Inferno

By Brandon Brylawski

“A new age dawning for mankind….”

That is what all the holovideo shows called it, and if anything, it's an understatement of the first order. What we have found on Dante has changed mankind's place in the cosmos, and turned fundamental principles of mathematics, physics, biochemistry, and computer science over on their heads. Not since the Apollo Moon landing, or the beginnings of space colonization, has so much happened in so little time to change the way we think, the way we view ourselves, and the whole potential of humanity. No exaggeration.

It started only six months ago (just six months? Hard to believe it now) when the messenger boat Swift Return picked up a strange signal coming from within the orbit of Venus. It was at first presumed to be a vessel off course - what else could be broadcasting there? But it wasn't. When the L-5 station finally pinpointed the source, the beacon was found to come from the planet Mercury! More, it was coming from the sun side, as uninhabitable an area as you could ever find. Half a dozen robot probes were cobbled together on the stop and let loose to see what was there.

What they found was, in a word, astounding.

It was an automated base.
An old base.
Thousands of years old, at least. Older than mankind.

That's right. The installation, called Dante (after the discoverer, Raphael Dante) was built by aliens. Why? I couldn't tell you. But here's the kicker. It wasn't just some little outpost. It was a whole full-blown scientific installation, complete with analytic equipment, communications apparatus, and a full library. 

Jackpot.

Of course, it took about six seconds after the discovery for every researcher, wildcatter, and free trader to try to get his or her hands on the Dante artifacts. The upshot was this: each government or corp was permitted to sponsor one--mind you, one--group to come to Dante and study. Peacefully. It was up to each government to choose its team. Ideally, the best and brightest minds from each outfit would make the cut.

That’s just what we did! Beat out all the other labs and universities, loaded up the courier boat, and headed out without packing more than a toothbrush. It's been a wild few months. We've got to work here among all the other teams, which is a pain, let me tell you, but the rules mandate that everybody gets to look at everything. The prestige and commercial value of the discoveries here is beyond anything we've ever seen before; whichever team is first out of the gate in publishing  will be wealthy and famous for life, and everyone else will have to tussle over table scraps.

What was Dante? We're just starting to find out. And why did the station send out that beacon? Is something about to happen? No way to know. Anyway, we've just scratched the surface. We've maybe found out a hundredth of a percent of what's going on here, and already people are shaking their heads in disbelief. What won't come next?

Inferno is a puzzling-solving game for 18-32 players (in randomly assigned teams).  Although it has a science-fiction setting, it is not a LARP.  It will be run on April 5th at 8pm, but there is no fee to play, and you don't have to register for Starship Edsel to play--you can just show up for Inferno if you'd like.  We'd appreciate it if you would indicate on the registration form if you intend to play.