O'Neill

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Spacecraft Registry
O'Neill
O'Neill.png
Photo of Station O'Neill taken by an unknown papparazzo, June 2013
Spacecraft Characteristics
Drive Ratingstationkeeping only
OwnerPadraig O'Niell
Registry NumberL5-R
PurposePrivate residence
Primary CrewPaidrag O'Niell (captain/owner)
Other Crew74 young women
Auxillary VehiclesShuttle OV-206 Daedalus (planned)
Operational StatusActive
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Station O'Neill is a private residence at the Earth-Luna L5 point, owned by a reclusive multi-millionaire named Padraig O'Niell. It is closed to the general public, so rumours abound about what takes place within its hull. The station's gender division (the owner is the only male aboard, out of a total population of 75) fuels many of those rumours.

Padraig O'Niell has been described by some of the SMOF as "kind of an Irish Austin Powers". He's honestly that charming a fellow; just don't discuss theology with him. He gets a mite upset. Padraig has a slight inferiority complex when it comes to Noah Scott and feels he has to "keep up with the Joneses"; this has caused him to spend some of his money in ways that aren't necessarily in his own best interest. (Padraig owns L5 station O'Neill because Noah owns L5 station Stellvia, Padraig surrounds himself with attractive young women because Noah surrounds himself with attractive young women, Padraig has Shuttle OV-206 Daedalus on order because Noah has Shuttles OV-203 Challenger and OV-204 Resolution on order, and so on.)

The physical structure of O'Neill Station was built by an external contractor, under various provisions for secrecy. Staffing was an initial problem, but eventually an Arthur produced the goods, and initially ran "Lagrange Recruitment". Arthur was supervised, except for his early work, by a line manager, 'Ms Jones'.

There are no files maintained about Arthur, on O'Neill Station, or various other low-level resources, which is what Arthur started as. O'Niell probably didn't even know his name, he just knew they'd got someone who can solve problems. Ms Jones isn't near the top of the ladder, herself, she is a middle-level resource, and her higher management is in Earth-based offices, in Australia.

The seventy-odd attractive young women who are permanent employees on O'Neill Station fall into three groups: The Angels (Sarah, Jane, Kelly), the humanoid remotes of the ten AIs, and the 'normal' (englamored) humans.

You shouldn't forget O'Neill Station runs as a private home, an estate. This is different from Stellvia, which has major elements of service industry and commercial enterprise. O'Niell does have offices in his home but is careful as to which of his staff have access to them. Jane has access, Sarah has her own office, and limited access, and Kelly has no access at all. A number of the general crew have access in line with their duties, which include cleaning and maintenance, as well as clerical and administrative work. There are no administrative AIs; the AIs on O'Neill Station run infrastructure.

The Angels are treated as human, even super-human, by the crew, and the crew's attitude to the AIs varies, from treating them as human, to machines that shouldn't have human faces. The relationship between the Angels and the O'Neill Station AIs - that is more difficult. It's not clear that the Angels would regard them as 'sisters', they are certainly biologically different. The Angels to all tests are biologically human, without a biomod. In practice, Jane is most obviously friendly to them, Sarah is polite but is a secret supporter of AI rights, and Kelly started by treating them as machines but is slowly changing her views.

The AIs are not immobile, Arthur made sure of that. Their humanoid remotes, which closely resemble humans, are quite capable of going and unplugging their AI cores, which will cheerfully run on batteries for tens of hours, and travelling off the station. That's the way they arrived, and they could leave the same way. Leaving chaos in their wake.

For details of the 'normal' humans, see the "Hollywood Machine", for the AIs see "AI Crew". The existence of the Hollywood Machine (AKA 'The Machine') is one of the secrets of the station. The Angels might bear a suspicious thematic resemblance to improved(?) versions of "Charlie's Angels", but this isn't talked about. At all. It is, of course, completely unclear who "Charlie" might be. Bloody murder might occur if someone makes a bad suggestion.

Actually, there is a Bosley. Her name is Alison 'Lee' Kay. Kelly befriended her first, and introduced her to Jane, then Sarah. They affectionately call her 'Boz' (when they're sure they're alone), and she responds by mothering them. Lee had a very bad experience with the Hollywood Machine. Only Kelly's hard work saved her life. Later, after a reorganisation, Lee found herself moved from White Team to become Kelly's deputy.

Teams

Red Team

These AIs and crew handle physical infrastructure, walls, view ports, biodomes, and vehicles. They have at least minimal training in piloting the vehicles, enough to nudge them around, anyway. This is the team that does EVA and external repairs, as well as operating the station-keeping drives. They also handle physical security, and are armed when needed from AI-supervised weapons caches. These weapons are a mix of waved non-lethal restraints, and some hard tech chosen to not damage the station hull. There is a small, rarely used, jail. Sarah handles weapons training, in a very strict way. She also instructs in Eire Law (often very similar to British Law). Sarah can help them on the security side, and a lawyer can be useful. Kelly often works with this team. Originally, and still sometimes, they're called "Security".

White Team

These AIs and crew handle life support and all environmental issues, water, air, heating/cooling, light, sewage, gravity. They also do the internal maintenance, cooking, cleaning, stores (but, see Engineering), grounds-keeping and farming in the bio domes. A small shop, gymnasium and beauty suite is run for staff. The Hollywood Machine is in the back of the beauty suite. Kelly has provided them with quite a few Steam Punk cleaning, maintenance and farming tools, which make a near-impossible job just hard work. They work with Red Team on things like air locks, and other overlapping areas of responsibility. Originally, and still sometimes, they're called "Maintenance".

Blue Team

These AIs and crew handle the communications and information technology, electronic and manual, and the power systems; maintenance, repair and operation. They're responsible for the various entertainment systems. They also handle information security, and the postal service. Blue Team maintain the on-site and remote (encrypted) backups of all the IT systems, and the AIs; note Mr O'Neill's information is at least double-encrypted, with codes private to him. Jane works with them. Sometimes Sarah works with them when legal matters outside Jane's expertise are involved. Quite a few Blue Team clerks are what makes the departments, but not the teams, work. Originally, and still sometimes, they're called "SysOps".

Black Team

This AI and small crew are the trouble-shooters. They are supposed to spot problems before they occur, stop them, then report them, so they don't happen again. They can call on any of the other three teams for support, bypassing any chain of command, though they'll need to justify themselves, later. Reports from Black Team cannot be ignored or sidelined - they must be responded to. In return, they minimise their reports. Quite a few staff have been rotated through Black Team, then ended up on another team. They also do some training work. Think of a Fire Safety Officer at a company - even gets to tell the MD/CEO what to do. Jane works with them, and fights to keep them from becoming elitist or unpopular. Originally, and still sometimes, they're called "Troubleshooters".

Departments

Medical Department

This was originally Kelly and White Team nurse-practitioner, Genny Hall, with help from a Blue Team clerk. Each of the three (plus one) teams is supposed to have a fully-trained paramedic on duty at all times, but, they each have only two of these, and a further three under training (all Black Team are supposed to be paramedics). Nurse Genny handles all but the most major issues, and refers to Kelly if required. Things Kelly isn't happy with handling, like non-trivial surgery, require shipping patients elsewhere. Kelly allegedly has a number of Steam Punk medical gadgets, which can handle many intermediate level medical problems, if people are prepared to risk their lives in them. She can also use a medical stasis gadget, that was bought-it, but this has a significant risk of inducing a biomod, before shipping elsewhere for treatment. And, biomods can mean the Hollywood Machine doesn't work on you, any more; i.e. you're fired. Then there is her self-propelled 'crash cart', which she describes in detail to people who injure themselves through carelessness. Kelly pushed for better medical facilities to be set-up. Later, she sort of got her way, as she was moved sideways to Engineering, and an A&E-trained doctor (age 28) put in her place; Kelly's still called-on if needed. Note that while the Blue Team AI 'Theta' studies with Kelly, she isn't part of the department.

Legal Department

This is Sarah and a Blue Team member who's a partially trained lawyer (she's continuing her training), along with a Blue Team legal clerk. They call on Jane to deal with the commercial side. Sarah has pointed out that this department wouldn't be nearly large enough if things get litigious.

Admin Department

This is Jane with a Blue Team member trained in administration, and three Blue Team clerks. Admin is also Human Resources, though new staff are handled through Lagrange Recruitment, in Dublin, down on Earth. Admin processes purchase requests from the various teams and departments; all need at least two approvals. Jane is trying to ensure anyone on Blue Team who is trainable can at least stand-in as a clerk. She's also watching with interest to see if there's any unionisation activity.

The Farm

Some might say this is just a hobby farm. It's still the second largest in Cislunar Space, after the Grover's Corners. The cows are a bit peculiar at times... a bit rainbow-coloured... but the milk is clean and fresh, as is the meat. Also included are some grain, and fresh vegetables such as carrots, cabbages, spuds, parsnips and the like. Most is for local consumption to vary up the diet a little and keep the Vitamin Man at bay. Farming is done by White Team, using somewhat weird but effective Steam Punk tools, provided by Kelly - think a hundred (jointed) armed weeder and vegetable harvester, steam-powered, of course. The Farm doesn't count as a department, and is usually supervised by a White Team member with horticultural experience. Note that there are also lawns, flower and herb gardens, and a small wood, as well as land used for agriculture. Once the technology becomes more mature a holographic backdrop may be used to make things look a lot bigger.

Financial Department

There is no on-board financial department. Visiting staff audit this. Wages for on-board staff is handled externally. Day-to-day work goes through Admin, and is securely logged, on-site and remote, to provide an audit trail. Jane isn't happy that there isn't at least one person on-board in this department.

Engineering Department

This is Kelly, with Alison 'Lee' Kay of Red Team, a Blue Team clerk, and three Red Team technicians. 'Engineering', as a department, was added later, when the on-station management of engineering just wasn't working, well enough; previously, it was just Kelly working in her non-existent spare time. Day-to-day engineering is done by Red Team, White Team or Blue Team (Black Team in emergencies), with Engineering taking both an overview and a longer-term strategic approach. Otherwise, Engineering has taken over responsibility for engineering stores and inventory from White Team. Kelly provides Steam Punk tools to the various teams, and, where needed, training in how to maintain them. It might be noted that Kelly has an extensive library in her office, which seems to mix Engineering with subjects like Martial Arts, Relaxation and Self-Hypnosis.

Other Details

General Staffing

The station will just about run on a core staff of thirty 'normal' humans (nine in each of the three teams, plus three in 'Black' team), in three eight-hour shifts. Then you add the Angels, who need sleep and rest, and the AIs, who supposedly don't. Seeing as there are sixty 'normals', there should be enough staff to handle most problems. Given the incentives to work here, even with its isolation, assume a 5% 'normal' staff turn-over per year, i.e. three women. This assumes that the Angels and AIs stay. If possible staff leaving, all of who've signed major secrecy agreements, will be found jobs in other O'Neill organisations, such as CHOAM. Sorry, no memory-wiping technology available. [grin]


Crew Clothing

Originally there was no crew uniform, and 'appropriate' clothes was all that was required. Later, the Hollywood Machine effectively designed a uniform, by processing the sports-wear that the AI remotes were initially wearing. This is a practical but stylish grey, with colour markings (red, white, blue or black) that are visible from any angle. Tests showed that this was actually a disguised spacesuit, with near-invisible gloves concealed in the cuffs, and a near-invisible bubble helmet that could inflate from the collar. The shoulder pads concealed an air supply good for ten minutes. An optional stylish tool-belt gave two hours air (takes a day to recharge), CO2 scrubbers and humidity control. No waste disposal, maneuver jets or communications equipment, though.

The uniform proved quite difficult to get dirty, inside or out, and was remarkably comfortable, with the modified sports-footwear giving excellent grip. Yes, underwear is worn with it. It proved as protective as light body armour. Kelly produced two machines that would clean and repair these uniforms (Uniform Cleaner), and, after a lot of poking and shouting at the Hollywood Machine, staff wearing the exact sports-wear found themselves in these uniforms after their normal half-hour Hollywood Machine session.

Later, after the the airlock incident, Kelly modified the cleaning machines to make these uniforms, from scratch, taking about six hours each (she also later built a third Uniform Machine), so as to provide the AI remotes and anyone else (starting with the more senior staff) with spares. A decision was made not to rely, in the longer term, on the Hollywood Machine to provide uniforms for new staff. After some grumbling, all non-Angel crew accepted the contract changes that would require them to wear work uniforms; note they don't have to pay for these, or their upkeep. Also note that the Angels do not (normally) wear these uniforms.

Station Vehicles

Mr O'Niell has a number of personal vehicles, and there are also vehicles used for the L5-Earth run. The oldest is a waved Cessna, capable to carrying four passengers or equivalent cargo. The Cessna has the advantage of taking-off and landing on many small airports and can fly conventionally, looking like a hobbyist's plane. It goes almost unnoticed, until it engages its blue-glowing aerodynamic force-field so as to be able to use its speed drive at just sub-sonic speeds in atmosphere. More modern are three waved five-ton panel trucks, used for cargo runs from Australia to L5 (require 'Men At Work' tunes to be played continuously). There are also a pair of waved three-ton mini-buses, each of which can carry eight passengers (require 'driving music' to be played continuously). Finally, there are a hundred 'hamster ball' emergency escape vessels, each good for one person (two in a real emergency) which have a one-shot speed drive good enough to make a soft re-entry, but they aren't steerable, so you could end up anywhere on Earth (all passengers will look pathetic and cute, no matter their normal appearance).

The main maintenance vehicles for the station are Kelly's 'Mirror Spiders'. These have a ten metre/yard leg span, and seat a crew of two. They have a camouflage capability Kelly learned by studying the Hollywood Machine, so that the external maintenance of the station can be done with considerable privacy. With the camouflage turned-off they just have a disturbing mirror surface, and you can see that their structure is clearly Steam Punk. Spiders can walk around, but not fly, in gravity.

They derive their power from compressed steam, good for about two hours operation, with an emergency solar mirror boiler, good for about five minutes movement. Communication is via a digital heliograph and paper-tape reader/punch; trying to use anything more modern seems to upset the spider's coordination. It seems safe to use pads or other electronics as long as they have no radio links turned on (Bluetooth, 3G, CB, etc.). These vehicle are not suitable to install an AI (even a Babbage-engine based one), and the radio link used by the station AIs means their humanoid remotes can't operate a spider.

Spiders do not have a true airlock, though the cockpit can be divided in half, and half depressurised, then re-pressurised. Their life support is good for about twenty hours for two crew.

Spiders can easily manipulate multi-ton hull plates, and deploy two welding torches at once, or a range of other tools. In theory four tools could be in use at once. Yes, the mandibles could easily cut an unarmoured man in half, and would damage, or at least stress, most armour.

If you wanted to take one of these a long way you could strap-on an external speed drive, and maybe a life support booster, then eject these so you use the spider at your destination. A spider probably wouldn't survive re-entry, even with a speed drive, and would at least loose a couple of legs (a strap-on force field would help).

There are usually at least three spiders ready to run (Kelly is working on increasing this to six), with two more in maintenance, and one in pieces. Kelly really likes them, a number of crew are really rude about them out of her hearing. It's generally considered that they're worthwhile.

There are also at least a dozen usable two-man 'Steam Broomsticks', which can fly around for about half an hour, and are useful for inspection work. Then they need two hours down-time. Radios work perfectly well with these. You could easily strap a couple of broomsticks to a spider, for use in emergencies. Broomsticks are strictly for space use.

It might be worth mentioning the fifty or so 'Steam Guns', which are good for about five minutes continuous maneuvering, by a vacuum-protected individual, so about half an hour, if they are skilled.

Time-line

Mid 2008: Station core build started on Earth, Australia, by "Innovative Fenspace Industries" (IFI). Originally planned as a luxury space station hotel. Financial problems resulted in re-purposing as a private home.

October 2008: O'Niell places firm and urgent order with IFI for L5 private home space station.

Plan to put senior staff in place before opening, with a core of working staff there on opening day.

Staff training done in a Bigalow prototype, at L5.

November 2008: Tentative request for 'Angels' through the O'Niell organisational tree.

Sunday 9th November 2008: O'Neill Station core launched, just over one week after Kickassia core launched. Urgent outfitting started.

December 2008: Arthur starts work on Angels.

The construction firm spent two months, working through Christmas and the New Year at triple-time rate, so by early January 2009 they could give a rough station completion of end of March 2009.

Mid-January 2009: Station completion date causes tentative request for 'Angels' to become firm. Arthur starts getting more desperate.

2nd January 2009: IFI collapses with allegations of mixing drugs, catgirls and Warhammer 40k. Existing projects (including O'Neill Station) are pretty smoothly taken over by CHOAM, with whom they were already in negotiations.

Saturday 14th February 2009: Angels approach O'Niell organisation about work.

Mid February 2009: Angels start training for work on O'Neill Station.

End February 2009: Lagrange Recruitment hurriedly formed, run by Arthur, line manager Ms Jones.

Late March 2009: 15 crew start training for work on O'Neill Station.

End March 2009: Hollywood Machine relocated to O'Neill Station.

Early April 2009: Second 15 crew start training for work on O'Neill Station.

Early April 2009: Bob takes-over running Lagrange Recruitment.

Wednesday 8th April 2009: O'Neill Station officially opens, with the Angels and 30 (part-trained) others as crew.

April - End May 2009: Remaining 30 crew start training for work on O'Neill Station. Crew is now the Angels plus 60 others.

Start - Late June 2009: Arthur works on AIs.

End June 2009: Ten AIs join the crew (in colour-coded uniforms).

Mid July 2009: Arthur tricks his way on-board, on an (effective) 'inspection tour', to use the Hollywood Machine.

End July 2009: The AI-originated uniform is introduced for all crew (bar the Angels); this is nothing to do with Stellvia adopting a staff uniform.

Mid October 2009: Airlock incident - O'Niell uninjured, AI remote 'killed'.

Mid October 2009: Arthur visits and upsets all three Angels, but fixes the problem (and uses the Hollywood Machine, again).

Late October 2009: Consultant Engineer Jenny (Arthur's AI) contracted.

Late October 2009: Kelly visits Dublin.

End October 2009: Reorganisation with Engineering department created.

Start December 2009: Sarah gets involved (with Arthur) in (Australian and Eire) AI rights issues.