The implications of fragments SO.d24 and MO.d32
We seem to have come across our first direct evidence of some sort of disagreement or conflict among the members of the First Wave Source, the crew of the Cabot. In the fragments linked above, one can see two very startling events. One, of course, is the discovery of a second individual in the archive. All other fragments recovered to date from the First Wave Source have had the coded tag “MO” attached, which we are fairly confident is the Medical Officer, or at least a medical officer, of the Cabot. This latest find bears the tag “SO”. Upon first seeing it Dr. Soros thought perhaps Security Officer but after reading the context seems to indicate Science Officer. Its content is quite provocative. It was a few days later that one of the interns, Jayce, noticed that a fragment found much earlier, and not previously published, had a date stamp indicating it had been written a mere 8 days after SO.d24, and furthermore, it seemed to directly reference it.
In the previously found fragment, the author of the MO fragments refers to a Dr. Bascomb. Given the time period, one would normally expect to see any member of the crew referred to by rank rather than professional title. This supports both the Science Officer theory and the idea that MO.d32 was written as a reaction to the discovery in SO.d24.
On one hand, we have the author of SO.d24 giving a brief account of his reserach into the effects the spores of what MO calls Astero Fungus. This fragment also references one Crewman Davis, an apparent casualty of the effect of exposure to the fungal spores (a death also referenced in MO.d372) . The author of SO.d24, presumably this Dr. Bascomb, is openly astonished by his findings and quite enthusiastic as well.
On the other hand, we have MO.d32. The author speaks frankly of being frightened. They echo our assessment of Dr. Bascomb’s excitement, but their own reaction is dread. They state a belief that this discovery would undo centuries of progress, they say “masters and slaves, forever” with total conviction.
We have seen hints that there was some sort of conflict among the crew of the Cabot. The author of the MO fragments claims to be the only survivor. There is even speculation that they may have had a hand in the disappearance or death of the remaining crew. Are we seeing here the source of that conflict? What was the nature of said conflict? As with so much of our work on the Archive, we now have more questions and only a few answers.
Statement of Adept Hanna Dorish, Technical Consultant to the Project
In addition to the other revelations outlined above, the technical department wishes to make an addendum to this commentary in regards to encryption.
Both of the these fragments have, thus far, the only example notation in the header of the entry, to wit, the inclusion of this declaration proceeding the content: <Encryption: EQ-ASYMM> from MO.d32 and <Encryption: SQ-SYMM> from SO.d24. Both of these refer to encryption standards. Research into encryption of the time period reveals that these declarations mean the following:
- EQ – Enhanced Quantum Method
- SQ – Standard Quantum Method
- ASYMM – Assymetric Encryption
- SYMM – Symmetric Encryption
We have only marginal data on the actual algorithms used, but we know enough to say that MO.d32 was encrypted with a far higher standard than SO.d24. Given that SO.d24 was discussing a potential scientific breakthrough and MO.d32 was little more than a personal log, we can assume that, for whatever reason, the author of MO.d32 did not want others knowing their reaction to the discovery outlined in SO.d24.
Final Statement
One final bit of information was revealed in these fragments. It is exciting in its own right but possibly less titillating than discussions of conflict and speculations about murder.
In SO.d24 Dr. Bascomb closes by writing “I can’t wait to tell Ursula.” Given that the fragment authored mere days later seems a reaction to Dr. Bascomb doing just that, we believe we can now say with reasonable confidence that at long last we know the name of the author of the MO fragments. Her name is Ursula.