There are billions of stars, millions of planets, but there is only one man, Terrance McDoogal. Welcome to LIU Atlas.
LIU Atlas - Resurgo
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 another episode of LIU Atlas. I’m your host, Terrance “Doog” McDoogal. Today, we’re visiting the planet, Resurgo. Resurgo is mostly rocky wastelands. There is volcanic activity on the planet, but it manifests as hot springs and geysers, not lava. That’s all I really know about this hunk of rock. Let’s head down and find out some more.”
Doog: “Alright folks, I’ve been dropped off on the surface of Resurgo. It’s a steamy nightmare down here. Seriously, I can barely breathe. Can you drown in steam? I hope not. At least my pores will look great after this.”
Doog: “Uh, hey, worker guy – I’m Doog.”
Greeve: “I’m Greeve. Nice to meet you.”
Doog: “Nice to meet you too. So, shall we begin?”
Greeve: “Begin what?”
Doog: “The show, duh?”
Greeve: “Look man, I’m not into the freaky stuff. I don’t want to see whatever show you have planned for me.”
Doog: “What! I’m not putting on a show! I’m a TV Host here to do a show about Resurgo.”
Greeve: “Oh! That makes more sense.”
Doog: “I’m guessing you’re not my guide.”
Greeve: “I am not. You’re probably looking for one of those academic, nerdy-types on the other side of the ridge. No worries though, you can follow me over there.”
Greeve: “I’m Greeve. Nice to meet you.”
Doog: “Nice to meet you too. So, shall we begin?”
Greeve: “Begin what?”
Doog: “The show, duh?”
Greeve: “Look man, I’m not into the freaky stuff. I don’t want to see whatever show you have planned for me.”
Doog: “What! I’m not putting on a show! I’m a TV Host here to do a show about Resurgo.”
Greeve: “Oh! That makes more sense.”
Doog: “I’m guessing you’re not my guide.”
Greeve: “I am not. You’re probably looking for one of those academic, nerdy-types on the other side of the ridge. No worries though, you can follow me over there.”
Doog: “So, what are all these machines?”
Greeve: “Steam turbines. They convert the geysers into energy.”
Doog: “Got it. And, you’re some type of maintenance tech, I’m guessing?”
Greeve: “You know it.”
Greeve: “Steam turbines. They convert the geysers into energy.”
Doog: “Got it. And, you’re some type of maintenance tech, I’m guessing?”
Greeve: “You know it.”
Greeve: “We’re almost there. We just need to pass through basecamp.”
Doog: “This is where you live?”
Greeve: “Yeah. Home sweet home – a trailer in the middle of geyser hell.”
Doog: “I hope you have AC.”
Greeve: “We don’t.”
Doog: “This is where you live?”
Greeve: “Yeah. Home sweet home – a trailer in the middle of geyser hell.”
Doog: “I hope you have AC.”
Greeve: “We don’t.”
Maro: “Has the steam finally cooked my brain or is there a human following you?”
Greeve: “He’s no hallucination, Maro. He’s just a TV reporter that got dropped off a few miles off target. I’ll be back in a few. I’m going to get him squared away.”
Greeve: “He’s no hallucination, Maro. He’s just a TV reporter that got dropped off a few miles off target. I’ll be back in a few. I’m going to get him squared away.”
Doog: “Whoa, I didn’t expect to see this.”
Greeve: “Yeah, they’re some type of ancient ruins. They sort of freak me out.”
Doog: “Why?”
Greeve: “This microphone rig I carry around helps me hear when a geyser is about to erupt, but...when I point it at the ruins…all I hear is tormented screams.”
Doog: “Welp, I think I’m just going to turn around here and go back to your sauna lands.”
Greeve: “Yeah, they’re some type of ancient ruins. They sort of freak me out.”
Doog: “Why?”
Greeve: “This microphone rig I carry around helps me hear when a geyser is about to erupt, but...when I point it at the ruins…all I hear is tormented screams.”
Doog: “Welp, I think I’m just going to turn around here and go back to your sauna lands.”
Ruth: “Hey Greeve!”
Greeve: “Hey, Ruth. I found someone that probably belongs to you.”
Doog: “Actually, I think this is the wrong place too. I’ll be going now.”
Ruth: “Greeve, did you fill his head with that ‘tormented screams’ nonsense?”
Greeve: “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You don’t see to many new people around here.”
Ruth: “Hehe.”
Doog: “Wait, you made that up?”
Greeve: “I might have exaggerated a bit. I have heard some weird stuff in there, but Ruth says its nothing to worry about.”
Ruth: “There’s no such thing as ghosts, Doog. Follow the ridge and meet me up here. I’ll show you.”
Doog: “Well, thanks for escort, Greeve.”
Greeve: “No problem. Sorry about the prank.”
Greeve: “Hey, Ruth. I found someone that probably belongs to you.”
Doog: “Actually, I think this is the wrong place too. I’ll be going now.”
Ruth: “Greeve, did you fill his head with that ‘tormented screams’ nonsense?”
Greeve: “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You don’t see to many new people around here.”
Ruth: “Hehe.”
Doog: “Wait, you made that up?”
Greeve: “I might have exaggerated a bit. I have heard some weird stuff in there, but Ruth says its nothing to worry about.”
Ruth: “There’s no such thing as ghosts, Doog. Follow the ridge and meet me up here. I’ll show you.”
Doog: “Well, thanks for escort, Greeve.”
Greeve: “No problem. Sorry about the prank.”
Ruth: “Doog, welcome to Comm Station Alpha. I’m Ruth, an archeologist with the Meditor Institute.”
Doog: “I’ve met with a few of your fellow nerds…uh, I mean, colleagues. You study extinct cultures.”
Ruth: “More or less.”
Doog: “That temple below, is that from an extinct culture?”
Ruth: “An ancient culture. We can’t confirm that it is extinct. Not yet, anyway.”
Doog: “I’ve met with a few of your fellow nerds…uh, I mean, colleagues. You study extinct cultures.”
Ruth: “More or less.”
Doog: “That temple below, is that from an extinct culture?”
Ruth: “An ancient culture. We can’t confirm that it is extinct. Not yet, anyway.”
Doog: “So, what can you tell me about this ancient culture?”
Ruth: “They called themselves the Kuzviuraya. We call them the Kuz for short.”
Doog: “That other name is a bit of a mouthful.”
Ruth: “The Kuz lived on Resurgo tens of thousands of years ago. We believe the planet was much different back then.”
Doog: “It wasn’t a muggy hellhole with burning hot geysers erupting?”
Ruth: “We don’t think so.”
Doog: “How do you know this stuff?”
Ruth: “We found a treasure trove of information within this ruin. In fact, why are we discussing this out here! Let’s go down and check it out.”
Ruth: “They called themselves the Kuzviuraya. We call them the Kuz for short.”
Doog: “That other name is a bit of a mouthful.”
Ruth: “The Kuz lived on Resurgo tens of thousands of years ago. We believe the planet was much different back then.”
Doog: “It wasn’t a muggy hellhole with burning hot geysers erupting?”
Ruth: “We don’t think so.”
Doog: “How do you know this stuff?”
Ruth: “We found a treasure trove of information within this ruin. In fact, why are we discussing this out here! Let’s go down and check it out.”
Doog: “Wait, I thought we were going into the ruins. Don’t we need to go through those big doors?”
Ruth: “Those old things don’t open anymore, and even if they did, we wouldn’t want to damage them. We drilled a shaft up here. We can enter the ruins from this elevator.”
Doog: “Fair enough.”
Ruth: “Those old things don’t open anymore, and even if they did, we wouldn’t want to damage them. We drilled a shaft up here. We can enter the ruins from this elevator.”
Doog: “Fair enough.”
Doog: “This doesn’t look like ruins to me. This is just a sweltering steam cave.”
Ruth: “They’re just a little farther. We couldn’t drill directly into the structure – we couldn’t risk damaging it.”
Doog: “Ok. I guess that makes sense.”
Ruth: “Besides, there are discoveries out here as well.”
Doog: “Where? I don’t see anything other than this boiling creek.”
Ruth: “The fact that you can see anything down here is a huge discovery.”
Doog: “I don’t get it. I can see because of your flashlight robots.”
Ruth: “They’re not ours.”
Ruth: “They’re just a little farther. We couldn’t drill directly into the structure – we couldn’t risk damaging it.”
Doog: “Ok. I guess that makes sense.”
Ruth: “Besides, there are discoveries out here as well.”
Doog: “Where? I don’t see anything other than this boiling creek.”
Ruth: “The fact that you can see anything down here is a huge discovery.”
Doog: “I don’t get it. I can see because of your flashlight robots.”
Ruth: “They’re not ours.”
Doog: “The Kuz had technology?”
Ruth: “Yes. Rather advanced technology too. Although, the only direct evidence we have are these automated lighting machines.”
Doog: “Are they intelligent? The robots?”
Ruth: “Nothing too advanced. They turn on automatically when you get close. They either have proximity sensors or they recognize sentient life.”
Doog: “Can’t you take them apart and find out?”
Ruth: “We’ve tried. We can’t quite figure out their technology yet. We’re hoping to one day, though.”
Ruth: “Yes. Rather advanced technology too. Although, the only direct evidence we have are these automated lighting machines.”
Doog: “Are they intelligent? The robots?”
Ruth: “Nothing too advanced. They turn on automatically when you get close. They either have proximity sensors or they recognize sentient life.”
Doog: “Can’t you take them apart and find out?”
Ruth: “We’ve tried. We can’t quite figure out their technology yet. We’re hoping to one day, though.”
Doog: “They’re everywhere.”
Ruth: “There are a few dozen. They seemed to be positioned throughout the Kuz structure. I think they are sort of like beacons. They guide visitors towards the archive.”
Doog: “The archive?”
Ruth: “The room ahead. It’s where the knowledge of the Kuz race is stored.”
Ruth: “There are a few dozen. They seemed to be positioned throughout the Kuz structure. I think they are sort of like beacons. They guide visitors towards the archive.”
Doog: “The archive?”
Ruth: “The room ahead. It’s where the knowledge of the Kuz race is stored.”
Doog: “It looks like a post office or mailroom.”
Ruth: “Ha, I guess, but trust me, it’s not. Each slot contains a scroll. Each scroll contains all the Kuz’s information on a subject.”
Doog: “Scrolls? I thought they had technology. Shouldn’t there be servers or hard drives or something.”
Ruth: “Technology tends to fail over time. Maybe the Kuz thought paper scrolls would last longer. Maybe the individual that built this archive didn’t have access to technology.”
Doog: “Wait, what do you mean? One person built this?”
Ruth: “Ha, I guess, but trust me, it’s not. Each slot contains a scroll. Each scroll contains all the Kuz’s information on a subject.”
Doog: “Scrolls? I thought they had technology. Shouldn’t there be servers or hard drives or something.”
Ruth: “Technology tends to fail over time. Maybe the Kuz thought paper scrolls would last longer. Maybe the individual that built this archive didn’t have access to technology.”
Doog: “Wait, what do you mean? One person built this?”
Ruth: “We’ve deciphered dozens of scrolls and learned a lot about the Kuz. The most alarming bit we discovered was that the Kuz purposely ended their existence.”
Doog: “Wait, what?”
Ruth: “They purposely destroyed themselves and all other living things on this planet.”
Doog: “They killed themselves?”
Ruth: “Yes. Some of this archive is devoted to religious studies. At that end of their civilization, the primary religion was something that resembled existential nihilism.”
Doog: “What?”
Ruth: “Nihilism. A belief that life is without value or purpose. Some quotes from the scroll read something like, ‘death is the inevitable return to the status quo of the universe – all the pain and suffering of existence is made immediately meaningless.’ And ‘existence – or understanding the universe – is without merit; the universe forgets everything in the end.’”
Doog: “That’s dark.”
Ruth: “Yes. It seems they convinced themselves to end their civilization and all the other life on the planet. However, the presence of this archive indicates that at least one individual disagreed.”
Doog: “Wait, what?”
Ruth: “They purposely destroyed themselves and all other living things on this planet.”
Doog: “They killed themselves?”
Ruth: “Yes. Some of this archive is devoted to religious studies. At that end of their civilization, the primary religion was something that resembled existential nihilism.”
Doog: “What?”
Ruth: “Nihilism. A belief that life is without value or purpose. Some quotes from the scroll read something like, ‘death is the inevitable return to the status quo of the universe – all the pain and suffering of existence is made immediately meaningless.’ And ‘existence – or understanding the universe – is without merit; the universe forgets everything in the end.’”
Doog: “That’s dark.”
Ruth: “Yes. It seems they convinced themselves to end their civilization and all the other life on the planet. However, the presence of this archive indicates that at least one individual disagreed.”
Doog: “How do you know that?”
Ruth: “Among the many scrolls here, there is a history one. The events I described to you are from that scroll. The author of said scroll indicated that they stored the information here to preserve their races’ existence. To this individual, existence was not purposeless.”
Ruth: “Among the many scrolls here, there is a history one. The events I described to you are from that scroll. The author of said scroll indicated that they stored the information here to preserve their races’ existence. To this individual, existence was not purposeless.”
Ruth: “Because of this individual’s work, we know a lot about the Kuz, but we don’t know everything. We’ve scanned hundreds of scrolls and translated many of them, but there are some things that we haven’t been able to translate.”
Doog: “Like what?”
Ruth: “The portions of the scroll that deals with math.”
Doog: “Math? Who cares about that!?”
Ruth: “Math is the key to many things. Without it, we can’t figure out the Kuz’s understanding of physics, chemistry, and biology. Without the understanding of those subjects, we can’t understand their technology.”
Doog: “I see.”
Ruth: “The LIU is adamant that we recover all Kuz technology, especially one bit of it.”
Doog: “The weapon they used to end their civilization…”
Ruth: “Unfortunately, yes.”
Doog: “Like what?”
Ruth: “The portions of the scroll that deals with math.”
Doog: “Math? Who cares about that!?”
Ruth: “Math is the key to many things. Without it, we can’t figure out the Kuz’s understanding of physics, chemistry, and biology. Without the understanding of those subjects, we can’t understand their technology.”
Doog: “I see.”
Ruth: “The LIU is adamant that we recover all Kuz technology, especially one bit of it.”
Doog: “The weapon they used to end their civilization…”
Ruth: “Unfortunately, yes.”
Doog: “What makes the math so difficult?”
Ruth: “There’s too many unknowns. Until recently, we struggled to figure out their numbering system. Things are improving slowly, though.”
Doog: “How?”
Ruth: “There’s too many unknowns. Until recently, we struggled to figure out their numbering system. Things are improving slowly, though.”
Doog: “How?”
Ruth: “We resurrected the author.”
Doog: “What!?”
Ruth: “The author’s DNA is all over the archive.”
Doog: “You cloned it?”
Ruth: “We did.”
Doog: “What!?”
Ruth: “The author’s DNA is all over the archive.”
Doog: “You cloned it?”
Ruth: “We did.”
Ruth: “Each clone brings us new understanding of the Kuz. Knowing what they looked like helped with the numbering system. Based on their appendages, they used a Base-16 system. That helped a lot. Seeing and experimenting on their biology has helped back-translate the biology scrolls, leading to further advancements in their math.”
Doog: “How many have you made?”
Ruth: “I’ve lost track. Thirty maybe? They don’t last long.”
Doog: “What do you mean?”
Ruth: “The clones generally expire soon after we experiment on them. Sometimes due to shock, sometimes fear, sometimes because we cut them up into pieces.”
Doog: “Maybe the author’s buddies were right. Existence is pain.”
Ruth: “A little pain and suffering can be endured for the greater good. Besides, once we figure enough out, we can rebuild the Kuz race from scratch. The author suffers so his people can live again.”
Doog: “I guess. Well, good luck with all of that.”
Doog: “How many have you made?”
Ruth: “I’ve lost track. Thirty maybe? They don’t last long.”
Doog: “What do you mean?”
Ruth: “The clones generally expire soon after we experiment on them. Sometimes due to shock, sometimes fear, sometimes because we cut them up into pieces.”
Doog: “Maybe the author’s buddies were right. Existence is pain.”
Ruth: “A little pain and suffering can be endured for the greater good. Besides, once we figure enough out, we can rebuild the Kuz race from scratch. The author suffers so his people can live again.”
Doog: “I guess. Well, good luck with all of that.”
Doog: “Well folks, that’s not how I saw this ending. Resurgo might be a rocky, volcanic wasteland now, but it was once the habitable home of the Kuzviuraya race. This advanced species went through some dark emo stage and ended their existence. Scientists here are attempting to resurrect their species – mostly so the LIU can steal their world-ending technology. Makes sense, right? Oh well, see ya!”
Note: The Meditor Institute in largely underfunded, but that is not the case on Resurgo. LIU executives have invested large amounts of cash into this archeological research. This funding was used to build cloning facilities, communication towers, sixty steam turbines, and a small maintenance staff.
Note: The Meditor Institute in largely underfunded, but that is not the case on Resurgo. LIU executives have invested large amounts of cash into this archeological research. This funding was used to build cloning facilities, communication towers, sixty steam turbines, and a small maintenance staff.
