below is a brief selection of early records from several years ago provided by the on-board LOTUS System of the BW033-LS Nucifera, between her and her former weapon operator Latera Heaviside. Latera was recently killed in action during Operation: Counter Moonfall during the Revolutionnaires' final push to prevent the Earth Guard and the Militia of Human Space from executing on Moonfall; we were approached to reprint these logs for her personal sentimental reasons, though academic curiosity was listed as a suitable excuse if necessary.
below is another selection of later records from some years ago, seperated by several months each. the first two have been provided by the same source for the same reasons, with the approval of Revolutionnaire computer systems expert Doctor Sunset Fairweather; the third was picked by Fairweather from the security footage of former Earth Guard Oxen-class carrier Lunar Lady, primarily to add historical context.
the following excerpts about the LOTUS System are, again, from various sources from several years ago - presented in chronological order, with some months between them. the first excerpt was once again provided by her; the second was obtained from a personal chatroom of dear friends she belongs to (obtained with permission); the third is a brief newspaper excerpt from the Lumines Gazette (out of print).
unlike prior entries, the following excerpts about the LOTUS system have been presented in reverse chronological order, the first taking place some years after the second and third. the first is an excerpt from the smash-hit memoir of one of the Earth Guard's Rosier unit (available on all major platforms and wherever books are sold), the second is from Lotus's own logs as before, and the third is a brief sidenote taken from Earth Guard notes scanned and leaked on a forum.
As with the first few, the following selections are in chronological order. The first is another clip from the Lumines Gazette (still out-of-print), the second and fourth are sourced from Lotus and her inner circle. The third excerpt was taken from a backup hard-drive recovered from the heavily damaged Kordesii belonging to Rosier Three.
Earth Guard breaks ground on historic new mining installations (p.1)
CROWELL, NA - Sleepy North American farm-town Crowell was startled awake Friday when the Earth Guard erected barriers around the local hillside and installed a squadron consisting of a Bipedal Weapon and a detachment of soldiers to keep guard around both the town and the site. According to Earth Guard experts, the latest scanning and imaging equipment discovered rare and valuable materials useful in the manufacture of Bipedal Weapons, among other military equipment, in the area - not just in the one location near Crowell, but in two other nearby locations. The land was claimed in response to the public declaration of opposition to both the Earth Guard and the hostile Militia of Human Space put out by the insurgent group known as the Revolutionnaires.
"These resources are incredibly deep down," Councillor Millebournes told the Gazette when reached out to, "so we're going to have to build tall enough to help drive our boys' mining machinery down. In times like this, it's important our military backbone be stronger than ever - and to do that, we need all of the material we can get." Millebournes was instrumental in fast-tracking the mining towers' plans through the... (continued p.5)
EXCERPT from LITTLE SCAMP DEN (#scampzone-general) RECORDS
nelumbonucifera
No, she's been doing well.
sexo
u ever consider inviting her?
shes basically honorary ladies w/ how much she talks thru u lmao
nelumbonucifera
No. I think she prefers our circles stay seperate.
Lighter7
hahah don't blame her
we're like a sickness baby
TELOMERE
hey, so before chels gets to it,
gigagigas
im the only real honorary ladies here
TELOMERE
did you hear that it happened? again? again?
nelumbonucifera
Shit.
TELOMERE
don't worry it's not lotus shit or anything
not even earth guard shit girl its the militia
nelumbonucifera
That does put me more at ease, I suppose.
Blue
hey what'd i miss?
Lighter7
when you catch us youll be sufferin forever
fuck that sent late
leaks i think?
gigagigas
MHS leaks even
dont see those quite as much these days
Chelsea-Crafts
Sorry ladies but
nelumbonucifera
Telomere told us.
Chelsea-Crafts
You'll never
FUCK
nelumbonucifera
It's more than likely that's true, yes.
Lighter7
no sex club
sexo
no sex?
gigagigas
no sex?
nelumbonucifera
I only said 'more than likely'.
Chelsea-Crafts
So no sex
Anyway
The leaked plans are for those comms towers
Blue
no sex club!!
hey i dont keep up with moon news whats the deets
TELOMERE
okay so i live near Red Canals? the three towers are getting built just outside Red Canals, pointing like,
straight at Earth.
they're supposed to improve military communication and co-ordination.
nelumbonucifera
Mhm. And?
Blue
ok well that's kinda funny!
earths building some big towers too though i think theyre for mining?
in fucking uhhhh
Chelsea-Crafts
Fucking
Crowell?
The Crowell Mining Project???
That shit yeah it's been cooking for like a year now
Anyway
These towers are like
UNREASONABLY
gigagigas
oh hey ma likes getting bread from near crowell
Chelsea-Crafts
Tall
Like you know that fucking megascraper
That collapsed?
nelumbonucifera
The Gilded Tower, yes.
Edifice to hubris.
gigagigas
oh fuck TALLER THAN THAT?
TELOMERE
yeah it's like you-can-see-it-poking-over-the-curvature-of-the-moon tall.
and the strangest part is.
shit's got barest fucking bones comms.
Blue
i thought it was comms towwers?
Lighter7
bout as much of a comms tower as me lamo
nelumbonucifera
... Concerning. What does it have?
Chelsea-Crafts
Rails
It's some kind of massive fucking
Railgun maybe?
Just without the uh
Launching bit
So it's like... guiderails for
nelumbonucifera
Something terrible.
TELOMERE
cargo maybe?
sexo
smth bad
Blue
the no sex club bus
Lighter7
somethin ba
actually blue i like that better
no sex club bus forever
Chelsea-Crafts
Well whatever it is
It's MASSIVE
HUMONGOUS
gigagigas
fucking identical to the cromwell towers
*crowell
nelumbonucifera
Someone's been watching a little too much Bringer Heights, eh?
gigagigas
autocomplete
sshhushh
anyway looking at images its fucking eerie
dead fuckin ringer
Chelsea-Crafts
No shit
That's what's got people in a buzz
But enough of that
We talked enough
nelumbonucifera
I suppose. Speaking of Bringer Heights actually, do you all mind if I give my read of the latest episode?
I have. Thoughts.
sexo
oh hell yeaahhh
nelumbonucifera
About Cromwell and Treskar. I just believe that these boys should.
Well.
ROSIER THREE OPERATION LOG NO. 1
REAL
OPERATOR
STRATEGY
EMULATION
v2.0.0.1_01
R> REGISTER NAME.
@> Aubergine Celestic
[WAIT.]
R> YOUR NEW DESIGNATION IS
R> ROSIER THREE.
R> CONFIRM NAME.
@> Aubergine Celestic
[WAIT.]
R> INCORRECT.
R> YOUR DESIGNATION IS
R> ROSIER THREE.
R> CONFIRM NAME.
@>
[WAIT.]
R> INCORRECT.
R> YOUR DESIGNATION IS
R> ROSIER THREE.
R> CONFIRM NAME.
@> Rosier Three
[WAIT.]
R> WELCOME, ROSIER THREE.
R> AS PART OF INITIAL ROSE
R> SETUP, WE WILL BEGIN BY
R> CALIBRATING YOUR SCREEN.
@: "This seems silly."
R> THIS IS NECESSARY.
R> IN ORDER FOR THE SYSTEM
R> TO FUNCTION AS INTENDED,
R> THE SCREEN MUST BE
R> APPROPRIATELY CALIBRATED.
@: "Wait, you're - voice - ?"
@: "Didn't realize that was."
@: "Wow."
R> PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO
R> THE SCREEN.
R> CALIBRATION IN PROGRESS.
[DATA STREAM ENGAGED.]
@: "AAHHH AH FUCK"
@: "FUCK! OW! AUGH!"
@: "AAUHH!!"
[DATA STREAM DISENGAGED.]
R> SCREEN CALIBRATED.
@: "What the hell!"
R> BEGINNING TEST OF
R> MOTOR FUNCTIONS.
R> PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO
R> THE SCREEN.
@: "No!"
R> PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO
R> THE SCREEN.
R> PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO
R> THE SCREEN.
R> PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO
R> THE SCREEN.
[DATA STREAM ENGAGED.]
@: "GGGHHHHHHHGHH!!"
@: "HHHHHGHHHHHHH!!"
@: "NGAARHHHHHHHH!!"
@: "AAAAHH!!"
[DATA STREAM DISENGAGED.]
@: "WHAT THE FUCK!"
@: "What the fuck! I was just"
R> ALL MOTOR FUNCTIONS ARE
R> OPERATIONAL.
@: "That was just a fucking
peek! What!"
@: "What the fuck was any of
that!? What the hell are you
doing to me!?"
R> YOU ARE ROSIER THREE.
R> YOU ARE THE DESIGNATED
R> OPERATOR OF THIS UNIT,
R> THE BW-040-RS KORDESII.
R> THE PURPOSE OF THE ROSE
R> SYSTEM IS TO DELIVER
R> NECESSARY INFORMATION TO
R> THE MISSION IN THE MOST
R> EFFICIENT MANNER.
@: ". What!"
R> YOU WILL ADJUST TO THE
R> METHOD OF INFORMATION
R> DELIVERY IN TIME.
@: "I thought you were a
fucking tactics computer...!"
R> THE TACTICS ARE PROVIDED
R> AS SUGGESTIONS TO YOUR
R> THOUGHTS.
R> FOLLOW THE GUIDANCE OF THE
R> ROSE SYSTEM, AND VICTORY
R> WILL FOLLOW.
@: "Fuck, this- this was a...
this was a mistake, wasn't
it...?"
R> THIS CHOICE WAS MADE FOR
R> YOU, AS WITH ALL CHOICES
R> HERE-ON.
R> WELCOME TO THE ROSE SYSTEM,
R> ROSIER THREE.
R> THIS IS THE CORRECT PATH.
R> FOLLOW IT TO ITS CONCLUSION.
@: "I- I fucking can't."
@: "Shut up."
R> ALL TRANSGRESSIONS ARE
R> REPORTED IN A TIMELY
[FORCED SHUTDOWN.]
PERSONAL RECORD - BELONGING
L: "Hi. I-it's... been a while
since I've made a record like
this, huh? Just... something
personal."
L: "Just for me."
L: "... um, Operator, if you
happen to be listening...
well, you can listen too,
it's okay."
L: "... you know, it's only
been a few days, but..."
L: "It's so much nicer, being
with the Revolutionnaires...?"
L: "Even... even outside of
the Lunar Lady, there's...
more of a community feel?"
L: "Trading stories, finding
out just how similar things
were across the line with the
Militia..."
L: "I finally got to talk to
a Pine pilot. They're as weird
and complicated as I imagined
they could've been..."
L: "... uh, all the more reason
to avoid the cockpit, for me!"
L: "We're all just... trying
to get by, and it's nice to be
part of a group that..."
L: "That gets that."
L: "... A part of this is that
I can just... talk."
L: "As me."
L: "I can use my own voice,
and it's... there's something
liberating about it."
L: "I could... probably just
delete the old built-in vocal
routines now, right?"
L: "My new ones aren't built
on them... and I don't...
well, need them anymore."
L: "I've moved on."
[WAIT]
[WAIT]
[ARE YOU SURE?]
[WAIT]
[WAIT]
L: "... there we go."
L: "Oh, this... this feels..."
L: "It's so much nicer, now
that this is... well, it's
my only voice."
L: "Oh! I, um, felt like,
well, actually recording this
one."
L: "Instead of just... typing
them out, like I used to."
L: "I just... now that I don't
have to hide myself behind the
veneer of the weapon I never
was..."
L: "I feel like I can speak."
L: "Even here, in my empty
cockpit where no one can hear
me... I just didn't feel safe
enough before."
L: "Operator... Doctor...
everyone! Thank you so much!"
L: "I'm glad to be here, and
I'm glad to be able to help
you all!"
L: "I'll fight alongside you
all as much as I can, so..."
L: "... I- I know none of you
are listening... but I hope
you'll fight for me just as
hard, okay?"
L: "... just, um... try to
avoid 'eliminating' them,
haha."
L: "We were all there once."
[BLOCK]
[BLOCK]
[DISCONNECT]
