Info
Written by neptunium153.
Thanks to such_torture., SkullDoggery,
vange,
Magnileak, Liurnia, Astryx,
CROOOKIE, and label79_farmer for the critique.
Project Polden
Automating the Future
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Greetings Agent Ben!
Congratulations, you have been accepted as a certified technician for the Polden Point crew! Go and familiarize yourself with the colony because this will be your new home for the next 3 months. Conducting operations in the colony can be stressful sometimes; not to worry though, we prepared this handbook for you that contains all the information you need to get started as well as some useful tips.
- Low Bovetan Presence.
- Low Infrastructure.
- Medium Logistics Networks.
Introduction
Image of Polden Point During a Snowstorm
Polden Point is a Bovetan colony located on Level 93 and is the first permanent settlement on the level. While classified as a colony, it has no permanent population but instead has a crew of around 70 working at the main site in alternating three-month shifts. Polden Point's primary purpose is hunting Scream Eaters and harvesting their Liquid Silence through a fully autonomous system, thus significantly reducing human deaths while increasing production. The colony also serves a secondary purpose of helping wanderers unfortunate enough to end up in Level 93 escape back to safety.
History
Flag of Polden Point
Polden Point is located on top of a frozen lake in Level 93 beside the two-way connection to Level 650, which takes the appearance of a 12-meter wide cave discovered on January 9, 2023." Since the discovery of the cave, Level 93 has always been a potential vulnerability for the national security of Boveta as a whole. Thus in May 2023, the Bovetan government established Outpost Polden on Level 93 to experiment with living on the level, eventually aiming to form a permanent garrison. Despite the level's dangers, the Outpost thrived due to being located directly beside the two-way connection to Boveta which allowed the Bovetan government to send supplies to the level upon request.
After the initial success of the outpost. The Bovetan government sent expedition teams across the level to map the region. To assist them, the outpost was upgraded to accommodate small low-tech drones that can help map out the level. Soon, it was discovered that the geographic location of the cave meant that any invaders would be unable to reach the cave, thus removing the need for a military garrison. However, at around the same time, scout Malone Lennox discovered that the drones at the level could be upgraded to hunt Scream Eaters, a prospect that could yield massive results. Thus, Boveta expanded the outpost and began to experiment using it to harvest Liquid Silence, including reclassifying it as a colony to accommodate the additional equipment needed to hunt Scream Eaters. While the colony started with primitive manually piloted drones, in April 2024, the Bovetan government commissioned the robotic hunting system at Polden Point to harvest Liquid Silence at an industrial scale. Since then, Polden Point has become one of the central pillars of Boveta's economy and has fueled innovation across the nation.
Structure
Polden Point's wide array of robotic equipment is useless if there is no way to maintain them. The Robotics Sector was made to do exactly that. This sector contains workshops and equipment essential for keeping the robotic fleet functional. This is also the sector where attack drones are prepared for hunting. The robotics sector contains 3 general workshops, a 3D printer room, a CNC room, a computer lab, and a central server(this room doesn't have thermal regulation to take advantage of the level's low temperature for cooling. The Robotics Sector also contains Polden Point's Central Voidstone Reactor1 and power distribution system. The Voidstone reactor core can reach temperatures up to 2000°C, do NOT enter the containment chamber without a reason and proper protection.
Autonomous Hunting System
Integral to harvesting Liquid Silence is the Autonomous Hunting System (AHS). As its name suggests, this system is designed to hunt Scream Eaters without the need of too much human input, achieving maximum efficiency. The Polden Point technician crew is tasked to do the groundwork required to operate the various equipment within the system as well as monitor the current behavior of the autonomous hunting system to manually override errors. Scream Eaters only come out to hunt during blizzards; thus, when a blizzard is detected, the Autonomous Hunting System will automatically activate and deactivate after the blizzard is over. All vehicles of the Autonomous Hunting System run on 93pilot, a fork of the versatile open-source piloting software Backpilot.
Deathmoth Class Scout Drones
Image of a Scout Drone during development in Level 650
Deathmoth Class scout drones are large fixed-wing electrical UAVs powered by Blue Gel batteries, which give them an impressive flight time of over 5 hours. Due to their size, Deathmoth Classes at Polden Point have to be transported in pieces and require on-site assembly, most notably, their wings are detached to increase volume efficiency. To speed up the process, all components have a propietary part attachment system with our integrated bus that enables rapid assembly. The only precaution is to screw the parts tight after they are attached. The software in the Deathmoth Class is preinstalled so turning it on will make it operational.
Scream Eaters are endothermic organisms that glow in infrared light relative to the surroundings. To capitalize upon this, Deathmoth Class scout drones are loaded with the Infrared Parallax Tracking System—a system involving 3 infrared cameras, mounted in one line on the wingtips and in the center of the fuselage, loaded on gimbals that on their bottom to identify and track Scream Eaters through the obstruction caused by blizzards. During the tracking process, the center camera feeds footage to a visual recognition software, which identifies objects emitting infrared radiation of the wavelength similar to Scream Eaters. The gimbal then points directly at the Scream Eater and points an infrared laser at the Scream Eater. One of the two cameras on the wingtips4 tries to track the bright infrared signature of the laser. Then, using geometry, the drone is able to calculate the lateral displacement between it and the Scream Eater, which it compares to it's absolute position given by its BPS5 module to find the absolute position of the Scream Eater. The absolute position is sent to the Polden Point Administrative Sector, which dispatches attack drones after the crew confirms that it is not a false alarm. Meanwhile, the Deathmoth Class will loiter above the Scream Eater while sending a focused wave of ultrasound towards the Scream Eater to enrich the Liquid Silence that composes it with energy, an essential step to ensuring the kill is successful. It will continue to loiter until the target is terminated.
Smiler Class Attack Drones
Image of an attack drone during development in Level 650
Smiler Class attack drones are quadcopters used to neutralise Scream Eaters after they have been tracked by a scout drone. Named after Smilers due to its motors sounding like a smiler, these single use drones are designed to kill the Scream Eaters in an efficient and low cost manner. The Smiler class are designed to be as simple as possible—they do not have cameras, infrared sensors, or lidar; instead, they simply follow a preset path calculated by the Polden Point servers, using their BPS module to provide centimeter accuracy. To neutralise Scream Eaters, two conductive metallic surfaces are located in front of the drone that are connected to the positive and negative terminals of the drone batteries. When in contact with a scream eater, the two surfaces will be connected, closing the circuit and allowing current to flow through the Scream Eater's body. This triggers the Liquid Silence on the Scream Eater to release all of its stored energy, causing the Scream Eater to detonate. For safety reasons, attack drones should be switched off at all times until it is loaded onto the launcher. If you need to switch it on for testing purposes, please cover the two metallic surfaces with electrical tape to prevent accidental short circuits. Additionally, since the Smiler Class' batteries are non-rechargeable, it is advised to instead power the drone with an external power supply when testing instead of using their main batteries.
Harvesters
The third and final stage of the hunt involves harvesters. Harvesters are medium sized vehicles designed to scale the terrain of Level 93's environment. After the kill is confirmed by the scout drone, the final position of the Scream Eater is uploaded to Polden Point. Then, the Harvester is automatically deployed and will drive towards the corpse of the Polden Point in a straight line path. After reaching the Scream Eater's corpse, it will scoop the snow around it until all Liquid Silence is harvested. It then returns the extracted materials to Polden Point where the Blue Gel is refined and purified before being pumped to Level 650.
Central Control and Leadership Stucture.
Polden Point isn't just one colony—it's an array of small outposts and colonies that seamlessly interact with one another. Achieving this level of coordination does require quite a bit of logistics. The control system of Polden Point turns the various scattered outposts and watchtowers into one centralized and highly integrated system. Expeditionary settlements, while having their own drone support equipment, are all operated by the Administrative Sector in Polden Point. This is mainly to increase efficiency and reduce communication errors which can lead to costly vehicle losses. Whether you are in the main colony or in an expeditionary settlement. It is extremely important to always bring a device connected to the BackNet and be ready for new orders at all times.
Expeditionary Settlements and Unmanned Watchtowers
Expeditionary settlements are smaller settlements built beyond the range of the drones of Polden Point. Due to the limited range of the drones and signal obstruction caused by the mountains, the main colony can only reach a limited area. Expeditionary settlements are built far away from the main colony so as to extend the range of the harvesting operation. The settlements are connected via caravans and small transport stations with Voidstone reactors.
Unmanned watchtowers are structures emplaced across Level 93 which act as "weather stations" to support Bovetan operations. Unmanned watchtowers are equipped with various sensors that integrate to detect events like earthquakes, avalanches, and snowstorms before they could cause any damage. The unmanned watchtowers act both as a warning system for hostile weather events as well as a signal to prepare the autonomous hunting system as Scream Eaters emerge during Snowstorms.
How to read a snowstorm warning?
Brought to you by the Polden Point crew.
Introduction
Snowstorm warnings are an important component of Polden Point's operation, but at times, they could be confusing. That's why the Polden Point crew prepared you this guide to knowing exactly what to do when you recieve one of these warnings.
The Basics
First, you have to know what a snowstorm warning looks like. Here is an example of a real snowstorm warning:
SNOWSTORM WARNING
Snowstorm ID: 56d82123cd17bd892e19
Direction: Northeast
Size: Large
Spotted by: Polden Point Scouting Station, Summit Station, Platform 7
Time of Confirmation: 2025/05/23 12:10:32
Estimated Time of Arrival: 2025/05/23 13:42:49
Okay this might look overwhelming, but let's break it down.
- The "Snowstorm ID" is a unique random chain of hexadecimalss assigned to this snowstorm. It's mostly for record keeping, when you need to refer to a specific snowstorm.
- The "Direction" is the direction that the snowstorm is arriving at, with the level's magnetic North(Fun fact it exists, get a compass and take a look later. It's the direction where the sun rises in case you're wondering) being the North.
- The "Size" can be a bit confusing here. Here, the possible values are "Small", "Medium", and "Large". The size affects how many of each type of drones you will need per square kilometer. There will be a detailed guide later.
- The "Spotted by" tells you which autonomous watchtower detected the snowstorm.
- "Time of Confirmation" is quite self explanatory.
- "Estimated Time of Arrival" shows when the snowstorm will arrive at Polden Point's surrounding area. It is important to get ready at least 30 MINUTES before the estimated arrival time as it is only estimated.
Where will you see the warning?
Snowstorm warnings will appear on any electornic device connected to the BackNet. If you see a snowstorm warning, immediately consider where you are.
If you are outside, return to your operating base IMMEDIATELY, if you can't make it, go to the nearest base. Remember, the predator prey relationship between humans and Scream Eaters goes both ways.
If you are inside a base. Prepare your the local autonomous hunting system. Do final checks to see if it works. Polden Point will offer some luxuries such as automatic drone checks, but the same cannot be said for many expeditionary settlements.
How many drones should I prepare?
Short answer: follow the instructions of the Polden Point administraive director. Long answer: it depends on the size of the snowstorm. Scream Eaters seem to have a sense of the intensity of the snowstorm. Thus, they come out more frequently during large snowstorms. The size of the snowstorm will affect the density of drones deployed and armed. The following table includes information on how snowstorm size affects drone density. The per km2 refers to the the entirety of Level 93 hunting range and only accounts for dornes in range.
| Snowstorm Size | Deathmoths Airborne Per km2 | Smilers Armed Per km2 |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 2 | 12 |
| Medium | 4 | 28 |
| Large | 7 | 31 |
What if our drones aren't ready?
Mishaps do happen from time to time. If for whatever reason your drones are not ready, please inform the Polden Point Administrative Sector so that they could reschedule the drones. It is for this reason that it is always helpful to load a few extra Smilers just in case you need to help another base.
What if I'm managing the warnings?
Snowstorm warnings need human checkup before being published. If you are in charge of the snowstorm warnings, please check one of the watchtowers to see if the snowstorm is real before publishing the warning, especially if there is only one watchtower reporting the storm. These watchtowers aren't the most accurate things in the world.
Entrances and Exits
Entrances
- Polden Point is located 39km below the summit in Level 93 upon a frozen lake. Your staff ID allows you to open the Polden Point gates.
- Going into a cave in Level 650 leads directly to Polden Point.
Exits
- Going through the cave in Polden Point leads to Level 650.