[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/7DU11sy.png[/img][/center] [b]--=Semiosis Research Centre, New Dalat, Aurora[/b] Whilst the wheels of government turned and the machinations that were a-place continued amongst the stars amid the buzz of the gateways, old projects continued even if the colour of the flag had changed. The Semiosis Project was almost as old as the colonies in Auriga - albeit it had been poorly funded in its nascent days, and kept purely to proven matters during the Corporate Era. The Revolution had changed many things in Auriga, and Semiosis was one of them. Professor Takahira had been a new face - at least several decades ago when the newly formed federal government had assigned her to Semiosis. The intent of Semiosis had always been to understand and, if at all possible, communicate, with the sentient sometimes ambulatory plant life that was found all over the surface of Aurora, that had been colloquially termed "Ents" though as far as it went, only a few could be considered tree-like species. As far as Takahira understood it, Semiosis had learned how to essentially encourage the world's plant life to move and consequently how to manage its migration, something that had been incredibly useful in the early days of settlement and kept some of the more aggressive species from coming into conflict with the colonists. The Corporate era had seen little change here - it wanted to continue to use the Semiosis project because it worked, it was reliable, and it stopped the loss of assets, but it had never given it enough funding or leeway for anything much else to be done, so Semiosis had stayed, in stasis. Takahira had some of the old custodians of the project on staff - and in continuing that work and training those who would some day replace them, they had been invaluable, but they were limited. She had a few experts on Aurigan native life and other experts from a few other incidental or related fields on staff, but most of the critical work fell on her, not at least because she was the only one with priority access to request processing time from Red Star, which had quickly borne fruit. And that was why Takahira was a guest in her own office. The Secretary for the Environment, Thomas Groenig, making himself quite at home in the space she had come to see as her own domain. He was a relatively unassuming man, but Takahira knew better. The entire government was full of "Yellows", or red-greens, the socialist enviromentalist core of the revolution had never really lost its sway, and the Environment Secretariat was a prestigious posting, even if an average looking man of western european descent did not seem to give any of that away. "I see." Groenig said, looking over some data Takahira had flashed across from her device before she had retreated into her own thoughts. "I understand Semiosis's previous lack of ambition explains why such things were left unseen for so long - and we are seeing the same activity on Australis and Borealis?" He asked, already knowing the answer, but humouring the response. "Yes, Secretary. Aurora's own network is stable, as the data shows, but the networks on Australis and Borealis are both growing. The working theory is once they reach a critical mass as seen on Aurora, they will stabilize and predictable patterns of growth will be the norm, as well as less effort for Custodians as migration paths are settled and our own effors can focus purely upon tweaking those." Takahira responded, flashing a display of the fungal, or "Mycorrhizal" networks of Australis and Borealis into 3D above her desk - displaying predicted patterns alongside a history of their growth, with a smaller display of Aurora with its own network shown alongside. "Excellent. The presence of Auroran ent's on Australis and Borealis was a past error from before both of our time, but one we can soon adapt to as we have here, my main concern is the assertion in your most recent reports of a breakthrough in Semiosis?" Groenig asked, simply looking at Takahira. "Ah, yes. The Mycorrhizal network is not something new - it is, of course, named after an Earth fungus - nearly all plant life on Earth was in some way connected to a fungal network to some greater or lesser benefit. Once my understanding of the scale of the Auroran network, and her cousins of course, came into play, the realisation that they were a truly global and truly unique network completely in sync with itself and all plant life, even the [i]terran[/i] plants we cultivate here, I thought if I asked Red Star to run a few simulations as if it were.. well, a brain, we might get somewhere." Takahira said, knowing Groenig was humouring her explanation but genuinely interested in the results. He motioned for her to continue. "We got some great theoretical data from that, so I ran a few simulations of my own. I think if we can get a specially altered drone that can communicate on the same frequencies we use to help us with the ents we could potentially interface.. I dare not say communicate, I am unsure if such a thing would be possible in ways we could understand, but it could be possible. Yes, we could interface, if we got close enough to the main fungal mass with it, we could no doubt receive some kind of.. response." Takahira finished, knowing at this point she was falling into rambling about something she did not yet fully understand, let alone comprehend. "I see." Secretary Groenig said once more, looking askance out of a window. "Very well. You may lodge your immediate requests with Red Star and the Secretariat." He said, standing, and flashing an authorization over on to her own device. "And there you will find you have my approval for any staff and materials you need. Semiosis is a valuable project for understanding our world, and what may potentially be two new forms of life our species has seeded. Being able to at least partially understand their.. mother, if you will, would be a boon for science, if not for all the workers of the republics." He nodded respectfully at Takahira as she herself stood, returning the gesture, and left, with little other fanfare. "Time to get to work." Takahira said, musing on just what she needed. With this backing, anything was possible. ---- [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/VR1eC3x.png[/img][/center] [b]--=AMFg Karuna, Orbit of Aurora[/b] The Karuna was the eponymous vessel of her class. First laid down by a corporate shipbuilder on behalf of their overlords just before the revolution as a top of the line Frigate, she had been the only one in service when sabotage had disabled her in the early days of the Revolution. She had been relatively quickly repaired by militia hands and had served to keep a number of other corporate ships coralled in their imposed inactivity, and had quickly found a place in the growing Aurigan Fleet once the Federal Government had been established. Though the corporate era spin-gravity had been one of the first things to receive a refit, it did give her notable sensor or launch platforms which aided her as a competent combat vessel. The Karuna was here, though, because she was unassuming and full of loyal red fleet personell who knew better than to talk about Admirals meeting in her admittedly small conference room. Officially, all the Karuna's were receiving a tour from the Admirals, in appreciation of the service they had given to the people, and to commemorate them as they would all soon be scrapped and replaced with the modern fighting vessels of the post-revolution era. Only the Secretary of Defense, Adele Hillier who was not officially there, of course, and the last Admiral due to leave, Vasily Gradenko, remained on the Karuna as it readied for one of her last system patrols. "With the support of the Secretariat and, as we have seen, my fellows of the Red Fleet in the Admiralty, there is no doubt our stalwart comrades in the Guard will be on side, of course. Forgive me, Secretary, but why here, why all the secrecy?" Gradenko asked, peering at the Secretary - he was not an unhandsome fellow, far from it, but Adele always found when he did that his features became sharp and almost.. frightening, very unlike him when they were.. alone elsewhere. "Of course.. Ah my fair Vasily, you do realise that a full meeting of the various arms of the ever noble revolution coming together in Svoboda would raise many eyebrows. We are no longer free to move so openly, not with the gateways open. The Intelligence Directorate assures me we have nothing to fear, of course, but at the same time they cannot tell me how many people who may come through the gateway are of ill intent, let alone active intelligence operatives from the other states we know exist. And that is why my time here is short. Too short." Adele said, standing and walking around the small conference table and subtly stroking her paramour's arm as she passed, stopping just shy of the door. "Will the people support a.. indelicate conflict at such a time, when we know so little, though?" Gradenko asked, seemingly asking the air. "The General Secretary is in full agreement, though.. the current conflict already in play does not bode well for the Aurigan nation if we do nothing. They are not like us, but to others, they are too like us for the similarities to be missed. We must be ready to act to preserve our revolution." Adele paused for a moment. "If the Assembly or a full Presidium session chooses not to authorise us to take pro-active action.. well, it is for the best we ensure that they must." Adele said, the perfunctory clunk of the door coming together signifying she had left. Vasily sighed, then touched his arm where she had. ---- [b]--=Meeting Place, Aurigan "Embassy"[/b] Gupta pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Things were happening back home and she wasn't sure if she liked some of it, indeed, she almost wished she was back home so she didn't have to actually deal with liking it or not, but she was here, and the messages she was getting from friends, sources, and her superiors all added up to one thing - trouble. There was also one pressing bit of trouble now at her door. At least it was a visitor, she mused, was one thing - but she wasn't sure if the many chaotic forces of the universe were starting to take a dislike to her. Or maybe too much of a positive interest, you could never know with these things. Standing and preparing herself, she walked through the small, but nevertheless bright Aurigan "Embassy" - festooned with numerous plants, though of course none of the mobile variety, to welcome the representative in, it was only polite, after all.