Technology¶

Hard science-fiction setting. No FTL. No artificial gravity without rotation. No replication. No magic dressed as science. Everything has a maintenance interval and a failure mode.

Data Module — Project Flicker Archive Core 01¶

Type: Optical lattice crystal data storage
Manufacturer: Praxis Biomechanica
Capacity: Twelve petabytes (minimum)
Encryption: Military-grade, index layer — Vanguard Corps classification standard, used for classified operations during the Outer Ring Disputes
Indicator: Amber pulse light, slow and patient

The crystal is cold in your hand. The molecular etching is Praxis Biomechanica manufacture, but the data architecture is something else. The amber indicator light pulses against your palm — slow, patient, like a heartbeat that does not belong to anything biological.

Whatever the scientists were studying, they encoded it in the most secure format available to them. And then someone sent a kill team.

In gameplay: Must be hidden in the ejection capsule foam before launch. A body scan would find it on Janus's person.

Sensar MST-4 — Janus's Multitool¶

Type: Multi-function precision maintenance tool
Manufacturer: Sensar Engineering, Rust Alliance outer-ring manufacture
Carried by: Janus — personal equipment, pre-dates the Hephaistos-9 contract
Persistent: Yes — carried across all installments unless explicitly lost

A palm-length tool roughly the shape and weight of a thick knife handle, matte-black titanium alloy with a worn grip where the thumb rests. It unfolds in sections: cutting blade, micro-torque driver (eight interchangeable heads stored in the spine), wire stripper, circuit probe, magnetised pick, ceramic scoring tool, pressure-seal punch, and two heads Janus has never identified and has been meaning to look up since 2844.

The two unidentified heads are the reason he bought it. Something left behind by the previous owner, retrofitted from another tool family. He has used them both, improvised, and they worked, which is sufficient.

It is not military-issue. Vanguard Corps operatives carry standard-issue equipment with tracking serials. Janus bought the MST-4 after he left, at a Rust Alliance salvage market, for sixty-three credits. It was used. He did not ask from whom.

In gameplay: Present in Janus's inventory from Echos in the Cold onward. Used to redirect the coolant valve, access maintenance panels, perform the antenna bypass in Drift, and any subsequent engineering actions. The tool has no separate score value — it is a capability, not a prize. Its presence is noted in prose; its absence would be noted more.

Apex TAP-7 — Janus's Interface Slate¶

Type: Portable hardwired interface terminal / network intrusion device
Manufacturer: Apex Industrial (base hardware); heavily modified
Carried by: Janus — personal equipment acquired during Vanguard Corps service
Persistent: Yes — carried across all installments unless explicitly lost
Classification: Vanguard Corps operational tool, technically decommissioned, technically not Janus's to keep. He has it anyway.

A flat device roughly the size of a hand, eight millimetres thick, matte-grey composite casing worn at the corners. The screen is e-ink — minimal power draw, readable in emergency lighting, no glow signature in a tactical environment. A hardwire port on the lower edge takes a collapsible cable that can interface with any Apex, Praxis, or Guild standard data port. A second port is labelled in Vanguard Corps technical notation that Janus has never translated for anyone.

It runs a Vanguard Corps field intrusion suite — a suite that was current as of 2843 and has been updated, illegally and manually, several times since. It can read access credentials from a connected terminal, bypass soft-lock authentication protocols, intercept network traffic on a hardwired connection, and do several other things that Janus does not list when asked about his qualifications.

He does not advertise it. Maintenance technicians do not carry network intrusion hardware. If asked, it is a diagnostic tool. This is technically true.

In gameplay: Present in Janus's inventory from the pre-incident arc onward (acquired during Vanguard service; appears in flashback). Used for terminal access, security bypass, data extraction, and authentication spoofing. Scores when used meaningfully. Its use is never trivial — the intrusion suite takes time, requires a hardwired connection, and leaves a log entry unless Janus has time to clear it.

Neural Implants¶

Standard cognitive enhancement hardware for inner-world and Guild populations. Manufactured primarily by Praxis Biomechanica.

The Flicker destroys them. Sudden, complete, irreversible failure. The failure events are being logged as manufacturing defects.

Synthetik Units¶

Biomechanical androids. Manufactured by Praxis Biomechanica. The Fracture Synths own their own chassis — won through means the official record describes as a legal settlement.

The Devotion: Some units are going quiet. Turning antenna arrays toward a fixed point in deep space. Refusing further instruction. Praxis calls it a malfunction. The data module may disagree.

The Emergency Relay¶

Location: Maintenance terminal, Maintenance Shaft Section 4
Type: Short-range burst transmitter
Function: Pings Fabric dead-drop buoys on pirate frequencies

Two seconds of compressed cipher into the dark. Announces Janus's existence to the most dangerous information network in the system.

Using it is a decision with consequences that extend well beyond Hephaistos-9.

Ejection Capsule¶

Location: Waste Disposal Pod Bay
Type: Unmanned waste ejection capsule
Capacity: Designed for refuse. Functional for two people who are not picky.
Controls: PRESSURIZE. SEAL. EJECT. Manual only. No authentication.
Trajectory: Ballistic. Outer lanes. Rust Alliance salvage routes.

Waste disposal was never considered a security concern. Right up until now.

Magnetic Boots¶

Standard EVA equipment. Magnetise to deck grid. In zero gravity, they are the difference between a surface relationship and an open-ended commitment to the direction you were facing.

Zero-g long enough: the body stops issuing urgent opinions about up and down.

Coolant Systems — B-Line Configuration¶

Apex Industrial standard-issue distributed coolant. Mark IV and Mark VI fittings are not interchangeable. The thread pitch differs.

Supercooled helium at minus 260 Celsius will do interesting things to tactical gear and the people inside it. It will not stop them. It will interrupt the rhythm.

The B-line system at Hephaistos-9 was upgraded in a refit. The replacement fittings were not upgraded with it. This is how the accident happened.

Emergency Lighting¶

Frequency: 520 nanometres
Colour: Green (standard functional); red (emergency/shutdown)

The station manual calls this functional illumination. It is the lighting choice of someone who wanted maintenance workers to feel like they are already dead.

At Cinder-7, four years ago, it was the same frequency. This is relevant to Janus. It is not relevant to Kirk.

The Black Ship¶

Transponder: None
Markings: None
Docking method: Magnetic clamps, exterior attachment, primary docking bay
Crew visible: Two tactical EVA figures through the reinforced viewport

It was waiting, in the dark, for the station to go offline. It knew exactly when Hephaistos-9's systems would fail. Either it caused the cascade or it was informed of it.

Both possibilities have implications.

See also: The Flicker | Setting