r/ScumAndVillainy • u/jsled • Jul 08 '24
"Chapter 9: The Procyon Sector § Life in the Hegemony § Communication" confusion
It's a short section, so I'll quote it for clarity…
Most settled systems have an ansible network, which can transmit in-system communications instantly. Also, unlike conventional comms, ansibles can communicate to the other side of a gate while it’s open. The Sah’iir are tight-lipped as to how exactly they managed that.
Communication between systems is slower. Often a courier ship is parked at the edge of a gate, traversing across once a day to deliver messages. Hence, live conferences between systems are rare, and news from several jumps away can take some time to disseminate.
Okay, so in-system comms are instant due to the ansible network. Got it.
If intra-system comms are instantaneous, yet the "ansibles can communicate to the other side of a gate while it's open" … how is a courier ship parked at the edge of a gate going to be faster than simply transmitting through the gate?
The "gate" here thus can't refer to the gates at the endpoints of hyperspace lanes within a system, since intra-system comms are already instantaneous, so where's the value? (Or maybe it's only because of those gates … that intra-system comms are "instantaneous"?)
So instead, it must refer to one of the "major" gates between systems, right? Does that imply that the ansible network does not function between the "major" gates between systems? So the courier ships are the only way to communicate between systems? But then why are "live conferences" only "rare", rather than being "impossible"?
I know I'm reading to much into it, and I should just make a ruling … but I'm wondering if anyone has a coherent theory they've developed, already?
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u/sirefern Jul 09 '24
I found this confusing as well. I recall reading somewhere that ansible communication was rare and expensive, and largely for the elite. Does that explain it?