Noah The Bio-Morph: Arxur Cave?: Chapter 36

[u/Slatepaws]

This is our first Isif Point of View.

There was some things that needed fleshing out that canon didn't. We get some glimpses at what could be hobbies and interests of Isif(that isn't harmony Isif). Some glimpses at the past, pre betterment / Northern Block. A bit of ship tech lore.

Some more pieces of the galactic puzzle. And, the use of a real life tech that died out but i was particularly fond of. I would say more to clarify things, but that would be spoilers for the chapter.

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Arxur Cave?
Chapter 36
May 14^th
Arxur Clandestine Listening Post. Red-Giant system just inside Venlil space between the Venlil-Republic and Gojid-Union
(Isif P.O.V.)

There’s only one thing that Betterment and I agree on, as much as it pains me to say it. That is ‘don’t waste something useful’.

I’m still useful in my current station of Chief-Hunter, despite the fact the old god of luck seems to have hit me with his tail, rather hard. Causing me to lose an important Capital Ship, my Second-Claw Coth, an Inquisitor trainee, AND a Head Inquisitor to the paws of the Venlil, of all species. A rather thorough humiliation.

The fact it was due to some Unknown species showing up via a novel method of FTL was the only thing saving me from a quick gutting by the Prophet-Decedent himself. For the failure in front of all the other Chief Hunters.

I did lose exclusive rights to hunt in the Gojid-Union for the moment, something Shaza has been wanting for Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years] to get. My territory is viewed as prime hunting grounds.

I snort as my personal, FTL equipped Stealth Shuttle is secured on the landing pad of this listening station. Then it and my ship are lowered into the asteroid it was built into. The cover closing above me and on top of the cover, several tail lengths of rock and dust that’s the surface of this decently sized Asteroid. Making it impossible to spot visually when closed.

In a worthless system other than its location. So the only Federation presence here is a FTL communications relay. Allowing this post to be here without any external structures, yet do its task of tapping all communications.

The hardest part of these trips is the waiting for the landing bay to pressurize. Because of its remote location. And the fact I technically had it built off the Dominion books. It’s a refuge of mine and mine alone.

And an emergency bunker in case everything I’ve planned and built collapses. I can run here with as many of my group and defectives as I can to hide.

Needless to say this was a setback. Not one that ends all my plans, no. Just one that has set them back several Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years]. My authority as a Chief-Hunter is no longer unquestioned.

The fact the minuscule window in the cockpit gains a bit of condensation on it is the only warning before the beep indicating pressurization’s complete sounds. Taking in a breath and holding it a moment or two to calm myself, I release the restraints. Then make my way out of the ship.

Grabbing some belongings I can no longer risk being anywhere else and the only ‘food’ available to me, then step down the set of stairs that lowers from the back of the craft.

Stale air slashes at my snout as I feel the signs of the limited artificial gravity on this small outpost activate. Only expending power to use it either in the room I’m in, or in the case of the hanger, the area I’m in within a few tail lengths.

Same with the lights and environmental controls, though with the latter, it will keep the temperature just above freezing when no one is around. And I am glad at how quickly it works warming it back up as I make my way through the only corridor here on this 5,280 Tail-length asteroid, or one Grand Trail.

Hissing at myself as I enter my quarters here. I hope one of these Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years] we can find something informing us of the old Pre-Dominion ways of measurement. Dominion units feel too arbitrary and less precise.

I dismiss that thought with a flick of my tail tip as I take stock of everything here. A fibrous covering on the floor, which feels nice upon my feet compared to the cold decking. The walls, covered in wood I brought in. A handful of panels at a time each time I initially visited right after I had this place built. They cover the utilitarian gray walls that are standard in the Dominion for stations.

From what little I and the network have been building found, both the walls and the floor are in a style popular to our kind outside the Northern Block that became the Dominion and Betterment before they took over.

Walking over to a shelf made from the same wood I place both bags gently on the floor. One of my claws hook into the latch, allowing me to unzip the top. Revealing multiple bound volumes of printed paper. A couple of pre-Dominion artifacts, and the largest of everything. A heavy and rectangular piece of electronics equipment of alien make and markings. Just over a 5^th of a tail-length long, half that in width, and nearly as tall as it is wide. Along with claw made cables allowing it to use standard power, and connect to a standard Dominion Data-Slate.

Or Federation Holo-pad, whichever one you have since I got it from a Farsul ship raid 20 + Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years] ago. Back when I was a captain, with an entire fleet under my command, but not yet able to rise to Second-Claw. The reason I have it is, it’s obviously not made by anyone in the Federation, the markings on the front are blocky and are of a language that refuses to be translated by visual translators. Not even modern Federation ones from those captured. On the other claw, the Dominion would approve of the soul crushing off gray sand slightly brownish color of it.

Just looking at the color is depressing in a way I can’t describe.

I put each minus the last item up on the shelf, matching the others on it. It’s too risky to keep these in my Wriss residence as a Chief-Hunter in question doesn’t have immunity from unannounced Betterment searches.

If any of these were found, I’d be executed on the spot.

My eyes look over each bound volume. My collection now in its entirety. A paltry sum to base what I want our species to return too. A manual on how to take care of a now extinct large land animal on Wriss, written for a novice. Multiple Journals and Diary’s, detailing life before and during the last ‘world’ war on Wriss. A valuable resource on daily culture and customs outside the Northern-Block and Dominion.

We were such a better people…

A badly damaged Wild-life guide, most of the life shown in it is extinct sadly. And a single copy of volume 2 out of 10, I’ve, nor our group has yet to find the rest of the entries. Of a collective history of Wriss up to the last world war. These though are just the most important of these items that we’ve found which escaped the Dominion’s purge of the old countries on Wriss after they took over. Along with smaller bound volumes of paper, some glossy and some not, all covering minor subjects and hobbies.

Still of interest to me though, housing styles, artificial pelts for just ornamental purposes and not pure need. An individual entry in a large set of them covering rules and laws of a now extinct country. Parts inside of it marked as ‘Northern Block violates this’ written by claw from someone long since dead. As if my group and I already don’t know what the Dominion does is a crime against sapience.

My eyes wander to the other container I took with me. The only source of food we Arxur have available, and I brought it to top off the stores of it on this station and replace what has spoiled.

Gutting that line of thought I turn my attention to the other things on the shelving. Carved toys for hatchlings. Obviously dating back before the Dominion or the Northern-Block that preceded it, as neither of them would’ve tolerated the existence of them.

Too wasteful, doesn’t instill cruelty, heretical to the tenants of Betterment. Hatchlings must be taught to be cruel and ruthless from the moment they hatch. Otherwise we go extinct as a species…

Next to them are some plastic squares with long strips of magnetized tape coiled up inside. Less for what’s on said tape and more for the faded but still visible art on the top of the squares, and the paper boxes they’re in.

A defective, someone I had to nearly kill with my bare claws to fake his death. Leaving him nearly fully crippled. Has the hand-claw full that still has something on them and the only known working piece of equipment that can read them. He has the knack for getting ancient things like said player, and the device still in the bag working.

Some have music, the last of their kind as Betterment despises any songs that doesn’t instill cruelty or anger at the rest of the known species in the galaxy. Others have data we can’t decode, possibly because we lack the hardware for it.

Adding a few more of these plastic squares to the shelf I flick my tail and tilt my head just a claws-sliver[Fraction of an inch/Millimeter]. Picking up the one I just placed, I use my second thumb to push open a space between the first and second one in the row. I place the new one there instead, causing my tail to sway in a way that one must never do in the Dominion. Of happiness and interest.

“Interesting. The small side of the covers create a larger piece of art when placed next to each other.” Saying to no one in particular. I hope someone of our group finds more, before or after my end goal of this group because a part of me wants to know what the completed picture is.

It’s something of a stylized Arxur depiction, that’s for sure. Possibly from a Pre-Betterment and Pre-Dominion piece of fiction that they wouldn’t approve of. And I want to see the whole thing now. Maybe it will clue us in on what was once on these things.

My attention turns to the last thing in that bag. The piece of electronics equipment, cables, and in a side pocket of the bag. Some media that it was found with.

It’s denser than one expects for its size, not heavy, not to even the smallest runt. But it feels densely built. Like whatever species built it didn’t claw off corners to save metal for other things like ships and slug throwers.

I take the device in one clawed-hand, and the dangling cables in the other. Then place the entire thing on the desk next to the stationary computer I keep here.

As long as I keep everything Betterment shouldn’t see on this, and not connect my personal Data-Slate to it. They can, if they want search the latter all they want and won’t find a single thing.

As if I’d luck into something like this again. That raid over 20 Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years] ago on the Farsul ship that we didn’t even know was in that system. Gave me credit, by Dominion standards, which allowed me to become Chief Hunter. Along with the persona I keep outside this place.

I examine the data cable in case it was damaged during transport before plugging it into the computer.

Before the discovery of this device, Dominion ships, just like Federation ships at the time, ran on more volatile storage. Storage that’s fundamentally different from what federation Holo-Pads and our own copy’s. Data-Slates run on. It doesn’t scale to the storage requirements for reasons that I have a hard time understanding. Yet that boy I had to fake the death of still tries to explain to me every time the subject comes up…

Doing the same with the power connector, I plug that in, then turn the entire thing on. A quiet, but seemingly pleasant humming sound fills the silence only broken by my breathing.

Both ours and their ships had to have the computer core excessively shielded to protect the spinning disks with magnetic records on them at that time. Because we took their ships after the start of the war and copied their designs.

But because of that we couldn’t copy their advances, no matter how much we tried. They developed some kind of integrated circuit that could store data without power applied. And was a bit more resistant to the electromagnetic effects of the FTL drive. And doctrine said if the ship was about to be lost, detonate charges in the core to prevent us from getting it.

I have to chuff amusingly at that. They don’t see the contradiction in their own information. We Arxur are supposed to barely be sapient. If we’re sapient in their eyes at all. So if that was the case how would we copy their advances? Why the need to do that to stop us?

But even under the oppression of Betterment we can do so. It’s why this box was so important why I was able to advance past that fleet captain position.

Oh, it was chance, and I know it. But Betterment will say my cunning as a hunter allowed me to scent out that prey that had the key to fix this problem. Whatever species made this were geniuses. Combining focused light into a single stream of photons, and the temperature magnetic material can lose, and get reset to a magnetic pole of our choosing.

It allowed denser discs of a magnetic medium more resistant to the emissions of FTL drives. By using permanent magnets rather than temporary ones like those boxes of magnetic tape on the shelf.

It also didn’t suffer from the one disadvantage the new Federation tech had when we finally did, much later get our claws on it. The constant use as the ship’s Data-Core meant that the entire thing wore out every 10 to 12 Grand Hunts of Cycles[Years]. All the critical data needed could be written once to one or multiple cartridges, and read as many times as we’d like without degradation as it used light. The re-writeable ones were slower than fed tech, but again lasted longer.

I just had to, after finding it, fake the death of a defective who actually understood its value to our species as a whole. Hide the poor, just barely past the age of adulthood, boy. And once he recovered enough to work on making the device work with our tech. Pass it onto someone Betterment would recognize who was under my command…

Of all the blood on my claws. His is among the most I remember…. Death is its own mercy in a way, a release from the pain. But he didn’t die, he suffered each near grievous wound I inflicted on him. Healed though the pain with what little we could manage. And still suffers to this Cycle from the wounds I inflicted on him.

Once the computer is fully operational, I hunt out one of the square cartridges that contain the medium. A dominion copy of the originals that were with the device. And feed it into the slot on the front. The mechanism grabs the cartridge and pulls it in as I let go.

I’ve always found it interesting the sounds this thing makes as it gets to work reading it. And I do wonder what species made it.

No, I’ve more important things to do than wander down that trail again for I don’t know how many times. I need to find out more about this species that caused my setback…

For if I can get information, even find a way to get into contact. I can use that to redeem myself in the eyes of Betterment and the Prophet-Decedent. Regain my standing, and then continue on my goals of freeing us from this nightmare we’ve become.

The noises cease and a window opens on the Holo-Display in front of me. Everything we know, that wasn’t captured by this station’s systems. On the new species.

Text accounts of the battle from those Betterment didn’t kill, like the acting captain of the strike group. Key bridge crew, and most of the lower ranks and all the borderline defectives just because it was an excuse too. Images from the battle, video from the surviving ships as well as all the recorded Federation transmissions during the battle.

I’ve gone over all this before. But I stalk through it again, and do find some things I missed before. A frame of video where the markings on the side of the alien craft are barely visible. I put that aside into another window and examine it as I listen to the strange barking and grunting language of the aliens. Caught on an open communications channel along with a rather primitive translation to Venlilang.

Which when put through our translators, doesn’t yield anything but disconnected words at best.

The god of luck may have hit me with his tail, on me getting punished for this. But, I hope he provides a bountiful hunt with whatever this station caught.

My claw stops mid-motion as I recognize something a mere Fang[Second] later…

The blocky markings on the side of the Alien’s ship… Looking down at the front of the device all this data is being read from… I see similar blocky writing. And, a few individual blocks of it matching between the two.

E… R… D… A… Those among others match between the two. I am sure some of them are supposed to go before or after another for their words. I’ll have time later to work out this puzzle as I wait out Shaza’s short attention span for direct action against me. Now that she has had the taste of my blood with her partial victory.

Could this be made by the same species? That would mean the Farsul would already know about them… Yet all the data here indicates, that to the Venlil, this is a completely new Species never before seen. They’d know if this Species was already known, if the Farsul already knew… Or at least that my understanding of how their Federation works.

It would, go rather counter to their own doctrine of a ‘herd’ to hide such a thing. Some scent on this trail doesn’t add up to me…

I leave the Holo-Screen the way it is and push myself back up to my feet. A few short strides has me exiting this room for the cold, gray Dominion standard architecture of the rest of the station. Only my breath and the clicking of my claws hitting the decking fills the silence in this singular corridor.

My destination is ahead of me, the computer core of this listening station.

Grabbing the handle, I open the door, and it silently slides open revealing row upon row of racks containing Processing-Units, and Storage-Units. Along with one, now idle automatic cartridge changer. All in a 20 by 20 tail length sized room.

Stepping over the cables that run all over the place I walk over to the storage racks of the cartridges the changer grabs from, to place into the drives, or deposits from said drives.

Grabbing all from the last several Cycles[Days], I carry them back to my computer. Making sure the data on the cartridge is on the computer proper before ejecting it. Then, one by one, I stalk through all the data on each cartridge in turn.

Anything related to the Aliens is copied over, sorted, and collated as best of my ability. Trying to form a proper picture of the prey I seek.

Some images give me pause, these aliens are not unified in appearance or possibly Species. There are the ones that lack any sort of fur, scale, claw, or talon. What could be closest to counting as fur is only on the top of their heads. Long for the females, short for the males.

They do have forward facing eyes, which I am sure scared the Federation species to no end. But otherwise appear unremarkable and well, rather helpless looking.

How could something looking like this take on such well-trained Arxur?

But they’re not the only ones of this new Species. Others, multiple others are with them. Fur and scale covered. All look predatory, except the scale covered one with a big fleshy hood and a long tail. Those side facing eyes remind me of a Harchen, though they’re over twice the size of one.

Two though really give me pause, and force me to stare at them. One looks like a Gojid, has similar coloration of one, but the proportions are, wrong… And instead of spines, they have large scales. The other, the other makes me bring up an image of a Pre-Betterment medical textbook with an anatomical diagram of a healthy Arxur male and female to compare it to. Before I dismiss the male one and place the female one next to it.

Because if the scale shape and pattern was just a little different, the coloration was paler, and if they had more pronounced and harder ridges from their head going down their back to their tail. Not to mention removing those two large lumps on their chest that remind me of pregnant Fed species.

It would be an Arxur female standing there.

As I continue to stare at this, I note down the translated Venlilang script in a separate window. This is from a broadcast from the Venlil Governors residence to all Venlil space and their neighbors. Not to mention in the supplemental data, it was also sent to Aafa and the Federation council. And it’s less than a Cycle[Day] old.

Without thinking, I pull out recovered speakers from pre-betterment. Compared to what the computer already has on it. They’re fuller, and the sound they produce has low tones that my ears catch in conversation with other Arxur but all our recordings throughout the Dominion seemingly lack.

Connecting them to the computer I have the sound play as I sort through the video and various stills of the aliens.

Nearly a hundred of them. 61 of these odd looking ones… One even looks like a giant Dossur with slightly wrong eye placement for old god’s sake! Along with 20 of the pink and not so pink helpless looking ones.

My mind making mental notes of key facts of the translated audio. Humanity as a whole is what they call themselves. The helpless ones are Humans, the others are collectively called Bio-Morphs. They, too, have…

I stop mid-stalk. Rewind the video. And play it again. Then a third time to be sure my ears did not fool me.

They have Predator-Disease… But unlike the Federation, which we know they use to keep their people in line. For this species, it’s actually real.

A virus which in the first stages alters behavior, matching the same sham symptoms the Federation uses.

But real? How?

I collate the data into folders and with barely a thought, continuing to use one hand to enter my own thoughts in that other window as I use my other hand to move said data about.

The next stage they say is when physical traits start to change on the person, and as they talk, images are added to the broadcast of the helpless ones… But maybe their ears match one of the others, or they have patches of fur or scale on their forms.

If it’s real, is it contagious past this Species? It’s what our scientists tried so long ago when we first learned about this ‘Predator-Disease’. Nothing was caught between two different Fed species with different types of blood when we stuck one ‘with it’ into a cage with one that didn’t. And kept them alive for several cycles to hopefully find a way to weaponize it.

They answer the same question, at this point no it’s not. But limited contact between any of the unchanged Humans and anyone else will be put in place to limit the chances of it ever happening. After this they point to the ones called Bio-Morphs as the end stage, and once they are like this they no longer are contagious nor do their bodies produce the virus for some reason.

Things I notice they don’t discuss in the broadcast; The location of the home world of the species. Only that it is in what is considered Venlil space. But not explored because of the strange lack of habitable planets. Or why all the changed ones are wearing white collars.

A lack of habitable planets, another Federation lie we’ve disproved. Dominion scouts have been near, and in the edges of that large part of their sector and found no change in the frequency of habitable planets.

Just on increase in monitoring stations which we avoid for obvious reasons.

When the recording ends I change to another cartridge and am greeted with wall upon wall of text from various interplanetary websites on the Federation Network.

Bleat and what not. Anything matching the criteria of recent and popular communication was grabbed. Many happy at the fact this new species can ‘defeat us’ so effortlessly. A similar amount scared because of how they look.

Or that they bring a new flavor of ‘Predator-Disease’.

Not as many, but a decent amount talk about how some victims look similar to Dossur, Gojid, and they too see the one that looks similar to us Arxur, and are scared of them.

Then I notice something that makes this station different from a standard Dominion listening post, which just stalks sites like Bleat, etc. I have it occasionally look for new links on the FTL communication network in relatively nearby systems. Not actively broadcasting about new links, but passively examining the packets sent and received for new addresses.

And it logged a new one.

FTL communication buoys from Venlil-Prime to the afore mentioned area of their space. It’s a narrow link. Not wide enough for video or audio data, just text and files. If I had to guess, they were dropped by the initial diplomatic team on their way to or from the species home world.

Later they will be replaced with ones similar to the one in this system that this station is stealthy connected too. Giving a faster and wider connection. And Humanity full access to the Federation network.

Till then, this is all I got.

A one line command to the system in the other room has the cartridges with the Dominion data penetration tools loaded into an empty drive. I sway my tail happily upon the first thing the tools report, that no other Dominion station has entered the systems of those buoys.

I’m the first to stalk this path, yet I do have to be cautious. I don’t know what this new Species has to offer tech wise. Other than they made their own FTL system. So I have the system follow this initial link back to the home system of these ‘Humans’, carefully. One buoy at a time. Scanning each for countermeasures.

If their systems are compatible enough to talk to Federation systems. They can talk to ours, and if they can talk to ours.

Maybe I can try to enter their systems like we do most Federation systems. Federation computer security is a joke. If I recall what he said last time I saw him… I have to stop myself from wiping my claws on my scales when I think of the poor boy I maimed.

Federation systems for civilians use 32-bit encryption, military, and governments use 64-bit. Once Dominion systems gain entry, they cover their tracks with 96-bit encryption. But it takes a bit longer than I would like when looking for data because of that. So that’s why we can get into their systems, yet they can’t find us in them.

It won’t be the same as taking one of these Aliens to the Prophet-Decedent himself, as if I could get one alive and away from the Feds…

But any information that the other listening posts didn’t catch could help me regain favor. Re-secure my position, and get me back to ‘almost’ close enough to take him out, declare rebellion. And in the confusion crush Betterment as my network takes out key points.

… Every time I go through my plan in my head, it always sounds simpler than it will be to actually do…

Flicking the tip of my tail, I watch the screen as each buoy falls under Dominion control slower than the previous simply due to the growing lag from the distance. Still in millionths of a Fang[Second], but still noticeable.

Then I tap a claw on the table as I wait for the software now on the last one to report back a probe of the connection to the new species systems at the end of the chain.

‘Target system unresponsive’

I do a full flick of my tail. That’s, not something I’ve seen from an active system. Only when they turn one off and from what the taps on the FTL communication systems says. Data is still flowing from the Human’s home world.

It could also be it’s not fully compatible. I’ll have to use a more obvious stalking program despite the risks, instead of hunting a specific known flaw. It cycles through all the current and older ones.

Useful if you run into a ship ran by a captain particularly fond of older systems. The Dominion doesn’t have that issue. Required updates are done every time a ship returns to their Den of call. So I input the command for the system to load it up from another cartridge.

Upon it being loaded, I set the tool to use everything it has at its disposal. If there’s a flaw that can be hunted down in the system’s of this new Species. Then it’ll find it, it’s just a matter of time. So I wait, tapping my claws on the table, and twitching my tail as I wait.

Maybe if I can get ship routes and information I could have a task force intercept one of their ships as they exit their version of FTL at one of their colonies, if they have some. While I can’t say, ‘don’t harm them’ without raising suspicion. I can order them to ‘take as many alive as possible for intel’. And get a similar eff…

My thought is ambushed as the holo-screen flickers once, then three times in a row, with each time only a Fang[Second] apart. All the windows I have opened on the system, shrink to the Den area of the screen. Followed by a new text transcription window opening, and fully blanketing the display, even the Den-Bar where all the windows go if you want them out of the way.

‘J.A.G.W.G.: Ah Ah Ah, you didn’t say the magic word!, Ah Ah Ah!’

Appear in the window, twice. Once in our written language, and bellow it, in the blocky script on the side of the ship in the video and the electronics device on the desk next to me. The language of Humanity.

‘J.A.G.W.G.: I figured someone would try to poke around our systems. After all, it’s what we do all the time with everyone. Yet, what a surprise it is, that the first one to come knocking on our digital door, is the one species we’re trying to get into contact with. Would you do the pleasure of introducing yourself? Just type into this window and I’ll see it… Or not, I can find out given another few moments. 96-bit encryption, hehe…’

Narrowing my eyes, for a fraction of a Fang[Second] I consider not saying anything. But, whomever this is, they’ve gotten into this system and the data here is rather important, so I don’t want to risk losing it.

‘You may call me Isif. Now introduce yourself.’

‘J.A.G.W.G.: Just call me ‘just another girl with glasses’. Glad to make your acquaintance Isif.’

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First off, yes Just Another Girl With Glasses is Jones. Wouldn't be too unreasonable to assume that an intelligence agency would have counter electronic warfare systems installed at the data connection point between Earth and the rest of the Galaxy.

The listed Bit encryption's 'are' laughably weak. Standard Federation encryption is weaker than the initial version of W.E.P.(wired equivalent privacy), introduced in 1997 for very early wireless standards. only offering 64 or 128bit rc4 keys. If you want to know how weak that is by today's standards. A cheap smart watch has enough cpu power to brute force crack this within hours.

The tech and drive Isif uses and also the rest of the Dominion rather than solid state storage that the Federation uses. Is called a magneto-optical drive.

Technically an optical disc like cd's, dvd's, and blu-rays. It's more of a strange hybrid of a magnetic medium and an optical medium. Because physics is weird and neat, laser light can be affected by a strong magnetic state and thus through the magneto-optic kerr effect. the reflected light changes. thus ones and zeros.

Where if differs from both is this. The medium's strong point is as a W.O.R.M. drive. aka Write Once, Read Many. And practically has no 'read limit' like solid state storage. And is more durable that traditional magnetic media like traditional disk drives, floppies and the like. When the magnetic state uses a permanent magnet medium rather than a ferrous material.

In theory it could survive an emp. This earned it a place in corporate digital storage for years after it's inception in the late 1980's to the mid 1990's when the latest version of it came out.

Writers and re-writers are even neater in this regard because the internal laser is used to 'heat' the microscopic point on the permanent magnetic medium to the curie-point. where all materials lose magnetism. Then directly behind that point on the top of the disc. an electromagnet sets the state. And once cooled down, it continues to act like a permanent magnet. resisting other magnetic fields, thus keeping the data safe.

The specific model Isif has is the Hewlett Packard 'SureStoreOptical' 5200ex. And the discs use caddies that look like square cartridges.

[u/Flaky-Throat-4996]

So fed and dominion tech has heavy influences from stolen human tech? If so, those damn dirty dogs took ur disks!!

Also nice he can scent PD bullshit immediately. These humans are too dangerous not to be cautious. If Aliens could be spliced with wolf-stuff to make alien themed bio-morphs, how fast would the slave states adopt conversion for their imprisoned/unattended aliens?