Every now and then I get motivated to dive into some off-hand aspect of the Traveller setting, doing a deep read on something that sounds interesting to me. “The Bags They Carried” is a series of posts inspired by the amazing short story “The things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien.
The Scout Companion Bag
( narrated in the 40’s radiodrama voice of J. Peterman from Seinfeld )
Older than most of your friends and twice as mouthy, it’s the one item you grab before jumping through the tramp freighter’s clanging airlock, the taste of backroom Solomani synth-rye still in your mouth. After all this time, the bag still smells slightly of Sorcaen pollen, but that’s not a bad thing, right? At least she didn’t think so…
Presented with neither apology nor qualification: the Imperial Scout Companion Bag, serving throughout the Imperium as the piece of go-to gear our most dependable service depends on.
Composition
The active expedition fabric is surprisingly light and durable. It will not burn, and acts as additional ballistic armor. The fabric gathers a charge from natural light or can recharge wirelessly with minimal source for months of operation. The bag is molecularly keyed upon commission, and will accept direction to drop unique micro-markers in case the wearer needs to leave a subtle molecular breadcrumb trail.
The fabric is also memetic, toggling from an album of presentations but defaulting to Scout gray with an red Imperial Sunburst ascending the IISS logo, all over the owner’s last name. The bag can be directed to easily adopt “local color” and blend in with more provincial gear. The SCB can also emit sustained light at a surprising intensity. The fabric of the bag also responds to its mechanism and to environmental conditions ( see below ).
Apparatus
The bag is a top-loading 36L backpack that adjusts to its human wearer’s frame.
In addition to the main toploading compartment there are numerous cavities unique to each bag; shielded spaces were small items or traces of substance could be secreted from all but the most intrusive of scans.
The bag has small, retractable apparati that filters water, can spark a fire, sharpen a blade, or emit a particularly jarring whistle.
The bag has an extremely light and hearty internal frame that sweeps the loadspace off the body and together with the harness creates a slight ventilation space between wearer and bag. The harness is designed to mission-critical specifications, has a minimal presentation and is embedded with an emergency micro-sized grav kit to prevent injury from sudden falls.
Mechanism
The Scout Companion Bag has an On-Board Brain in a shielded module. The mechanism of the OBB itself is very small and has sensory/operating elements woven in throughout the bag for environment perception and other operations. The OBB has an enduring charismatic personality with hobbies, skills, and extensive library dataset designed to support the Scout in the field throughout their career and beyond.
The OBB accepts direction from the bag owner ( sometimes with “spirited” resistance ) and can go for long periods in silence, effectively “hiding” its personality until engaged. The OBB has complete control over all bag abilities and functions, and can interface through microspeakers in the harness or any wirelessly enabled device. The OBB can engage in trusted or defensive modes with other OBBs or computerized personalities. Its interfacing capabilities are designed to make it conversationally compatible with Humaniti, if a bit abrasive at times.
When wearing or in physical contact with the SCB, the owner may also silently give direction to and receive input through tactile/haptic interfaces. With practice the potential bandwidth of such silent communication is considerable. The bag has a memory of everything it perceives. It can also hold public- or private-keyed endorsements such as location stamps, service or medical records, accreditations or licenses.
The bag can do passive analysis of the surrounding environment, making subtle measurements of local gravity, weather, altitude, sound, and light to make predictions about conditions. Even without input or direction from the OBB the bag’s fabric can display visual indication ( in the form of colors, splotch patterns, etc ) of oxygen level, presence of toxins or taints, radioactivity, and EM signals. All display functionality can be toggled on/off.
The bag has an embedded emergency beacon with an atmospheric range; this beacon broadcasts in Scout and Navy emergency frequencies.
The bag can track physical activity and from its environmental/spatial awareness can compute distances and maintain a map of places it’s been. The SCB can easily pair with equipment that can extend its functionality, such as sophisticated scanning gear.
Extensibility
The bag is designed to accept modular components, and as a key piece of Scout gear to be a component itself. Some scouts find it useful to install modules that enable the bag to generate heat or cold, to hush sound, to accept a full grav-belt, and so on. The varieties of customization across the Service is staggering. The SCB is well suited as an “anchor” device that holds key components of Scout’s personal area network ( PAN ), including a prefered persona and mechanisms for a ship’s computer, commsplus unit, or other mainstay devices.
Additional notes
- Even in its basic form, the SCB is clearly a higher TL device
- It is a hallmark of service in the Scouts, and is rarely parted with
- The SCB is commonly used as a companion/assistant/extra set of eyes and ears, though it’s rare to see a Scout engaging in public conversation with it or acknowledging its non-physical attributes. In most public situations, it’s “just a bag.”
- XBoat crew and planetary exploration Scouts make serious active service use of the SCB
- The bags are wildly diverse across the service sphere of the Scouts; it’s very likely that no two look exactly alike. They are valuable, personal items and are rarely found for sale. Those that are on offer are usually grabbed up by a Scout, looking to keep the piece of gear “within the Service.”
- Awarding of a SCB has much more to do with tradition than rank. It is most commonly presented before the first tour in Communications, after an “event that should have killed you,” or may be given as an award for mustering out of the Service
- Many Scouts adhere to a “one bag” philosophy, adopting a minimalism outlook and restricting most of their owned items to those that can fit inside their SCB.
- To many owners, the bag is truly a “companion” of sorts, over long years having adopted to the nuances of the owner’s personality. The bag’s OBB is designed to provide long term personality support to the Scout in far-flung operations and travelling after retirement. Some bags bicker with their owner like spouses.