In the recent dev blog on the Abyss this quote came back up.
"Late last year, Professor Mayor of CONCORD’s Project Discovery reported a series of unusual energy spikes to CONCORD’s Inner Circle.Follow up work mapped these energy spikes to POCKETS of space-time, similar to the spatial anomalies we call ‘Deadspace’, though these are more isolated and require special technology to access.
These hidden pockets have been code named 'Abyssal Deadspace‘."
This is from the CONCORD briefing at Fanfest, and has been used repeatedly, but it got me thinking. What happened late last year?
Two things. One, the Blackglass Implants were found and two, there was a Rogue Swarm Alert.
I’m focusing on the Rogue Swarm Alert, although the possibility of the Project Discovery treasure hunt being related isn’t entirely out for me. (In fact, I’m close to 100% certain it’s involved.)
So! Rogue Swarm Alert. According to the various news articles from the event, this swarm was different. It lasted longer and it represented a behavioral change in Rogue Drones. We know based on test server digging that there are Rogue Drone swarms under the control of Triglavians. This will come back later.
Now on to Sine Wave Omega. If you haven’t read it, you should go read it. Go do that now because I’m about to spoil things.
Go on.
The important part to this for me is in the section on the Concord City Outskirts.
Yulai III, Concord City Outskirts, YC119.12.29
Dated late last year. In this section, a man tracks down a Sister of EVE by the name of “Latimas”. He also mentions that the Project Discovery memorial having caused him trouble, which is where the Blackglass treasure hunt starts. Yeah I’ll come back to that when I work out how it’s connected. No idea so far.
In the building he tracks Latimas to, he finds another notable character. Taya Akira.
Taya Akira is a former Sister of EVE. Her details are long, so I’m not going to go into them too deeply, but she’s notable for breaking her oath to the SoE in this news article. She was also formerly the leader of the SoE splinter group Pharos of Thera.
Back to Sine Wave Omega. Things are going well aside from Latimas having fainted.
The dialog between Taya and the protagonist (I honestly don’t know their name.) is interesting.
“Sister Taya Akira, well, well, well. What a pleasure it is to make your acquaintance at last. You don’t know me but I, to be sure, know you.”
“Who the hell are you? Get out before I call the police,” said Sister Taya. She was clearly terrified but I give her credit for holding up under the shock better than the absurd Latimas.
“Come now. You know that things have gone beyond the law being your ally, my dear. Best you come with us but before that let’s deal with Latimas.” I motioned to Onikori’s man, “Remove that trash.”
Following this, Latimas is shot and killed and Taya runs toward the window.
What happened next astounded me and is a matter for ongoing concern for all of us involved in the Ascension project. As far as my surviving camera drones could make out through the haze of electromagnetic jamming and information warfare, a drone the size of an atmospheric fighter craft took up a hovering position in front of the window to the room I’d just been in. Then it burned out the window frame, reduced my erstwhile accomplice to a pile of ash with a quick burst of laser fire and grabbed Taya Akira with as much tenderness as is possible for a rogue drone. Oh yes, this was very definitely a rogue drone of some kind. Then it apparently scanned the hab, decided to burn Onikori’s surviving man to a crisp through two intervening walls and accelerated away with Akira in its grasp. Clearly it hadn’t seen through my cloak.
A Rogue Drone of ‘some kind’ tenderly grabbed Taya Akira, killed anyone who it knows to have seen it, and left. Her having run toward the window is telling, and makes me think that she was expecting extraction.
This was December, during the Rogue Swarm and fitting nicely into the bracket of “late last year.”
In January of this year, a small event took place. The Universal Timebase Management Research. You can find the full chat log from it here.
A number of Drifters gatecrashed this event, despite the lack of a Jove Observatory in the system, which is usually required for them to be around.
A spokesperson from Pharos of Thera, the SoE splinter group that Taya Akira was formerly the head of, claimed that this event was a CONCORD Black Ops experiment into advanced anti-drifter tech. The important quote is this
“Ever since the disappearance of Taya Akira during this Rogue Swarm Alert, we’ve been seeing even more signs of experimental operations carried out by the DED and especially the SARO,” said Alexis. The former Sisters of EVE scientist Taya Akira is the presumed leader of Pharos of Thera, while the Special Affairs for Regulations & Order (SARO) unit is known to be the DED’s elite operators group.
Taya Akira hasn’t been heard from since YC119.12.29.
The DED testing into Abyssal deadspace is likely what is being referred to by Alexis, which means (To me) that the unusual energy readings were caused around the same time as Taya Akira vanished. When she was taken by a Rogue Drone, which are under the control of Triglavians.
According to the Scope, the DED have been testing Filaments and Triglavian tech for some time now, and even managed to send a cruiser in. They claim that this cruiser was lost after flying through “Three more pockets” after clearing the first. This may be a poorly worded error, rather than an actual hint. HOWEVER. They did test mutoplasmids. Which means they went back in and were successful at extracting their loot. Where this falls into the timeline exactly, I don’t know.
So this is the timeline I have.
Pre-December:
The SoE know about Abyssal Deadspace. At least slightly. And they’re not the only ones. I have no confirmation of this, it just seems very likely.
December:
Alpha clone capabilities are extended by the CONCORD Inner Circle.
A Rogue Swarm is detected. This swarm is obviously different, and gets the DED as well as independent analysts riled up.
Project Discovery Phase One monument announced and placed in Lanngisi the following day.
Rogue Swarm Alert issued by the DED.
Blackglass implants discovered by ARC. These implants were found by following clues found by running an Entosis link on the Project Discovery Phase One monument. This begins a treasure hunt that takes you first to The Solitaire. (A destroyed Ragnarok in Caldari lowsec, missing its crew and without any escape pods launched) On The Solitaire, there’s a secret research facility hidden inside it. This gives you a path that takes you to the True Immortal, where you get the implant. The implant is a biomechanical interface. Hey what’s that thing the Triglavians are good at again?
Yoiul Festival celebrations take place, despite Rogue Swarm.
Taya Akira kidnapped by a rogue drone in Yulai.
January:
CONCORD announce a new research effort to improve measurement of CONCORD’s universal timebase. They were going to go to multiple locations across New Eden, however…
CONCORD Universal Timebase Measurement Research mission attacked. The attacking forces were made up of a Talos piloted by The Astromancer and two Algos, piloted by Nheil Kharan and Therik Mot. They had Corrupted Trinary Relics in their holds. Items recovered from Drifter wrecks. Two Drifters also show up, with support from Lancers. However these were not aggressive.
Pharos of Thera claims that this mission was a cover for a CONCORD Black Ops anti-Drifter experiment. This is also when they reveal that Taya Akira is missing and has been since the swarm was active.
CONCORD deploy assault commandos against Phoenix Naval Systems to recover the corpse of The Astromancer.
February:
ORE announce record profits.
April:
CONCORD capture and quarantine Triglavian cruiser that they ‘found’.
CONCORD brief capsuleers in Yulai.
Attempted attack on Concord City stopped.
War of a Million Lies isn’t over.
May:
Triglavian space will open up. More information will likely become available.
Open questions:
Are the SoE aware of Triglavians? Perhaps even in contact with them.
Where does Mithra’s Gate connect to this?
What happened to Taya Akira?