Arek'Jaalan Mailing List W1: Ani Constellation

In particular, I've found Ani kinda overlooked, which struck me as odd given that it's the only real source of Sleeper information in known space, to my knowledge (which is, obviously, not going to be complete, so if I'm wrong...). To that end, anyway, I've put together some of the stuff found in Ani: I'll try to keep away from any speculation beyond occasionally pointing out similarities or possible connections, here, in favour of making the facts -- or reasonable assumptions -- more well-known. Considering this exhaustive of even the single constellation would probably be a bad move, too; I'm hardly infallible. Anyway...

Barkrik: The Hyperbole Nexus
Before the advent of FTL comms, the empires sought various means of bolstering celestial communications; about 500 years back, the Empire discovered a phenomenon whereby places in space would 'echo' with similar places elsewhere. Tapping into these 'echoes' allowed them to greatly boost their communication devices' strength, though with the development of fluid routers et al. these sites are largely neglected today.

Could be that it was sites such as this that helped pave the way towards wormhole technology? Similar ideas, at the least.

Inder / Traun: Sleeper Ruins
In the Inder system, there is a site marked as "Contested Minmatar Military Depot": as the name suggests, this is a Republic military complex that's since been overrun by the Gist division of the Angel Cartel. More relevantly here, however, is that this complex is built with an acceleration gate leading to -- ancient, long since decrepit, true -- Sleeper ruins. (The bodies on the rings reminiscent of rogue drone designs are labelled as 'gate repair drones'.) Though picked over by local poachers, it's still possible to recover elements of Sleeper data and technology from the debris and data fragments, albeit pretty different to anything found in wormhole space. Most of the application for these bits and pieces is in building modules such as the 100MN Digital Booster Rockets -- souped-up versions of existing designs with this technology incorporated.

Also noteworthy is a portal (the small nebula is an apparent part of the design, while the light is from the angling of the camera against the system's sun) found in Traun's contested army complex; ancient and apparently predating the Nefantar, it's long since been inoperable. Similar rings can be found in the Inder ruins, for the record.

Alobe Virus
How relevant this is to the Sleepers and so on is questionable, but I see no harm in throwing this in here, in case it turns out to be of use.

Ani is currently struggling with a highly potent septicaemic plague, identified by an Eifyr & Co. employee as the 'Alobe virus', an "age-old sickness" that, last time it surfaced, "caused the extinction of dozens of planetary societies and killed over twenty billion people", to quote. However, other people make reference to this being a man-made virus, with the formulae to back it up and local colonists being hired out to manufacture it. By whom, though, is somewhat shadier and harder to stab at; some bizarre local group called the 'Cybertrons' are a possibility, but with an accident at a Sisters of EVE laboratory in Lanngisi leading to the release of unspecified 'lethal substances' and its abandonment, their role is worth consideration. Almost certainly not with any harmful intent, but they were eager not to mention this accident in their efforts to solve the problem -- it took a rogue Sister to tell me.

A number of the Sleeper sites in wormhole space make reference to a quarantine; given their origins in Ani, you could draw a connection, but it's leaning towards the tenuous end of the spectrum with no solid evidence, regardless of how old the (likely since-then modified) virus is.

Background / Asides
For something of a background image, something of a battleground between the Amarr Empire, Minmatar Republic and Angel Cartel -- only exacerbated by the former two entities' interest in the Nefantar relics in the area, and the latter's apparent curiosity as regards the Sleeper technology and potential extension of their influence.

For those things that I can't perhaps write as much reasonably-factual text about, Lanngisi is also home to 'The Asylum' (formerly COMA, the Compulsions, Obsessions and Mania Asylum) -- a treatment centre for the mentally ill predating the Minmatar rebellion, at which the doctors claimed to be able to "elevate the consciousness to a new level" through a combination of neuroshock treatment and a dream-induced state.

Though it seems to only be relatively recent for the Sleeper technologies from Ani to be becoming more widely available, they seem to have found their way into the local mythology or folklore, as a mysterious, ancient society that sealed itself away in a virtual world and stasis for reasons unknown (which fits well, really, despite it being 'just a story'). There are also those who are trying to detect the remnants of the Ani Sleeper society's radio signals, distant and disperse as they may be.

It's, as I said, wholly possible that I've been dumb and overlooked something in my old notes on the place (or even not incorporated something into them at all). Don't take these as The Absolute Truth, and sure, I'm confident they're reasonably accurate, but if there's anything to correct or add? Do it: that's the point of this thing. I'll try and chase this up with my attempt to string things together soon, though seeing if anyone else has anything they found particularly odd or noteworthy would obviously be handy first.

-Kyber.

It is clear from all of the information contained within that various expeditions to the Ani constellation are in order.

A few salient points:

• The Alobe Virus: Possible relations to explore include the Kyonoke Pit virus, as well as the "Quarantine" anomalies found in the unknown regions.
• Gate Repair Drones: These should be studied more closely. Is their origin known?
• The Asylum: This is something closer to my field. I've a few associates I can speak with about this, and possibly gain further insight.

Our medical department also contains a few Sample of Septicemic Agent recovered near the site of the portal parts. We have been studying on these for a while but so far been unable to come up with a permanent cure.

Regards
-M

So far there have been no conclusive results though.

Regards,
-M