Bait Starship

[Ackehece]

I seem to recall that the Kinunir was diagnosed with the computer AI equivalent of "paranoid schizophrenia".

Solution; rewire its components with lithium based circuits and hook it up with a female Kinunir?

Or just reformat its HD

actually with the arguments about TL going on right now...

Kinunir -> built on a TL15 ship base

"Artificial Intelligence: Although artificial intelligence is level 17 technology, this particular model of computer was produced experimentally with limited artificial intelligence,"

 

[Blue Ghost]

Still, nothing a good old "C:\FORMAT" command couldn't solve

 

[Ackehece]

Still, nothing a good old "C:\FORMAT" command couldn't solve

unfortunately it appears according to T509 that the brain might need replacement. T_T

pg586
"Positronic Brains are eventually degraded by the effects
of positrons on the iridium substrate. This aging effect
is the natural and inescapable consequence of positronic
brain activity. Positronic Brains begin Aging Checks after Int * 2 years.,
and every four years thereafter. At the appropriate stage,
perform an Aging Check as Check Int. Success reduces San
-1 (Int is unaffected)."

as there are NO rules for what happens when sanity fail in T509 (oversight) and no rules to recover from losing sanity...

I would say that you can reset sanity with your switch, or with counselling, or with pharmacopoeia (Psionics has drugs that restore sanity)
I would of course say that pharma would not help a computer!



**********

Re-reading Kinunir I can across this...
Here is a cargo that at TL-H has some uses but it is super expensive to make (and stupidly dangerous!) TL-R before it is convenient to use in everyday situations...

***SPOILERIFIC****

"The belt itself is partially composed of contra-terrene matter. Contact with a particle of such matter will result in the conversion of the contra-terrene matter and an equal amount of normal matter to energy. Throw 3+ per hour to avoid encountering contra-terrene matter; if it is encountered, the explosion will disable some critical function of the ship, requiring repairs (suggestions: life support, computer, communications, detectors).


(Sounds like a dense belt of this stuff... seems unlikely)

contra-terrene "(obsolete, physics) Of or pertaining to antimatter."

 

[SanDragon]

The T5.09 pdf, page 123, under the Counsellor skill:

Counteracting Losses Of Sanity. Sessions with a
Counsellor may increase or restore Sanity.
To Restore Sanity (one hour)
Difficult (3D) < Int + Counsellor
Uncertain (2D)
Success increases the subjects San +1 (not to exceed
original San).
This is the equivalent of Grief Counselling or Post-Traumatic
Event Counselling.
To Restore Sanity (1D hours over 1D weeks)
Difficult (3D) < Int + Counsellor
Uncertain (1D)
Success increases the subjects San +1D (not to exceed
original San).

Don't know if it would work on an AI!

Don't know if it should work, due to it being an aging loss.

 

[Blue Ghost]

You know, call me "crazy" (pun intended), but I'm not sure the ship has feelings. o:

Back on topic; would the AI freak out if the ship was set as a bait ship, and then hijacked?

 

[Enoki]

Still, nothing a good old "C:\FORMAT" command couldn't solve

Or, it might be you form a ghost shell on a Unix-like system that then takes over the actual system... "I've accessed the console..."

 

[aramis]

Okay, fine. But how do you translate that into a lure for a rogue crew to hijack a ship?

Terrorism: Grind it to dust and air-disperse it in oil droplets....
Selling it to Terrorists

 

[Blue Ghost]

Terrorism: Grind it to dust and air-disperse it in oil droplets....
Selling it to Terrorists

No offense, Aramis, but that sounds pretty high concept for a ship stealing ring. More like if there's big radioactive symbols on the crates, and they know there's a demand on some planet, then they might take it.

But running terrorism material? Not for a ship hijack. If it was a real sophisticated operation ... like a guerrilla movement or intelligence ring, then maybe.

But we're talking stealing ships for resale or parts here. If the cargo is a lure, then it's probably something like vehicles, or luxury items or something. Something the pirate crew can unload on some other world.

 

[kilemall]

Or, it might be you form a ghost shell on a Unix-like system that then takes over the actual system... "I've accessed the console..."

This is why it is a HARD rule IMTU that robot brains are never used as starship computers and that robots have to interface with the starship same as humans.

I have ships that have intel, but it's a measure of interpreting orders into actionable ship system actions and largely deterministic.

 

[kilemall]

I could see all sorts of uses for radioactives at most tech levels, don't need anything exotic to make them valuable.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I could see all sorts of uses for radioactives at most tech levels, don't need anything exotic to make them valuable.

Right, but is that enough to entice anyone to steal a ship?

SanDragon suggested that said material could be used for nukes, but weapons grade material probably wouldn't be shipped by private or public courier / freight.

Meaning that what you have is a ship with consumer grade stuff for whatever application. You'd have to have a good deal of education and intelligence to know what to steal as well as when and where. It wouldn't happen.

A rogue crew, unless instructed or trained, wouldn't care too much about the cargo. They'd just take the ship.

 

[aramis]

No offense, Aramis, but that sounds pretty high concept for a ship stealing ring. More like if there's big radioactive symbols on the crates, and they know there's a demand on some planet, then they might take it.

But running terrorism material? Not for a ship hijack. If it was a real sophisticated operation ... like a guerrilla movement or intelligence ring, then maybe.

But we're talking stealing ships for resale or parts here. If the cargo is a lure, then it's probably something like vehicles, or luxury items or something. Something the pirate crew can unload on some other world.

Hijacking for munitions is Capital-T Real-World Tradition. (Usually, small arms and/or explosives.) Capture the ship, offload it, send it down in water too deep for casual recovery. The scare factor of shipping potential health hazards is that someone will find out about it. In fact, there were a couple of eps of Sea Patrol (which is fiction, but realistic fiction) on the issue.

Converting to Traveller - you take the ship, take the valuable cargo, then scuttle the captured ship such that it is impossible to tell if it's still got cargo or not. (Misjump is your friend.... you leave J1 fuel aboard, program for a jump in 20 minutes, aim for deep space, and get the * off. Then you jump yourself out. And turn the valuable passengers over to allies who ransom them back.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Assuming the ship isn't rigged, as per my topic

 

[SanDragon]

So, my million-and-a-half credit cargo box is a bunch of glow-in-the-dark Rolexes?

:rofl:

 

[Blue Ghost]

Or toys

 

[aramis]

So, my million-and-a-half credit cargo box is a bunch of glow-in-the-dark Rolexes?

:rofl:

Could be wierder. A guy tried to buy out several Toys-R-Us stores stocks of tamagochi when they first hit the US; it was cheaper to buy them in the US and smuggle them back to Japan than to buy them wholesale in Japan...

 

[SanDragon]

Or toys

Great. Glow-in-the-dark Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle watches!



No! Strike that!

Middle-aged Casted Aikodo Droyne wrist-comps!

 

[Condottiere]

Pokemon Cards.

Gotta' collect them all.

 

[flykiller]

indeed. the Traveller card game and trading cards thread is the most popular thread on coti, three times more hits than the next most popular thread.

anything ever come of that?

 

[Blue Ghost]

Think of it this way, all those kids who'd get a glow in the dark Droyne watch for Christmas won't be dissapointed when you hit the kill switch to stop those hijackers.

p.s. the face on Alienware computers looks Droyne-ish. So your kids will be getting Alienware wrist watches. Doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy all over?