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+--- Thread: To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE (/showthread.php?tid=31035)
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To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Calego - 12-14-2009
-----Incoming Message on Line 51-22-----
--Target: The Lane Hackers
--Source: Unknown
--Source ID: Claroke Goldenton
--Source Transponder: Zoner Miner
--Encryption Level: Extremely High
----Message Begins:
Greetings and Salutations
We at the ZoE have a proposal for you, the group known only as The Lane Hackers. Please hear me out and then make a decision.
As you may or may not know already, the Zoner Ore Extraction Inc. uses drone miners to mine whatever we need to mine in large amounts. We prefer drones because they tend to have no problems doing what theyre told, they do not need to be paid wages, and they keep us from having to work too hard. I would add that they are cheaper to maintain than manned vessels but Im afraid this is, as of yet, not true. This is why we need your help.
We recently purchased a very basic mining program from Ageira Technologies and began using it on our mining drones. We soon realized that this was a mistake. While Ageira may be... decent at building Tradelanes and Jump Gates, they know very little about mining drone Operating Systems. Soon we began getting reports of drones crashing into asteroids, running into bases, planets, and other ships. We even heard someone complain about one of our drones attempting to drill into another transports cargo hold to access the ore inside. While enormously amusing, this is effectively stultifying our mining operations, which is completely unacceptable and is costing us millions in profit losses. Therefore, being ex-Ageira Employees yourselves, and being capable of hacking into the most encrypted channels at will, we are willing to pay you handsomely to create a Mining Drone Operating System to replace the defective one we seem to continuously pay for.
Allow me to detail exactly what we are seeking. Because of our contracts we will be switching ore types frequently, rather than requiring a complete re-write of the programs, we seek something that can be altered relatively easily, by remote access. We want to be able to manually over-ride the operating system and take control of the Drone by remote. We need it to be capable of basic navigation and map reading (e.g. Setting waypoints and following them), and it must be able to control its craft easily and naturally. We also want it to be able to interpret signals sent from sensors in order to avoid collisions with planets, other vessels, stations, and asteroids. Most importantly it must be able to interpret sensor signals, detect and target rocks that may contain the ore it is told to, then extract the ore.
Essentially, while not completely autonomous and certainly not Artificially Intelligent in the strictest sense, it must be able to operate on its own, completing tasks set to it by an external operator. So, are you interested in this proposal? Think of it as a way of discrediting your nemesis Ageira by showing just how bad their products are. This is certainly one way of advancing your vendetta with the corporation that exploited your talents and caused you to descend in the eyes of society to the mark of the common criminal.
While I acknowledge that the majority of your group specializes in hacking and the interception of transmissions, Im confident that your collective cognitive skills will be capable of creating such a program. As I stated earlier, we are willing to pay handsomely for such a herculean project as this. But if it is not a pecuniary prize you desire so much as goods or ore Im certain we can come to an agreement.
We await your reply.
Signed:
Claroke Goldenton
![[Image: 11j0r5d.jpg]](http://i48.tinypic.com/11j0r5d.jpg)
Chester Copperton
![[Image: 210ybdh.jpg]](http://i46.tinypic.com/210ybdh.jpg)
Eric Goldsteen
![[Image: 29kql9v.jpg]](http://i47.tinypic.com/29kql9v.jpg)
--Message End--
---Link Re-engaged
Ah Yes. I almost forgot. Let us keep this, shall we say, "Under the Wraps" for the time being. I am certain that you understand.
---Link Closed
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Mr.Sanguinetti - 12-14-2009
...hack.initiated...decryption..in..progress...
...comm.id.mr.sanguinetti.recognized...uploading data...
Greetings Mr. Goldenton, Mr. Copperton, Mr. Goldsteen
I'm LH specialist Sanguinetti. I'm assigned to maintain the relation between our orgaizations from the hackers side. First of all we'd wish to you and your company a succesful and profitable running. We can't blame anyone for making the mistake of beliving Ageira propaganda - we've all been through that before.
To stay on the topic - yes, our Research & Development team has the technology required to outfit your drones with proper control mechanisms, however writing the software for it would take some time. I estimate that about the end of the week. The cause of it is that for the best effect we have to use bio-neural processors. Well I'm not a scientist, but the basics of the method is using the nervous system of certain small mammals - like rodents - in conjunction with the computing processors.
The effectiveness of a mining software will always be limited by the definitions it contains - and when 'target' is defined for example as 'the largest ore-containing object in the vicinity' (to be simple) than accidents you mentioned will happen. With bio-neural drive, we can use simple evolved instincts already existing in nature like 'collecting food for winter time', 'protect the offsprings', 'bite back when cornered'. These are the hardest parts of programing a semi-AI like you bought from Ageira. With our method it's alrady done by the evolution. All we (where I mean our biotechnicans) need to do is translating the neural impulses to binary code and back. Those details that 'the creature' thinks his food is some rock can be done easily. Where the time and rescource consuming parts come is the phase where we need to make the 'animal' accept the binary data it recives as sensory information.
I have to cut the technobabble, it's not realy my cup of tea. I'll try to get a detailed report of the process from more disciplined members of our organization. And if it will be comprehandable by average humans (I mean those who not born with a datajack in her foreheads) I'll forward that onto this channel. That would also make both parties see clearer how mutch effort it exactly means for us to create those drone-cores, and we could also better estimate the compensation we'd both see suitable for that. But beforehand I must say, that we do not have any minig operations of our own - so the much needed ore we get rarely is all from contributions for our work of keeping tradelanes safe and bug-free.
And before I forget, we'd need the exact, detailed as possible technical parameters of the mining drones before we can start working on that project. Schematics can be transmitted via Neural, or if you worry about security issues, one of our technicans can travel to inspect and deepscan one of the subjected vessels.
Yours sincerely - <read error>, aka. Mr Sanguinetti
...encryption.in.progress...hack terminated...
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Calego - 12-15-2009
-----Incoming Message on Line 51-22-----
--Target: Mr. Sanguinetti
--Source: Unknown
--Source ID: Claroke Goldenton
--Source Transponder: Zoner Miner
--Encryption Level: Extremely High
----Message Begins:
Thank you for the prompt reply Mr. Sanguinetti. I like the prospect of dealing with people who realize that Time is Money.
I thank you for your well wishing. And on behalf of the ZoE I wish you luck in all of your own endeavors. Unless they are endeavors against us, that is... But I hope to avoid such an occurrence.
I am glad to hear that you are capable of creating such software for us. While I myself consider myself a "small-time" Geologist, I certainly am no computer programmer. I do not wish to appear a charlatan either by saying I understand everything you just said. I will say that we honestly do not mind how you do it, so long as it works. We understand that it will require time, and we want your scientists to take all the time they need. We do not wish a bourgeois product but rather one that reflects excellence. Once you are finished I would like to arrange a meeting at Ames Research Station where you can present it to us for demonstration. I know of a few scientists there who may at least be able to keep up with the techno-babble.
While we may not understand all that you are speaking of, I am quite sure that the impression of difficulty is implied. I will have to converse with my colleagues to determine just how much we can afford to pay you at the moment, but seeing as this product will pay for itself before long, I doubt we will have much trouble. Once I am through conversing with them, I shall run some figures by you. When that time comes we can discuss in greater detail how we may compensate you adequately.
Ah yes. I had forgotten to tell you in my original message. I am quite certain that most if not all of our mining drones will be the KS-1093 "Mafic" Civilian Super Heavy Miner. I do not have the exact blueprints of the crafts but most are either brand new or retired from other Mining Corporations. They will be completely emptied to make room for any hardware changes you and your team advises. Weapons systems will include a pair of Eco Chain Guns and then a full loadout of Fighter Mining Turrets.
Perhaps it would be best to have a technician come and inspect one of them. If you believe it would be easier to simply come and scan one of our current drones we can arrange a meeting at Bethlehem Station sometime in the near future. Simply reply with some specifics about when you can come.
Please note that it is not one or two ships we wish to apply this technique to but rather a plethora of ships. We hope to avoid too many complex hardware changes. Something that could be applied by the scientists at Ames would be perfect. As such we would not need to persistently bother you each time we purchase a new Mining Drone.
I'm Claroke Goldenton speaking for ZoE Inc. I await your reply.
---Message end---
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Mr.Sanguinetti - 12-15-2009
...hack.initiated...decryption..in..progress...
...comm.id.mr.sanguinetti.recognized...uploading data...
Good day, Mr. Goldenton
Our scientists and engineers started to work on the project. I resist the urge to repeat all te information and technical details they told me in the hope of assuring myself to look like someone who's familiar with such things. If their schedule allows it, one of them will access this channel and upload their results. However I was clear that we dont want any delay on this matter, and reporting their doings is third priority now. It looks like you were thinking the same. 'Time is money' - yes, that was what they drilled into us at Ageira. I hated that then, but nowadays I find it useful to be aware of that relation.
Secound, I must reflect on your assumption of having opposing endeavors - I see no sign of such anywhere. Its a fact, that we are labeled pirates, sometimes even terrorists. But you seemd to be familiar with our agenda - so I wont recite it here. Let it be enough that our targets all have the ways of hurting Liberty people in several ways. I never heard about Zoners doing anything such. Let me upload an excerpt from our operations guideline.
1) Neutrals should be offered an escort for a fee. Rude/offensive neutrals may be extorted.
That shows clearly that for people like us with enemies assumptive and persuasive as Ageira or Interspace its crucial to maintain any neutral status we have. I must also say however that sadly there are pilots who can get hacker ships and IFF-s without even reading that guideline, not to mention the adherence to it. If you in the future ever experience problems with such individuals feel free to contact us on our Diplomatic Channel. You must also note that our familiarity with the Liberty systems allows us to grant the safety of any shipment traveling trough. If you'll ever experience security problems here, keep in mind that further cooperation between our organiztaions can be negotiated.
And about the details of the current comissions. I realized that the KS-1093 unit is sold and assembled on Freeport 4 - what is only a couple lane-segment from the Barrier where lot of our agents operate. I'm sure that the IMG wont mind if our technicans take a tour around notig down all the required technical details. I must also say, that once the correct target specimen is chosen and assimilated succesfuly into a bioneural interface and the software is writen, it realy does not matter if we manufacture ten of them or a thousand.
If any further questions arise I'm willing to answer those here for concerned people of both parties can access it. However for schedualing and boring little deatails I advise to contact me on Sky-P protocol. That can save some time for both of us counting the differences in SMT. I'm uploading the reference code for my personal channel in a separate file.
...encryption.in.progress...hack terminated...
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Calego - 12-15-2009
-----Incoming Message on Line 51-22-----
--Target: Mr. Sanguinetti
--Source: Unknown
--Source ID: Claroke Goldenton
--Source Transponder: Zoner Miner
--Encryption Level: Extremely High
----Message Begins:
Once again, Thank you for the punctual reply.
This is extremely good news to my ears. I personally had to go out in a mining ship to mine for one of our transports... While I don't mind doing the work myself, I do enjoy sitting back and calculating how to speed up our operations instead. As I stated before I'm certain I will not understand what any status reports will report to us. I will have a few Zoner Specialists look through the coding when it is finished and will ask their opinions. Not because I do not trust your judgement, if this were so I wouldn't have come to you in the first place. Simply because we are all Human, and thus prone to minor slip ups at times. I wish to be certain that this is going to be an investment worth all of what we are investing into it.
Therefore I ask not that your scientists waste their time attempting to get people like me to understand what they are doing but rather that they just do it.
Our employees today demonstrated the truth in the statement "time is money" by generating a nice chunk of credits in under five hours. I'm going to be crunching some numbers later to find out if there is a way to improve the efficiency of our mining.
I am also glad to hear that the Lane Hackers will not view us as a threat. I was receiving concerns from the other members of the ruling trio in our organization and thought I had best clarify the matter with you for their sake as well as mine. Indeed while we currently hold no relationships with either Agiera or Interspace Commerce it may be inevitable that we be contracted to mine for them on some scale or another sometime in the future. However, I doubt this should pose too much of a problem seeing that we will be selling them the ore they wish to purchase from us, rather than giving it away.
I have informed the employees of the ZoE that Lane Hacker vessels are not to viewed as a threat and I assure you that they will all respect your pilots in the utmost. I have also informed them that any such "rogue" vessels and their pilots can be reported to the Hackers. I also thank you for the offer of escorting our pilots through Liberty Space. It can never hurt to have someone around willing to lend aid in the ever increasing want for security.
Indeed the model we use for our drones is sold on Freeport 4. We tend to purchase drone host ships second hand to save money so while our vessels may be slightly altered depending on the previous owners, the same basic model should remain the same.
If I understood that statement correctly, you can make the drone system in such a way that it can be easily installed into as many ships as we need, correct?
Contact received, I've input it into my own personal channel and I'm fairly certain I've successfully established a connection. That should indeed assist in our scheduling things.
I shall inform the rest of the ZoE that they may now use this channel for any inquiries they may have for the Lane Hackers. Although I believe we have covered most of them in our previous messages.
Claroke Goldenton of the ZoE signing off...
---Message End---
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Mr.Sanguinetti - 12-15-2009
...hack.initiated...decryption..in..progress...
...comm.id.mr.sanguinetti.recognized...uploading data...
Good news Mr Goldenton!
The project goes better than any of us expected. I feel myself proud in the name of our scientist team. Miss Moon indeed took a look on the project and hurried the events a bit. Actualy as I heard after a couple of hours spent in the lab listening to the squeeking she got so pissed of that she imeditaely come up with a working prototype. We all love how she attends to such tasks. 'Hey, if you hack around, Thanks there Miss, I owe you one.'
Well, when I heard the news I imediately headed for purchasing a Mafic and watched the process when our technicans assembled the device prototype into. For initial testing we gave simple commands to the vessel like launch, follow, examine, protect and such. It completed the task without any mistake even it shown some signs of initiative. I've been told that it is fully expectable for those units to be capable of learning. Only the sensory, motoric, and cognitive functions were replaced by a carefuly writen software, the rest is still a 'creature' what will try to adapt any situations.
I have no doubt we can proceed to the final examinations phase of the project. I'd be honored if your representatives would join us. You mentioned Ames reserach facilty, so the drone currently stationed in the vicinity of the Kepler system. As soon as we find a time suitable for both of us, we can conclude the last series of tests before we negotiate the terms of selling the technology.
And about the installation of the neural-processors - well I can name a lot of stations where the dock officers and techincans would have no clue how to mount such device, but a skilled space-aviatics engineer can easily rig Mafic control mechanisms to the core if they have the software what does the transcoding of biofeedback and binary data between them. We can do the installation of the devices for the crafts requireing it or we can include the software into our offer - in which case we will produce as many core-units as needed.
...encryption.in.progress...hack terminated...
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Calego - 12-16-2009
-----Incoming Message on Line 51-22-----
--Target: Mr. Sanguinetti
--Source: Unknown
--Source ID: Claroke Goldenton
--Source Transponder: Zoner Miner
--Encryption Level: Extremely High
----Message Begins:
My my my... So soon. That is amazing. I knew the Lane Hackers were good, but I wan't aware they were that good. Pass my and the rest of the ZoE's congratulations and thanks to Ms. Moon.
Amazing... Truly amazing. I cannot wait to see the prototype in action myself. I will be contacting you personally to set up a time where we can all be there.
While I do not mind having the Hackers install this system into each of our drones, I believe that you have better things to do with your time than installing such things into mass amounts of ships. I am fairly certain that there is at least one person on Ames who either knows how or can figure it out relatively easily. They are a smart group of people there. I do not think it will be necessary to have you modify each of our drones. It would probably be best if the software was included in the package.
I am very glad, very glad indeed, that this has all happened so very quickly. We will have to organize a meeting to hammer out the details of the purchase. I will contact you over the private channel to do this.
Thank you again,
Claroke Goldenton
---Message End---
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Mr.Sanguinetti - 12-17-2009
...hack.initiated...decryption..in..progress...
...comm.id.mr.sanguinetti.recognized...uploading data...
Greetings to the directorate of the ZoE.
I can proudly announce that the Lane Hackers Research & Development team finished the drone control project after succesful testing of twenty units in virtual space. I got the files of complete technical deatils and the logs of the minor modificatios implemeted to the software. I must say I couldn't understand a word from it. So I asked miss Moon to explain it to me. I think on this channel it's more apropriate to summarise what she told me than uploading the full report. I will deliver that with the hard copies of the sofware for you scientists to analize.
So the first thing what one have to keep in mind is that those drones are animals by most of the definitons. Actualy the chosen specimen is a rodent inhabits planet Manhattan. She even told me the name of them but I forgot. Most of their neural functions are still intact. Actualy our software only affects two of those - sensory input and motoric responses. To make that disambigous let's go trough the process of giving an order to the unit. First the sensors recive a verbal transmission like 'Drone, extract water!'. A simple heuristic software interprets the command if it came from an authorized source. (note thats not required if commanded with binary data). The creature itself does not precives the transmission in any form - the software just alters its perception to sense the target material (dihydrogen-oxyd in that case) as some nutrious food. Actualy the software is so complex that the enclosed specimen will never realize that it's not in it's natural enviroment. So when the ship sensors reads 'water' the rodent will think it's food and starts running towards it. The unit will never realize it has no limbs anymore - the software instantly translates the pyramidal activity to input for the ship's thrusters and ruddres. The same goes to bite (shoot), swallow (tractor), and so on. Neat isn't it?
![[Image: rat_brain_implant.jpg]](http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/evangelist_85/rat_brain_implant.jpg)
------------->![[Image: Bio_Neural_Gel_Pack.gif]](http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/evangelist_85/Bio_Neural_Gel_Pack.gif)
And about the part I mentioned that the units are capable of learning. As you now see what I mean when I say those are living beings, the concept will be easier to aprehend. Most of the drone's actions are will be determinded by the commands (sensory input) it recives - it's still a subject to operant conditioning. What means that after a time for example it will feel 'safe' if it detects familiar specifications on ships in the vicinity - like the IFF. Or tt can learn the locations rich in 'food' - so it's possible that after a while it will know to where to find it when not directed (of course not without an order, since the animal wont precive ore as 'edible' by default).
Our scientist thinks that the system will develop quirks what would be realy hard to program - and those will be lot more benefical than not. But of course for security reasons they implemeted a mechanism what can revert the creature to a 'newborn' state if it develops unwanted schemes. That's basicly done by electronicaly reconfiguring it's neuro-cortex - the deatils are in the logfiles, I'll never be abled to comprehend how it's actualy done. I think I gone into deatils too much anyways.
![[Image: products.jpg]](http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/evangelist_85/products.jpg)
Yours sincerely - Sanguinetti
...encryption.in.progress...hack terminated...
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Calego - 12-19-2009
-----Incoming Message on Line 51-22-----
--Target: Mr. Sanguinetti
--Source: Unknown
--Source ID: Claroke Goldenton
--Source Transponder: Zoner Miner
--Encryption Level: Extremely High
----Message Begins:
Most Excellent. Most excellent indeed...
I shall begin drafting a written contract soon. I will also attempt to set up another meeting with you and your technicians above Ames Research Station. We hope that the Zoner Scientists there will be able to keep up with the technological talk seeing as how we cannot. We also wish to get some of the Computer Specialists there to look through the coding one last time before we complete the deal.
I will be contacting you more over the Sky-P channels to work out the details. I do wish that we could meet some of your Professors when we meet at Ames.
--End Message--
To: The Lane Hackers; From: The ZoE - Calego - 12-23-2009
-----Incoming Message on Line 51-22-----
--Target: Mr. Sanguinetti
--Source: Unknown
--Source ID: Claroke Goldenton
--Source Transponder: Zoner Miner
--Encryption Level: Extremely High
----Message Begins:
We hope to be able to make the transfer today. While we're waiting here's the first draft of the written agreement:
Quote:Formal Agreement between the Zoner Ore Extraction and the Lane Hackers
Zoner Ore Extraction Inc. will be henceforth referred to as (the) ZoE.
The Lane Hackers will be henceforth referred to as (the) LH.
The ZoE and the LH hereby agree as follows:
Article 1 – Services:The LH shall create a program and control system that matches the specifications in Article 3. The LH will provide all resources needed to write this program and set up the control system in crafts provided by the ZoE. The LH will then deliver 300 core control units and all remaining hard copies of the software to a place specified by the ZoE. The LH will also provide regular maintenance on each drone in use.
Article 2 – Compensation: The ZoE shall deliver seven thousand units of Gold Ore to a place specified by the LH.
Article 3 - Details:This program and control system will allow a series KS-1093 "Mafic" Civilian Super Heavy Miner craft to operate and extract natural resources from its surroundings without human control. It shall be capable of autonomous navigation, threat detection and reaction, ore extraction and gathering, and mining site scouting; it will also be able to be manually overridden and controlled remotely, and will have a voice activated kill switch which can be activated remotely.
Signed:
ZoE:
LH:
Both of us can sign it once we both agree to its terms. I simply wish to be sure I did not miss out anything.
I looks slightly lopsided, I agree. However, when you take into consideration that 7 thousand units of Gold Ore is worth well over one hundred million credits, I feel that it is quite an adequate amount.
Please look through the contract above and be sure there is nothing to add.
Claroke Goldenton Out.
--End Message--