Artifact Research
| This page is under construction. The following information may be incomplete. You can help by adding missing information or formatting. |
Artifact Research is the branch of Research concerned with the identification and possible testing of dangerous, unpredictable artifacts of extraterrestrial origin. An artifact is a large item of non-Nanotransen origin whose function is unknown. These artifacts are usually dug up by miners, and the station always starts with one in the Artifact Lab.
Running gptio
Discovering an artifact's effects takes more than repeatedly poking it (although this helps in a fashion). Using the DWAINE terminal, you can advance the station's knowledge of artifacts and their properties and make your analysis more precise. To do this, you must:
- Insert your card into the terminal, and type term_login
- Type cd /mnt/artlab to move to the default location of the artifact research tape.
- Type gptio list to list the available research equipment. You'll either need to write these IDs down somewhere, memorize them, or re-run the gptio list command whenever you need to use a piece of equipment.
Important commands
- gptio list
- Lists the currently connected devices and their IDs.
- gptio activate device-id
- Activates a device. This can be anything from shooting an object across the room to irradiating whatever is in the x-ray scanner.
- gptio deactivate device-id
- Some devices don't automatically deactivate after a short amount of time. You'll need to use this command to make them safe to touch.
- gptio sense device-id
- Instruct the device to take readings about its state and the state of whatever object is inserted into it.
- gptio read device-id
- Retrieve the data generated by gptio sense.
- gptio info device-id
- gptio peek device-id variable-name
- gptio poke device-id variable-name value
Analyzing Artifacts
Use the artifact analyzer to study the artifact next to it. The speed and accuracy of its report will increase as you research more.
Artifact Origins
| Analysis | Notes |
|---|---|
| Martian | Usually biological effects |
| Ancient | Ancient Robots -- usually technological effects |
| Precursor | Random effects |
| Wizard | Magical effects |
| Extradimensional | aka Eldritch -- usually bad news |
Activation
| Analysis | Method |
|---|---|
| Heat | Apply welder, igniter, etc. |
| Chemical | Provide the appropriate chemical (water, acid, whatever) |
| Impact | Shoot it with Detective's Revolver or a traitor weapon like the c-saber |
| Energy | Shoot it with a taser |
| Touch | Touch it! |
Effects
| Analysis | Notes |
|---|---|
| Teleportation | Teleports people randomly |
| Non-lethal Stunning Trap | Knocks people briefly unconscious |
| Power Drain | Drains power from nearby APCs and Cyborgs |
| EMP | Sends out an EMP blast |
| Mineral Accumulator | Summons meteors |