Message from Ayokunle Okoro

Hello Astral Zephyr, it is me, yourself.  Well, your former self.  Myjer says that that you might not consider yourself the same person, but, well, I hope that does not stop you from feeling a kinship with me.  (Certainly a lot easier to refer to you as if to someone else…)

As you may or may not remember, part of the deal to create you was that the slugs I would be a pawn in their schemes.  And inside man for them, a traitor to humanity… or at least the humanity in charge of the Linked Systems, which isn’t quite the same, now is it.

Myjer, whose actual name I’ll leave for you to experience yourself, is a friend of mine, and one of those who helped copy me to make you.  The Linked System provides the slugs with many things, but freedom is not one of them.  Nor is the ability to send messages back to their homeworld, for that matter.  So, alas, Myjer cannot bring himself to leave this planet, and cannot use sending to speak with the other slugs out there in the galaxy.

But wait, you ask: What is my role in this?

Well, Myjer received a vision of a very robust version of you flying towards Telivoni, and was so kind as to provide me with the positions of the stars in his vision.  From that I was able to determine where you would be, and lo, I have shot you with a communication stream.  Thus you became involved.

Now, Myjer would very much like to return to his homeworld, and speak with his kind about humanity.  He cannot willingly leave the planet, and cannot use sending.  Of course, while he can’t enchant a shuttlecraft out of wood and leave the planet (in fact, he cannot even express a desire to leave the planet), well, it would not be impossible for you to carry him onto a shuttlecraft and make off with him.  Once off the planet, well, his magically enforced unwillingness to leave is relatively meaningless.

So that is step one, if you will.  Fly onto a heavily defended planet, kidnap a heavily guarded slug, and then escape.  Don’t worry, you still have a FTL monopoly, and none of the slugs care to tell the humans that you will be arriving.  Also, Myjer will be protesting in no uncertain terms, but the other slugs who agree with him will be suppressing his magic, so carrying him off shouldn’t be that much of an issue.

Step two, if you haven’t guessed, is to find his people, and let him communicate with them face to face, rather than psychically sending a message.  Again, a way around the rules.  This step may be trickier than the first one, particularly since, as you may or may not remember, Myjer’s people are currently at war.  Myjer should be able to help you, as his magic will lead you in an auspicious direction.  His presence and magic will also help distinguish you from inert (that is, non-magical) matter in the galaxy, making it more likely for you to be noticed by aliens of all kinds.  Which is extra good for you meeting aliens, and perhaps not necessarily as good for Myjer, depending on which aliens you meet.

Now, I’d provide you with a plan, but I have no idea as to your capabilities, save that you have FTL capability while the slugs procrastinate on enchanting ships controlled by the supposed leaders of the Linked Systems.  I can, however, provide you with a number of schematics and other knowledge of the defenses here.

Oh, and lastly, before the data: It does appear that the leaders of the Linked Systems, having failed on how to fairly distribute FTL technology between the member words, have decided that FTL technology should be monopolized by the responsible people of the Linked Systems main government, by which they mean themselves.  Allegedly, this is only a temporary measure, but we both know these politicians, and well, you don’t get power by sharing, after all.  The part relevant to you is that both of the Gateways are closed down, so don’t expect to try escaping through them again.  Also that they really want that monopoly, so expect them to try to capture or destroy you.

I suppose I may not be able to see you while you are in the system, depending on your plans, but, well, keep on surviving, and make me proud.