There are billions of stars, millions of planets, but there is only one man, Terrance McDoogal. Welcome to LIU Atlas.
LIU Atlas - Ibis Luces
The Ludgonian Industrial Union's galaxy contains billions of stars and billions of planets. Unfortunately, most residents of the LIU could only name a handful of these worlds. In order to improve astronomy grades across the LIU, TV2 has started a new program called LIU Atlas. Follow our host, Terrance McDoogal, as he takes you on a tour across the LIU and some of its more obscure worlds.
Note: This episode is presented in full screen. The corresponding dialogue is underneath each photo.
Note: This episode is presented in full screen. The corresponding dialogue is underneath each photo.
Doog: “Welcome to the season finale of Season 15 of LIU Atlas. I’m your host, Terrance “Doog” McDoogal. Today, we’re wrapping up the season on the planet, Ibis Luces. Ibis Luces is a rogue planet. It doesn’t orbit a star, but, instead, orbits the galactic center. Usually, rogue planets are dark, inhospitable places, but Ibis Luces is different. It actually has light. As you can see, it even has enough light to sustain plant growth. How is this possible? Ibis Luces is orbited by dozens of artificial suns. These suns are called the Sacred Light Array.”
Doog: “The Sacred Light Array, or SLA, consists of one-hundred and twenty-eight fusion powered space stations in a 16X8 grid. The SLA fire high-energy rays towards Ibis Luces, giving it light, heat, and energy. Let’s head down and find out some more.”
Doog: “Alright folks, I’ve been dropped off on the surface of Ibis Luces. You can’t even tell that this is a rogue planet. It looks like a normal day on a normal planet. Well, mostly normal – there are one-hundred and twenty-eight mini-suns in the sky. It’s sort of hard to not look at them. I’m probably going to blind before this episode is over. Anyways, you’ll also note that there is a lot of foliage here. This type of life would be impossible here without the array.”
Aimi: “Good morning, Doog! I’m Aimi.”
Doog: “Hey. Nice to meet you. So, you mentioned morning. How can you tell?”
Aimi: “The position of the array. It’s just above the horizon.”
Doog: “Oh.”
Aimi: “Don’t stare at it silly! Their combined strength is close to an actual star.”
Doog: “Right. I knew that. It’s just so unusual that I want to see it.”
Aimi: “Just think of it as a normal sun, just longer.”
Doog: “Got it. So, what do you do here, Aimi?”
Doog: “Hey. Nice to meet you. So, you mentioned morning. How can you tell?”
Aimi: “The position of the array. It’s just above the horizon.”
Doog: “Oh.”
Aimi: “Don’t stare at it silly! Their combined strength is close to an actual star.”
Doog: “Right. I knew that. It’s just so unusual that I want to see it.”
Aimi: “Just think of it as a normal sun, just longer.”
Doog: “Got it. So, what do you do here, Aimi?”
Aimi: “We all do a little bit of everything on Ibis Luces. This week, I’m in charge of maintaining Ibis Luces’ sensors and sensor communications. Snore!”
Doog: “I’m guessing this giant thing has something to do with the communications.”
Aimi: “Yeah. This is how we communicate with the array.”
Doog: “You interact with the array?”
Aimi: “Sure! The SLA is still experimental. We’re fine tuning it – trying to find the best settings.”
Doog: “Seems like it is working fine. There are plants all over.”
Aimi: “Yeah, but they’re mostly weeds that don’t need much sun. We want to find the right spectrums of light to grow things like crops.”
Doog: “I see.”
Doog: “I’m guessing this giant thing has something to do with the communications.”
Aimi: “Yeah. This is how we communicate with the array.”
Doog: “You interact with the array?”
Aimi: “Sure! The SLA is still experimental. We’re fine tuning it – trying to find the best settings.”
Doog: “Seems like it is working fine. There are plants all over.”
Aimi: “Yeah, but they’re mostly weeds that don’t need much sun. We want to find the right spectrums of light to grow things like crops.”
Doog: “I see.”
Aimi: “Don’t get me wrong, any plant we get to grow here is a scientific miracle. This is a rogue planet, after all.”
Doog: “These must be the sensors.”
Aimi: “Yes. We take readings all over the surface. The data we get is processed at base camp and then sent to the array. The array can then adjust. Perhaps there is too much or too little sunlight. Maybe, the spectrum is off, and there’s too much infrared.”
Doog: “Speaking of which, how safe is it down here? Anyone ever get sunburned to death?”
Aimi: “No, we’re pretty careful. Major adjustments to the array are only done when all staff is indoors.”
Doog: “These must be the sensors.”
Aimi: “Yes. We take readings all over the surface. The data we get is processed at base camp and then sent to the array. The array can then adjust. Perhaps there is too much or too little sunlight. Maybe, the spectrum is off, and there’s too much infrared.”
Doog: “Speaking of which, how safe is it down here? Anyone ever get sunburned to death?”
Aimi: “No, we’re pretty careful. Major adjustments to the array are only done when all staff is indoors.”
Aimi: “Home sweet home.”
Doog: “You live here?”
Aimi: “Yep. This is basecamp. All SLA staff live here. It’s also where we work – well, when we’re not off messing with the sensors and comms.”
Doog: “What other types of work do people do here?”
Aimi: “Mostly science stuff, like processing sensor data, reading array codes, and other technical stuff.”
Doog: “You live here?”
Aimi: “Yep. This is basecamp. All SLA staff live here. It’s also where we work – well, when we’re not off messing with the sensors and comms.”
Doog: “What other types of work do people do here?”
Aimi: “Mostly science stuff, like processing sensor data, reading array codes, and other technical stuff.”
Aimi: “We also do a lot of scientific experiments.”
Doog: “This is an experiment?”
Aimi: “Sure. We’re testing how various crops thrive under the artificial suns.”
Doog: “Looks like they’re doing good to me.”
Aimi: “Yeah, they’re not doing too bad, are they? Well, we’ve dawdled in the fake suns for long enough. Let’s head inside.”
Doog: “This is an experiment?”
Aimi: “Sure. We’re testing how various crops thrive under the artificial suns.”
Doog: “Looks like they’re doing good to me.”
Aimi: “Yeah, they’re not doing too bad, are they? Well, we’ve dawdled in the fake suns for long enough. Let’s head inside.”
Aimi: “This is some of the science stuff I was telling you about earlier. There are heat maps, atmosphere projections, ozone monitors. There’s even some data on the weather effects of the array. If you’re not into that type of stuff, it’s probably pretty boring.”
Doog: “It’s not really my thing.”
Aimi: “Let’s continue, then.”
Doog: “It’s not really my thing.”
Aimi: “Let’s continue, then.”
Aimi: “Sacred Light Arrays could potentially change the galaxy. Food could be grown on any planet. Planets far from their star or planets without stars could support life. Ice worlds could be terraformed and so on. However, the arrays aren’t cheap. We needed funding to get this array built, and we’ll need even more funding to build more arrays.”
Doog: “What are you saying? What source of funding?”
Aimi: “Sigh. The military.”
Doog: “The military?”
Aimi: “Yes. Project SLAYR.”
Doog: “Slayer? That sounds ominous. What’s the acronym?”
Aimi: “Sacred Light Array – Yield Reduction.”
Doog: “That’s not as scary as I thought…or is it? What’s a yield production?”
Aimi: “It’s the opposite of everything else we’re trying to do here. Instead of improving food production, SLAYR, uses the array to irradicate crops.”
Doog: “What are you saying? What source of funding?”
Aimi: “Sigh. The military.”
Doog: “The military?”
Aimi: “Yes. Project SLAYR.”
Doog: “Slayer? That sounds ominous. What’s the acronym?”
Aimi: “Sacred Light Array – Yield Reduction.”
Doog: “That’s not as scary as I thought…or is it? What’s a yield production?”
Aimi: “It’s the opposite of everything else we’re trying to do here. Instead of improving food production, SLAYR, uses the array to irradicate crops.”
Doog: “That sounds bad.”
Aimi: “It’s worse than you think. If the military could deploy an array around an enemy planet, they could do a lot of damage. Obviously, you could increase heat and light to destroy crops and starve your enemy, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You could flood planets by melting their icecaps. You could cause massive droughts or powerful storms. You could disturb circadian rhythms with unending days.”
Doog: “Yikes. You could do extreme good or extreme bad with this array.”
Aimi: “Indeed.”
Doog: “Luckily, you’re not testing that stuff on Ibis Luces. We’re totally safe, right?”
Aimi: “Well, I wouldn’t say that. We are safe in this sector, but SLAYR is definitely being tested in other sections of this planet.”
Doog: “What!”
Aimi: “In small sections of the planet, the array is ramped up. See that red mark on the map? That’s one such section.”
Aimi: “It’s worse than you think. If the military could deploy an array around an enemy planet, they could do a lot of damage. Obviously, you could increase heat and light to destroy crops and starve your enemy, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You could flood planets by melting their icecaps. You could cause massive droughts or powerful storms. You could disturb circadian rhythms with unending days.”
Doog: “Yikes. You could do extreme good or extreme bad with this array.”
Aimi: “Indeed.”
Doog: “Luckily, you’re not testing that stuff on Ibis Luces. We’re totally safe, right?”
Aimi: “Well, I wouldn’t say that. We are safe in this sector, but SLAYR is definitely being tested in other sections of this planet.”
Doog: “What!”
Aimi: “In small sections of the planet, the array is ramped up. See that red mark on the map? That’s one such section.”
Aimi: “The array has essentially sanitized this part of the planet. All plant life has been irradicated.”
Doog: “So, it works as a weapon. This isn’t just theory.”
Aimi: “It’s real.”
Doog: “So, the LIU could starve or flood planets anytime they wish?”
Aimi: “Well, the array isn’t exactly mobile. It would take a lot of time and money to move it. Part of the militaries funding goes towards making the array more maneuverable, but for now, the LIU’s enemies are safe.”
Doog: “Scary stuff. Anything else to add?”
Aimi: “I think that’s it.”
Doog: “So, it works as a weapon. This isn’t just theory.”
Aimi: “It’s real.”
Doog: “So, the LIU could starve or flood planets anytime they wish?”
Aimi: “Well, the array isn’t exactly mobile. It would take a lot of time and money to move it. Part of the militaries funding goes towards making the array more maneuverable, but for now, the LIU’s enemies are safe.”
Doog: “Scary stuff. Anything else to add?”
Aimi: “I think that’s it.”
Doog: “Well folks, that’s Ibis Luces. This planet is home to an array of artificial suns. The Sacred Light Array, as it’s called, could be used to make the galaxy more livable, but it could also be used to kill off entire planets. I’m hoping it’s the first one. Oh well, that’s Season 15! See ya!”
Note: The LIU has another project based around the array called SLA-VRY. In this project, the array would be used to subjugate a population. Essentially, workers relocated to a rogue planet would be forced to work for sunlight. Failure to meet quotas or rebellion would be punished with the SLA being turned off.
Note: The LIU has another project based around the array called SLA-VRY. In this project, the array would be used to subjugate a population. Essentially, workers relocated to a rogue planet would be forced to work for sunlight. Failure to meet quotas or rebellion would be punished with the SLA being turned off.
