The Nocturne Gazette - Archives

[ryder]

A Note from the Writer

Hello, readers from Biesel, Tau Ceti, and all it's denizens!

Before I begin new publications, I want to explicitly state that I'll be republishing a small archive of what I feel are relevant articles from past investigations I've done. You can find those here at the address you're on right now! Check back in as I sift through my archives and upload some prominent pieces of news I've put out through my career elsewhere in the Orion Spur.

Otherwise, there isn't much else to say. Readers can expect to catch me in Mendell districts, the Odin, and Aurora. Where I go, you can expect excitement to follow.

Signing off,

Nadia Paget, Proprietor and Lead Writer

[ryder]

(archival post; published August 14th, 2458 CE)

(original posting translated to Tau Ceti Basic)

(some encoding errors may interfere with browser compatibility)

 

< 𝖥𝖮𝖭𝖳𝖠𝖨𝖭𝖤 𝖥𝖮𝖴𝖭𝖣𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭 𝖲𝖧𝖠𝖣𝖮𝖶 𝖡𝖮𝖠𝖱𝖣 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖱𝖮𝖡𝖮𝖳 𝖬𝖨𝖭𝖣𝖲; 𝖶𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖨𝖲 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖳𝖱𝖴𝖳𝖧? >

The Fontaine Foundation; run by Foster and Genevieve Fontaine, the dynamic, powerful duo who have excelled in the tech world on Oran and made breakthroughs in cybernetics, biomechanics, medical tech, pharmaceuticals, and even aerospace industries. Although they have been wildly successful in their endeavors, it seems as if The Fontaine Foundation had a foothold in the economy before it even gained a p͒̓̒ù͐̽b̀͘l͆̚i̒͑̒c̽̕ f̾́͠a͛̔͑c̓̓̽e̒̾͑. Conferences and showcases of experimental technology, not even with a promise of completed development, were the foundation and glue that held together the beginnings of the corporation. Take a look at the filmed events yourself, below. The lack of any technical specifications or precise predictions shows us one thing; this is all for show, a facade. The money was already there.

 

[EXPIRED EMBED; CONTACT YOUR NT-EXTRANET ADMIN]

 

But who would be so daring to invest in these intrepid minds?

That’s where things get complicated. The Fontaine Foundation refuses to reveal the names and faces of its Board of Directors, and even the President or Chairperson of the board is but a shadow in our midst. While “Angel Investors” are well known groups, few such philanthropic organizations hold the money and influence today that might be required to empower The Foundation from the ground up. Still worse; The Eridani Federation’s corporate-driven legislature means that so long as The Foundation keeps their headquarters on Oran, they’ll likely be immune to any judicial inquiry or subpoena.

So the question is begged; Who provides the lifeblood of The Fontaine Foundation? How did the Fontaine’s themselves manage to rope these shareholders and directors together? Why are their stockholdings as a whole obscured as they are?

Investigation for this journalist has been trying, and even media giants like SYNCHNET and CONNECT GLOBE have barely scrounged up information relevant to the inner workings of The Fontaine Foundation. This company, shrouded in mystery, adamantly holds its secrets close.

But that isn’t to say they are entirely resistant to scrutiny from within. While data mining has proved a frivolous effort for hackers, they may have forgotten the biggest exploit in any system; human error.

Under promise of anonymity, an agent of The Fontaine Foundation had this to say;

Quote

“Of course it’s all secret, of course they aren’t going to expose these things. And yeah, you can say, ‘but oh, it’s the right thing to do!’ but guess what? They own so damn much, and whoever funds them probably lines the pockets of the Feds as well. Puts an end to the lawsuits, for sure. Not even we know any names of who’s up there. Is it really that much of a surprise? Hell, I’ve signed my NDA, so I won’t say enough that’ll get me shot like a [sic] dog, but there’s horror stories and [sic] that I’ve heard here that scare the hell out of me. The projects we’re working on have nothing to do with what they say in the conferences and presentations. I mean, c’mon. We’re [messing] around with combat AI here, doing military [sic]. Not like most of us b͍͎͍e͎̘͜n͎͎e̟͍͎a͓̼̦t͕̠͔h̪̝̦ t̻͔͜h̡͓͔e̝̺͉ t̺͉o̠̝̙p̢͕͍ d̡͔̪o̢̢g̝͎̙s̢̢͓ really know what for, but none of it is good.”

AI! That’s a serious allegation. Imagine what power The Fontaine Foundation could hold if they made breakthroughs in the field.

While AI is highly regulated, and most higher functions are entirely illegal in some parts of the Orion Spur, this isn’t the first time that the issue has been pinned on the Foundation. In fact, only two years ago, the Foundation was at the core of controversy over the Exact-O-Membank mass recall.

Cheaply manufactured; Exact-O-Membank’s, a product produced by Fontaine Foundation subsidiary *SynerGo-Life* were marketed towards the elderly and mentally ill as a method of saving exact copies of memories; ones that could not degrade or alter over time; and therefore providing an eͤaͣs͛iͥeͤrͬ liͥfeͤ foͦrͬ ᴛⷮhͪeͤ uͧs͛eͤrͬ (mͫoͦs͛tly those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, many of whom could not afford necessary surgeries or treatment.). Although the concept and execution were helpful in the day to day lives of those who needed them, there was a vital flaw; the data saved into the banks themselves could be manipulated.

Downloads and file rips began, and stacks of memory were torn away from individuals. After an internal investigation by SynerGo-Life was published, SYNCHNET gave the full report; a basic organization VI “gone rampant” had been compiling stolen information using a backdoor in the memory banks manufactured by SynerGo-Life. Said VI was originally only programmed as an advanced UI for those with the aug.

The Fontaine Foundation, who overlooked quality control, helped draft prototypes, and provided a testing facility for Synergo-Life to help develop the augment, had no comment when SYNCHNET found the VI’s core files traced back to Foundation Tech and Blueprints. All legal battles were struck down by the Foundation’s team of lawyers, and the rich elite remained immune from punishment for the catastrophe of countless memories stolen from the masses who used Exact-O-Membank’s. Even still, they suffered no legal repercussions when the recall and subsequent removal of the augments wiped memories to the point of installation.

Will The Fontaine Foundation ever be held accountable, or will those who have suffered at their hand forever live in their shadow as they sow the seeds of their visions, without care for who must reap them? Is The Foundation hiding AI behind it’s walls, and if so, will the public be safe – or even know – when they release it?

And what about their daughter, Adrie Fontaine, who has recently slung out grants at the planet Seceaux’s Hertzsprung University in Light’s Edge, d̸͎̘̦̒͘̕r̴̡̠͕̈́͑̓ä̵̠͖́͐͊͜f̴̢͓̟͑͝͠t̵̫͔̘͑̚͠i̵̘͚̞͒͊̚n̵͙̦̦̿̔̈́g̵̝̫͍͒̓̐ t̵͎͍͖͑̚o̵̦̻̻͒̚g̴̡̼͉͆͑̈́e̴͓̙̺̓͋́ẗ̸͕͔̟́͌h̴̼̝͖͌͆̓e̵͓͍͓͊͋̓ŕ̸͖͓̾̓ w̸̝̪͍̓̚͝h̸̦͍̐̓͜a̴̡̻̙͛̔͠ẗ̸̢͕͇́͌̐ s̵͍͎̿̓͝e̸̡̺͇̽̔͛e̴̡͎̪̓͋m̸͎̺͛̔̚s̵͇̘̈́̿͒ t̴̡̻͎̔̽͘o̸͉̘̿͊͐ b̵̘̟͓̾͘e̵̪͓̘͌̕ a̸͍̻̘̽͐ r̸͓̝̦̓͘͝e̵͔͉͚̿͛͠s̸͍̙͍̾͌̚ë̸͓͖̫́͛͝a̴͙̪͎̾̽͊r̵̫̼̘̓̽̐c̴̦̺͉̓̕h̸̡̦̠͛͘͝ ẗ̸̺̞̼́̈́͋e̸͔̼̓̿͑á̸͙̺̫͑͆m̴̠͚͍̔͌͝?̵̢͔̝͑͑͛ S̴͍͇͍͝͠͠e̸̻̞͙̚̕͠e̴͎̘͕͌̈́͝ t̴̢͎͙̓͊ḧ̸̻̫́̓͒e̸̺͎̠͐͐̚ a̵͙̻͉̔̕̚c̸͇̻̦͊͝͝q̵̫̫͆̓͜͠ù̴͇̞̦̓̿i̸͓͙̝̿̀̿r̴̺͚̝͌͘͠ë̸͓̝̠́͌̕d̴͇͖͎́̓̕ e̴̠̻͔͌͋͘x̸͕̘͎̓͠͠t̸͚͔̠́̓̀r̴̪̞̻̔͝͝a̵̞͚̓͒͘͜n̵͉̙̟̾̔͋è̸͚̫̿͊t̸̟̪̻̔͊͐ p̴͓͚͎̔͒͝o̴͕̞͍̒͑͒s̵̡͍̠͆̕͠t̵̞͖̫̔͘͘s̵̢̝̼͋̿͘ b̴̺̺̻͆́͝e̵̢̡͔͘̚l̴̻͋̐͜͝o̴͚̫͇͋̓w̴̝̘̘̓̾̕;̵̝͖͍̒͆ a̴̟̺͕͛̀̀ r̴̫͕̫͊͑̚e̸̟͔͚͆͝͠c̸͎̻̻͋͆͝r̸͖͔͔̈́̕u̸̙̠̘̾̿̓ḯ̴̡̡̻̓͝t̴̢̫͊͆͘͜i̵̟̙̐͛̓n̴̞̠̼̿͌̾ǵ̸͕͚͚̈́͝ p̴̠̺̦͑͝͠r̸̫̝̻̀̀͝o̵̢̙̺̔̐͘c̵͕̠̠͛̈́͌e̸̢̟̻̾̽͊s̸̠͓̫͐̈́̕s̴̢͕̺͆̾̀ h̸͇̙͔͋͘͝a̴͚̼̘̔͋̚s̸̡̠̦̐̐̾ o̴̠͖͎͐͑̓b̵̙̞̠̓͋̀v̴̻̙͙́̀͘ḯ̴͓̙̦́̓o̸͇̼̪͒̀͠u̵͓͇̠̐̽͝ș̸̫̘̾̚͠l̵̦̟̔͆͝y̸̡̫͖̐̿͝ b̴̞̝͌͊̒͜ë̸̪̙̙́̕͝g̴̞̪̘̓̔͝u̸͎͇͖͆̚͝n̸̪̻͍̈́̔͆.̴͙̫̞̔̀͝

 

[EXPIRED EMBED; CONTACT YOUR NT-EXTRANET ADMIN]

 

Why hasn’t she commented on the nature of their work? Perhaps her brother, Morden Fontaine, cut off from the family’s grace, has the answers we seek?

The threat of unknown AI on the horizon is a daunting one. If it were safe, then there would be no reasons for the notorious smoke and mirrors that The Foundation puts up. They would work with other galactic bodies to ensure their ventures are safe and reliable. We would know the names and faces of their shareholders, their board of directors, and they would have been prosecuted for these dangerous projects that have harmed so many.

The answers come to us as secrets, friends, and it is up to us to find them and piece together the puzzle. With keen eyes and clever minds, we can ensure that their shadow does not blind us. Hush money and lawyers can sway fat cats, but it can’t keep the people down.

Until next time, stay safe, and always sate your curiosity.

 

>Nadia P̸̢͕͆̒͌Ä̸̢̙͕́͑G̵̘̟̦̓͝͝P̵͎̼͉̿̔̽A̸͍͇͙̾͘͝G̴͓̼̻̽́̕E̵̢̙̞̔͘T̵͚͖̞̽̚̚P̴͇͍͕͑͋̈́Ä̸̟͇͍́̐̾G̴̞̟̐͛V̴̡̘͙͆͆̚V̸̢̞̿͒̚V̸͕̙̞͐̽V̴̦̞̞̽́͘V̸͕͔͚̓̿͑V̸̦̪̘͌͆̚V̵͙͎̝̈́͊V̸̢͎͒́̚͜V̵̞̫͌̓͝m̢̠̫e͍̟͜i̦̘͜ll̠̟̼e͇̺͓ is an investigative journalist, running her own independent business; Nocturne Gazette. Check back for more investigations, news, and mysteries.

 

id:fhͪaͣjᴋⷦdͩfhͪ3872hͪfuͧhͪeͤfjdͩhͪs͛f732hͪfeͤwfhͪ9вⷡ2378fhͪ33uͧhͪjdͩᴋⷦhͪf9723hͪf3fhͪeͤjᴋⷦfhͪ392hͪf237hͪfdͩᴋⷦjfhͪs͛dͩᴋⷦjfhͪs͛f7823hͪ78hͪ342hͪeͤfᴋⷦs͛jdͩhͪf8239hͪdͩvͮjhͪs͛9f823hͪ23uͧ4hͪfjᴋⷦhͪs͛dͩhͪs͛dͩjhͪ233y5211hͪ1jᴋⷦhͪᴋⷦjhͪdͩiͥfhͪ1iͥuͧhͪ312uͧ2iͥhͪ1ᴋⷦjs͛dͩhͪfs͛ᴋⷦdͩfhͪ89ᴛⷮ409gfjdͩgjᴋⷦdͩfhͪaͣaͣuͧhͪaͣs͛jвⷡfxͯuͧyqy2321g123

[EXPIRED EMBED; CONTACT YOUR NT-EXTRANET ADMIN]

[EXPIRED LINK; PLEASE ENTER A VALID ADDRESS]

Edited July 28, 2021 by ryder