Ships of Auzhan Sector: The Barbra Streisand

   Constructed at Moni shipyards on Moni 0607/The Void, by Ilyin-Meledin Aerospace GmbH, some twenty-five years ago, the Barbra Streisand is a Type A free trader. Originally named the Astral Endeavour she was one of a line of ships built by Ilyin-Meledin. Ilyin-Meledin specialised in commercial ships, focusing almost exclusively on the 200 ton Type A free trader. The later models were being fitted with a new model of 1/bis computer system, which bumped the cost up by about MCr2. A carefully planned advertising campaign, built up a demand for the new computers and as a result, Ilyin-Meledin found itself struggling to meet demand. Fifteen ships had been constructed and sold with the new computer system, while a further seven were in various stages of completion, when the first complaints started coming in. 

    Owners began reporting that the ship's computer would play an unknown audio recording at random times, sometimes the audio would be accompanied by a flickering of the ship's lighting. Ilyin-Meledin sent their own programmers to fix the problem; they spent months trying to isolate the code and failed. When they finally admitted defeat, the company hired outside experts to try and identify the code responsible and reprogram the computers. All of these programmers failed to find any code that might be responsible. However, one of them, saw bits of code that reminded him of code he'd seen once before. Apparently this code was written by a programmer who went by the handle of "Duck Sauce". Duck Sauce was a near legendary hacker some thirty odd years ago, he vanished without a trace, after hacking nearly every major information network and bank on Moni in one night. 

    When news of this got out, Moni authorities swooped in and began a very thorough investigation and impounded any ships with the new computer systems they could get their hands on. Production was brought to a standstill, impound fees and compensation to the ship's owners cost a fortune, news media coverage killed Ilyin-Meledin's reputation, and orders stopped coming in. The only lead the authorities were able to follow was a disgruntled employee, one Zebulon Sonoda, who worked as a programmer within the computing department, unfortunately that lead didn't go anywhere as the man had died a few months before the problem was first reported.

    Eventually the investigation was closed, but it was too late for Ilyin-Meledin, the loss of revenue, compensation payouts and blows to their reputation cause the company to fold. 

    Most of these ships had their computers wiped and reprogrammed. At least one, the Astral Endeavour didn't. The crew apparently loved the audio recording and wanted to keep it. One of them was a bit of a history buff and recognised it as a type of classical music from centuries ago, apparently called "Disc-Go". With a bit of research and some help from the engineer, she fitted the ship out with period lighting equipment and set it up to activate whenever the computer decided to play the audio recording. Whenever the music starts, a mirror ball descends from the ceiling in each of the common areas of the ship and begins spinning while coloured strobing lights bounce off it, and the walls, in various patterned displays. Most crew members and a fair few passengers enjoy dancing to the music for the next five minutes or so. Since the computer usually only does this about once a day, it is not too disruptive and is usually regarded as a welcome break from the routine. Naturally, it seemed appropriate to rename the ship to match; and so the Barbra Steisand has carried that name for nearly 25 years. 

    Referee: The audio recording was apparently different for each ship. In the case of the Barbra Streisand the recording in question is of course Barbra Streisand by Duck Sauce. 

    Most of the computers were reprogrammed, including those not yet installed, but it is possible that a few were overlooked and may pop-up on the market occasionally.

    Referee: Zebulon Sonoda was the hacker known as Duck Sauce. His programming skills were off the charts (Computer-6+). What he stole during his night of hacking is up to the referee. Why he did this to the new computers and Ilyin-Meledin is up the referee as well. How he died is also up to the referee. 

    For those wishing to experience authentic Disc-Go while travelling, the Barbra Streisand can be found at pretty much any starport (class X excluded), but when she lands, book your passage early, she is a popular ship.