude and star position: HR 6890 A 1.



Once you've completed this step, move on to the next. 

The end of the dream 


It works!


By trilaterating the coordinates you obtain a source of emission: HR 6890 A 1 !


You can hardly contain your excitement as you race towards the system coordinates.

Once close to the star, you dive to latitude 33.9175 and longitude 32.7175.


Once there, your smile fades, and there's not a soul to be seen, just the blackness of space and the icy silence.



The only welcome you receive is the sight of a small, gloomy, rusty structure that looks like a relay antenna from another era. Yet the source of the signals seems to emanate from this derelict place.



You will notice, however, that 3 data links appear to be still active. How fortunate!

Once downloaded, your on-board computer displays the content:



...Video  ---> corrupted / 92%

...Audio ---> Corrupted

...Transcript Audio  ---> Text  / Success 75%


Archive 1/3


... What am I doing here?

... I slept on my bunk, floating in distant space.

... How can I be on a planet?




...Video  ---> corrupted / 95% 

...Audio ---> Corrupted

...Transcript Audio  ---> Text  / Success 66%


Archive 2/3


... It happened again.

... It's the same every time. I fall asleep and find myself in an alien world.

... It can't be real, but it's so alive.




...Video  ---> corrupted / 98% 

...Audio ---> Corrupted

...Transcript Audio  ---> Text  / Success 81%


Archive 3/3


... This time, I wasn't asleep.

... Oh boy, it's real, it's real!

... How do I do that?!

... I need help... I can't control it.

... Somebody help me, please!



Disturbing... Yes, disturbing is the right word. Your smile has completely disappeared from your face. You decide to gather all available data before returning to Kratman Terminal to make your report to your employer.
 

Once you've completed this step, move on to the next. 

Back to reality


You are finally back at Kratman Terminal.


You let yourself be carried along by the automatic navigation. Just as you did the first time, your gaze is lost in the emptiness of space and your mind wanders.


What are we to make of all this? But who is Bob really, after all? Did all this really happen, or did the corruption of the logs influence your interpretation and your desire for an extraordinary adventure? And above all, how do you explain it all?


You're jolted out of your musings as the ship decelerates on the approach to the station entrance. You begin the automatic docking phase. You're ready to report in.



Ah, Commandant !


It's about time, Inspector 808 is now seven days behind schedule. And it's not the first time... [Your employer pauses and thinks for a moment] Well... it's the first time it's been more than 24 hours!


What's up?

Have you found it?

So that we can pass on his notice of reprimand to inspector 808.



As you try to explain the results of your investigation to your employer, whose face reflects a growing perplexity as your explanations drag on, you decide to abandon all hope of convincing her with words. So you pass on to her the diaries you've collected.



I... I see...


[Your employer mumbles] ... So it wasn't just in her head... and to think her health coverage was costing us a fortune....


And so, no wreckage or trace of the cargo?


[Your employer looks falsely embarrassed]


Hmm, that's too bad. You see, your contract stipulates that, while the return of our employee is... optional, the return of his cargo is not!


But don't worry! WorldCraft Company recognizes the work of others. And that's why I'm honored to reward your efforts with this!



You look dazedly at your employer and hear your datapad's messaging system ring...



Esteemed [insert contractual name here], The WorldCraft Company is proud to award you this one-time-use code as a reward for your hard work!


>  80085  <


For use on the WorldCraft Company reward service!


The rest of the message ends with an endless stream of closes and a link to the WorldCraft Company reward service. A message appears as soon as the site is opened:


Thank you for entering the single-use code you received.

Password:


 

Congratulations!

 

The WorldCraft Company is proud to award you an all-expenses-paid stay at one of the WorldCraft Company theme parks in the Epsilon Eridani system, as well as 100 WorldCraft credits! 

 

Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

 

 

*Restauration and accommodation not included.

**WorldCraft credits usable only in WorldCraft&Co infrastructures.


A well-deserved rest at last. You fire up your FSD reactor and head off to your next vacation without delay...


You can automatically finish this adventure by logging in to the site with your Frontier account.


You can also share your snapshots on discord in the channel #trophées !

Podium

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CMDR …

14/03/1337

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CMDR …

14/03/1337

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CMDR …

14/03/1337



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