The Sev One

"The Sev One" is a support ticket received by Eul-Speak, Inc. on the 3rd day of the 5th month of A.Y. 43, Alliance Calendar. It is widely regarded as the most important technical support case in the known worlds, and perhaps the only time in all of history in which a ticket was correctly assigned a priority level.

Background

Eul-Speak, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Gudersnipe Foundation, is responsible among other things for the production, deployment, and ongoing support of the Ansible, a vital component in inter-dimensional communication. While millions of the devices exist, they are not typically operated by private corporations unless these are other subsidiaries of the Foundation. Most often they are owned by governments; private individuals and companies then interface with them through common telephone technology.

Ansibles are designed to be extremely reliable and virtually idiot-proof, so despite millions of units in the field, Eul-Speak is actually able to maintain support for the equipment using a relatively small team.

Help Ticket

"The Sev One" was first logged in the system at 8:27 A.M., local time. As a direct call (possible only from the main control station of an Ansible), it bypassed the initial tier of support and went directly to a technician by the name of Bret K., who was, quite thankfully, quick to recognize the severity of the case. He bypassed all accepted protocols and raised the alarm.

Problem Description

The caller, who failed to provide his name, stated that he was in great pain, and was "laboring to translate the runes on the sacred machine". Bret, who was a seasoned support representative, initially suspected the call might be a prank, but asked a few simple, probative questions. After guiding the end user to the device's serial number, he was able to make an educated guess as to exactly what was going on. While keeping the "customer" calm, he began reaching out to colleagues and gathering diagnostic information from the Ansible. The initial problem description is preserved as follows:

Customer reports he has 'glimpsed the heart of light', and that his eyes and throat are now burning. He states that it was a mortal sin to trespass within the sacred vault, and that he asks Eul-Speak to forgive him. Diagnostic logs attached.

Initial Response

The serial number indicated that the Ansible in question belonged to the Phal Fidel Unified Nations, a member of the Alliance with whom there had not been regular diplomatic contact since the end of the Necromanic Wars. Bret had to consult with a few of his history buff friends to put all this together, as the database information indicated only that the Ansible had been installed in the city of Phal, some contact information from the early Third Age, and that the device was out of warranty by over 500 years.

However, one particular fact had demanded notice. Very long-term Ansible installations are usually provided with a dedicated nuclear reactor for power. This is done on worlds that lack a proper power grid; with the reactors being designed in-house at Eul-Speak and given exceptionally demanding specifications for reliability and safety.

Based on data gathered from the log files, Bret concluded that the reactor (the 'heart of light') was in a critical state and several safety features had been disabled. He was able to walk the customer through a controlled SCRAM, then advised him to leave the vault and seek medical attention. While the line remained open, no further communication occurred. The ticket was kept open and moved up the chain of command.

Foundation Intervention

With no GATE hub on Nos Vorm, drastic measures were needed to reach the reactor. The Foundation quickly assembled a "tiger team" of senior Eul-Speak engineers and Gudersnipe School students with experience in reactor technology. G.S.S. Geomancer was called upon to provide scan-data from the surface of Nos Vorm, and GATE coordinates derived from these.

The team arrived on site 97 minutes (local time) after the initial call, and were met with resistance. Outsiders had not been seen on Nos Vorm since the end of the Necromanic Wars, and the long and bloody dark era that had dominated the middle of the Third Age had left the people weary. With an empty space secured, additional reinforcements were called in, and the temple containing the reactor was seized by force. A few warning shots were fired but no one was injured. The reactor was secured and the teams were able to prevent the further spread of radiation.

Legacy

While it's difficult to say just what would have happened in the long run had the support case not been handled as well as it was, without question a nuclear holocaust was prevented. An examination of the area revealed that while the reactor vault was well beneath the modern ground level, it had once been several floors up inside a structure, and there was now a large cistern directly beneath it. Had the core gone into full meltdown, it is very likely it would have ruptured the aged containment vessel. The steam explosion would have contaminated a large swath of densely-populated urban center, resulting in a death toll well into the millions.

But off possibly greater importance is how the event led to the normalization of relations between Nos Vorm and the rest of the known worlds. A relationship that would become vitally important, two ages later, when Nos Vorm played a valuable roll in the Kamian Succession Wars. Had Bret not reacted as he had, Nos Vorm may have remained in isolation, and become a major Kamian stronghold. It is definite that without Foundation support, the indigenous peoples of Nos Vorm could not possibly have repelled the attack. However, it is debated whether or not the Kami would have invaded at all, had Nos Vorm not become an important strategic area.