Year 25 Day 97
In the vast expanse of the galaxy, where starships danced through the fabric of space, there emerged an insidious threat—an affliction that defied the boundaries of time and reality. They called it Hyperspace Sickness.
It began innocently enough, back in the early days of interstellar travel. Pilots, daring and resolute, embarked on long hyperspace jumps, their vessels hurtling through the shimmering blue corridors of the unknown. The first cases were dismissed as mere disorientation—a side effect of traversing the veil between stars. But as the years passed, the sickness evolved, revealing its true malevolence.
Decades ago, the Corporate Alliance News Network released an in depth report on reports of hyperspace sickness after an Abyssin freighter pilot, named Harry Hausen, approached leadership regarding a strange incident. Mr. Hausen was 17 days into a hyperspace journey when he began seeing things. Returning to Varn from the Kanchen sector, the monoptic captain was expecting a long, boring trip.
“Just routine delivery of supply to outpost. It be nearly twenty day from Morchoth to Varno. More if any trouble,” Hausen said to investigators. “Hyperdrive spazz, gravity blip… that sort of thing. Never [expect] see what I saw.”
Mr. Hausen described the experience as “terrifying at first, but pretty shiny.” (“Shiny” in this usage being tramp freighter slang for amusing or pleasant; all hyperspace visuals are luminous.) “First, tunnel grow many tentacle. Then [the tentacles] try wrap around ship, but no touch. I watch, expect ship to crush, but they went away and turn into many face!” The Abyssin claimed to have conversed with these “hyperspace faces” for nearly a standard hour before the image faded, though his memory of the exact conversation was not clear at the time. Physician droids in Varno evaluated Mr. Hausen, per the report and his physical and mental state were considered normal for his race.
This was not the first report of hyperspace hallucinations the Alliance Directorate had dealt with, though they claimed, at the time it is the most acute case on record. A specialist in Abyssin neurology had speculated that the unique properties of Harryhausen’s single eye may have intensified the effect hyperspace visuals can have on the mind.
According to the Record, the specialist felt that Mr. Hausen was not crazy. “Anyone who spends enough time between the stars will tell you there’s weird stuff out there, and Mr. Hausen had a long time to sit and watch. Maybe it was just some optical illusion, but I think he saw something anyone could see, if they jump long enough.”
That was the end of the investigation at the time. The last recorded interaction with Mr. Hausen declined an offer of a vacation to his homeworld, as the questionable nature of his hyperspace encounter might encourage other Abyssins to ritually stone him to death. Mention of Hyperspace Sickness seemed to drift from memory.
Flash forward to the present and a sudden reemergence of the Hyperspace Sickness has raised its head, affecting some Nobility from within the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
The Stardancer, a Personal Luxury Yacht 5000, had recently completed the 15 day journey through hyperspace, traveling from the Hassaria System to the Binquarous System. The ship exited hyperspace and docked at Conjunction Outpost. Onboard was the Elara Mateau, a human pilot, her crew and several members of the Hassarian Royal Family, who had booked the voyage intending on a joint hunting trip with the Heep-Heep intending to improve relations between the rival parties.
But when the ship docked at the remote outpost, the pilot staggered out of her cockpit, her eyes haunted. Her crewmates, equally afflicted, stumbled behind her. They whispered of phantom shadows, of voices that echoed from the void. The Hassarians seemed unaffected.
The Confederacy’s medical teams were baffled. A more experienced member of the team, who had been an intern decades ago, identified Hyperspace Sickness as the likely cause. Hyperspace Sickness defied conventional medicine. Symptoms varied—nausea, hallucinations, and temporal dislocation. Some pilots vanished altogether, their ships found adrift in the cosmic currents. The only consistent symptom seems to be prolonged exposure to hyperspace travel.
Scientists speculated on potential causes. Is the duration of the jumps correlation or causation? Was it the blue hue of hyperspace? A cosmic resonance that fractured the mind?
It is unclear just how prevalent Hyperspace Sickness is. Many pilots seem to go insane during these long trips, never reporting in for duty again, only to be found borderline unconscious, drooling, in the cockpit of the idle ship. Most of these pilots never regain full consciousness, instead spending the remainder of their days in a facility.
Some pilots, once they were reoriented, seemed to return to normal, but others were resistant to treatment.
“We’re losing our best. The sickness consumes them.” a top ranking official was quoted, when asked. “On those who do not snap out of it, We’ve tried everything—meditation, drugs, even ancient rituals. But the sickness thrives.”
In response, the Confederacy issued guidelines. It is recommended that Pilots limit jumps to seven days. Longer journeys risked madness. It is also recommended that pilots arm themselves and their crew with plenty of holovid dramas, remote droids, and fully charged datapads to help pass the time. Use of the recently released trade simulator HyperTrader is also encouraged. *
* PLEASE NOTE: HyperTrader access is restricted for CIS Members Only!