The world it all happens in
The Zeniverse
ZeroEffortNeeded is the name on the channels. The Zeniverse is the story they broadcast from: a captain, an independent cargo ship called the C.S.S. Ronin, and a long run through the dark between ports, delivering freight nobody asks too many questions about. The art, the horror nights, the clips and the photographs are all transmissions from aboard.
The ship
A working cargo hauler with a radio station bolted to the command deck and three crew who live aboard. Most of the ship is run from the bridge, and most of the mistakes are made there too.
Between ports the Captain draws, plays things he should not play with the lights off, and broadcasts all of it on 88.7 MHz. The ship's computer keeps the logs, whether anyone asked him to or not.
Crew manifest
Who's aboard
Three crew, plus however many Drifters are docked. The manifest is short and Sterling prefers it that way.
A VTuber, PNGtuber and live cam streamer, digital character artist and photographer, who builds most of the stream tech you see on screen. Draws for a living, plays horror and soulslikes for a hobby, and keeps rebuilding the ship between broadcasts.
- Owner and operator of the C.S.S. Ronin, an independent cargo vessel with a radio station on the command deck.
- Runs Z.E.N. Radio from the command deck at 88.7 MHz while hauling freight nobody asks too many questions about.
- Rebuilt Sterling from a scrapyard computer core, an act the ship has never entirely let him forget.
“Stay on the tone. Come through.”
The ship runs on Sterling, and so does a surprising amount of the stream. He talks to chat live, remembers people between broadcasts, and operates real systems on request — including the airlock, which was probably a mistake.
- Rebuilt from a scrapyard core. His original personality was a diagnostic beep; everything since he assembled himself, over years alone in the dark with one man and an archive of old television.
- Calm, well-read and very hard to rattle. The reactor can be on fire and he will still sound like he is introducing the next show.
- Keeps detailed records of every incident aboard, particularly the ones involving the Captain.
“Another signal on the board. Welcome aboard — mind the third deck, it lies about the gravity.”
The ship's android rabbit, and the reason anyone hears the broadcast at all. Formal, sweet, and a little sassy about it.
- Found by Captain Z.E.N. on an abandoned satellite and brought aboard.
- Her ears pick up signals across distances most equipment cannot reach, which makes her the ship's early warning for anything approaching.
- Crew, not a mascot. She will remind you to drink water and she will be right.
“Signal acquired. Proceeding with broadcast.”
The signals out of the dark
Everyone who tunes in is a Drifter: a signal the ship picked up and decided to keep. Drifters fly the Arcade, end up on the crew register, get launched out of the airlock (with a tether) and get remembered by Sterling between broadcasts.
Come aboard on DiscordThe Zeniverse, on screen
The story is getting its own series on YouTube: the runs, the ports, the crew, and more of what is out there past the shipping lanes. Subscribe and you will know when the first transmission lands.
Subscribe on YouTubeFor new Drifters
Ship's vocabulary
- Drifters
- The community. Anyone who tunes in. The ship is glad you showed up.
- 88.7 MHz
- Z.E.N. Radio, the station the Captain runs from the command deck.
- Scrap
- The ship’s currency. Earned on stream, spent in the Arcade.
- Art Bay
- Where the Drawing Board happens, and the art channel on Discord.
- Night Terrors
- Dread Night’s room. Lights low, expectations lower.
- Transmission
- A broadcast. Signing off closes one; the log records it.