By 2210 the Rift was surrounded by too many organisations with too many reasons to go down. National survey teams, university consortia and mining authorities all held overlapping permits around the Khepri Basin. Each claimed the right to lower its own equipment. Two tether platforms had collided in the shaft. The relay chain had been sabotaged at least once.
# The station first
Construction of Asterion Station had begun in 2198 as a shared facility. It was a ring of segments around the rim, each funded by a different partner. By 2210 the ring was closed. Whoever controlled the rim lock controlled access to the Rift. The Accord was signed in the station’s observation ring a year later, partly to settle who would hold that key.
# Terms
- All descent into the Rift is conducted by or licensed through the Continuity Directorate.
- The Directorate’s first duty is containment: no descent may risk “uncontrolled transmission of the anomaly beyond the basin.”
- Recovered material, including Rift Shards, is held in common and shared by research priority.
- Members fund the station in proportion to their share of recovered material.
The third and fourth clauses contradict each other, and everyone at the table knew it. Members who funded more wanted more shards. Members who did not fund extraction wanted fewer descents. The Directorate was built on that tension, and it has never been resolved. See the Meridian Consortium.
# Legacy
The Accord gave the expedition what it most needed: one launch cradle, one relay chain and one chain of command. It also created the authority that ordered Asterion locked down in 2217 and recalled the C-9, the order that Marek Venn ignored.
Related articles
ARCHIVE RECORDContinuity DirectorateThe treaty-backed authority that controls all descent into the Rift. Its charter puts containment first. Its members disagree about what the Rift is worth.
ARCHIVE RECORDAsterion StationThe ring-shaped research station built around the Rift rim. It holds the launch cradle, the relay chain and the rim lock.
ARCHIVE RECORDMeridian Extraction ConsortiumThe largest industrial member of the Directorate. It pays for much of Asterion and wants shards in return.
ARCHIVE RECORDCommander Helene GrafRim commander of Asterion Station. She locked the rim, ordered the evacuation and issued the recall order Marek ignored.