The Secret Message, Part 2

Previously, on MinerBumping... RD Mackstorm was in for the shock of his life when he discovered that his protégé, Original Lucky Maroon, was actually a deep-cover Agent of the New Order, Nitetime Video. With the full force and authority of the Code behind him, Nitetime's alt threatened to destroy an AFK corp Orca--along with RD's own Orca, which was helpless and tackled.

Original had gone AFK to get a beer while his Vexor's drones continued their assault of RD's corpmate's Orca. Until Original officially announced himself as a New Order Agent, RD was willing to give his young charge the benefit of the doubt.

...But time was running out.

Original denounced RD and the AFK Orca pilot. It was too late for the AFK Orca, but RD could still save himself if he sent a ransom to a contact of Original. (The name of Original's contact was redacted in the report.)

One twist in this story is that RD was a permit-carrying miner. As the population of permit-holders grows and the number of unlicensed miners dwindles, our Agents have increasingly focused on ensuring Code-compliance among both groups.

Time ran out for RD's corpmate. She was still AFK at the time her Orca was destroyed.

Now our hero turned his attention to RD's Orca, which was still tackled. Needless to say, paying 10 million isk to an Agent doesn't make a miner King of Highsec. The miner must still obey the Code. Our Agent's audit revealed that RD didn't fulfill his obligations.

Agent Original's Vexor opened fire on RD's Orca. If the miner didn't pay a ransom, the corp would lose two Orcas that day. Flunking a New Order audit is serious business.

As is often the case, the ransomed miner suddenly grew poor. He was in luck though: Our Agents was willing to work something out.

Forced to confront the possibility of parting with isk in an emergent-gameplay context, RD grew restless. He was behaving like a greedy bot-aspirant.

However, RD had witnessed the death of enough Orcas that day. He transferred a ransom payment to Original's unnamed contact. That was only the first step, though. Original directed RD to eject from his Orca and perform other steps--the details of which were redacted from Agent Nitetime's report.

When RD handed over his Orca, our Agent made additional requests. Again, the Agent's report redacted certain information from this part of the story. However, it's highly probable that nothing untoward happened here.

RD Mackstorm > now can I have it back
Original Lucky Maroon > [REDACTED] will contract the orca to you
RD Mackstorm > well I'm out of ISK so I can't pay for it
RD Mackstorm > don't have any plex
Original Lucky Maroon > Please send 10 mil. ISK to me for a new permit
Original Lucky Maroon > Your current one is invalid
RD Mackstorm > out of ISK you idot so I can't

Original voided RD's mining permit. For the time being, RD was unwilling or unable to purchase a new one.

Original Lucky Maroon > Please don't be rude to an Agent of the New Order
[REDACTED] > Greetings RD Mackstorm 0/
RD Mackstorm > I said it because I have you I have sent all the ISK I have
[REDACTED] > I have your Orca safe and sound in the station.
RD Mackstorm > thanks
Original Lucky Maroon > I will expect a full apology in writing, cc James 315 and Liek DarZ.

Original closed out the audit by instructing RD to issue an apology to me and to the Agent who had sold RD his permit.

Two days later, RD was induced to deliver his apology. The miner offered a full confession of his crimes, which is always refreshing. Nevertheless, RD couldn't resist the temptation to include some excuses at the end of his message. RD isn't perfect--yet. Neither is highsec. Yet we can have confidence that in the end, our Agents will get the job done.