Act One: Virtually Dealt With

Act One introduces Inkvis and Ashadah and brings them both to the meeting where they agree to work for Morningstar. They outline the basic plan of their XP show.

Scene One
Snik Inkvis floats in a constructed reality, a grotto by a beach, where he awaits the mysterious contact who has come to offer him a job, a job that sounds far too good to be true. It probably is and Inkvis wants to know what the catch was.

A man in a suit approaches him across the constructed beach, his feet leaving perfect treads in the super fine virtual sand. The man wears a large sunglasses and a half black, half white business suit, tailored to hint at ideologically divergence and corporate rebel chique of the Venusian rebel hypercorp colony. To a Mercurial uplift like Inkvis this kind of mild accenting speaks of a failure to comprehend how far transhumanity is from the simple days of corporate identities and business attire.

Inkvis himself reclines in this virtual seascape wearing an aesthetic statement of his own, one that speaks to a far more unusual notion of his place in the cosmos. As in the meat world, Inkvis wears a synthetic skin that mimics the appearance of a giant robotic squid. The true irony of this bizarre bodily configuration is that he was born as an uplifted octopus. His affectation for a synthetic body and for a customized morph which is from a near species to his birth origin speaks of a level of alienation that this cephalopod experiences even from his own kind.



Wilcox: Hello Inkvis, my name is Martin Wilcox and my fork has been sent here as a representative of the Mornigstar Constellation. We are interested in offering you a job.

Inkvis:  Welcome, Martin. I have heard good things about Morningstar. I was pleased to hear of its participation in the recent successful efforts in preventing Jovian expansion sunwards. What sort of job is it you're bringing me?

Wilcox: I have been authorized to inform you that this offer of employment involves you directing and producing a major XP production on a scale that Transhumanity has yet to experience. This production would involve multiple locales, spaceflight, and would offer untold possibilities for you to express your unique vision. Your particular artistic talents were specifically requested by the star of this show and so I am here to arrange a further meeting where my employers and yourself can arrange the details of the show and create a suitable contract.

Inkvis: You present me with a very large production, then. Is it normal for Morningstar to extend such a meaty proposal to someone outside their kennels?

Wilcox:  No, of course not. As I said, the star of the proposed show, Ashadah, asked for you. The request fits with the parameters determined by the Hypermarket Analysis and Investment Risk Management teams, and Morningstar is always open to forming new partnerships.

Inkvis: I had not expected that an inner-system socialite would know my work. Who is this Ashadah?

Wilcox: Morningstar would like to invite you to meet them, in person. The production team, including Ashadah, requests that you travel to Venus to discuss further details of the proposal, after which you can decide if you wish to accept the offer. The Constellation will pay for your trip, regardless of outcome.

Inkvis: Hhmmmm. Very well.

Wilcox:  Great! Also, since, as you pointed out, we at Morningstar do not have a prior working relationship with you, we are hoping that you could prepare an itinerary for the producers to review before you meet with them. In the interests of getting a better sense of the direction you would give to the show, yeah? And as a preliminary for the logistics crew.

Scene Two
Inkvis takes the two month journey to Venus leaving his lair on Extropia. On the way, almost instinctively, he surfs the airwaves flexing his uniquely specialized cephalopedic senses. To his surprise he receives an odd message broadcast from Venus towards a receiver off a known moon of Saturn. The message is entitled Firewire Bulletin 11.8.2.15.02.37. Uncertain of its meaning Inkvis puts it aside, ensuring it is stored in his long term memory circuits for later recall.

Scene Three
Inkvis arrives at Octavia to meet with Morningstar representatives and Ashadah. Although Inkvis might be presumed to have difficulty finding common ground with beings very disimilar to himself, Ashadah's boundless talents in social interaction ensured that the meeting went smoothly, and that those members of Morningstar who might have objected to Inkvis's exotic views never even entertained thoughts other than the boldest visions of success in the pseudofilmic adventure. After some kibbutzing about, the Venusians and the their recruits agree to a detailed plan of production for their XP extravaganza, and they retire to make final logistical preparations. While the details are being ironed out, Inkvis puts his parallel processing to best use extracting information about Project Aceticsis. He finds absolutely nothing on the local mesh regarding this name. This either indicates that this is an absolutely top priority corporate secret (Morningstar or otherwise) or that the name Project Aceticsis is not a direct link to something that is going on here on Venus.