In response to numerous requests the directorial committee of the 'Panopticon' have agreed to the production of a periodic ship research journal to provide our permanent and temporary researchers with an impartial publishing platform for their studies. This service is open to all of our crew and scientific teams at no charge and will be uploaded to core networks whenever the opportunity arises. The task of compiling the journal has been delegated to an editorial sub-committee of eager volunteers who will be based in the warden's office adjacent to rec room B. Please feel free to forward your submissions to this address via in-house mail or simply drop by in person.
We would first like to acknowledge the joining of Dr Piers Corben to the permanent research staff. Dr Corben and his team of geneticists have recently concluded a 3 year study of alien micro-organism genetics in the Omicron Theta system and have brought their skills and wealth of knowledge aboard the 'Panopticon' in the hope of assessing the current dispersal of the alien genes throughout the sector. The directorial committee has provided Dr Corben with funding to renovate Cell block F and install a state of the art bio-research facility. The proposed facility will include a level 3 double-insulated containment lab and five bio-reactors with which we hope to allow Dr Corben and his team to continue their groundbreaking research. hire of lab space and use of facilities is subject to the discernment of the committee and Dr Corben and will require a level 3 sterile lab induction course.
[A welcome to all crew and staff from Captain and CEO Alexander McDonald]
I am honored to address this assembly of leading technicians, scientists and researchers. You hear me now at the end of a long personal epoch yet also at the start of another we will share together. This ship and its ongoing purpose was a dream long pursued and now realized. When I set up the committee many years ago our intent was to create a scientific utopia, an independent research platform which would be free from the irrational politics we saw influencing and steering the research community. We began securing grants, sponsors and raising all the finances we could to put the committee's objectives into practice; a process that has taken us many years. To those of you who have joined us since the launch of the 'Panopticon' it may seem rather like the hardest work is still in process but I assure you it is not. For years we operated out of cramped leased facilities on Freeport 9 preparing and planning while the majority of our funding requests went unanswered.
It was decided early on in the planning that we could not hope to raise funds enough to build our own station, a plan we had maintained from our inception, and so we started to search for a ship which would meet our space and power requirements. Within the last year we discovered this ship in the listings of a Liberty Police auction of refurbished LPI ships. On reflection i do not believe we could have found a better ship to transform into a mobile research station as this decommissioned prison liner is immensely spacious and strangely the architecture of incarceration was strikingly similar to the layout proposed by our architect when we were still envisioning a station. I realize that our facilities are somewhat dilapidated at present but as with Dr Corben's bio lab funding is being allocated to make the 'Panopticon' home to some of the most advanced labs as well as some of the greatest scientific minds of the time. Once again i welcome you to our ship and great project.
Cpt McDonald CEO
Since this is the first issue of the journal we have no submissions to publish and so here are some documents regarding the incorporation of the Committee as researchers and subsequent ship listing.
I address this message to the directorial committee of the Panopticon and Captain Alexander McDonald.
I speak for the Board of Directors of the Weyland Yutani Corperation.
We have been following your research and efforts for some time now and Believe it is time to extend a hand of friendship to fellow scientists and researchers.
True believers in Progress of Science and Technology, who are not already working for us, are few and far between, and I believe our goals lie along the same tracks.
We at Yutani ask you to consider a contract within our 'Medical Science' Quarter, with full access to Weyland Scientific Resources and Funding, a truly Extraordinary Undertaking.
We are always looking for partners in our various Quarters and you would find yourself working alongside some of the finest minds in Sirius.
The response to the journal has been altogether enthusiastic and already submissions have been arriving for publication. We of the sub-committee were wholly unprepared for this and have stepped up our efforts to meet with demand.
Firstly some exciting news;
The 'Panopticon' has been offered a partnership with the historic Wayland Yutani Corporation. Wayland Yutani dates back to the days of the Sol system and has maintained it's hegemony over cutting edge research and development even through the resettlement in Sirius. A contractual contract is currently on the table including the opportunity to apply for research grants, full tenure for all current research staff and access to Wayland Yutani's extensive knowledge base, facilities and personnel. In a board meeting held after the message was received it was unanimously agreed that such a partnership would be most advantageous and beneficial and has proposed an acceptance of the offer. This proposal will be subject to referendum once we have been delivered the contract and put it to board review.
As you will be aware we have had a great number of passengers with us recently. This ship has been involved in an ongoing effort to evacuate scientific personnel from the war torn no-mans-land between Rheinland and Liberty space. Many of these personnel have been displaced by the military action or simply wish to escape it an so we are glad to assist in this noble cause. We offer all of these displaced scientists the opportunity to establish themselves aboard ship and have had a number of new associates join us as a result. It is likely we will be called upon again to assist in this intellectual exodus as the pressures of the war make these endeavors unfeasible.
Our directorial board and steadily growing exo-microbiology team have been drafting a proposal to conduct an independent study of the nomad genetics following a hypothesis by Dr Piers Corben published in his exo-microbiology thesis theorizing that the familiar alien micro-organisms of the borderworlds may share a common ancestor with the nomads. The stated aim of the research expedition is nothing less than "exo-prehistoric archeology". Dr Corben has stipulated that the first form of life in the universe was an archeobacteria that survived in space as the modern alien micro-organisms do. The thesis extrapolates from this that life did not spring from the surface of worlds but instead rained down from the skies. Such archeobacteria can survive in the most extreme conditions of heat, cold, vacuum and chemical saturation while producing vast quantities of gas such as CO2, O2, CH4 and are thus ideal for terraforming. It is hypothesized that humans themselves are likely descended from similar organisms. It is for the advancement of genetic research that this proposal is being drafted as the genetic history of the nomads is altogether unknown. If Dr Corben's hypothesis is found to be correct then it may be the case that humanity is genetically related, if vastly distantly, to the nomads via some ancient prehistoric ancestor.
Attached are floor plans for the much anticipated Corben exo-bioscience wing currently being installed in sector F (previously Cell block F). It has been decided that cell block reference codes remain in use however they will now be referred to as 'sectors', this will remain formal procedure however each wing will likely be referred to by whatever function it serves. plans are in motion to allocate the space economically and all proposals for use of space are viewed and voted on by the committee.
We at Weyland Yutani Corp. are glad to hear of the agreed partnership between the Medical Research Quarter and the Panopticon.
The Research Vessel [Aesculapian] has been dispatched to meet with the Panopticon and the Company Representatives on board will meet with the Panopticons captain and directorial committee to finalize the negotiations.
The Documents of the Partnership shall be released to the public at a later date after they have been processed by the Company Intelligence Quarter.
I, Xaviet 14, and Prof. Felix 28, shall also be accompanying the Company representatives on board the [Aesculapian] to speak in person with Dr Piers Corben, I am eager to meet the venerated Dr. Corben and shall be reporting back to my superiors after the final negotiations.
Greetings Captain Alexander McDonald!, I am the Captain of the 'Cyborg-Sun'; your assigned Escort in the Omicrons and Omegas, reporting for duty as ordered by the Company!
I have been promoted from the Intelligence Department of the 'Aesculapian' to Command my own ship and act as the first line of Defence against hostile Xenomorphs Endangering Research Operations.
I am also to advise you on evasive manoeuvres such as your Vessel is capable of... We will only hope you won't have to put that into action, the company wants no unessential risks taken and above all to not let any Hostile Engagements get out of control!
I carry a private message from The Company Chief Director which I shall deliver to you personally.
Progress has been amazing since we began our operation and appear to be maintaining their exponentially increasing trend. Our Negotiations with Wayland Yutani go well and we are quite close to agreeing to a set of terms which we are both comfortable with. there has been no vocal opposition to the merger, which is what it appears to be at this stage, and we are already linking up with support craft and Wayland personnel to assist us in our work.
Wayland are eager to assist in the captain's proposal to study the nomads and have offered to present us with the papers and analysis they have compiled which is not available to the public. It would appear that at least some research has been done on the alien physiology and some basic chemical and compositional analysis but as yet no suggestion that genetic sequencing of the nomads has been investigated.
We expect to receive and envoy from Wayland Yutani within the week to finalize our association. The final contract will be available to view within two weeks and will be voted on by the committee requiring a two thirds vote despite the apparent likeliness of a unanimous decision.
Dr Corben's lab is under construction and already the basic infrastructure for the lab is in place. Much of the sophisticated equipment has already been purchased and is currently in storage in the cargo hold until it can be installed. It is clear that the bioscience team is itching to get back into their lab coats and start up their work once again.
On a more immediate note it is our distinguished honor to announce that the new auditorium has been completed. One of the larger crew mess halls has been converted into a 900 seat auditorium with full media presentation facilities and the widely requested old fashioned chalk board. Chalk is a somewhat hard to find commodity in the borderworlds requiring both oceans and oceanic life not to mention many thousands of years to form and so we have approximated the mineral by creating sticks of pure calcium carbonate CaCO3. There are plenty of cases stacked in the auditorium store cupboard so help yourself. There will be a weekly lecture series beginning tonight with a presentation from the captain as well as a brief 2 hour lecture by Dr Corben; 'An introduction to exo-bioscience and its potential applications'. The auditorium can be booked with 3 days notice and providing that it is available between the hours of 0800 and 2300. The crew and staff film night will now be held in the main auditorium instead of the canteen as it is custom made for this purpose and has tiered seating. We will post dates of lectures on the screen outside the auditorium as well as circulate those dates in this publication. We also have the equipment installed to record all presentations and tonight's lecture will be hosted on the cortex via a Zoner relay so that it can be viewed sector wide.