however, it has been chosen based on the appearance and apparent function of the device.
The logo on this safety light looks awfully familiar...
The MSPA command station is a signal broadcasting device located on future post-scratch Earth. It is similar in appearance and function to a radio tower, but is covered in several CRT monitors (at least 25) and is topped with a blinking red beacon bearing the MS Paint Adventures logo
. At its base, there is a computer terminal, a smaller second tower covered in locks, and a power cord. A power source must be plugged into the cord to boot up the monitors; Gamzee Makara provides one in the form of a Skaianet hub.
The terminal features two screens: a smaller one on top, which displays the current user command, and a larger one on the bottom, which shows the current commentary from Homestuck's narrator, Andrew Hussie. A keyboard in front of the screens can be used to communicate directly with Hussie, as Caliborn does after finding the tower. A wireless mouse sits next to the keyboard, but it has been welded to the terminal, forcing Caliborn to use the mouse's unwieldy trackball if he wants to select anything on the monitors.
The key tower connected to the larger one, and its position in relation to the screen.
Most of the tower's functions have been disabled, including even simple features like turning off Caps Lock. According to Hussie, these features must first be activated by acquiring keys to the locks on the second tower and terminal. Caliborn is presumably only able to communicate with Hussie because the lower screen on the terminal is unlocked.
Each lock on the miniature tower corresponds to a monitor on the main tower. When Caliborn finds the tower, one of the locks on the miniature tower is unlocked. The corresponding monitor on the main tower is enabled, though initially off until Caliborn plugs the hub in. Once powered, the monitor displays Calliope's dead dream self, while all the remaining screens display static.
Other points of interest are questions such as what would happen if Caliborn were to unlock the command line and start entering his own commands. It would probably be bad, and therefore will probably end up happening. After Act 6 Act 5 Act 2, Caliborn types in the narrative prompt again for the first time since it was locked, indicating that he may have unlocked it again.
The command station after Caliborn has unlocked several more features
When Caliborn uses his gift on the tower, he starts breaking the MSPA website, knocking a piece of candy corn out of the title bar. Using a set of four keys coughed up by Gamzee as a present, Caliborn unlocked four monitors, one showing Jake on the Land of Mounds and Xenon, one showing Dirk on the Land of Tombs and Krypton, one showing Jane and Roxy on the Land of Pyramids and Neon and one showing the B2 session's Jack Noir in his prison cell on Prospit.
An unknown number of days into Caliborn's session, he has managed to unlock several other towers (now connected by power lines), as well as numerous screens, many of which show Jane.
A further undisclosed number of days shows him and Gamzee standing next to a drastically changed command interface. On each side is a glass pane, each protecting a single locked keyhole.
They were later unlocked by Gamzee and Caliborn. The glass had to be broken (Caliborn's side with the Crowbar, Gamzee's side with who knows what),and the keys had to be turned simultaneously. It seems that they keys fitting these locks were the ones Gamzee threw up, with a happy clown face for Gamzee and a sad one for Caliborn. This split the MSPA site in two, with the monitor on Caliborn's side showing the Prospit kids and the one on Gamzee's side showing the Derse kids. Interestingly, this is an inversion of their respective dream planets.
Trivia[]
The update in which Lil Seb was seen balancing on the detached beacon from a tower was part of the first update to occur in 2013. As such, it was the "ball drop" for the new year, though it was considerably more subtle than its two predecessors.