the hub at ninet project/brethren of inquiry

Brethren of Inquiry

Memories of The Inquiry Lead by Brothen Gramska at the Hub as remembered by his former Novice Freddo Igwe Kim 

It all started when Priory Machines flagged anomalies and summoned a Brethren of Inquiry, the Order's most serious instrument, deployed only when something is deeply wrong. It is an exception procedure, automatically triggered when the usual procedures and organizations fail to resolve a critical issue. As such, it is not welcomed by the authorities.

Though there are several threads that connect the stories of the Hub, I eventually settled on following Freddo Kin, apprentice to Brother Granska, as the narrative voice. Freddo is a native of Sed, which, prior to the rediscovery of Ninet, was the farthest colony. In the story he is a novice working under Brother Granska, a prominent librarian conducting the investigation at Ninet.

The Brethren is small: three librarians and their novices, all from outside the Hub. Besides Granska, there is Tintr Shaz, a librarian with an uncommon military past and no discernible previous experience in this kind of procedure, and Teal Nia, from Thanatos, a renowned logician with a long history in the Library and with Granska. The novices are Freddo, Cali, and Lee, each one the assigned assistant to one of the members.

This is both an investigation story and a story of Freddo coming of age, learning about the world beyond his restricted life in Sed. What they found was a web of crimes, conflicting testimonies, and mysteries that connected back to the Hub's deepest secrets. From the journey in the Ol'Liberty Planet Jumper to the Vault's forbidden artifacts, every lead revealed new layers of hidden truth and new mysteries. But the first mystery is the reasons of the machines and what common thread was behind the long list of seemingly unconnected events that triggered this investigation.

The Granska Investigation (Brethren of Inquiry)

The Brethren is Formed and Dispatched

• SS46 Brethren of Inquiry- “administrative cogs popped priory rules demanding a Brethren of Inquiry to be assembled. And with the… | Instagram 

• SS52 Nitooni - I knew the name of Nitooni Kaupp Nia, the one called Toon. A very talented librarian at a very young age, Toon had worked on… | Instagram 

• REEL THN Brethren of Inquiry #scifi #sciencefiction #aivideo #texttovideoai #mystery #story #worldbuilding #aiartcommunity #thehubatninet | Instagram 

• SS62 Granska and the Investigation - . @nightcafestudio #scifi #sciencefiction #mystery #writing #scifiart #worldbuilding #synthography… | Instagram 

• ST32 Brethren - The Brethren of Inquiry, a protocol within the Commons’ code, was activated to supersede local authority in exceptional… 

The Novices and the Spaceflight to Ninet

• SS73 In the Planet Jumper- “… A large security detail traveled with us all the way to Ninet, which I found odd until I realized they were… | Instagram 

• SS74 Ferry to Ninet - For several tendays, I was aboard the Ol'Liberty, a Planet-Jumper that ferried our group from Sed to Ninet. It was a… 

• SS75 Hangar Bay - @nightcafestudio #scifi #sciencefiction #scuencefictionart #spaceship #spaceplane #hangarbay #digitalphotoart… 

• ST08 One with the crew - Life aboard the Ol’ Liberty was a crash course in camaraderie. My background in planetary forces training, a… 

• ST09 Hangar Bay - The Hangar Bay was my go-to spot on the ship. It was usually quiet, but it could get pretty hectic when we docked at a… 

• ST39 Novices - I found solace in the routine of ship life. While the main researchers were often absorbed in mission-related meetings, my… 

The Akward Encounter

• ST40 The Other Group - It was during one of these puzzle sessions that Cali commented that a second group of Library researchers was on… | Instagram 

• ST56 Cargo Bay Six - Freddo, unable to shake Cali’s mention of another research group aboard the ship, found himself wandering the dimly… 

• ST62 Lira - The sound emanated from a dimly lit chamber. As I stepped inside, I saw her—a woman I recognized but had never spoken to. Her… 

• ST63 Awkward Interaction - In my homeworld, Sed, water was a precious commodity. Pools and tubs were nonexistent, and swimsuits were a… | Instagram 

• ST64 The Puzzle Remark - 3. Lira’s Departure: Her back turned, Lira dried herself off. With a smirk, she faced me. “If you keep staring… | Instagram 

• REEL ST63r The Lira Puzzle - …She smiled, gathering her tools. “Well, Freddo, if we meet, you finish your thoughts. We logicians like to unravel… | Instagram 

Granska Queries the Arcodex

• ST59 Arcodex - Granska walked alongside Bren, the researcher, through the dark, stone-lined corridors of the Keep. Pulsing glyphs adorned… | Instagram 

• REEL ST59r Granska queries the Arcodex #scifi #sciencefiction #ai #mystery #space #spaceopera #bookstagram #thehubatninet #aiartcommunity… | Instagram 

• REEL SU67r Meeting Ciceron - Granska was convinced that the key to the researchers’ disappearance lay within their research on the “Citadel”… | Instagram 

Arrival and The Journey North

• ST10 The Journey North - Once we reached Ninet, we’d land at one of the three main dropcamps along the equator. With Ninet’s solar summer…

• SU04 Before Descent - I’m strapped in the dropship, the steady hum of the engines my only company. We’re orbiting Ninet, and I watch as… 

• SU05 The Moment of Disconnect - We break away from the mothership. There’s a moment of eerie calm before we plunge. My stomach flips, and I… 

• SU24 Dropcamp - Activity thrummed through the drop base, a hive of urgency and purpose that dispelled the stillness we had just embraced.… 

• SU25 The Journey North - Our journey to the Hub proved more challenging than expected. Four land cruisers and two support vehicles made up…

• SU26 Through The Tolin Fields - Six waystations separated us from the Hub. Those situated on the Tolin fields were mobile domes, relocated… 

• SU43 Erebus - The Tolin Fields had once been harvested for energy generation during the hub’s development. An incredibly vast maze of…

• SU44 Outside - On the third day in the highlands, a silent tension enveloped the crew, their eyes darting between the instruments and the… 

• SU45 A Brief EVA - I only saw Cali again hours later. By then, the slow advance made by our caravan under safety scanning procedures had… 

• SU58 THN The Others - After sneaking out and charging with the sled as fast as we could in the direction Cali pointed, we found it in a… 

Summoned at the Citadel

• SU83 THN Summoned - Cali and I were still piecing together the last few days when we received word that Granska was summoning us to the…

• SU88 Nightdrive - We moved fast in a small group, an unusually active sublimation flow made the travel rough and our vehicle was constantly… 

• SU89 Close - Inside the small vehicle space Cali and I sat awkwardly in front of Tintr. We had connected our suits to the rover supply and… 

• SU90 Cali and the “Robot” - I followed her inside Hightower. Just a few researchers were supposed to go there but we had done it many…

• SU91 Eavesdropping - #spaceopera #robot #thehubatninet @nightcafestudio #lostworlds #worldbuildingart #scifi #scifiartwork #scifiart…