Synth starts running decryption protocols on the disk   "Would have been nice to know this existed before..."

Hey the last two synths both tried to kill me so forgive my reservations.

The Emerald Disk is a dead end by design. Without clearance codes, it won’t unlock. Without its proprietary reader, it won’t even communicate. Without the correct decryption suite, it remains nothing but noise. Whoever engineered this knew exactly how to keep their information locked — hardware, software, and authorization woven into a closed circuit of control. Breaking into it isn’t a job; it’s a campaign. And campaigns take time.  

Extended Task

Authorization: Wildcard: Fix + Crime 7d (5+2)

Hardware: Synth: Fix + Focus 8d (6+2) Reroll

Software: Synth: Know + Focus 7d (5+2)

Help

Adrenaline (each task)

Anya (hardware/software)

Impossible (each task)

Hinderance

Wrong Hardware

Wrong Software

  Adrenaline

1 per task

Spotlight

Shared (1)

Anya’s voice is low, guilt and resolve braided together. “This is Weyland-Yutani’s fortress tech. You won’t open it without the right keys. But I can give you leverage—nanotech to adapt the hardware, my programming to steady the software. Synth, you’ll still have to break the walls, but I can weaken them for you.”

Synth turns it over and over, looking at it versus his PDAT. The PDAT is too precious now... both the data on it that he must keep, and the data on it he wants to keep. And the simple fact is, the PDAT saved their lives more than once. He can't bring himself to break it down.   Also... it wouldn't have the right parts to overcome a MU/TH/UR 7000 hardware lock. It's too advanced...   ...   Or is it?   MU/TH/UR is Weyland Yutani. W-Y are, if nothing else, cheap. Sure, few new shiny parts, new bells, new whistles... but... like all series manufactures... what isn't broken or a key new feature doesn't get fixed.   "ACE! What kind of ships mainframe helps you fly this thing?"

Ace snorted, never taking his eyes off the flight readouts.   “My ship runs on sweat, duct tape, and prayers, Synth. But if you’re asking what kind of mainframe she’s got—it’s a stripped-down MU/TH/UR knockoff with half the safeties pulled and none of the warranty left. Don’t get any ideas about gutting her; you can have a couple spare boards and an interface card from the nav buffer, but you so much as breathe on my flight core and you’re walking home.”

Synth simply smiles and says, "Not messing with anything like that. Just needed to know how closely related they started."   He allocates the allowed clock cycles and starts working on putting together an access drive. Thankfully, turns out Ace keeps a good stock of, "Random Parts in Case" for keeping the ship flying, and while it takes some time with the parts and tools he has access to, Synth does, after a few hours, assembles the drive. It's ugly as sin, and even a battlefield engineer would call it ugly, but it will work. As long as the right access code is known.

Dr. Anya stirred from her silence, eyes hollow at first, then sharpening as she took in the tangle of jury-rigged circuits and mismatched boards strewn across the workbench. Her hands trembled when she pulled her System Data Tablet from its case, but there was purpose in the motion—an echo of the confidence she once carried. She clipped a line from the tablet into the patchwork reader Synth had cobbled together, lips tightening as the screen flickered with unstable code.   “For a man who prides himself on precision,” she muttered, fingers already dancing across the interface, “this is a crime against engineering.” The snark carried no heat, just a weary bite—her way of grounding herself. Still, she layered her nanotech-derived protocols over the crude assembly, the tablet becoming her anchor as the chaos smoothed into structure. Her voice dropped, steadier now: “It won’t be elegant, but it will talk.”

The emerald disk pulsed in the terminal like a piece of forbidden fruit. The ship’s systems rejected it outright, spitting back: “Non-standard device detected. Quarantine protocol—Weyland-Yutani property safeguard engaged.”   Wildcard smirked. Of course they’d branded the quarantine itself.   He rolled his shoulders, recalling something he’d once overheard in a corporate canteen — a supervisor rattling off his override string while half-drunk, thinking no one was listening. Wildcard had memorized it, tucked it away like a magician hides his best card for the finale.   He keyed it in. The screen bled amber for a moment, flashing the WY logo like a threat, before a quieter subroutine took over: “Supervisor override. Clearance temporarily elevated.”   “Gotcha,” Wildcard whispered.   Now he was walking WY’s labyrinth from the inside, each step like trespassing in a cathedral built to worship profit margins. Security ICE unfurled — proprietary, adaptive, and ruthless — but his fingers danced across tangled streams of code, redirecting one loop into another, tricking the watchdogs into chasing their own tails.   The emerald disk fought back, its logic not entirely human, not entirely corporate. For a heartbeat, it was WY’s paranoia against Wildcard’s improvisation. Then — the lock cracked. Data cascaded across the display, streams of alien-green glyphs entwined with WY encryption markers.   Wildcard leaned back, grin sharp. “You boys built the door. I just happened to find the keys under the mat.”   The disk’s secrets were open, though how long before Weyland-Yutani’s systems noticed the breach was anyone’s guess.

Source: USS Valiant – Log Entry
Timestamp: 14:07:19 / 3 Hours Before Incident   Lt. Kara Ellison: “Sensor sweep complete. Unidentified vessel entering local space, vector 187 mark 12. No registry match. No transponder response. Cross-checking against Colonial Fleet and corporate manifests… negative.”   Captain Jonah: “Run IFF handshake again.”   Lt. Kara Ellison: “Handshake attempted… no return. Sir, this ship shouldn’t be here.”

Source: USS Valiant → USS Erebus
Timestamp: 14:08:02   Captain Jonah to Erebus Command: “Erebus, confirm contact. Unidentified vessel closing on our position. No IFF response. Requesting clarification: is this asset expected? Over.”

Source: USS Erebus → USS Valiant
Timestamp: 14:08:36   Erebus Command – Gen. Graves (secure channel):
“Unidentified vessel is friendly. Current IFF/handshake irregularities are the result of classified masking protocols, authorized under my direct command. Logs will be amended to reflect. Vessel is cleared for operations. Expect a three-hour delay while they conduct a scheduled transfer from Valiant. Erebus Actual out.”    

Source: USS Valiant – Internal Log
Timestamp: 14:12:07   Lt. Kara (Comms): “Captain, system logs have been updated by Erebus command directive. Classification keyword inserted: Crimson Vanguard. Encryption flags set to top-tier priority. Entry is now locked under command-level access only.”   Captain Jonah: “…Crimson Vanguard? That’s not a designation I’ve seen before. File it, Lieutenant. For now, we follow orders.”

Weyland-Yutani Corporation
Confidential Research Transmission
From: Dr. Elara Mbeki, Senior Xenobiology Lead
To: Dr. Marcus Haldren, Executive Director of Biomedical Science
Timestamp: [Redacted]
  Subject: Summary Report – Theta-9
  Dr. Haldren,   Our most recent sequencing data and behavioral assays confirm that the specimens recovered under Project Theta-9 exhibit a novel genomic mechanism we are designating Vertical Assimilative Integration (VAI). Unlike conventional horizontal transfer, the organism incorporates host DNA at a foundational level, employing the host genome as a structural scaffold for adaptive restructuring. This process enables accelerated evolutionary shifts across environments and resistances, with the host’s own genetic material functioning as a direct substrate for survivability.   Preliminary models indicate that this mechanism bypasses generational change entirely, producing optimized environmental variants within a single host cycle. In effect, the organism adapts using us. I must emphasize: this makes the samples exceptionally volatile and inherently unstable in containment. The recent breach (Incident T9-4417) underscored these risks, necessitating immediate activation of Destructive Protocols on live cultures and compromised assets. While material losses were significant, containment integrity was preserved.   Given these findings, I must formally advise against integration with the Colonial AWS Program. The probability of adaptive feedback into augmented human frameworks is unacceptable until long-term suppression and control models are validated. Accordingly, all remaining Epsilon-3 research operations are to be terminated, with future evaluations contingent upon reinforced containment and oversight protocols.   Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Elara Mbeki
Senior Xenobiology Lead – Project Theta-9

Anya’s brow furrows, genuine confusion cutting through the exhaustion in her face.   “VAI? No… I’ve never heard of it. That’s not my work, not even my division. My research was on nanoscale systems—precision, not… whatever that is.”   Her voice falters, a mix of disbelief and dread creeping in.   “If they’re doing this, then it’s beyond anything I ever saw. They’ve buried it so deep I wouldn’t have clearance, even when I was still inside. Weyland-Yutani doesn’t share information unless it serves their agenda."   "It means they’re not just corrupt. It means they’re weaponizing science on a scale none of us imagined. And the military mention ... is ... is .... "   Her words trail off as she grows quiet.

Taurus shifts on the makeshift cot, his voice rough but steady.   “You know why they shipped me off to the Valiant? Wasn’t bad luck. I started noticing things on the Erebus—irregular patrol logs, weapons drills that didn’t line up, command staff disappearing into meetings with Graves and Caldwell that weren’t on record. Even the ship’s maintenance cycles looked… doctored. I flagged it once, thought I was doing my job.”       He lets out a humorless laugh, more bitter than amused.   “Next thing I know, I’m reassigned. Quiet transfer. Out of the way. That’s how I ended up here instead of back there when it all went to hell. Call it coincidence if you want… but I don’t buy it.”