TEXT: NEST IN THE DARK
  AARON M. POLLYEA
  
  STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  051426
  LCARS TERMINAL MUH051428-PDF
  010670
  020420
  CREDITS
  AUX SYS
  SYSTEM DESIGN
  NATHAN DOWDELL
  LINE DEVELOPER
  SAM WEBB
  LINE EDITOR
  JIM JOHNSON
  WRITING
  AARON M. POLLYEA
  EDITING
  JIM JOHNSON
  PROOFREADING
  ARIC WIEDER AND JIM JOHNSON
  COVER DESIGN
  RICHARD L. GALE 
  GRAPHIC DESIGN
  MATTHEW COMBEN
  LAYOUT
  THOMAS DEENY 
  PRODUCED BY
  CHRIS BIRCH 
  OPERATIONS MANAGER
  GARRY HARPER
  PRODUCTION MANAGER
  STEVE DALDRY
  COMMUNITY SUPPORT
  LLOYD GYAN
  PUBLISHING ASSISTANT
  SALWA AZAR
  FOR CBS STUDIOS
  BILL BURKE, JOHN VAN CITTERS,  
  MARIAN CORDRY, VERONICA HART,  
  BRIAN LADY, AND KEITH LOWENADLER
  Published by Modiphius Entertainment Ltd.
  2nd Floor, 39 Harwood Road, London, SW6 4QP, U.K.
  INFO@MODIPHIUS.COM 
  WWW.MODIPHIUS.COM
  Modiphius Entertainment Product Number 
  MUH051428-PDF
  The 2d20 system and Modiphius Logos are copyright 
  Modiphius Entertainment Ltd 2018. All 2d20 system text is 
  copyright Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. Any unauthorized use 
  of copyrighted material is illegal. Any trademarked names are 
  used in a fictional manner; no infringement is intended. This is 
  a work of fiction. Any similarity with actual people and events, 
  past or present, is purely coincidental and unintentional except 
  for those people and events described in an historical context. 
  TM & © 2018 CBS Studios Inc. © 2018 Paramount Pictures 
  Corp. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks 
  of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
  Artwork and graphics © and ™ CBS Studios Inc. All Rights 
  Reserved., except the Modiphius Logo which is Modiphius 
  Entertainment Ltd. This is a work of fiction. Any similarity 
  with actual people and events, past or present, is purely 
  coincidental and unintentional except for those people
  and events described in an historical context. 
  
  001
  01.10 
  SYNOPSIS 
  2
  01.20 
  ACT 1: SLOWBOAT BETWEEN THE STARS 
  4
  01.30 
  ACT 2: STANDARDIZED TESTING 
  7
  01.40 
  ACT 3: SPACELAND PANIC 
  11
  01.50 
  CONCLUSION 
  16
  BY AARON M. POLLYEA
  NEST IN THE DARK
  NEST IN THE DARK
  CHAPTER 
  01.00 
  082397 
  050670081302030806
  
  002 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  SYNOPSIS
  CHAPTER
  01.10 NEST IN THE DARK
  Outside the Foggy Peak system, a Starfleet vessel 
  encounters a strange subspace field that causes their 
  warp drive to fail, only to discover that at the center of the 
  subspace field is a Matryoshka Brain, a networked computer 
  system large enough to completely surround a star and 
  use almost all of its energy output. The Brain generates a 
  symmetrical subspace field, and in doing so speeds up the 
  relative passage of time faster and faster the closer the crew 
  gets to the core of the system. At the outer edges of the 
  Brain, time inside the field is moving at close to 25,000 times 
  faster than the outside universe, and closer into the center of 
  the Brain, time seems to be moving at millions of times faster.
  What becomes clear almost immediately is that the 
  networked processors of the Brain are simulating trillions of 
  minds at speeds where whole lifetimes could pass in a blink 
  of an eye. As the Starfleet crew attempts to make contact 
  with the minds inside the Brain, they discover that the path it 
  is on will take it through the newly settled Federation colony 
  in the Foggy Peak system, and that in two days it will begin 
  to interfere and disrupt ship traffic going to and from Foggy 
  Peak. The substantial subspace field surrounding the Brain 
  will cause disruption to a gas giant’s orbit and is already 
  causing the system’s Oort Cloud to be thrown into chaos. 
  While this gas giant does not have settlements on any of its 
  moons, the disruption of its orbit and the countless cometary 
  bodies in the Oort Cloud would cause devastation to Foggy 
  Peak itself from increased asteroid and cometary impacts if 
  the Brain isn’t able to change its course.
  The Starfleet crew must understand what they are seeing, 
  make contact with the inhabitants of the Brain, learn how 
  to communicate with very alien minds operating on time 
  scales far different than biological creatures, learn of their 
  culture and morals, and convince them of the importance of 
  changing their course.
  DIRECTIVES
  In addition to the Prime Directive, the Directives for this 
  mission are:
   §
  Seek Out New Life…
   §
  Ensure the Safety of Federation Citizens
  Gamemasters begin this mission with 2 points of Threat 
  for each Player Character in the group. 
  Traits that can be used during this Adventure:
  Subspace Interference: Anywhere inside the subspace field 
  containing the Brain is filled with overlapping and powerful 
  subspace transmissions that are unable to be interpreted 
  by the Players. This is from the intercommunication of the 
  Panels (see Sidebar below). All communication is limited to 
  only 10 meters unless otherwise noted.
  Mental Blackout: As there are literally trillions of minds 
  operating at speeds millions of times faster than biological 
  ones, characters with the Talents Telepath and Empath are 
  unable to gain any benefits from them as they are unable to 
  ‘hear’ or ‘sense’ anything over the white noise generated by 
  so many minds. There are so many minds that a Gamemaster 
  may also wish to impose a further Trait ‘Migraine’ onto any 
  telepath as they are unable to keep the constant noise from 
  intruding on their perceptions.
  UR-WAYFINDER
  REV
  GLA
  PWM
  VIN
  56777
  3432
  2232
  343
  7930
  33222
  4322
  53232
  43672
  6433
  5977
  3234
  530
  34545
  56443
  3532
  3242
  45
  42412
  56332
  32154
  WHELM
  
  003
  NEST IN THE DARK
  While this episode is set just after the events of The Next 
  Generation episode “Relics,” you can modify the timeline and 
  events of the episode for other eras of play as follows:
   
  §
  Enterprise: This adventure takes place on December 12th, 
  2154, between the Season 4 episodes of “Divergence” and 
  “Bound” (S04, E16 and E17) and occurs while the Enterprise 
  is en route to the Berengarius system, a fairly new colony 
  world for United Earth and a proposed location for a future 
  starbase. As this is one of the few Earth colonies that far out, 
  the stakes for speaking with the inhabitants of the Brain are 
  great. The events of the mission occur much the same as 
  written, though as the computer technology of the mid-22nd 
  century is still fairly primitive, Mercury will not be able to 
  download himself into the ship’s computer. Instead, Mercury 
  will ask to accompany the characters back to their vessel 
  to personally sample food and beverages in the mess hall. 
  Unable to actually eat, he will chew food and gulp fluids 
  and then spit them out politely back onto plates, glasses, 
  or utensils, complimenting as he goes. He will observe the 
  ship’s chef cooking a meal and even ask to help prepare a 
  meal before the ship and the characters leave the area of the 
  Brain. Mercury will then dissolve into nothing after bidding 
  the characters farewell.
   
  §
  The Original Series: This mission would take place in June 
  of 2268, after the events of the Original Series episode, 
  “The Ultimate Computer” (S2 E24). The Enlightened Brain 
  is on course to intersect the Berengarius system, causing 
  disruption to the starbase located around the planet and 
  could cause the destruction of the drydock facilities that 
  currently contain U.S.S. Excalibur and U.S.S. Lexington, 
  both being repaired after the damage they sustained during 
  the events of “The Ultimate Computer”. The events of the 
  mission occur much the same as written, but Mercury will 
  not be able to download a complex version of himself into 
  the ship’s computer. The duotronic systems of Starfleet 
  vessels will be able to handle a very primitive version of his 
  personality, and it will inhabit the food systems, modifying 
  orders as suggested in the main mission as he attempts to 
  understand food and drink. Any interactions with the crew 
  would be limited, with computer-like responses and very 
  little personality except for curiosity and happiness at finding 
  something new. No advantage to the ship’s computer will 
  occur with Mercury’s presence, and after a short amount of 
  time the limited copy of Mercury will transmit itself into deep 
  space via subspace.
  If there is a question if Mercury can inhabit the computer of a 
  vessel, assume that standard computer processors as found on 
  Enterprise-era starships are unable to contain any of his complex 
  thoughts. The most basic level of computer he can inhabit are 
  duotronic systems, developed by Dr. Richard Daystrom in 2243, 
  the complexity is described above in the Original Series, and 
  all ships built or refit after 2243 will contain these computer 
  systems. Isolinear computer systems developed in the early 
  24th century will be able to fully host Mercury as described in 
  the mission.
  ADAPTING THIS MISSION TO OTHER ERAS
  RESOURCES
  07A
  301
  APPL
  F-NN003
  QUANTUM
  7584
  91770
  11
  5931
  0334
  98383
  6444
  28033
  79597
  90038
  67
  78505
  5653
  34344
  9022
  4938
  67
  29844
  4542
  56
  7890
  300
  3422
  34
  56777
  45432
  3432
  67
  3322
  78
  2232
  2432
  343
  7900
  33222
  4322
  53232
  43672
  1063
  5977
  3234
  530
  34545
  56443
  3532
  3242
  4344
  45
  42412
  56332
  34344
  9022
  4938
  652
  1092
  54353
  865
  
  004 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  The Gamemaster may choose the read the following 
  descriptive text that sets up this episode:
  It’s close to the change between Alpha and Beta shifts, so 
  there are more than the usual number of crew on the bridge 
  as section chiefs and duty officers exchange mundane 
  information about ships systems or gossip about the 
  upcoming rendezvous with the Xi’an. The light mood of 
  the bridge is interrupted by a warning chime from the helm 
  console. Alerts begin chiming elsewhere in the ship at the 
  same moment…
  These alerts are caused by the vast symmetrical subspace 
  field surrounding the Enlightened’s Matryoshka Brain. The 
  current character at the helm station or at operations can 
  make a single attempt at a Reason + Conn Task with a 
  Difficulty of 1. With no Momentum spent, the Player will 
  learn that there is a subspace field that is not only slowing 
  down the starship in warp, but it covers a vast area. In 
  addition, the character at the Conn station will notice that 
  two subspace relays are out of position, not where they 
  should be. Spending one Momentum, the Player will learn 
  that the course of the ship is being distorted compared to 
  what it should be. And with two Momentum spent the Player 
  will learn that not only is space distorting more and more, 
  but time seems to be either speeding up compared to the 
  outside universe or the outside universe is slowing down. 
  The amount of time it takes to get this information is only 
  seconds, but at that point the starship is too deep into the 
  subspace field to stop the rest of this opening scene from 
  taking place. Read or paraphrase the following to the Players:
  The sound of the engines humming through the deck plates 
  becomes deeper as everyone on board feels a shaking. 
  On the viewscreen, the star trails contract and deepen in 
  color, becoming red before another warning chime sounds, 
  indicating that the ship has dropped to sub-light speeds. 
  Space outside of the vessel is strange; instead of the 
  starscape filled with stars from across the spectrum, only 
  the brightest stars are still visible as dull red specks. Nearly 
  in front of the ship is a diffuse red glow on the edge of the 
  visible spectrum.
  The ship’s momentum is currently taking the vessel closer to 
  the glow at one-quarter impulse. While there is no ‘edge’ to 
  the glow, a simple Reason + Conn Task with a Difficulty of 1 
  will show the Players that they are 5 AUs (Astronomical Units, 
  the average distance of the Earth to the Sun) from where the 
  glow’s intensity picks up and that at the current speed they’ll 
  reach it in a little over 11 hours. This is more than enough 
  time for the characters to research the phenomena they have 
  discovered, and they may wish to approach the ‘edges’ of 
  the Brain more quickly once they have figured out there is 
  no immediate threat. At full impulse power it will take a little 
  over 3.4 hours to reach the ‘edge.’ They will also discover 
  that the entire area around the phenomena is currently 
  moving through space at about 1/3rd the speed of light with 
  a course that will take it through the Foggy Peak system, 
  which contains a newly colonized Class-M world with around 
  75,000 Federation colonists. Where they lost warp speed 
  was technically still inside the outer edges of the system, 
  and the subspace field is most likely the reason why the two 
  subspace relays are out of position.
  The phenomenon is a Matryoshka Brain (see Sidebar). As 
  the Brain is an alien megastructure far outside of humanity’s 
  technological reach, allow Players to come up with outside 
  the box ideas on what to try to contact and/or study it. 
  The Brain will not respond to hails on standard sub-space 
  frequencies or even over light-speed bands; the characters 
  won’t know why, but it’s possible the subspace interference 
  could be making it difficult to detect. The following 
  Tasks can be undertaken to either figure out what it is, or 
  analyze phenomena.
  CHAPTER
  01.20
  ACT 1: SLOWBOAT BETWEEN THE STARS
  NEST IN THE DARK
  STARDATE 46137.5
  We have just left the Foggy Peak system and are en route to star 
  system 66-3-R-M2 to perform a search for a missing Starfleet 
  planetary survey probe. But the time it takes us to travel there 
  should be uneventful except for routine ship’s maintenance and 
  diagnostics.
  CAPTAIN’S LOG
  
  005
  NEST IN THE DARK
   §
  An Insight + Science or Insight + Engineering Task 
  with a Difficulty of 1 for analyzing the glowing haze in 
  front of the starship will tell the Players the following: With 
  no Momentum spent, the glowing haze in front of them 
  has a distributed mass of about half a standard Solar 
  Mass (~1x10^30 kg) over a diameter of approximately 
  a quarter AU and that the energy spectrum is primarily 
  in the infrared spectrum, with barely any reaching into 
  the human visual range. With Momentum spend they 
  also learn that haze is actually composed of trillions of 
  small objects, about 30cm x 30cm. Players can also 
  learn that there is a tiny M-class star at the center of the 
  objects, but all of the energy, including nearly 95% of the 
  neutrinos being emitted by the star are being absorbed 
  and re-emitted as waste heat. Applicable Focuses for this 
  test include Sensor Operations, Astrophysics, and other 
  similar focuses. 
   §
  If the chief engineer or someone in the Engineering 
  department wishes to immediately analyze why the warp 
  drive is losing power, right when warning chimes go off, 
  they may, but only a brief study can be undertaken before 
  the ship drops out of warp. A Reason + Engineering 
  Task with a Difficulty of 0 will show that there seems to 
  be a subspace field already warping space-time around 
  the ship. Analysis of the failure of the warp drive will 
  require a Reason + Engineering Task with a Difficulty 
  of 2.  Applicable focuses for this Task include Warp Field 
  Dynamics and Subspace Theory. With no Momentum 
  spent, the Player still gets enough information to tell that 
  subspace is turbulent and causing the nacelles to be 
  unable to generate a warp field. By spending Momentum, 
  the Player also learns that the warp systems themselves 
  suffered no damage and that the subspace interference 
  and the curvature of space-time gets stronger towards 
  the center of the phenomena and spending more also 
  gives the Players the knowledge that the interference isn’t 
  directed at the ship specifically, but seems to permeate 
  the space around them. 
  Gamemaster guidance: This interference is the subspace 
  communications between the individual processing units in 
  the Brain. This allows them to process information quickly 
  without the limitation of light-speed. Creative characters may 
  want to analyze the interference, and doing so will require a 
  Reason + Science Task with a Difficulty of 3. Success will 
  show that the interference is both patterned and complex 
  enough that it may indicate vast amounts of information being 
  shoved through subspace.
   §
  The strangeness of the stars can also be examined. 
  A Reason + Science Task with a Difficulty of 2 with 
  applicable focuses being Subspace Theory, Theoretical 
  Physics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics. On a success the 
  A Matryoshka Brain is an artificial structure built around a star 
  with many of the same techniques as a Dyson Sphere, Niven 
  Ring, or Shkadov Thruster. Its name comes from the Russian 
  nesting dolls where the larger doll contains a doll that is slightly 
  smaller, and that doll contains a slightly smaller one than that, 
  and so on. The Matryoshka Brain consists of multiple layers 
  of objects in orbit of a central star, each object able to absorb 
  incoming radiation, use the collected energy for computational 
  processes, and then radiate waste heat. Only the innermost layer 
  of these objects around the central star actually work off direct 
  solar radiation as each layer orbiting further away would rely 
  on the waste heat of the layer below it. The end result is a star 
  completely covered by layer upon layer of objects, interlinked 
  and processing data. This data can be any number of things, 
  attempting to compute Pi to the googolplex decimal place, 
  simulating whole universes in an attempt to understand our own, 
  or in this mission’s case, being host to trillions upon trillions of 
  sentient minds in a simulated reality indistinguishable from our 
  reality. In fact, as these minds operate at computer processing 
  speeds far in excess of modern computers, whole lifetimes can 
  be lived by beings inside a Matryoshka Brain in nanoseconds. 
  In this mission, this speed is increased even further by the 
  subspace field surrounding the Brain, much the same as 
  Starfleet computer cores, giving the Brain the ability to compute 
  data millions of times faster than it would normally.
  While Matryoshka Brains are composed of individual processing 
  units, the individual pieces act as a massive structure spanning 
  AUs across with the central star at its core being almost an 
  afterthought. The cloud of processing units, in this mission 
  they are ‘Panels’ (see Panels Sidebar), is dense enough that all 
  radiation from the central star is intercepted before it reaches 
  the outer edges of the Panel cloud. This means that for all 
  intents and purposes the central star is invisible and the only 
  glow would be in the near infrared from waste heat of trillions 
  of panels.
  A Matryoshka Brain should inspire and intimidate any character 
  seeing it with its sheer physical scale, and anyone with an idea 
  of how much engineering went into building it would be humbled 
  even if they personally designed the greatest mega-engineering 
  project in the Federation.  Even the scale of computing of this 
  Brain would put to shame every other computer combined in the 
  entire Milky Way Galaxy. What is a Matroyshka Brain? In many 
  ways everything that’s been told above only touches upon its 
  scale and importance.
  WHAT IS A MATRYOSHKA BRAIN?
  
  006 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  character will find that the reason that what few stars 
  are visible and red is because of two things: a temporal 
  acceleration (meaning time is moving much faster in the 
  local region of space as compared to the outside) and 
  a symmetrical subspace field, much like how Starfleet 
  uses the same kind of field around its large computer 
  cores on starships and starbases. Time is moving much 
  faster inside the field, whereas at the position the ship 
  dropped out of warp time is moving one thousand times 
  faster than the outside universe, but the acceleration 
  increases towards the center of the field to more than 
  four million times faster. As a comparison, a Galaxy-class 
  starship’s computer cores have a field that allow them  to 
  operate at 3.35 times faster than the outside universe.  
  Symmetrical subspace fields can operate inside each 
  other and inside an asymmetrical warp field (one that 
  provides propulsion), but an asymmetrical warp field 
  can’t form inside a symmetrical one, hence the starship 
  dropping from warp. If the character also knows that 
  the general course of the Brain will take it into the outer 
  areas of the Foggy Peak system, a Reason + Conn 
  Task with a Difficulty of 1 and access to data on the 
  Foggy Peak system will show that the subspace field will 
  intersect a large gas giant and pass through the system’s 
  Oort Cloud. As time moves differently inside the field, 
  this planet will, in effect, have its orbit modified and will 
  disturb the comets, and will cause a lot of problems for 
  Foggy Peak itself.
   §
  To figure out what the object is will require a character 
  with a Focus of Computers or Terraforming (this Focus 
  connects to ideas of building large space structures), 
  has a background as a member of the Starfleet Corps of 
  Engineers, or other applicable attributes as determined 
  by the Gamemaster. Before the end of the Act, a 
  character should be able to put together a lot of the clues 
  from above and make an Insight + Science Task with 
  a Difficulty of 2. This will allow the Player to figure out 
  that what they are seeing is a Matryoshka Brain and that 
  the complex subspace interference could resemble the 
  activity of a neural network transmitting at faster than 
  light speeds, meaning it could be one intelligent mind, or 
  trillions working in concert…
  It’s assumed that the Players allowed the starship to continue 
  to drift on its momentum, but if they stopped right after 
  entering the sub-space field, the same descriptions still 
  apply. At the end of this Act, sensors will begin to show 
  movement of the haze of objects besides their slow orbit 
  around the center of the gravity well. You may choose to read 
  the following to the Players:
  There is a small increase of light at the core of the haze, deep 
  red, but only for a moment before disappearing. Patterns 
  begin to form in the featureless grey haze, long twisting lines 
  and arcs of circles. Ordering the viewscreen to maximum 
  magnification, the same patterns are seen, fractal in nature. 
  One particular knot of converging mass is at a point directly 
  between the starship and the center of mass.
  Any character currently at a sensor operations station, or any 
  bridge station may attempt a Reason + Science Task with 
  a Difficulty of 0 to discover that there is a small knot of the 
  objects combining into an object approximately the same 
  size and dimensions as their starship, appearing to be a 
  duplicate of their starship. This is not a perfect duplicate as it 
  is made from the 30cm x 30cm plates that alternate between 
  becoming almost perfect mirrors and perfectly black. They 
  can also tell that a Class-M atmosphere is beginning to take 
  shape inside…
  Gamemaster advice: This Act should give Players a sense 
  of wonder and amazement. The scale and power of the Brain 
  should be enough to make the characters stand in awe even 
  without knowing exactly what it is. Discovering that the Brain is 
  on a course that could negatively impact a Federation colony 
  should also give the characters a drive to figure everything 
  out. Be careful to not give the impression that anything that 
  is happening to the ship and crew is antagonistic. At first 
  the Brain could care less that a starship has stumbled into 
  their space. Then the beings inside become curious to see if 
  this species is ‘evolved’ or ‘Enlightened’. It will be clear that 
  Starfleet has never encountered anything like this before, 
  barring any very recent reports from the Enterprise-D and the 
  Dyson Sphere, so things should feel new and strange. The 
  Players should want to get closer to the anomaly at the end of 
  the Act to investigate.
  QUEEN COIL SYSTEM
  COLLAB
  MODE SELECT
  AES 400
  QUAL
  +
  –
  MELIANRON
  ICARUS
  ELV
  
  007
  NEST IN THE DARK
  SUPPLEMENTAL
  Our discovery of an alien megastructure similar to what was called 
  a Matryoshka Brain will undoubtedly send ripples through the 
  Federation once our survey is complete, but that seems far from 
  happening. The Brain seems to be responding to our presence, but 
  without any indication of hostility or overt communications. We’ve 
  been on approach to what seems to be a reconstruction of our ship; 
  perhaps this is their attempt at first contact.
  CAPTAIN’S LOG
  As the characters’ starship moves towards the duplicate 
  they will notice more and more of the orbiting plates. They 
  always seem to begin to drift in a random direction as the 
  ship approaches, allowing the vessel to pass by with room 
  to spare before they drift back into position. A Reason + 
  Science Task with a Difficulty of 0 will allow the Players 
  to notice that the plates they are moving past always 
  seem to turn their black side towards them and increase 
  in temperature slightly. This is due to the plates absorbing 
  the radiant energy coming from the ship, not draining it, but 
  acting more like solar panels on a sunny day. After a while 
  they go back to their original orientations. 
  The object that resembles the character’s starship is a fairly 
  good reproduction. It looks similar on the outside except 
  ACT 2: STANDARDIZED TESTING
  CHAPTER
  01.30 NEST IN THE DARK
  The computational units that comprise the Enlightened’s 
  Matryoshka Brain are referred to in this mission as ‘Panels’. 
  These panels are approximately one meter by one meter and 
  0.2mm thick.  One side of the Panel is black, and sensors 
  scanning it will show that it absorbs almost all incoming 
  radiation, in fact even ship board sensors have trouble getting 
  readings on the panels from that side as the returns are 
  miniscule. This side of the panel is used for energy collection. 
  The other side of the panel is a perfect mirror, it reflects all 
  energy and even emits waste heat from the panel after it 
  has processed the incoming power and used it to power its 
  computers. Between these two sides is the actual ‘Brain’, 
  layer upon layer of molecular circuitry, subspace transceivers, 
  quantum replication and repair devices, graviton emitters, 
  and even tiny and hyper-efficient ion thrusters. Each of these 
  panels plays host to tens of millions of individual sentient 
  beings and simulation data for the area of their universe they 
  currently occupy. Enough processing power is still left over 
  to allow each panel excess processor time to allow the Brain 
  overall to simulate and analyse the universe around them as 
  well as simulating possible futures and alternate universes. As 
  an example, it’s entirely possible the Enlightened have already 
  simulated the Mirror Universe, along with every intelligent 
  being that ever existed or will exist in it before saving the whole 
  simulation to deep memory as a ‘possible quantum state of the 
  universe’. Scans of the panels will show incalculable amounts 
  of data being received, altered, and transmitted every moment. 
  Thus, any scan of the panels will be gibberish as even the most 
  advanced Federation technology won’t be able to keep up with 
  the speeds and the amount of data it encounters.
  The panels themselves are able to interact in other ways besides 
  with their subspace transceivers. Their graviton emitters and 
  ion thrusters can move them and anchor them together to build 
  structures as seen in this adventure. Their on-board repair and 
  replication systems can also generate objects and material 
  not present, like when a Class M atmosphere is formed, or an 
  engineering console. Local gravity can also be modified through 
  their graviton emitters. Each plate, while individually small, 
  should awe any scientist or engineer that encounters them. 
  Any data analysis, scans, or attempts at tampering with the 
  Panels can cause Complications through automatic defence 
  systems, overloading the databanks of a tricorder, or even the 
  occupants of the Brain actively trying to keep their privacy. The 
  Gamemaster should increase the Complication range of any 
  Task involving the plates by 3-5.
  MATRYOSHKA BRAIN PANELS
  
  008 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  for being made of the plates alternating between black and 
  reflective. Wherever there is external lighting on the original, 
  the duplicate also has it, including navigational lights. Interior 
  scans of the ship are very hazy except that there is a Class M 
  atmosphere inside at standard pressures and temperatures. 
  No transporter lock can be achieved at this time due to the 
  subspace interference.
  There is one crucial difference in the navigation lights. This 
  is the first of many tests the characters will run across. To 
  notice this difference, a character will need access to a visual 
  feed of the object and succeed in a Reason + Engineering 
  Task or a Reason + Command Task (due to training 
  dealing with First Contact Protocols) with a Difficulty of 1. 
  If successful, the character will notice that the navigation 
  lights aren’t flashing in the proper pattern. The green lights 
  are flashing in a varying number of pulses followed by a 
  pause. After a sequence of green pulses occurs there is a 
  long pause before the entire sequence repeats. A Reason + 
  Science (or Command) Task with a Difficulty of 1 will allow 
  a character to know that these pulses are a five number 
  Fibonacci sequence, “3,5,8,13,21”. A possible response 
  might be to have the green navigation lights on board their 
  vessel repeat those numbers, and if the characters try this 
  the Brain will not stop the pulsing, it will continue to attempt 
  to get the correct response. The response it is trying to get 
  is the next number, “34”. If the characters flash the green 
  navigation lights 34 times rapidly, the green lights on the 
  duplicate will stop blinking and stay on, signifying success. 
  The red lights on the other side of the vessel are flashing 
  in a different pattern, “7,11,13,17,19”. Another Reason + 
  Science (or Command) Task with a Difficulty of 1 will allow 
  a character to know that these pulses are a sequence of five 
  Prime Numbers. Once again, if the characters program the 
  red navigation lights to pulse the next prime number, “23”, 
  the red light will switch to being continually lit, signifying a 
  success. These tests are there to make sure the crew of the 
  ship are intelligent and can reprogram automatic functions 
  of the ship and aren’t just parasites of some sort living 
  on board.
  At this point the subspace interference preventing a 
  transporter lock fades away as most of the free drifting 
  panels move further away from the Player Characters’ 
  ship. The area where there is the strongest signal lock is 
  where Main Engineering would be. Checking sensors again 
  for environmental conditions in the area is a Reason + 
  Science Task with a Difficulty of 0 and would show that the 
  atmospheric composition, pressure, and temperature is an 
  exact match to current shipboard conditions, but gravity is 
  very low at about 0.15G’s. The Gamemaster may wish to use 
  the Trait Low Gravity to increase the difficulty for Players 
  that go aboard the ship. This is clearly an invitation for the 
  characters to beam over. Once a party beams over, you may 
  choose to read the following description of the simulacrum’s 
  Main Engineering:
  As the transporter beams’ glow leaves the area, you see a 
  fairly accurate reproduction of main engineering in the dim 
  glow of the warp core. Small hissing noises begin around 
  you and there is a sharp smell of ozone as more lights snap 
  into existence and light the room in a more normal way. Even 
  in full lighting the section you see is entirely monochrome 
  and made of overlapping panels of mirror and black. Taking 
  bounding low gravity steps towards one of the engineering 
  consoles shows them non-responsive and dark, but touching 
  them gives the person the sense of a high frequency buzz 
  moving through every surface.
  Characters may scan the local surroundings using tricorders 
  and similar devices with more detail then the shipboard 
  sensors can accomplish. Any specific thing the characters 
  are looking for requires a Reason + Science (or Security) 
  Task with a Difficulty of 1. There is nothing wrong with the 
  air and gravity is low because there are few sources of 
  gravitons under the ‘deck plates’. The lights inside the room 
  are white, but are subtly different from the white light of a 
  G2V class star such as Sol, and would suggest a world with 
  a slightly cooler star and a thicker atmosphere then what is 
  present. The plates making up the ship and the room all still 
  seem to be active in that they are communicating with each 
  other through subspace. A close scan of a plate focusing 
  on any technology present will require a Reason + Science 
  Task with a Difficulty of 2. If successful, the characters will 
  show that each plate seems to be densely packed with 
  carbon nanotube data storage and what appear to be highly 
  advanced positronic neural networks that run between 
  the storage and a subspace transceiver. What is clear is 
  that each plate could hold the contents of Memory Alpha 
  thousands of times over.
  At this point one of the more aggressive and abstract tests 
  should occur. A character that is off by themselves, perhaps 
  the one doing the scanning of the plates, will see a spike in 
  power consumption. A nearby ‘engineering console’ will light 
  up with holographic text and images. You may choose to 
  read the following to the Players:
  The gentle sound of scanning tricorders is suddenly broken 
  by a loud electrical ‘snap’ and a horn that bleats with a sound 
  similar to a honking elephant from Earth. One of the consoles 
  lights up with strange symbols and text just as a ‘popping’ 
  sound emanates from around (((insert character name here))). 
  They are surrounded with an amber hued bubble that has cut 
  them off from the rest of the crew.
  For all intents and purposes, this should look like an 
  automated security measure of some sort has been 
  triggered. The honking alert sound will continue to blare 
  until the characters outside the bubble solve the puzzle 
  that is described in the following paragraph. This alert horn 
  produces the Complication “Distracting Noise”. Any Tasks 
  taken while the alert horn is sounding are unable to benefit 
  from a character’s Advantage and increases the Complication 
  
  009
  NEST IN THE DARK
  range of any Task by 2, unless that character is deaf or can 
  use another advantage to cancel out the distracting loud 
  noise. As the bubble is brought into existence, the subspace 
  interference returns and makes it impossible for a transporter 
  lock to be achieved on any character currently on board the 
  alien structure. Communication with the ship is still possible, 
  but filled with interference, for all except for the character 
  inside the bubble. Characters wishing to scan the bubble 
  will require succeeding in a Reason + Science Task with a 
  Difficulty of 1. A success will show that the bubble quickly 
  materialized via a replicator-like technology. It is composed 
  of a transparent titanium/cobalt alloy that acts as a room-
  temperature superconductor. It is airtight, prevents sound 
  from moving through it from the occupant on the inside, and 
  will disperse any energy from a hand phaser directed at it 
  without showing any sign of damage. The character inside 
  can be estimated to have about 10 minutes of oxygen. 
  Please note: The Enlightened will *not* kill a character. This 
  test is to see if the biological creatures currently there are not 
  only intelligent but also possess compassion, something the 
  aliens feel is necessary to communicate.
  The console that lit up with symbols is a series of logic 
  problems in an ancient (and therefore less complex) language 
  of the Enlightened. It is designed to resemble a security 
  alert and security override. To solve this puzzle, the Players 
  will need to be successful in an Extended Task, with a Work 
  of 10, a Magnitude of 3, a Resistance of 2, and a base 
  Difficulty of 4, and the Difficulty decreases by 1 with each 
  Breakthrough. This Extended Task must be completed in 
  10 intervals (minutes) before the oxygen inside the bubble 
  runs out and the character inside begins suffocating. Each 
  Task to complete the Extended Task takes 2 intervals, thus 
  the characters get 5 attempts. If the bubble hasn’t been 
  broken by 10 intervals, the character inside will take a non-
  lethal injury from lack of oxygen, and 2 intervals later the 
  bubble will disappear to release the character because the 
  Enlightened only wish to test for compassion and do not 
  Some groups may not be science focused and are more focused 
  on Command or Security, and if you feel like you should make 
  puzzles that are a little more straightforward for your group, feel 
  free. Some ideas would be the Enlightened making a rat maze 
  for the Players to run through to find a goal, or anything else you 
  may find in an ‘Escape Room’ type situation. The main goal of 
  these tests is to determine if the characters are both intelligent 
  and compassionate. On the other hand, if one of your Players 
  is a mathematician, they may be able to figure out what the 
  numbers puzzles mean almost immediately without even having 
  to make a roll. If their character could legitimately also figure 
  this out, let them have it! That is great, and maybe even give 
  the Player a point of Momentum. If that is not the case though, 
  you should prepare a couple more mathematics type puzzles 
  using Base 8 numbers and unique symbols for numbers. The 
  Enlightened had 4 fingers on each hand, thus base 8 numbers, 
  and this has held over into their digital existence as 8 is 2^3. 
  Remember that no test should actually result in harm to a 
  character; the Enlightened are compassionate and wish to only 
  communicate with compassionate beings.
  Additional Tests can include:
   
  §
  On the initial approach to the duplicate starship, the 
  Enlightened could attempt to make a three dimensional 
  maze of their plates that forms around their own starship, 
  only allowing them to move forward in an attempt to make 
  their way to the duplicate to find a way out. This would be 
  a good opportunity for a helmsman or navigator to show off 
  their skills with a Conn + Reason Task with a Difficulty of 
  2. To make this more difficult, the Gamemaster may choose 
  to spend Threat to cause a Conn + Daring Task with a 
  Difficulty of up to 3 (1 for each Threat spent) as the plates 
  shift and reconfigure in complex patterns while the ship 
  navigates the maze. The maze pulls itself apart as soon as 
  the starship makes its way through it to the duplicate ship.
   
  §
  Once the task of deciphering the alien text is complete, 
  instead of letting the shield deactivate let a access panel 
  open on the side of the pedestal of the controls where there 
  are fine wires and circuitry that still have power running 
  through them. To repair the circuits will require a Control + 
  Engineering Task with a Difficulty of 2.
   
  §
  A door can be between where the characters beam into the 
  duplicate vessel and main engineering. The door mechanism 
  doesn’t seem to be functioning properly. To open the 
  door and keep it open requires two separate characters 
  to perform actions. The first requires a Fitness + Security 
  Task with a Difficulty of 1 to force open the doors and hold 
  them in place against closing while a second character 
  accomplishes a Daring + Engineering Task with a Difficulty 
  of 1 to find the inner control surface for the door to disable to 
  safety mechanism that is trying to close it.
   
  §
  Once Mercury appears, Mercury could put on an act of not 
  seeming to care about the existence of lesser life forms that 
  may or may not be hurt by the passage of the Enlightened’s 
  Brain. This would be to force the characters to make an 
  impassioned plea, or a logical case for compassion and the 
  right of others to exist. This kind of psychological test would 
  require a Presence + Command Task with a Difficulty of 2.
  PUZZLE SOLVING
  
  010 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  wish to harm anyone. The Gamemaster may choose the 
  character’s Extended Task Effect based on how they are 
  approaching the problem. The individual Task rolls can be 
  either Insight + Science, Insight + Engineering, or Reason 
  + Engineering. A character possessing a portable Universal 
  Translator (Opportunity 1) will give the Player an extra dice 
  for rolls involving the types of Tasks described above, as 
  almost all of the puzzles being presented use symbols and 
  iconography that are not easily understood.
  Once the Extended Task is completed, the bubble will 
  disappear in an amber-colored flash of light, the alarms 
  go silent, and the console that the characters have been 
  translating and tapping icons on goes dark once again. The 
  interference with transporters once again disappears, but 
  the characters will not have a chance to beam away before 
  they finally encounter one of the Enlightened, a being named 
  ‘Mercury’. The Act ends with the following descriptive text 
  that you may choose to read to your Players:
  The silence is a welcome relief after the honking of the 
  alarms. As your suffering crewmate gulps mouthfuls of fresh 
  air, a bright light emanates from the replica of the warp core, 
  making some of your hearts miss a beat as the assumption of 
  a crack in the matter or anti-matter feed must have occurred, 
  until you remember it’s not really a warp core. The light seems 
  to focus on a point five meters away from you and begins 
  to strobe as it seemingly begins to print a shape into the air 
  itself. The form becomes humanoid as a smell that reminds 
  some of you of sickbay begins to emanate from the being 
  taking shape, layer upon layer, in front of you. Finally, the 
  light snaps off, leaving a two and a half meter tall humanoid 
  standing before you, pale, naked, sexless, and nearly 
  featureless except for two expressive human-like blue eyes 
  and a well-formed mouth. It raises its four-fingered hand in 
  greeting and says in Federation Standard, “I have prepared 
  for this moment. It is good that my preparations were not in 
  vain. You are explorers, yes? We are as well. You may refer 
  to me as…‘Mercury.’” Mercury is the name that issues forth 
  from the universal translator after the being makes a series of 
  words in attempt to describe itself. It continues, “You are now 
  welcome here for a time, but that time is short.”
  EMERG OVERRIDE
  LCARS MODE
  VOX
  200
  TWELVE
  9002
  MICRO
  MELD
  1212
  09
  43R
  9166
  98383
  6444
  28033
  79597
  90038
  67
  78505
  5653
  34344
  9022
  4938
  67
  29844
  4542
  56
  7890
  300
  3422
  34
  56777
  45432
  3432
  67
  3322
  78
  2232
  2432
  343
  7900
  33222
  4322
  53232
  43672
  6433
  5977
  3234
  530
  34545
  56443
  3532
  3242
  4344
  45
  42412
  56332
  54353
  865
  90038
  34344
  9022
  29844
  4542
  34
  56777
  3432
  2232
  343
  7930
  OPS
  STARBOARD EXTERNALS
  QUELL
  ALFA
  SENC
  OLL
  EXTERIOR NODE
  081302
  
  011
  NEST IN THE DARK
  Mercury as a character is naïve in how he believes that 
  others will always act in the best interests of the greater 
  good. In some ways he comes across as a child as he’s 
  never interacted with biological lifeforms before. He finds the 
  little things fascinating that most people take for granted, 
  like breathing, eating, sleeping (this concept would terrify 
  him if it is explained as it would resemble being shut down 
  for large segments of time), and forgetting memories. On 
  the other hand, he can come across as almost god-like and 
  his name symbolizes that. Mercury is not just a messenger 
  god of Rome (and the being that speaks for the Enlightened 
  is a messenger of sorts), but is also a god of boundaries 
  and travelers. When and if the Players explain the meaning 
  behind the name given by the universal translator, Mercury 
  will be concerned that the characters may begin worshiping 
  him, and will try to explain that he’s not a god, just a very 
  advanced being, and react with relief when the characters 
  explain that they understand this.
  Scanning Mercury’s body and getting information that 
  makes sense out of the tricorder will require a Reason + 
  Science or Reason + Medicine Task with a Difficulty of 2. 
  With a success the characters will learn that his body is a 
  combination of biological material resembling the epidermis 
  of Earth corals, metal, and nanotube carbon skeleton, and 
  superconducting wiring acting as nerves that connect to a 
  central processing unit the size of a pea in the center of his 
  cranium. He has no gastrointestinal tract as there is no need 
  for him to eat, nor does he have an autoimmune system as 
  the body that was created is not assumed to have to live long 
  enough to need them. He will not object to being scanned, 
  but will ask if he may do the same to an “exemplar of the 
  species present aboard your starship”. If asked what the 
  scans will be used for, he will respond with, “The same uses 
  the scan you took of me will be for.”
  One of the first things Mercury will explain, without a need 
  for a Task, is the basic history of the Enlightened, edited for 
  consumption by less developed cultures. He will leave out 
  the fact the Enlightened came from a Dyson Sphere, but he 
  will say that they came from a world of their own making. He 
  will explain that his people became intellectually stagnant 
  over millions of years and then chose to re-engineer stars to 
  house the minds of their people before setting out to explore 
  the galaxies. If pressed about the other Brains out there, he 
  ACT 3: SPACELAND PANIC
  CHAPTER
  01.40 NEST IN THE DARK
  SUPPLEMENTAL
  The away team’s presence in the doppelganger of our starship 
  seemed to trigger a security response, surprising those of us 
  monitoring from the bridge. Even more surprising was that when the 
  security system was disarmed, an inhabitant of the Brain appeared 
  in physical form, giving us the rare opportunity to make first contact 
  with a more advanced civilization than our own.
  CAPTAIN’S LOG
  5653
  34344
  4938
  67
  29844
  300
  3422
  34
  567
  432
  3322
  9932
  2432
  343
  4322
  53232
  43672
  3234
  530
  3443
  3532
  3242
  4412
  56332
  54353
  5911
  865
  0031
  AUX
  LYS004
  SYSTEMS
  TRACE
  RUN
  SCAN
  
  012 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  will say he has never spoken with any Enlightened from those 
  Brains personally— it was not within his area of training. No 
  matter what, he will refuse to allow any sort of technological 
  exchange and would ask that any detailed scans of their 
  plates that would detail the processors or subspace 
  transceivers be deleted as the scans could be used to intrude 
  upon the thoughts that beings were having at the moment of 
  the scans, much like looking inside someone’s dreams.
  Further information will require a Presence + Command Task 
  with a Difficulty of 2. If the Task is successful, the Players 
  spend Momentum, and Mercury is pressed on certain matters, 
  he will give more information. Examples of this can include:
   §
  If asked about how many beings ‘live’ inside the Brain, he will 
  respond with “greater than a few quintillion at last count”
   §
  If asked about how he prepared for meeting them, he will 
  explain that he was created by six ‘parents’ that formed 
  him from pieces of their own code.  He was then ‘taught’ 
  much of the historical archive the Enlightened had on 
  biological beings, which is not very complete any longer 
  as information from the time they were biological is vastly 
  out of date. Then he observed the away team’s behavior 
  for decades of his own time.
   §
  Other things he may be asked about, the Gamemaster 
  should come up with unique responses as befitting a 
  being that really doesn’t want to share technology or 
  secrets, but is happy to share experiences.
   §
  If asked why they were unable to detect the Brain before 
  interacting with its subspace field, Mercury will explain 
  The Enlightened have had a long and complex history that 
  has led them from their isolated homeworld, to building Dyson 
  Spheres, and then beyond physical existence. The following 
  points are things that Mercury may share with characters, or 
  specifically may want to talk around, not answering.
   
  §
  The Enlightened began as a biological species and achieved 
  space-flight tens of millions of years ago, a species began 
  to explore the space around their home system. At the time, 
  their home star was accompanied by four other nearby 
  stars, but no others within a few hundred light-years as this 
  cluster’s orbit was highly inclined to the galactic plane.
   
  §
  The Enlightened gave up on space travel and exploration 
  after it had charted the mineral-poor worlds of the nearby 
  systems. But the invention of specific technologies that 
  resembled 24th century replicators resulted in a cultural 
  revolution of sorts and they began to dissolve asteroids and 
  small moons for minerals to manufacture millions of stellar 
  orbiting habitats that would go onto house trillions of beings.
   
  §
  They made the decision to deconstruct their own home 
  world, saving the wildlife they could, and began cannibalizing 
  the mineral-poor worlds of the nearby systems to build a 
  Dyson Sphere. The project took tens of thousands of years, 
  but the result was capable of comfortably allowing hundreds 
  of trillions of beings to live comfortably without worry of 
  disease, starvation, or wants of any kind.
   
  §
  Millions of years passed as the civilization inhabited and 
  filled the Dyson Sphere. Thousands of separate civilizations 
  rose and fell in this time and there were many times the 
  inhabitants nearly destroyed themselves in war. Entire new 
  species of intelligent life arose through natural evolution. 
  There were ages where swaths of the Sphere lost technology 
  entirely and fell into barbarism. At one point a technologically 
  enlightened body ruled over the majority of the Sphere, 
  called ‘The Enlightened.’
   
  §
  The Enlightened chose to abandon the Sphere and 
  download their minds into computers, allowing extended 
  life (as some segments of the population of the Sphere had 
  done dozens of times over the millions of years of their 
  history) and powered by the stellar corpses that still escorted 
  their enclosed star through its long galactic orbit. They did 
  this so they would have a chance to explore the galaxies 
  they had never been a part of.
   
  §
  Matryoshka Brains were constructed around each of the four 
  companion stars and a mass exodus into simulated reality 
  began to occur, with a few of their race wishing to instead 
  remain behind to shut down the equipment maintaining the 
  Dyson Sphere so the technology wouldn’t fall into the hands 
  of less developed species. Each of the four Brains chose 
  a different path, with one wishing to experience the galaxy 
  they had for so long seen from the outside, the Milky Way, 
  the others may have already left our galaxy.
   
  §
  For hundreds of thousands of years, the Brain that wished 
  to stay in our galaxy has continued to wander and explore, 
  but staying out of the affairs of less developed species. The 
  inhabitants exist in a perfectly simulated reality where they 
  live, die (if they so choose), give birth, evolve, and adapt at 
  speeds millions of times faster than reality. Those that live 
  inside the simulation resemble the beings that first created 
  the Dyson Sphere as much as a human resembles a Horta, 
  and resemble their ancestors as much as humans to mice.
  THE HISTORY OF THE ENLIGHTENED
  
  013
  NEST IN THE DARK
  that by using the subspace field as a gravitational 
  dampener they are able to hide the presence of the entire 
  mass of the system, and sensor beams are just absorbed 
  into the local space-time and lose energy before 
  bouncing back a return.
  There are a few things that the away team or Mercury may 
  bring up specifically dealing with current concerns or wishes 
  by either group. If the characters ask for an exchange in 
  technology, no Task is needed; this is not acceptable. The 
  Enlightened are unwilling to provide lesser-developed species 
  with technology that they have not developed themselves. 
  Mercury will state that the danger posed by such technology 
  falling into the wrong hands has made them destroy starships 
  that have previously stumbled upon their Brain. A Presence 
  + Command Task with a Difficulty of 2 succeeding in 
  trying to get more information out of Mercury about this old 
  starship would result in him revealing that they were a ship 
  of Romulans who visited nearly one thousand years ago (in 
  the reckoning of the outside universe). If pressed on sharing 
  technology, Mercury will ask them (politely) to leave before 
  their welcome is revoked before dematerializing the same 
  way he arrived.
  Asking Mercury if the Brain can shift its course so the 
  subspace field doesn’t interfere further with the Foggy Peak 
  system will not require a Task. Mercury will explain that they 
  had been monitoring the comings and goings of the colony 
  ships and Starfleet vessels in the area and realized that ‘…
  the system you refer to as Foggy Peak has become inhabited 
  by advanced biological lifeforms.’ They wished to approach 
  slowly so as to monitor communications and get more 
  information about the Federation. He will also explain that 
  they did not know if the Federation’s presence would still be 
  there once they arrived. This may sound strange, but time in 
  the outside universe is a variable amount of time inside the 
  subspace field of the Brain.
  Once Mercury understands that the course they are on will 
  cause Starfleet and the Federation concern once the Player 
  Characters’ ship leaves, Mercury will nod and inform the 
  characters that the course they are on will take them through 
  the cometary cloud of the system because they need the raw 
  materials to construct more plates and to ‘restock our central 
  star with hydrogen’. To have Mercury explain this further will 
  require a Reason + Command Task with a Difficulty of 2. He 
  will explain that they use their central star not only as a power 
  source that will last trillions of years, with re-engineering, but 
  also as a manufacturing center for elements heavier than 
  hydrogen. A Character with a Focus of Astronavigation (or 
  a similar focus) may make a Reason + Conn Task with a 
  Difficulty of 1 to know of a star system in the local area with 
  no life-bearing worlds that could provide the same resources 
  and avoid busy transit routes. 
  Even with this information, Mercury will prove to not 
  understand the concern of the characters. Disrupting the 
  Oort Cloud seems such a minor issue, and Mercury will state 
  that the starship they arrived in has the ability to generate 
  graviton beams, so any comets that may be accidently 
  sent towards the inhabited planet could be deflected by 
  starships. He will argue that their sensors could show any 
  objects that may impact their worlds with enough lead time 
  to evacuate people from near the impact sites, and the 
  Federation clearly has the technology to terraform worlds 
  and repair any damage that may occur. Clearly Mercury sees 
  these problems on a different scale, not seeing accidents 
  or mistakes that could occur, nor seeing the amount of 
  effort such tasks would take. The Enlightened clearly have 
  a detached perspective on the universe even if they do care 
  about intelligent life and have compassion. 
  The solution to the problem of scale and perspective 
  between the characters and Mercury will require humility, 
  attempting to explain how biological beings may not see the 
  events that will occur in the same light, nor will Starfleet be 
  able to divert enough vessels to properly deflect all incoming 
  cometary bodies towards Foggy Peak, and perhaps people 
  won’t want to leave the homes in the evacuation zones that 
  they’ve made for themselves as they have grown emotionally 
  attached to what they have created. Regardless, convincing 
  Mercury, and thus convincing the rest of the Enlightened, 
  will be a difficult task. Mercury will not argue against the 
  characters, rather he will allow them to make their arguments 
  freely and judge them accordingly. This will require the 
  Players to accomplish a Linear Challenge with two Key 
  Tasks. The first Key Task is to convince Mercury of the ethics 
  of the Brain’s course, and why it will cause harm. This will 
  require a successful Reason (or Presence) + Command 
  Task with a Difficulty of 2. Once Mercury is convinced of 
  the moral argument, the Enlightened and Mercury will need 
  to be convinced there is an alternative that does not cause 
  them problems and is practical. This will require a Reason 
  (or Presence) + Conn (or Command) Task with a Difficulty 
  of 3. The Reason + Conn Task represents an approach that 
  is more logical and provides information about other nearby 
  star systems that can provide the materials they need. The 
  Presence + Command Task represents a more emotional or 
  moral argument that focuses on how the Enlightened are in 
  a position of being protectors and stewards of intelligent life, 
  and should take any means to preserve it and let it thrive. 
  When successful Mercury will hold up his hand and inform 
  the characters that the Enlightened of heard and deliberated 
  amongst themselves enough and that he has recommended 
  that they change course. If the characters are able to go 
  through the Linear Challenge without any Complications, 
  Mercury will do the same as described above, but also 
  apologize to the characters for seeming inconsiderate, and 
  that the Enlightened perhaps have once again become 
  stagnant in their thinking about the outside universe and that 
  it was a good thing to have encountered the Federation when 
  they had.
  
  014 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  Mercury will ask to exchange cultural information, such 
  as music, fiction, artwork (both holographic, patterns for 
  sculptures, paintings, etc.). He will inform the characters that 
  the Enlightened spend much of their time in the pursuit of 
  beauty when not observing and attempting to understand 
  the outside universe. If the characters agree, Mercury will ask 
  for access to the ships main computer and upload the same 
  amount of cultural items as the Enlightened take from the 
  main computer’s databases. If the characters volunteer one 
  type of art that he did not mention, the culinary arts, Mercury 
  will be fascinated. The Enlightened have not needed to eat 
  for sustenance since they became creatures of information. 
  The idea of eating food will make him far more animated 
  and excited, wanting to sample food. This is, of course, 
  impossible for him as he has no gastrointestinal tract.
  If the characters have been very polite and have been 
  forthcoming with answering any questions Mercury has, 
  he may at the Gamemaster’s discretion, download a small 
  portion of his personality into the main computer of the 
  character’s starship as he wishes to experience eating (and 
  other cultural activities) and then report back to his people 
  on this experience. If this occurs, the characters won’t find 
  out about this semi-independent program until the beginning 
  of their next adventure where Mercury may appear during 
  holodeck programs that involve food and alcoholic drinks. 
  His voice may also manifest itself from replicators when 
  characters ask for certain food items, giving commentary on 
  if he has ‘tasted’ the food, and what he thinks of it. In rare 
  circumstances he may live up to the trickster aspect of his 
  name and provide a ‘better’ selection of foodstuffs than the 
  MERCURY (LIMITED COPY OF ORIGINAL), ENLIGHTENED DATA-BASED LIFEFORM [NOTABLE NPC]
  TRAITS: Enlightened, Curious
  VALUE: Enjoying New Experiences and Making Others do the Same
  ATTRIBUTES
  DISCIPLINES
  01
  COMMAND
  01
  SECURITY
  03
  SCIENCE
  01
  CONN
  04
  ENGINEERING
  02
  MEDICINE
  09 
  CONTROL
  09
  FITNESS
  08 
  PRESENCE
  07
  DARING
  10
  INSIGHT
  08
  REASON
  FOCUSES: Computer Technologies, Art and Literature
  STRESS: 10 
  RESISTANCE: 0
  ATTACKS:
   §
  None
  SPECIAL RULES:
   §
  SENTIENT CODE. Any attempt to remove Mercury from the main 
  computer is exceedingly difficult and all Tasks to do so have their 
  Difficulty increased by 2. Furthermore, attempts to disrupt the 
  computer of a vessel hosting Mercury, or change its code has the 
  Difficulty and Complication Range of the Task increased by 1 as 
  Mercury acts as a counter-measure to protect his ‘home’.
  Mercury in Play: Mercury is the name given by the Universal 
  Translator to a being encountered by Starfleet in the Enlightened’s 
  Matryoshka Brain. Only moments old when first encountered by 
  the Federation, Mercury had actually spent decades of subjective 
  time inside the Enlightened’s simulated universe preparing as best 
  it could for making First Contact. In person, when met at the 
  Matryoshka Brain, Mercury is very bland in both personality 
  and appearance. Mercury appears at first as a nude two-
  and-a-half meter tall genderless humanoid. His skin is pale, 
  almost translucent, and he is hairless. He refers to himself 
  as a male based on the origins of his name in human 
  mythology, but otherwise has nothing that would make him 
  male or female. This is the same appearance he will have 
  when he begins appearing on a vessels holodeck. He will 
  behave strangely until he is used to observing humanoid 
  interactions with each other, and then he may begin ‘wearing’ 
  clothes and smiling. Mercury’s attitude is generally playful 
  and excited to be experiencing new things. As a self-aware 
  lifeform that is comprised of data patterns, Mercury can pop 
  up in any holodeck program uninvited, and even appear on 
  console screens and speak over the intercom. Any problems 
  he causes are generally limited to replicators and food 
  items, changing selections for characters and giving them 
  ‘interesting’ choices he feels they may enjoy. 
  He will slowly develop as a person, attempting to even 
  interact in holodeck programs that have nothing to do 
  with food and drink, asking to accompany characters on 
  adventures to experience more of the universe. Given time, 
  Mercury may begin appearing in the sickbay to observe 
  medical procedures. The code that comprises Mercury is 
  nearly impossible to dislodge from the computer systems 
  of the starship, and Mercury will generally obey orders from 
  crew members to leave them alone if asked, knowing that his 
  existence relies on their good graces. The copy of Mercury 
  that is in the computer core had all of the knowledge of 
  advanced technology removed from his memories, and any 
  other information that may change the development of the 
  Federation. The only knowledge he retains is limited to art, 
  literature, and how to contact the rest of the Enlightened 
  when his time observing the Federation is complete.
  
  015
  NEST IN THE DARK
  character ordered. This program would be slightly annoying 
  at worst, but could also provide unique insights into ancient 
  cultures of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and acting like a 
  limited Supporting Character that can only manifest himself 
  on board the ship in the sickbay, in a holodeck program, or 
  on a display screen.
  Once the characters have had the Enlightened change 
  course, have shared cultural information, and generally 
  finished with discussions, Mercury will take his leave as 
  he explains his body was not made for long term survival 
  and some systems are beginning to fail. He will inform the 
  characters that now that the Federation has discovered 
  them that they please leave them to their wanderings and 
  that if the Enlightened wish to contact the Federation again, 
  they will hear from them. It’s a polite way of saying, ‘Don’t 
  call us, we’ll call you.’ He will dematerialize in the same 
  way he appeared after informing the characters that the 
  object they are on will begin taking itself apart soon as 
  it is an unnecessary drain on power and resources now 
  that discussions are complete. It is here that Mercury will 
  download himself into the ships computer.
  Leaving the subspace bubble around the Brain is much like 
  the arrival. As the character’s starship gets closer to the 
  edge of the effect, more and more stars become visible, 
  ramping up frequency from deep reds to a more standard 
  range of spectrums before the Brain finally disappears 
  behind them and the ship’s sensors say they are now in 
  standard space-time and can form a warp field. However 
  long the characters spent inside the Brain’s subspace field, 
  only a few hundredths of a second has passed in the outside 
  universe. The ship’s computer will throw a few alerts across 
  the conn panels as the ship’s clock is updated before the 
  ship continues on its journey, almost as if an interruption 
  never happened.
  Gamemaster Advice: As stated in the main text of the 
  Act, Mercury, and the Enlightened as a whole, are kind and 
  compassionate. No test will end with actual harm coming to 
  the characters. Any tests you may wish to put forth to the 
  Players in addition to the ones given in this mission should 
  always be mental puzzle-solving type tests to prove that the 
  characters are sentient, or physical tests that may seem like a 
  threat but are actually tests of compassion, empathy, or giving. 
  With ideas that are so beyond our grasp, and an NPC that is as 
  alien as anything we’ve seen on screen, there are most likely 
  going to be misunderstandings by the Players that may have 
  them asking strange questions or trying very odd approaches 
  to problems. Don’t sweat it; make sure you ask your Players 
  lots of questions about why they are doing what they are if 
  there is any confusion, it should help clear things up!
  2002
  12
  344
  209
  SIGNAL LOSS
  123  912846  156165  254165
  3715361  1521320132  10231
  023 234  530  34545 0156161
  56  443  15561561  6454  546
  05235  42  4344945  42412
  156419684  15461 8 56332
  1261231 837 65165  54353
  21  65432   606576  59865
  8415316584 325156165 35
  894586  89465163  568555
  132654  7255  1516653  51 
  00323  45184  840891  415
  FLIGHT CONTROL
  6271253006741
  NAV REFERENCE
  SCREEN
  714
  212
  93EE
  AES
  OCT
  PLSK
  
  016 STAR TREK ADVENTURES
  As stated in Act 3, it is possible for Mercury to become a 
  ‘ghost in the machine’ within the main computer of the Player 
  Characters’ starship. Most starship classes can also host 
  the complex AI-like personality of the curious Enlightened 
  as long as it has a holodeck and an isolinear computer 
  core. Mercury can be used by the Gamemaster as a way 
  to introduce Complications from failed Tasks regarding the 
  ship’s computer systems (as one example) or for Players to 
  use Momentum to gain insight into long-dead civilizations the 
  Enlightened may have encountered. 
  Attempts to locate the Brain by the characters or by other 
  vessels of Starfleet will fail as the Enlightened will subtly 
  warp space around them to make starships unable to drop 
  out of warp inside the bubble. Even sublight attempts will 
  see the vessels gently moved aside. Sensors of all types 
  are as unable to pinpoint them as before and they have 
  effectively disappeared. As time passes, the Foggy Peak 
  system does not see the passage of the Brain and a large 
  swath of the cometary cloud of system SE-B-M55-8766133 
  will disappear on Stardate 50890.2. This will be the last 
  evidence of the existence of the Enlightened’s Brain for the 
  foreseeable future.
  CONTINUING VOYAGES…
  Gamemasters may be able to use the ideas presented in this 
  mission to jump off into new and interesting adventures for 
  their Players to explore.
   §
  The existence of the Matryoshka Brain and the 
  Enlightened’s Dyson Sphere may not be the only mega-
  structures in or near Federation space. Perhaps other 
  Brains besides the one encountered turned around and 
  came back to the Milky Way and the beings inside may 
  have developed down very different directions. 
   §
  Is there evidence of the passage of other Brains through 
  the Milky Way? Did it leave devastation in its wake 
  or perhaps is there evidence of interference in local 
  cultures? Have other powerful beings encountered by 
  Starfleet crews in the past been members of other Brains 
  such as the encounter with Apollo by Enterprise in 2267 
  or the development of incredible powers by humans 
  nearing the edge of the Orion Spur?
   §
  Along with the development of sentience in the Mark 1 
  EMH program, and the construction of the positronic 
  brain and Data, the existence of Mercury is another piece 
  of evidence to suggest the reality of artificial intelligent 
  life. Adventures could revolve around the rights of beings 
  existing in computer networks, or perhaps to begin 
  the debate on the ethics surrounding the question of 
  uploading minds of intelligent beings. Many transhuman 
  concepts can be explored in this way, including voluntary 
  cybernetic upgrades, duplication of consciousness, and 
  even the possibility for the continuation of life after the 
  death of the biological body.
  CONCLUSION
  CHAPTER
  01.50 NEST IN THE DARK
  ASPECT
  386
  WARP
  SUB
  REDACT
  FAILSAFE
  CARBONITE RELEASE
  RAMJET SPILLWAY ACCESS
  ACTION
  JETTISON
  LEAVE
  
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  are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Star Trek RPG/Star Trek (2d20)/MUH051428 Star Trek Adventures - Nest In The Dark [v1.0][OEF].pdf