The Oubliette (CVnU Space Location)

The Boötes void is a massive area of cosmic nothingness. With its center located approximately 700 million light-years from the planet Earth, its 330 million light-year diameter contains only 60 known galaxies (a conventional stretch of space of this size would contain at least 2,000), making it a veritable wasteland of existence. This quality made it an extremely attractive location to Nordok the Ancient, anathema of organic life, and he chose it as the location for his Imperium's most high-security incarceration station: the Oubliette.

Although it resembles a planetoid in size and shape, the Oubliette is a wholly technological construct. It orbits no star, and its remoteness serves as one of its primary attributes as a prison: the nearest planet is hundreds of millions of light-years distant, making reaching the location (or, more importantly, escaping from it) by most conventional means a virtual impossibility. As the vast distance makes traveling here by ship prohibitive, prisoners are transported here by the Ancient One himself, using his potent mastery of portal magicks. A permanent portal also exists through which the station receives whatever supplies it needs, but this portal only operates as an entrance, not an exit, making it unsuitable as an escape route.

“Inmates” of this facility consist of those in whom the Ancient One has taken a personal interest, which generally means that they were either too powerful or too potentially useful to be destroyed outright. As this means that there is no standard profile for a prisoner of the Oubliette (they can range from omega-level metas to gods or even primordial beings without physical form), there are also no standard “cells,” as such; the means of restraint for each being held in captivity here is custom-built specifically for them. One might resemble a conventional prison cell but be composed entirely of adamantium, another may be built of less exotic material but have walls inscribed with mystical binding runes in a hundred alien languages, another may more resemble a fluid-filled tank that keeps its occupant in a constant state of stasis, or be little more than a field of psychic dampeners designed to “turn off” the mind of anything trapped within.

The Wardens

The Wardens constitute the first level of security in the Oubliette (beyond its sheer remoteness). Serving as both jailers and maintenance workers, these mechanical beings consist of a roughly spherical core covered with observational lenses and a dizzying array of “tentacles,” each of which is designed for a specialized function related to repair, upkeep, or combat. Wardens are composed entirely of necrotite, a form of advanced nanotechnology infused with negative energy which gives them remarkable ability to self-repair.

If one encounters an intruder or escaped inmate, its primary function is as an early-alert system, as all that it observes is immediately transmitted to the prison’s central security mainframe and shared with all of its brethren; a trouble-maker may quickly find itself being swarmed by the octopoid automatons. It will then deploy its weaponry: an electrifying grip that can shock most organic creatures into submission or plasma nodes capable of firing bolts of superheated energy. As a last resort, a Warden may attempt to jab one of its tentacles into its target and inject it with necrotite, which will immediately seek to override and control their nervous system (or the equivalent).

Prison Security

If a security concern should prove to be beyond the ability of the Wardens to handle, an artificial intelligence known as the Assassinatrix, which controls all aspects of the prison’s functions, will intervene directly. Depending on the severity of the situation, the Assassinatrix may work to confine and isolate threats by sealing doors, deploying a variety of gasses that can be introduced into the Oubliette’s air filtration systems, plasma or ion burst turrets, or gravitational controls. In extreme circumstances, it may depressurize rooms or even entire sectors of the prison, or contact the Imperium High Command for additional support. In particularly extreme cases, Nordok himself may deign to intervene.

Rules:

• This is an exceptionally remote and secure facility. While it is by no means impossible to get to and escape from here, it is also by no means easy to do so. Please sell!
• If you have a character you’d like to be incarcerated here (as part of an origin story or such), let me know.

@nordok: Another awesome location, Nordok!

Question: Could law enforcement from space agencies (you know, like the Green Sentinel Corps) use this to send their criminals to? Just wondering. :)

@paragonxxx: Thanks!

They'd have to work out an arrangement with Nordok, although they may have some issue with the fact that he might turn anyone he incarcerates here into a biological weapon. >;)

@nordok: Hehe, nevermind then. ^_^

Still, that's an intriguing idea you just mentioned. >:)

@green_sentinelx:

A breach.

Local?

Negative. External network.

Scanning compromised files...

Scan complete. Fascinating...

Machines did not, as a rule, grow "bored." Boredom was an emotion, a quirk of organic psychology. Machines did not require stimulation, as such, and yet...The Assassinatrix was designed to learn, and to adapt. Time spent not advancing one of its core functions was time being used ineffectively. The drive to rectify this might, to some perspectives, be construed as the technological version of boredom. As a result, when the potential to acquire new data presented itself, the calculation was simple, and quick: an immediate response was required.

Accessing compromised hardware...overriding control and security modules...complete.

The Assassinatrix was now "inside" the severed head of the Imperium Centurion that had been absconded with. Though heavily damaged, it retained some functionality, and the AI was able to access its external sensors, "seeing" and "hearing" the environment that automaton's cranium was in. With a few adjustments to the optical coding, it also accessed the unit's holographic interface, rerouting its projection to the optic lenses. All that remained was to select the appropriate form...something statistically non-threatening. The unit was nonviable as a weapon; the gathering of data would have to suffice.

A few sparks flew from the disembodied head as its systems activated, a bluish light projecting from one of its "eyes" and forming a three-dimensional image.

@assassinatrix:

Ever since obtaining the head, Jessica has had one adventure after another and that is if one prefers calling them that since the Green Sentinel has had all kinds of people coming after her. Some want the information for themselves, others want to kill her because she knows too much.

Now Jessica is on the run, trying to make it to Megala in one piece. A trip that normally would take a short time but is hampered by the fact that everywhere she turns, everyone is out to get her it seems. She doesn't know who to trust. And now this latest development makes her jump half out of her skin at the unexpected arrival of the hologram. Placing hand to her chest to calm her beating heart, Jessica takes a few deep breaths before addressing this...female? She opens the communication channel of her ring even as she sits on top of the astroid she is currently occupying somewhere in space sector 2814. "And hello to you too. Who are you?"

@green_sentinelx:

Singular organic. Humanoid. Female.

"I am the Guardian." In most organic languages, word specificity was of paramount importance. "Assassinatrix" might be a suitable moniker in terms of core functionality, but experiential data had made it clear that the name had certain negative connotations in many cultures, and conveyed a harmful concept.

"May I inquire as to why you are in possession of Imperium technology, organic?"

@assassinatrix:

Little does 'Guardian' know, Jessica is actually mute. She communicates usually through the constructs she creates, but in this case she uses the A.I. of her ring to speak on her behalf. This makes her voice sound rather robotic, "It contains valuable information. But I'm guessing you already know that." She smirks.

@green_sentinelx:

Analyzing...

The humanoid utilized what appeared to be some manner of phalangeal ornamentation in order to produce verbal communication. This was not an adaptation the AI had yet encountered. Further analysis was required. Fortunately, the humanoid had expressed a willingness to communicate, which meant that further data could be gathered. This was a positive outcome.

"Value is defined subjectively." The projection tilted its head slightly, matching the smirk. "The Imperium wishes to project strength, and permitting others to take possession of its resources, however small, might be construed as a projection of weakness. By that logic, all that the Imperium possesses is valuable. Observation: you are willing to transport a heavily damaged fragment of technology belonging to an entity known for violence through open space. This suggests the item now possesses value to you."

@assassinatrix:

Jessica has to admit this hologram is correct. The head is not so much as valuable but rather what knowledge it contains. And many are after such knowledge as evidenced by the fact she has no one to trust and few to turn to lest they become targets too.

"Of course. But I find it curious the Imperium is now talking to me all of a sudden when before you didn't. That must mean your desperate. Tell me I'm wrong?" This time she creates a construct of the T-800 Terminator without it's outer layer of human skin tissue.

@green_sentinelx:

"Desperation is a feature of organic consciousness; it the loss of logic to adrenal processes. As a purely technological being, I am not capable of desperation, nor have I been programmed to imitate it. My purpose in contacting you is as has been stated: to acquire information regarding your intent. Your response will determine any purpose beyond that."

This much was true, at least. In most cases, the Assassinatrix did not calculate that deception was necessary; information could simply be denied, after all.

Deep within the planetoid prison, the shadows of a darkened chamber were abruptly banished by the activation of technology, control panels and displays coming online like the sensory organs of some great alien beast emerging from a long slumber. At the chamber's center, the focal point of the machinery, a stasis field was deactivated, and the eyes of the occupant, a hulking brute of a man, snapped open as though they had been closed for mere moments, rather than several Terran years.

"Xundar of Delos, step forward. The time to prove yourself has arrived."The cold, electronic voice of the Assassinatrix broke through the silence, although the malevolent AI did not manifest itself in any other way. Though his eyes narrowed and his massive fists knotted like hydraulic presses, the prisoner complied, the heavy thud of his bare feet echoing dully as he stepped from the stasis device and approached a aperture which opened in the floor ahead of him, through which rose a massive, reinforced container.

The container opened with the hiss of automated seals being released, and the corners of a mouth set in a granite-like jaw twitched upwards ever-so-slightly in recognition, the the items that now greeted the Delossian renegade were the closest things he had to old friends: his battle armor and weapons. Without waiting for instructions, he donned the armor and strapped the heavy ordnance into place, turning to wait in menacing silence for further instructions.

He did not wait long.

With a shuddering of space being torn asunder, a portal opened ahead of him. "Your first mission awaits," intoned the mechanical jailer, "succeed and further power will be granted to you, in additional to ample opportunities to employ it."

Without hesitation, the armored dreadnaught of a man stepped through the rift in reality, his only acknowledgement a vocalization that was equal parts growl and chuckle.

Someone's making moves

@cesc_bo_vera:

Y'know, IDK why I assumed he was gonna be a good guy.

What's the mission?

@adepta-occulta: Good? He's going to be the best. >;P

I'll give you a hint:

@xundar: