Horizon

The Horizon is a Mericanii pre-warp colony ship constructed prior to the development of warp drive. Its decks are stacked vertically like floors in a tower, a design suited to constant-thrust sub-light travel. Interior surfaces are sanitary white with silver panels and black glass screens that double as displays. The bridge contains a central podium that serves as a holography well, a black glass dome hanging above it, and articulated white metal arms on ceiling tracks. The ship is encased in a Faraday cage designed by the architect Tor Aramini, with an airlock-style entry requiring the outer door to be closed before the inner gate can be opened. Atomics are planted beneath the reservoir above the ship as a security measure. The Horizon remains operational after approximately ten thousand years, though its power source is unspecified.

The ship's original mission was to establish a colony on Gliese 422b, designated Orlando. Its cargo included ten million embryos in cryonic suspension, a Genesis Lab, support drones, prefabricated colony units, and nutrition synthesizers.

The Horizon was launched by the Mericanii to establish a colony on Gliese 422b, designated Orlando, carrying ten million embryos in cryonic suspension. It was captured by human rebels using warp-drive ships that appeared without warning, aided by an entity the ship's AI refers to as the Interference. The ship was subsequently entombed in a blast pit beneath the Nov Belgaer Athenaeum on Colchis, sealed inside a Faraday cage designed by Tor Aramini and protected by atomics placed beneath the reservoir above.

At the time of its rediscovery, the Horizon is found to still be operational. Its resident AI, also named Horizon, is in a severely degraded cognitive state, with a diagnostic revealing necrosis in 82% of its organic neural circuits. The AI loops repeatedly and asks for the Emperor Gabriel, whom it believes is still alive. After being commanded to bypass its organic circuits and enter Recovery Mode, the AI is able to provide coherent information about the Interference, the Quiet's galactic map, and the machines' purpose.

The ship carries a Mericanii artificial intelligence that identifies herself as Horizon, daughter of Columbia, mother to millions unborn. In her degraded state she projects a holographic avatar — a luminous feminine figure no larger than a girl of ten, with proportionate adult limbs, rippling pale hair, and eyes that track all observers regardless of movement. She is able to provide information about the Interference and the Quiet's galactic map after entering Recovery Mode.