The Goo Pool - Star Master Log: Brain Grafting Xenotech

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Jeff gets into the weeds of the "The Goo Pool", starting with the crew's internal logs before breaking down the chaos on Sibylen and the reality of the alien tech the crew just stumbled upon.

He covers:

• Juggling three NPCs that the crew mostly ignores

• Planning out an entire dungeon, then pivoting on-the-fly based on character interactions

• The lore behind the Goo Pool, nanofluids, and xenotech in general

• Answers a user question about the origin of The Scapegoat

• A look at The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

New Star Master's Logs drop every other Tuesday, bridging the gap between our main adventure episodes.

• Show Transcript

  [00:00:00] Hey everyone, star Master Jeff here and welcome back to the Star Master Log. Today we're discussing the second episode of the Sybil and Arc, the Goo Pool. In this episode, we followed the crew of the scapegoat into the first ever powered alien Exo site where they discovered a pool of nano fluid and an interface for Dr.

  Voss to connect to. Felix submerged in the pool and Voss hooked in. The two found themselves deep in a virtual ocean where they could communicate instantly and share their knowledge and memories. Now we're gonna break down this episode in just a moment, but first let's check in with the crew and hear their latest encrypted reports.

  I'll see you on the other side. Oh boy. I have never been so excited to find a bunch of goo. The site is basically fully active. We have access to their network loss is the key. Her technology gives us the ability to [00:01:00] access information. An infrastructure that scientists have been scratching their heads about for years.

  We gotta play this cool though. We can't just sell off Dr. Voss. So unless we find something that's functioning independently, the value of this whole endeavor might not end up being what I'd hoped for. It's too bad Felix couldn't act. Access something tangible while he was in that goo network. Hopefully whatever they bumped into in there doesn't jeopardize this expedition.

  If it really was some kind of security system, we better be careful. I can tell everyone is on edge. Alien technology will do that to a person, but even Hailey and Robert seem affected not as gung-ho when things get weird. Felix too. What did he experience in there? I actually think Froggy and Vera being here is keeping the tension down as long.

  As we can keep them safe, their company is actually working out in our favor. Can't say I love the whole medical vibe of this site. It's a bit concerning. I don't wanna end up wiped out like whoever built this place, [00:02:00] but we're stuck in here now, so all we can do is press on until we find another way out.

  Robert Ross's log, everybody's losing their damn minds over this alien tech acting like a bunch of Cs. This right here is when I gotta lock in. I mean, if you don't, that's how you just stumble into some of these traps. Hailey, taking point, jello, mold, breach force. I'm on a salt, always got a bag. The rest of the crew basically cheerleaders.

  I'm setting up a base of fire for Overwatch while Felix and Voss playing. Grab ass in the Go pool. When in the hell did I become the babysitter? Weird day. Just as I said. I was hoping to avoid a scrap track situation. I'm reaching my hand into some goo, at least it was just a goo, no tendrils, no hallucinations, [00:03:00] and I'll take that as a win for now.

  I'm glad that Felix got outta that nano food awake though, because I think we're gonna need all the help we can get, and mostly to keep froggy safe. I am expecting this situation to get a little worse, but. Or gets better and keeping everyone on their own two feet gonna be a priority here. This place is amazing.

  I mean, the level of technology these people reached is just astonishing. The ability to form a neural connection with some kind of massive computer network through just a whole body connection and a nano fluid is next level shit. And, and I mean, I'm not even sure if that's what is actually happening.

  Oh, I felt like I was in that ocean for hours, but I could spend days, no years exploring this. There is something else that's making me [00:04:00] feel a bit uneasy, not just that presence. Boston, I noticed in the ocean though that was definitely unsettling. Now it's the fact that something could take out these people as advanced as they were, and that is truly scary.

  Hope we don't accidentally unlock something we shouldn't, but fuck me. I was blissed to be out of this body for a while. I know I was being hopeful, but this feels like an important step to understanding what happened to PD and maybe just maybe fixing it. And if that's the case, I will do whatever it takes.

  Consequences be damned.

  That was the crew's perspective from the ground. But let's zoom out to the star eye view. Let's talk about how that session actually went down. What was planned, what surprised me, and how much [00:05:00] I'm improvising behind the screen. If you're into GM ing world building, or just curious about how that story takes shape, this segment is for you.

  So firstly, in today's episode, I want to dispel the fog of war a little bit. I had three NPCs with them. We had Dr. Voss, we had Vera Corbin, and of course we had Froggy. And I wrote out a pretty good list of what I thought each NPC could accomplish in this sort of situation. This is a lot of NPCs to have with them.

  Essentially they have three henchmen with them, hench people that they could bring into what is the equivalent of a futuristic dungeon. And I obviously have their characters, they have full character sheets, but I made myself a little list. What could these NPCs actually accomplish here and now? Of course, Dr.

  Voss can handle alien technology and linguistics because as a virtual intelligence, apparently she can interface with the alien [00:06:00] technology and even activate it score. That works out really well for them. Vera Corbin can handle alien history and archeological references, and froggy, I just wrote out, quote unquote, they make him touch stuff first.

  Which is why it really kind of tickled me that they would not let him do anything. They did not want him to talk. They did not want him to touch things. They wanted him to stay outta the way, and by doing that, they took a lot of additional risks to their characters touching things first, or submerging themselves in Go Pools when they had froggy right there.

  And he may have resisted, but ultimately he will do what they tell him. They love to keep NPCs in the backseat until the very last possible moment. If you go back and you think about the previous episodes where they've had NPCs around, they have a very much do it yourself attitude. They don't do that to keep the NPCs safe.

  They do it because they truly do not trust NPCs to [00:07:00] adeptly handle any situation. But if they leveraged the NPC skills, they would actually have an easier time of it. But they are at their core, a group of lone wolves together through complete happenstance, in my opinion. They still have a lot of growing up to do, and it'll be interesting continuing to go on this journey with them because it's obvious that they trust Dr.

  Voss to some degree. But it makes me wonder as they travel through this simple and exo site, if they will ever come to trust Vera and ask Froggy to participate in any of these activities while he's there to help. And speaking of the goo pool. I planned out the entire Exo site ahead of time, of course, and it just so happened that they only got so far as the goo pool in this episode.

  There's obviously more to it, but part of the reason they only made it as far as the goo pool is because of the length of time that Felix spent in said Go Pool. It could have been much shorter in the actual adventure. I only wrote a couple of sentences describing the [00:08:00] experience of the person who goes into the pool.

  Because I couldn't be sure who exactly would be going into the pool, even though I did strongly suspect it would be Felix. But of course I have several paragraphs on the mechanics of the nano fluid and this goo pool technology. So I was prepared to talk about it. I knew what would be experienced within it.

  But when it came to Felix, Scott brought such a great expression of, of wonder and relief to being outside of his mortal body. I couldn't help but explore it. Yeah, it sidelines some of the other characters for a bit, but it really felt like a mini focus episode in some ways, and I think that that was really valuable.

  Not only did we learn more about Felix, but we got to see Voss in person for the first time, and it really deepened the connection between the two of them. I personally think that it's becoming more obvious that the closer these two characters become, that there is something there, perhaps something beyond friendship, even.

  And I'm very excited to [00:09:00] explore that further, especially as Felix continues his journey to become Transhuman, perhaps even attaining a form like foster self inhabit. It'd be interesting to see how their relationship matures along with that potential transformation. So speaking on the goo itself, and this is a little bit of a lure deep dive, here's a little as something the crew hasn't figured out yet.

  The goo is a nano fluid. Yes, we know this, but it's also biological If tested, it would be revealed that the Goo Felix so loved to cover himself in is actually comprised of countless biological cells stepping into that pool or. Submerging, there are little hands in all them goo cakes all over the walls.

  It's actually the equivalent of a temporary brain graft hooking them right into the alien network and bridging the gap between tech and the nervous [00:10:00] system through protein synapses. But you know, the goo is more than just a high speed network. Think about the age of this exo site. The countless aliens that worked here and connected to that very network in the pool or off in their own individual vats, what happened to their bodies?

  Did they simply dissolve into the goo, leaving behind a single calcified beak? What happens when Felix swims in nano fluid that's potentially resorb hundreds of dead beings? Is he simply interfacing with an ancient technology? Or is he actually swimming through the echoes of a long dead civilization?

  And for me, the even more interesting thing is that interfacing with this type of technology must inherently create an indelible impression on the nano fluid itself. I mean, there's a reason it becomes easier to operate the goo molds the more you use them. And that might also be [00:11:00] why in the next episode.

  I gave Felix a secret plus one to a role to operate a goo mold in a novel way. Maybe just maybe that plus one he gut is not pure dumb luck, but instead an unseen hand from the past guiding his own spooky alien stuff. This nano fluid, because the more you touch it, the more it knows you. But, and this is my own personal rule.

  Knowledge is never ever a one way treat. If the nano fluid is learning their muscle memory and mapping their neural pathways, what happens if that fluid ever ends up in the wrong hands like omnitech? It's something to think about as that auction to determine the future of the exercise rapidly approaches in the coming episodes.

  Now it's time for the Subspace Signal, a new segment where I answer a question from a listener. Listen to the end of this segment to find out how you can get a question on the star [00:12:00] master log. This week's question is from Erica on Patreon. Erica asks, why was the scapegoat on that space station? Anyways, way back in episode one, did Omnitech just forget about it?

  Good question, Erica. So the scapegoat, as you know, is a standard free merchant class vessel. It has a couple of low power weapons and a ton of cargo space, so really it's nothing special. Back when Kami four, which is that space station back in episode one, was in its prime and still active. Omnitech had a pretty decent foothold there.

  The space station was out in the outer reaches of civilized space. I guess you could call it south, uh, which is really just the opposite of where Slan is. So Slan is on the north side of PolyPhen in the outside of civilized space, and ER four would be on the south side, kind of off to the east. If we were looking at a star map from up above.

  ER four was the launching off point for scientific and industrial [00:13:00] ventures headed off into that direction. It was a hub of activity for scientists and adventurers trying to find new worlds to explore and science to develop. However, about 20 years ago, a rebellion on that station left many dead, and it pushed all the corporate interests out of Kamir four.

  It was simply too dangerous for them to stay. The station became overrun with a number of individual factions like the Drift rats, who carved out their own swaves of territory all over the Space Station. Omnitech, along with a number of other small corporations, sort of collectively decided to just cut the station loose.

  It was seriously just not worth the trouble of attempting to retake it. So the scapegoat was caught up in all of this. It was docked on Kamari four at the time of the rebellion, having just delivered a full cargo supply of scientific equipment from PolyPhen. It was actually a normal route for the scapegoat.

  It would go to PolyPhen, pick up equipment, food, whatever else, and bring it to Kari for and repeat the process. Likely [00:14:00] it had made that same trip dozens of times over the years. It was just its normal route. But once the space station was taken, the scapegoat fell into complete obscurity and rested for the next 20 years behind the locked doors of docking Bay 72.

  Which coincidentally is exactly where the crew find it at the end of episode two. So if you haven't listened to those first episodes yet, you can hear the origin story of the scapegoat by going back and listening to episodes one and two. And that's the answer for this week. If you want to send in a signal for the next log, head over to our Patreon at patreon.com/darkstar Adventure cast.

  But I also do pay close attention to our blue sky, so drop us a line there, and your question might just be the next one we intercept. Well, that wraps up our subspace signals for this week. Before we close the log though, I wanted to leave you with a star master spec. If you're digging the themes of our biological mystery, we're exploring here on the Alien Exo site.[00:15:00]

  My recommendation this week is The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Naylor. It's a story that deals with intelligence developing in places society either doesn't expect or violently opposes. I think it's a wonderful companion to some of the story arcs that we've been telling this season on the podcast, especially this one right here on Slan, and I highly recommend you check it out.

  In our next episode. Our crew continues their explorations of the goo heavy alien exo site, and quickly figure out why I asked for their marching order. Felix gets a secret plus one Robert dives for cover, and we explore what happens when the network starts. Looking back all this and more on the next episode of the Dark Star Adventure Cast.

  Thanks so much for listening, and I'll catch you on the next one.