On Some Backwater Planet TA/SMAC (SI)
- Thread starter bluepencil
- Start date
Vorpal
Neither a dandy nor a clown
- Location
- 76 Totter's Lane, Shoreditch, London, EC1 5EG
Truer words are rarely spoken in such dark and dreary times.
9.1
Haha, oh shit. I never noticed. Thanks for pointing that out. (edit edit)
Joachim Hasbruck shares a name with Joachim Diaz, the Port District Authority chief.
Revisions continue!
Extraction [07] - Nemo
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Please stay away from the windows, sir. It's unsafe."
"Oh, come on, Jen." I tried not to whine. "I'm not going to get shot."
"It's not the risk of a sniper. It's someone with a telephoto lens and photo-editing software, sir."
"That's... a very good point." And yet still I did not close the drapes.
"What's so interesting about that view anyway?" she asked. "It's all so… fake."
Beyond the veranda was a metropolitan landscape. While other colonies sensibly occupied multiple levels in their central arcologies, Morgan cities had blocks, overlapping roads and neighborhoods, buildings connected by catwalks, and raised parks, with cleverly constructed pylons for the walls that evoked a horizon filled with more buildings extending just out of sight.
High vaulted ceilings painted blue would dim at night with the glimmer of artificial stars. When colonies needed to grow, they added new streets, new parks, new districts, branching off the main structure like new wings for a museum. The corners were disguised as overhanging structures and mass transit depots.
It did not quite work. "That's what's so impressive about it. They tried to fake it, but it doesn't quite reach that point, that they have to pretend that they're convinced."
I could pretend I was in San Francisco or Disneyland something. That's what every Morgan city looked like. Less Metropolis in need of a Superman or Clark Kent, but Gotham white-washed. It was a glamorous place to live in, because glamour was inherently unreal.
"I don't like it, putting so much effort into a lie. Isn't delusion unhealthy?" she replied, turning away from the sight as if it was personally offensive.
"It's perfect. I'm amazed just how much each faction's bases represent their dominant philosophy. Morgans need to believe in something the same way you do – and this… this glorious shared delusion, is like the concept of a fair free market economy itself. There are pillars, regulations, conventions, morals… that allow it to exist, but all must pretend that the Invisible Hand is truly invisible."
It was like the Truman Show on a massive scale. Or a society-wide Live-Action-Roleplay of the heydays of the twenty-first century. It was all so achingly familiar, and yet those few things that betrayed the conventions of the 2100s made it all so disturbingly alien as well.
"Morgan is a Naked King-"
"Ew."
I coughed. "I mean, the Emperor With No Clothes. But don't you see? The people aren't pointing it out not because they're too embarrassed or too fearful to say it, but that he's going around with a placard saying 'It's OK to be Naked' and 'We were born naked, we might as well die naked. It's not like we'll be using clothes where we're going.'"
"You sound like… you admire him, sir."
"Oh, I do. Of course, I also admire Deirde, Lal, Miriam, even Yang and Santiago – all of them who came from the Unity are the Faction Leaders not just by force of personality, but because they are the best of humanity. Every faction needs that complete, unshaking faith in the rightness of their purpose, or they will not survive the trials that lie ahead."
"So you say…" she whispered. After a few some time, she asked "Then what about us? Do you think we live under a delusion too?"
"Eh? Well…" I sighed. "Of course you do."
Jennefer met my eyes, then looked away. "W-what delusion do you think we have?"
"Umm. Two things. The first: that you will have a meaningful impact in curtailing environmental damage even as all the other factions continue to wantonly exploit all the lands under their control. The second: that Planet actually needs protecting."
For a moment, Jennefer looked furious, then she shrank back. "If t-that is what you believe, then why do you want to come with us? Why do you say you're defecting to the Gaians, of all people?"
"Just because it is a delusion now, doesn't mean it can't be true. What's the difference between a delusion, a dream, and a desire, anyway?" I waved at the vista outside. "The Morgans live in a world within a world, while the Gaians live on something more than just a ball of rock spinning in space."
"… world within world… live on more than just a ball of rock…" Jenny repeated softly. "... I should write this down."
I shrugged. "Eh. Crib whatever you want from whatever I say. I know how tedious it is to write speeches and articles. "
"Speeches and articles? Oh. Yes, of course. Because I'm a marine biologist."
I grinned. "Imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be if you lived at University. Publish or perish, Jen. Publish or perish!"
"Oh my god, don't." she giggled. She swatted me in the arm. Then a look of horror crossed her face. "I'm sorry, sir. That was very inappropriate of me."
"It's fine. You can hit me anytime."
"I… would rather not, thank you."
--------------
"Morgan Bank representatives Alesa deVorcelk and Joachim Hasbruck here to see you, sir." Jenny announced.
I took a deep breath. Despite my words, all I had about either the Gaians or the Morgans or anyone else on this Planet were nothing but assumptions. Whatever insight I had merely sounded convincing, not born of any factual study. In a word: prejudice.
I was actually a very prejudiced bastard. I breathed out. I could only behave according to my expectations of them, that they would react according to my mental model. This is a monstrously bad idea, but it was not like I had any better solution.
Science was as much about poking random things with a stick as it was about theory. The more I provoke them, the more information I'd receive about their true character.
I had changed to a hotel-provided suit. Although it was not a perfect fit, what mattered most in a suit is how one wears it. The frivolity that let me enjoy this new life was put aside, and behind my eyes I replaced the mindset that fought and burned a million worlds, the one that said: I am literally too far beyond caring for any of your bullshit.
I turned around, emotionally prepared, and promptly lost it. "Good day to yo- hellooo, Alice."
The man was as dumpy and nondescript as any banker could be. Accompanying him was a lady in a red dress. Her features were strongly Nordic, with short faintly auburn locks in a windswept hairstyle. Her eyes were the bluest I've ever seen, and her lips, her wide deep red lips, twitched up impishly.
My heart went ba-thump.
"Alesa, not Alice." She moved closer and held out her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Commander Nemo."
I took her hand gently and raised it to my lips. "Charmed, my dear." From her I looked to her companion. "Mister Hasbruck, good day." We shook hands and then I bid them both to have a seat.
Goddamit. What the fuck, fate. Are you fucking with me?
Alesa deVorcelk was a dead ringer for Mila Jovovich as "Alice" in Resident Evil, even down to the red dress and the high black leather pump 'fuck me' boots. I mean, what are the odds? What are the goddamn odds?!
Or… did someone somehow predict I'd recognize this? In retrospect, why was I even so sure there could only be one unicorn in the garden? What the hell.
I felt a tug at the back of my jacket. "Sir, may I speak to you privately for a moment?"
I shivered as I was jarred back into sensibility. "Um, yes, sure." I raised a finger. "Excuse me for a moment."
-------------
Jennefer pulled me to the kitchen area, where our heads would be hidden by the hanging cupboards and pantries. "Sir, with all respect, what are you doing?" she hissed out.
I began slapping my cheeks. "Sorry, looks like I drifted off there."
"I saw what you did…" Jenny accused. "That was dumb, sir."
"Um. What in specific? Are you mad that I didn't clear this with your captain first? You know, we're allies… but I'm not under his command. I can do whatever I want with my own money, or talk to whoever I want to talk to. The Morgans aren't my enemy."
Jenny waved aside. "This isn't about that. I was talking about how you were being such a Neanderthal out there, I was surprised you weren't drooling."
"… I did what now?"
"I know she's beautiful, sir. Heck, even I'm affected. But isn't it obvious this is a plot to distract you? You need to keep focused."
Oh, so that's what she meant. "Uh. Okay. I'm insulted, Jen. Do you really think I'm that shallow?" I'm a clone. Oh god I'm a four-thousand-year-old virgin. I'm the most pathetic thing. She's right to worry about me. I staggered against the counter.
"No! Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything of the sort!"
Click. The ARM Commander has no time for this hormone-driven bullshit. "Of course I know. She can't be any more obvious about it. In fact, isn't it too obvious? They have to know that we know that they know this is distracting. Acting like everything's perfectly normal is how they expect us to react. We'd be so focused on pretending that we don't know that they know that we know that -"
"Stop."
"Okay."
Jennefer took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, and declared "Captain Nobel left me strict instructions… remind him that it's always best to keep his fool mouth shut. Whatever he wants to do, do not let him fuck it up."
I nodded. "That's… sensible." We already spoke about my own… tricks… to disable listening devices. Only someone born on old Earth could be properly paranoid like that. It did not hurt to have a minder, because while I had the broad strokes of their leaders' goals, I knew next to nothing about their actual history. Their people. Their present and evolving culture.
Jennefer deflated. "Just please try not to make your fetishes so apparent next time, please?"
Wait, what? Is that what this is about? "… Jen, kissing a woman's hand is a perfectly normal greeting." I rubbed at my eyebrows. "Right. Right. I keep forgetting. It's 2126 and you were raised in a communal environment."
Jennefer opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it. She shook her head. "Sir, the Morgans will keep their deals to the letter, and nothing more. They will offer you anything you may desire. You could live a better life here than anything we may have at Gaia's Landing, and if you take them up on it, we would understand. But they are not worthy of your trust. Whatever they may tempt you with-"
"Check the Datalinks! It's not just a romantic gesture… this was the proper way for gentlemen to greet ladies for centuries! It's a mark of subservience and respect, especially in religious contexts or as mark of fealty and hooboy okay I can see where you may have a problem with that."
Jennefer just stared at me with a very deadpan expression. The facepalm was very heavily implied.
"I already said I don't derive any sexual- ghick!"
Jennefer poked me in the side, just around the kidneys. Hard. I recoiled, bending nearly in half. Ow. I was ticklish there.
"Oh hell no. What's with this tsundere-like development?"
Yet it was not anger or jealousy I saw in her face. She was on the verge of tears, her cheeks puffed up as she fought to control herself.
"My friends died. My… my brother died. That was just two days ago, you know? It's good to be happy to be alive, but I don't want to have fun at all..."
Oh.
Ohh. I've been having fun lounging around steeped in luxury, I lost sight of the reason why we were in this situation in the first place. Shit.
I forgot that no matter how much one might gain, sometimes it can never really replace what was lost. Things, wealth, reputation, power… they can be lost and regained. People… family… once gone are lost forever.
"I'm sorry…"
"You make it too easy to forget. And that… that's not bad, you know." Jenny stared down and fidgeted.
There was nothing I could say. I stood there feeling like a heel, unable to offer her any comfort, because I was not half as smart as I pretended to be and oh crap oh crap what do I do? (But this was hardly the ARM Commander's realm of expertise either.)
She reached out and grabbed the sleeves of my jacket. "… it's not that I blame you for anything. Thank you for saving us. Really, thank you so much. Thank you. You've done so much for us, we can't ask for any more. Thank you. I'm so happy. And I'm scared… I'm scared of disappointing you… I'm scared of what you'll do to me if I anger you…"
"I would never-!"
She looked up, and her eyes were wet, and they were aflame all the same. "But I will obey my captain. If you fuck this up, I will slap the shit out of you."
I grinned. Now that's more like it!
Wait. There was that pitying look again. Whaat. What do you really think about me, Jen?
----------------
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- Location
- Arizona
...Sooo, this is a revised version, right? cause I could have sworn I've read this before. Well, twice before, I guess, if I'm counting the POV of Alice as one.
I have to admit, it feels...better? and yet shorter? hmm, kind of an odd feeling for me.
OK, there's one thing that's bugging me. How do we refer to Alice/Alesa? Cause I'm pretty sure that she was born with the name of Alice, I think she changed her name to Alesa at some point, and now I have no idea what to call her. Milla-cameo? Oh-shit-its-that-one-chick?
Off the top of my head, theres two roles Milla Jovavich did that I can call up off the top of my head. Resident Evil and Fifth Element. Neither of which are places I'd want to live in. One has viral Zombies and assholeCorporation, the other has a giant Eldritch SumOfAllEvil Ball that wants to kill all life every couple millennia (And Ruby Rod, the weirdest straight male character to rock a skintight leopard print bodysuit in the 90s).
but seriously, what do I call Alice/Alesa/lady-in-red?
I have to admit, it feels...better? and yet shorter? hmm, kind of an odd feeling for me.
OK, there's one thing that's bugging me. How do we refer to Alice/Alesa? Cause I'm pretty sure that she was born with the name of Alice, I think she changed her name to Alesa at some point, and now I have no idea what to call her. Milla-cameo? Oh-shit-its-that-one-chick?
Off the top of my head, theres two roles Milla Jovavich did that I can call up off the top of my head. Resident Evil and Fifth Element. Neither of which are places I'd want to live in. One has viral Zombies and assholeCorporation, the other has a giant Eldritch SumOfAllEvil Ball that wants to kill all life every couple millennia (And Ruby Rod, the weirdest straight male character to rock a skintight leopard print bodysuit in the 90s).
but seriously, what do I call Alice/Alesa/lady-in-red?
9.2
You have. I'm rewriting the whole post and adding more setting information, even if it would inflate the wordcount. There will be more segments.
Also, just call her Alice. In-story, people will refer to her as Alesa anyway, since that's the name they know her by. It's supposed to have the same cadence as "Cruella DeVil"... "Alesa deVor". And Jennefer's just Jenny or Jen.
Continuing:
"Ahem. All right then. Let's start." Three couches were arranged in a half-circle in the living room of the penthouse. A wide oblong jade-and-gold enameled desk was the center, and the distance between the couches facing each other was far enough to make any sudden fatal lunge out of reach. "Quick introductions again, just so we're all on the same page.
Miss deVorcelk, Mister Hasbruck. Hello. I am, as you know, Nemo – captain de facto of the Hulk-class Transport Ship Matilda, and commander of the Lurker-class submarine squadrons out there. Pleased to meet you. And this is… wait. Jen, would I even be able to call you my secretary? You don't do anything secretarial for me. You're more like a warden." Or a nanny.
She sighed. "Commander, please." She made a zipping motion over her mouth.
Oh. Right. Babbling again. The words just keep pouring out whenever I'm nervous. "Uhm. Well. Jennefer Marsh, everybody. Y'all: the Executive Officer late of the Gaian Laser Foil, Dawn Greeter."
Jennefer put her hands together over her chest and bowed deeply.
Rather than sit beside me, Jennefer stood behind the couch at my back and a little off to one side. I knew very little about how social mores have changed in a hundred years, but whatever this implied, Alesa deVorcelk seemed to get it. A very slight smirk graced her features.
It was also the perfect distance to slap me upside the head. I sighed. Memento mori.
I carefully considered the two bankers. The dichotomy between their appearances was so severe, that I couldn't tell which of them acted as a camouflage and distraction for the other. Ideally, of course, they would both be very competent with similar skill levels. The possibility that they might be assassins could not be discounted, even if there was little profit in it.
"First, please tell me about Morgan Bank. You operate as both the Central Bank and a Commercial Bank. That sounds sustainable now, with probably only less than a hundred thousand people on Planet in total, but where do you go from here?"
Alesa looked very pleased at my question, like a teacher delighted in a student that shows initiative. "To explain this, first I must say something about how Morgan Industries and its colonies are organized. Ours is a corporate state; that is, each colony is a 'business unit' with a primary focus on one aspect of industry. Every colonist owns a stake in the enterprise, unlike a conventional mode of government in which the average citizen only has a say during election years. These shares increase in value over time and can be freely traded."
"That's horrible." Jennefer gasped. "That's just an oligarchy, concentrating power in the hands of a few!"
"How old are you, dear? You were born here on Planet, were you not?"
"I am. I'm twenty-two" Jenny replied, the 'so there!' heavily implied "but I did my research. A free and democratic government is best for the people."
"And so Morgan Industries is a democracy. It is, in fact, a much more equitable form of democracy than one that relies on mob consensus. Citizens have a direct say in the affairs of their company, in board meetings, instead of having to elect representatives who have to balance other power interests."
"And yet individuals may own thousands of shares more than others, isn't that right?" I asked.
"Of course. This is also fair. Wealth is the universe's way of rewarding those who are clever and efficient. Those who live in colonies like this one have a vested interest in performing greater than its contemporaries – and when directors own greater shares, they are also much more driven to empower improvements in efficiency and happiness for all those who live in the colony, because all are participants in wealth-generation. Those who own shares in more than one colony have it in their interest to assist the growth of all the 'business units' in their portfolio. In the old, disorganized model of democracy followed on failed Earth, each governing district competed against each other for limited scraps from the national government. It is competition, but an unhealthy sort of competition. It emphasizes the minimum of effort necessary, encourages resource drain and underachievement, instead of giving citizens clear incentive to be responsible for their own affairs."
"This is a fine-sounding theory, but how do you know it will work?"
"It has been twenty-six years, Commander, and difficulties in adopting this socio-economic system has so far been minimal. It is also not contrary to other democratic forms of government - you see that ours is a very free society, so I predict that in time it will evolve and through intense internal natural selection it shall assume as its defining traits only those measures that assist in stability and improved quality of life for its adherents."
"That really doesn't sound like it will work…" Jennefer mumbled.
"As opposed to the cottage-industry based communes of the Gaians? You know you get the bulk of your finished goods from us. We can make them affordable because our industrial processes are just that much more efficient."
"And wasteful! And destructive! And horrid!"
"And by our efforts we are bankrolling your entire faction. Where do you think Lal's faction gets the Energy Credits to buy your agricultural shipments? From trade with us, for their cultural and media products, and radioactives and advanced electronics from their trade from the University. The economy is as much a living system worthy of its own existence as any sessile ecology."
"How dare you!"
"Okay. Stop. Everybody, just stop." I let out a loud aggrieved sigh and held my palms out. "We're getting way off topic. This is not the place for this. You two can just send angry emails to each other later."
"Oh no… I'm very sorry, commander." Jenny moaned.
"I also apologize. I mean no disrespect, Miss Marsh."
"Okay! Great! That's settled. Let's move on!" I clapped my hands, then pointed at Alesa deVorcelk. Then at Joachim Hosbruck. Back to Alesa. Then to Joachim. "Tell me just how much luck Morgan Bank had in being a lender to colonies by other factions. Can you incorporate and establish companies in their territories, fully compliant and protected by the laws of these other factions?"
"Morgan Bank has branches in Gaia's Landing, UN Authority, University Base, and until recently – Sparta Command. It would be no problem to establish any form of business or holding company. We can file the appropriate forms, attend hearings, and pay the appropriate fees on your behalf from our integral association with Morgan Accounts and Morgan Advocates."
And this was the other reason I was not content to stay in Morganite Territory. I probably would not be able to take hearing about MorganEverything every MorganDay.
"Excellent. This brings me to the third issue. Liquidation. I was emailed my statement of account last night. My money's secured by rare metals, but I need readily accessible funds that's valid across all settlements."
"Morgan Bank can very easily float you that cash, Commander." Alesa said.
"I want half of my assets liquidated at present market rates."
"Pardon me a moment, please." Alesa cut in. "My companion seems to be having a heart attack."
Miss deVorcelk, Mister Hasbruck. Hello. I am, as you know, Nemo – captain de facto of the Hulk-class Transport Ship Matilda, and commander of the Lurker-class submarine squadrons out there. Pleased to meet you. And this is… wait. Jen, would I even be able to call you my secretary? You don't do anything secretarial for me. You're more like a warden." Or a nanny.
She sighed. "Commander, please." She made a zipping motion over her mouth.
Oh. Right. Babbling again. The words just keep pouring out whenever I'm nervous. "Uhm. Well. Jennefer Marsh, everybody. Y'all: the Executive Officer late of the Gaian Laser Foil, Dawn Greeter."
Jennefer put her hands together over her chest and bowed deeply.
Rather than sit beside me, Jennefer stood behind the couch at my back and a little off to one side. I knew very little about how social mores have changed in a hundred years, but whatever this implied, Alesa deVorcelk seemed to get it. A very slight smirk graced her features.
It was also the perfect distance to slap me upside the head. I sighed. Memento mori.
I carefully considered the two bankers. The dichotomy between their appearances was so severe, that I couldn't tell which of them acted as a camouflage and distraction for the other. Ideally, of course, they would both be very competent with similar skill levels. The possibility that they might be assassins could not be discounted, even if there was little profit in it.
"First, please tell me about Morgan Bank. You operate as both the Central Bank and a Commercial Bank. That sounds sustainable now, with probably only less than a hundred thousand people on Planet in total, but where do you go from here?"
Alesa looked very pleased at my question, like a teacher delighted in a student that shows initiative. "To explain this, first I must say something about how Morgan Industries and its colonies are organized. Ours is a corporate state; that is, each colony is a 'business unit' with a primary focus on one aspect of industry. Every colonist owns a stake in the enterprise, unlike a conventional mode of government in which the average citizen only has a say during election years. These shares increase in value over time and can be freely traded."
"That's horrible." Jennefer gasped. "That's just an oligarchy, concentrating power in the hands of a few!"
"How old are you, dear? You were born here on Planet, were you not?"
"I am. I'm twenty-two" Jenny replied, the 'so there!' heavily implied "but I did my research. A free and democratic government is best for the people."
"And so Morgan Industries is a democracy. It is, in fact, a much more equitable form of democracy than one that relies on mob consensus. Citizens have a direct say in the affairs of their company, in board meetings, instead of having to elect representatives who have to balance other power interests."
"And yet individuals may own thousands of shares more than others, isn't that right?" I asked.
"Of course. This is also fair. Wealth is the universe's way of rewarding those who are clever and efficient. Those who live in colonies like this one have a vested interest in performing greater than its contemporaries – and when directors own greater shares, they are also much more driven to empower improvements in efficiency and happiness for all those who live in the colony, because all are participants in wealth-generation. Those who own shares in more than one colony have it in their interest to assist the growth of all the 'business units' in their portfolio. In the old, disorganized model of democracy followed on failed Earth, each governing district competed against each other for limited scraps from the national government. It is competition, but an unhealthy sort of competition. It emphasizes the minimum of effort necessary, encourages resource drain and underachievement, instead of giving citizens clear incentive to be responsible for their own affairs."
"This is a fine-sounding theory, but how do you know it will work?"
"It has been twenty-six years, Commander, and difficulties in adopting this socio-economic system has so far been minimal. It is also not contrary to other democratic forms of government - you see that ours is a very free society, so I predict that in time it will evolve and through intense internal natural selection it shall assume as its defining traits only those measures that assist in stability and improved quality of life for its adherents."
"That really doesn't sound like it will work…" Jennefer mumbled.
"As opposed to the cottage-industry based communes of the Gaians? You know you get the bulk of your finished goods from us. We can make them affordable because our industrial processes are just that much more efficient."
"And wasteful! And destructive! And horrid!"
"And by our efforts we are bankrolling your entire faction. Where do you think Lal's faction gets the Energy Credits to buy your agricultural shipments? From trade with us, for their cultural and media products, and radioactives and advanced electronics from their trade from the University. The economy is as much a living system worthy of its own existence as any sessile ecology."
"How dare you!"
"Okay. Stop. Everybody, just stop." I let out a loud aggrieved sigh and held my palms out. "We're getting way off topic. This is not the place for this. You two can just send angry emails to each other later."
"Oh no… I'm very sorry, commander." Jenny moaned.
"I also apologize. I mean no disrespect, Miss Marsh."
"Okay! Great! That's settled. Let's move on!" I clapped my hands, then pointed at Alesa deVorcelk. Then at Joachim Hosbruck. Back to Alesa. Then to Joachim. "Tell me just how much luck Morgan Bank had in being a lender to colonies by other factions. Can you incorporate and establish companies in their territories, fully compliant and protected by the laws of these other factions?"
"Morgan Bank has branches in Gaia's Landing, UN Authority, University Base, and until recently – Sparta Command. It would be no problem to establish any form of business or holding company. We can file the appropriate forms, attend hearings, and pay the appropriate fees on your behalf from our integral association with Morgan Accounts and Morgan Advocates."
And this was the other reason I was not content to stay in Morganite Territory. I probably would not be able to take hearing about MorganEverything every MorganDay.
"Excellent. This brings me to the third issue. Liquidation. I was emailed my statement of account last night. My money's secured by rare metals, but I need readily accessible funds that's valid across all settlements."
"Morgan Bank can very easily float you that cash, Commander." Alesa said.
"I want half of my assets liquidated at present market rates."
"Pardon me a moment, please." Alesa cut in. "My companion seems to be having a heart attack."
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tarrangar
Fat arctic chicken
I'm not sure is it positive or negative for the bank that he want those assets liquidated?
Vorpal
Neither a dandy nor a clown
- Location
- 76 Totter's Lane, Shoreditch, London, EC1 5EG
He might as well be saying 'I want you to completely
If they accept such an action as stated, it means that at minimum, Morgan Bank eats the loss that's the difference of the market value of those assets between now and the considerably lower one after said crash. Normally, liquidation value is lower than market value, but here Nemo is saying that not only must they cough up the market value for it, but also the present one, and thus not the lower hypothetical one after the introduction of so much metal into the market.
It's worse than that, because the Bank no doubt has their own metals assets, which will then be worth much less, so that's another loss. Except that it's probably even worse than that, because the Bank likely has its fingers in many pies throughout the Morganite economy hurt by this.
- Location
- East of Sun, West of Moon
Oh, you're evil. Hitting them in the wallet like that? Wow.
Also, your presentation of how Morganite society would work is surprisingly compelling. It is however balanced by the entirely biased source, as well as the lack of sources. What does the minimum wage grunt workers think of that single share each hab-block co-owns?
Also, your presentation of how Morganite society would work is surprisingly compelling. It is however balanced by the entirely biased source, as well as the lack of sources. What does the minimum wage grunt workers think of that single share each hab-block co-owns?
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Jerry Finch
Stupid but lucky.
- Location
- Slightly closer than you would be comfortable with
It's going to basically be the US Housing Market Crash of 2008, except replace the word "Housing" with "Everything".
EDIT: This makes me think of how Communism is often presented, generally by Intellectuals without a real world grasp of the effects of that kind of governmental restructuring. It's very pretty on paper but the application is, well, yeah.
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Vorpal
Neither a dandy nor a clown
- Location
- 76 Totter's Lane, Shoreditch, London, EC1 5EG
Suddenly, Commander Nemo reveals that his full name is in fact 'Auric Nemo Goldfinger'. Well, more like his reversed image, but there's only so far we can go having fun with the classics.
However, she's been doing all kinds of odd jobs already. (Man, I kind of wish that was in there as a lampshade hanging, or would it be a stealth troll on Nemo's part?)
tarrangar
Fat arctic chicken
Yeah this will be good for the faction but bad for the bank.I'd note that the rarity of the metals he's floating is a limiting factor in development, and the low population, there's not likely to be a crash. They need/want the metals. They want a lot of them. It'll let them build so much more stuff!
9.3
Next up:
Hasbruck thumped his chest loudly, then frantically waved away Alesa's attention. "S-sir, do you have any idea how much iridium the entirety of Morgan Industries – in all its five colonies – produces every year?"
"I dunno. A ton, maybe? Maybe two?"
"About a quarter of a ton. Germanium is even rarer on Planet."
And I deposited four metric tons each. Sixteen tons total of rare metals. Fuck. I fucked up. "Sir, even I know that would be disastrous for their economy." Jennefer gasped with alarm.
I turned, wide-eyed with panic, towards Alesa. "I'm truly sorry. I really didn't mean to accidentally crash your metals market."
But instead, she looked so strangely serene like some sort of Buddha. "Worry not, Commander. It hasn't. Yet. Our currency is not backed by anything so volatile as precious metals, but each Energy Credit is only redeemable as fully-charged fuel cells in the megajoule range."
"Shouldn't that be even more volatile? You can always just produce more fuel cells. Why don't you suffer horrible inflation every time someone lays down a new solar collector?"
"That's because energy is the ability to do work – and by work, we define it as what transforms raw materials into consumables. More energy available means the greater ability to produce goods, expand territory, and run machinery. More rare metals available means more resources needed to produce fuel cells and computers. Energy Credits are inherently fungible – so an abundance goes into the necessary materials and manpower to build a Colony Pod or open new frontiers for exploitation. Energy is a capital investment. There will be a short-term shock, but it is ultimately a boon to our efforts."
"If I dump this much metal into the open market…"
"Who do you think would be your biggest buyer? Morgan Mines."
"Only Morgan Mines has the large-scale facilities for smelting and forging metals." Hasbruck added. "This is not to say that it will not cause a total collapse of the metals market, of course. This will cause a devastating ripple effect that could bankrupt whole sections of the economy." The portly banker opened his hands out. "We understood the booby trap placed in our vaults when we accepted your deposit, Commander Nemo. So I can only beg you now, please do not do this."
It occurred to me that this would be a great way to punish the Morgans for their perfidy. It would hurt the Bank, yes, but it would ultimately benefit the populace with cheaper goods and quicker development of infrastructure.
I felt again Jennefer's hands stroking the back of my neck. The Gaians were the injured party here, not I. What right did I have to condemn and punish people I barely knew for reasons that boiled down to 'I want to feel powerful'? This was Deirde's job as the Faction Leader of Gaia's Stepdaughters.
"All right. The metals sit."
"Thank you. But let us return to the main point, Commander. You desire transferable liquid assets, yes?" Alesa laced her fingers together and leaned forward with her elbows on the table. They used to call this the Gendo Pose(tm) back when the FFML was still a thing. I could just feel her smirk hidden under her palms. She knew now I had no awareness of how much a single Energy Credit is worth. Shit. "You only really need to liquidate one-tenth of one of your deposited blocks to be able to buy outright anything smaller than a Colony Pod. Everything else can be purchased on credit backed by your metals as collateral."
I leaned back and put my hands in my pockets, oh-so-casually. Yeah? Well today I am the Dude. The Dude abides. "Good, good. Third, then. What are Morgan Laws on the ownership of alien artifacts and land upon which alien ruins sit?"
Hasbruck responded, with relief ringing in his voice "There are no limitations on the ownership of small alien artifacts, though land in Morgan Territory with alien structures are considered de facto owned by Morgan Industries with preferred exploitation rights for the local Colony. Those who find them are given a substantial finding fee for their troubles."
"As expected. Therefore… the fourth. I want to establish a company, or perhaps a franchise, called ARM Expeditions that deals with exploration and alien research. This company, I wish to have branches in both Gaian and Morgan territory, to expand to other factions as the company grows and as the faction leaders allow.
And related to this: Establish a trust and lobbying firm to support ARM Explorations, to smooth out whatever legal hurdles and bureaucracy and misgivings from the locals that they need to overcome just to operate.
They will surrender all unearthed artifacts to the local government, after the requisite time to catalog and scan the objects, as long as they are allowed to explore and conduct research within their borders. All I asked is that they must first report to me of their finds – if there's any I want to keep, I will pay them and the ones who own said territory more than adequate compensation."
I could feel Jenny's fingers tickle the little hairs at the nape of my neck, but after a second or two she withdrew her hand.
Alesa looked very intrigued. I could feel her cloying, contemplative gaze as if she was peeling me from forehead to toe. "There will be no problems with this company formation, Commander. I presume you also want us to compile a list of potential applicants to company positions for your approval?"
"I'm going to head over to Gaia's Landing after this. Whoever you select, they must be willing to travel. In fact, they must be willing to conduct all operations offshore." I paused. "Speaking of which, there's no law anywhere that states a company can't have its offices on a Carrier, right?"
"N-not in particular, no. It's just the logistics that would present a serious problem."
Joachim Hasbruck coughed. "Miss deVorcelk. Could I please speak with you in private for a moment?"
Alesa turned to me and gave a 'what can you do' gesture. "Commander Nemo. I beg your pardon, but could I confer with my associate?"
"Sure, no problem."
They stood and walked over towards the fireplace. Facing away, they began speaking in hushed tones. While they were talking, Hasbruck did this sort of rolling shrug that I didn't even need to see his face to know he was saying 'It's a TRAAAAAP!'
Or was that choreographed for my eyes? I couldn't be sure.
Jennefer tugged at the hairs at the back of my head. "Sir, you're throwing away a lot of your rights to your discoveries. The Morgans would never really allow you to operate so freely inside their territory, and the people they choose will serve their own interests first."
"I'm counting on that." I whispered back. "There's very little I want in Morgan territory. The real prize is elsewhere, and Gaian explorers will be there first. It's the precedent that's important."
After several minutes of furious discussion, the two Morgan bankers returned.
Alesa began with "We have the appropriate forms for your new company. Processing might take some time, but I foresee no real difficulties."
Joachim added "Exploration rights are often given in a Charter personally granted by each Faction Leader. You will have to speak with CEO Morgan himself."
"And I trust you will arrange that. Today, if possible. Consider that my fifth request."
"Commander, that is… a tall order. Morgan Bank is ready to help its clients in any possible way for mutual profit, but it does not exercise anywhere near the political clout to open a direct line to Morgan himself at anyone's request."
I lifted my right eyebrow and gave them the most incredulous look. "I am an unknown quality with unknown levels of funding and industry, who might possibly have an unknown number of torpedoes pointed all round the Gulf, with unknown amounts of platforms and manpower as a reserve. Morgan wants me to present myself first as a supplicant before he even deigns to speak to me. That's fine. Please make up the appropriate words and send it on my behalf."
Alesa slowly nodded. "I-if that is your wish. We can only make the attempt."
"Excellent! And now would you excuse me, please? I need to discuss something with my… advisor."
I expected a lot of hemming and hawing and some negotiation on funding and time limits, but no. Whatever I want, as long as it was possible to achieve, I may have it. The role of a facilitator was to get shit done, no matter what. That was their own pride.
I pulled Jennefer aside and back to the kitchen.
"They're being very reasonable here. They're… starting to creep me out. Is this normal?" I whispered dazedly.
"I know… it scares me too. I've never realized before that contracts and trying to get the intent behind words could be so… exhausting. The Morgans are known for being scrupulously honest in their deals, until the moment they feel they no longer need to." Jenny whispered back. "I don't trust them, yet I don't think they will try to trap you with some some loophole or fine print here."
"Right. That sort of trickery is for amateurs. To really screw over someone in a deal, it's better to allow the other party to self-destruct all on his own terms." I took a deep breath and tried to put myself in their shoes. My money in the bank... that meant nothing. Think long-term. There's more where that came from. Reputation... reliability... now that's priceless.
Just as pacifists could be a complex set of motivations and personalities, greed too was a set of principles that could be positive. I mean, just because greed was Scrooge McDuck's defining character flaw, that did not mean the way he earned his wealth wasn't by a credo of: "Life is filled with tough jobs, and there'll always be sharpies to cheat me ... well, I'll be tougher than the toughies and sharper than the sharpies, and I'll make my money square!"
That was what made him interesting. Sometimes the story is about what can't change the nature of a duck.
Nwabudike Morgan himself wrote 'The Ethics of Greed.' I had yet to read the book, but I doubted that it was as self-serving as the title makes it sound.
"With doppelganger Alice there I'm just wondering how long before zombies come into the picture."
Jenny stared at me blankly for several seconds. She huffed. "Right. I forgot this about you."
"No, let me explain. It's a funny little story. She just reminds me very strongly of this -."
Jenny held up her hands and looked away as if pushing an invisible wall between us. "Sir, please don't. Some things, I think, I'm not meant to know."
That was meant as a joke. Yet a sudden, bowel-clenching loneliness gripped me. There was no one alive that would ever get my little injokes and references again. I laughed a little bit too loudly.
We returned to the negotiations, and the two Morgan representatives suddenly stopped short their own whispered discussions. That Alesa deVorcelk's gaze burned with uncanny interest was an understatement. If the speculative gleam in her eyes was a laser, she'd qualify as a mobile orbital denial platform.
Hasbruck thumped his chest loudly, then frantically waved away Alesa's attention. "S-sir, do you have any idea how much iridium the entirety of Morgan Industries – in all its five colonies – produces every year?"
"I dunno. A ton, maybe? Maybe two?"
"About a quarter of a ton. Germanium is even rarer on Planet."
And I deposited four metric tons each. Sixteen tons total of rare metals. Fuck. I fucked up. "Sir, even I know that would be disastrous for their economy." Jennefer gasped with alarm.
I turned, wide-eyed with panic, towards Alesa. "I'm truly sorry. I really didn't mean to accidentally crash your metals market."
But instead, she looked so strangely serene like some sort of Buddha. "Worry not, Commander. It hasn't. Yet. Our currency is not backed by anything so volatile as precious metals, but each Energy Credit is only redeemable as fully-charged fuel cells in the megajoule range."
"Shouldn't that be even more volatile? You can always just produce more fuel cells. Why don't you suffer horrible inflation every time someone lays down a new solar collector?"
"That's because energy is the ability to do work – and by work, we define it as what transforms raw materials into consumables. More energy available means the greater ability to produce goods, expand territory, and run machinery. More rare metals available means more resources needed to produce fuel cells and computers. Energy Credits are inherently fungible – so an abundance goes into the necessary materials and manpower to build a Colony Pod or open new frontiers for exploitation. Energy is a capital investment. There will be a short-term shock, but it is ultimately a boon to our efforts."
"If I dump this much metal into the open market…"
"Who do you think would be your biggest buyer? Morgan Mines."
"Only Morgan Mines has the large-scale facilities for smelting and forging metals." Hasbruck added. "This is not to say that it will not cause a total collapse of the metals market, of course. This will cause a devastating ripple effect that could bankrupt whole sections of the economy." The portly banker opened his hands out. "We understood the booby trap placed in our vaults when we accepted your deposit, Commander Nemo. So I can only beg you now, please do not do this."
It occurred to me that this would be a great way to punish the Morgans for their perfidy. It would hurt the Bank, yes, but it would ultimately benefit the populace with cheaper goods and quicker development of infrastructure.
I felt again Jennefer's hands stroking the back of my neck. The Gaians were the injured party here, not I. What right did I have to condemn and punish people I barely knew for reasons that boiled down to 'I want to feel powerful'? This was Deirde's job as the Faction Leader of Gaia's Stepdaughters.
"All right. The metals sit."
"Thank you. But let us return to the main point, Commander. You desire transferable liquid assets, yes?" Alesa laced her fingers together and leaned forward with her elbows on the table. They used to call this the Gendo Pose(tm) back when the FFML was still a thing. I could just feel her smirk hidden under her palms. She knew now I had no awareness of how much a single Energy Credit is worth. Shit. "You only really need to liquidate one-tenth of one of your deposited blocks to be able to buy outright anything smaller than a Colony Pod. Everything else can be purchased on credit backed by your metals as collateral."
I leaned back and put my hands in my pockets, oh-so-casually. Yeah? Well today I am the Dude. The Dude abides. "Good, good. Third, then. What are Morgan Laws on the ownership of alien artifacts and land upon which alien ruins sit?"
Hasbruck responded, with relief ringing in his voice "There are no limitations on the ownership of small alien artifacts, though land in Morgan Territory with alien structures are considered de facto owned by Morgan Industries with preferred exploitation rights for the local Colony. Those who find them are given a substantial finding fee for their troubles."
"As expected. Therefore… the fourth. I want to establish a company, or perhaps a franchise, called ARM Expeditions that deals with exploration and alien research. This company, I wish to have branches in both Gaian and Morgan territory, to expand to other factions as the company grows and as the faction leaders allow.
And related to this: Establish a trust and lobbying firm to support ARM Explorations, to smooth out whatever legal hurdles and bureaucracy and misgivings from the locals that they need to overcome just to operate.
They will surrender all unearthed artifacts to the local government, after the requisite time to catalog and scan the objects, as long as they are allowed to explore and conduct research within their borders. All I asked is that they must first report to me of their finds – if there's any I want to keep, I will pay them and the ones who own said territory more than adequate compensation."
I could feel Jenny's fingers tickle the little hairs at the nape of my neck, but after a second or two she withdrew her hand.
Alesa looked very intrigued. I could feel her cloying, contemplative gaze as if she was peeling me from forehead to toe. "There will be no problems with this company formation, Commander. I presume you also want us to compile a list of potential applicants to company positions for your approval?"
"I'm going to head over to Gaia's Landing after this. Whoever you select, they must be willing to travel. In fact, they must be willing to conduct all operations offshore." I paused. "Speaking of which, there's no law anywhere that states a company can't have its offices on a Carrier, right?"
"N-not in particular, no. It's just the logistics that would present a serious problem."
Joachim Hasbruck coughed. "Miss deVorcelk. Could I please speak with you in private for a moment?"
Alesa turned to me and gave a 'what can you do' gesture. "Commander Nemo. I beg your pardon, but could I confer with my associate?"
"Sure, no problem."
They stood and walked over towards the fireplace. Facing away, they began speaking in hushed tones. While they were talking, Hasbruck did this sort of rolling shrug that I didn't even need to see his face to know he was saying 'It's a TRAAAAAP!'
Or was that choreographed for my eyes? I couldn't be sure.
Jennefer tugged at the hairs at the back of my head. "Sir, you're throwing away a lot of your rights to your discoveries. The Morgans would never really allow you to operate so freely inside their territory, and the people they choose will serve their own interests first."
"I'm counting on that." I whispered back. "There's very little I want in Morgan territory. The real prize is elsewhere, and Gaian explorers will be there first. It's the precedent that's important."
After several minutes of furious discussion, the two Morgan bankers returned.
Alesa began with "We have the appropriate forms for your new company. Processing might take some time, but I foresee no real difficulties."
Joachim added "Exploration rights are often given in a Charter personally granted by each Faction Leader. You will have to speak with CEO Morgan himself."
"And I trust you will arrange that. Today, if possible. Consider that my fifth request."
"Commander, that is… a tall order. Morgan Bank is ready to help its clients in any possible way for mutual profit, but it does not exercise anywhere near the political clout to open a direct line to Morgan himself at anyone's request."
I lifted my right eyebrow and gave them the most incredulous look. "I am an unknown quality with unknown levels of funding and industry, who might possibly have an unknown number of torpedoes pointed all round the Gulf, with unknown amounts of platforms and manpower as a reserve. Morgan wants me to present myself first as a supplicant before he even deigns to speak to me. That's fine. Please make up the appropriate words and send it on my behalf."
Alesa slowly nodded. "I-if that is your wish. We can only make the attempt."
"Excellent! And now would you excuse me, please? I need to discuss something with my… advisor."
----------
I expected a lot of hemming and hawing and some negotiation on funding and time limits, but no. Whatever I want, as long as it was possible to achieve, I may have it. The role of a facilitator was to get shit done, no matter what. That was their own pride.
I pulled Jennefer aside and back to the kitchen.
"They're being very reasonable here. They're… starting to creep me out. Is this normal?" I whispered dazedly.
"I know… it scares me too. I've never realized before that contracts and trying to get the intent behind words could be so… exhausting. The Morgans are known for being scrupulously honest in their deals, until the moment they feel they no longer need to." Jenny whispered back. "I don't trust them, yet I don't think they will try to trap you with some some loophole or fine print here."
"Right. That sort of trickery is for amateurs. To really screw over someone in a deal, it's better to allow the other party to self-destruct all on his own terms." I took a deep breath and tried to put myself in their shoes. My money in the bank... that meant nothing. Think long-term. There's more where that came from. Reputation... reliability... now that's priceless.
Just as pacifists could be a complex set of motivations and personalities, greed too was a set of principles that could be positive. I mean, just because greed was Scrooge McDuck's defining character flaw, that did not mean the way he earned his wealth wasn't by a credo of: "Life is filled with tough jobs, and there'll always be sharpies to cheat me ... well, I'll be tougher than the toughies and sharper than the sharpies, and I'll make my money square!"
That was what made him interesting. Sometimes the story is about what can't change the nature of a duck.
Nwabudike Morgan himself wrote 'The Ethics of Greed.' I had yet to read the book, but I doubted that it was as self-serving as the title makes it sound.
"With doppelganger Alice there I'm just wondering how long before zombies come into the picture."
Jenny stared at me blankly for several seconds. She huffed. "Right. I forgot this about you."
"No, let me explain. It's a funny little story. She just reminds me very strongly of this -."
Jenny held up her hands and looked away as if pushing an invisible wall between us. "Sir, please don't. Some things, I think, I'm not meant to know."
That was meant as a joke. Yet a sudden, bowel-clenching loneliness gripped me. There was no one alive that would ever get my little injokes and references again. I laughed a little bit too loudly.
We returned to the negotiations, and the two Morgan representatives suddenly stopped short their own whispered discussions. That Alesa deVorcelk's gaze burned with uncanny interest was an understatement. If the speculative gleam in her eyes was a laser, she'd qualify as a mobile orbital denial platform.
9.4
-----------------
Then, the Sixth: Establish an investment trust and charitable foundations on all Morgan Bases.
Jennefer sucked in her breath and turned around. She was fighting, with all her might, not to laugh.
Joachim Hasbruck looked like he'd bitten into a bitter seed but, if anything, Alesa deVorcelk just beamed with fresh enthusiasm. "Of course, sir. There will be no problem. What sort of foundation would you like to establish?"
So they still had those procedures in the books? Super surprising.
She seemed to completely approve of the idea. She was the sort of person who brightened the room with her mere presence. She stood well away from me, across the tablet, and yet for some reason I felt as if she was gripping the sides of my head. I was utterly lost as to who was more dangerous – her, or the person beside her who was near invisible by comparison.
"Unemployment assistance-"
Hasbruck made a little sound as if someone had punched him in the gut.
"Orphan assistance. And scholarships."
"Very good, sir." deVorcelk replied with a soft tone that seemed to say 'everything makes sense now!'
Whatever epiphany she seemed to have gained, I pushed through. "I want acceptance to any of these programs automatic to any applicant. Float no-interest loans to those who need food and shelter, until they can find another job. See if they are qualified for some job in the ARM Empire if they are willing to work honestly and live cleanly."
"Excuse me, what? What was that just now?"
I looked up to Jen. "Automatic acceptance to a relief program? Is... that a problem?"
She huffed. "No, that- that other thing... no, never mind."
"Uh. Okay then. Orphanages are to be established; those who are given over to an ARM Cradle Foundation will be automatically eligible for scholarship later if they pass the tests, and later employment under ARM Expeditions or any other company I establish later. ARM Educational Outreach is to be open to anybody regardless of age, gender, or even nationality."
I would throw even more money at them if they could get it done quickly. I must be well-established before I even reach Gaia's Landing.
"Y-you're setting up a welfare money sink." Joachim said in a voice damn near robotic.
"You're setting up a core of generational workers under your banner." Alesa mumbled with strange quaver. "Commander… does the word ninkyo dantai mean anything to you?"
"Uh. Well, yes. But hardly anything like setting up a thing of ours in Morgan lands, I assure you. Those who wish to defect from decadence, send them to me. Those who want to explore new lands and discover old secrets, yet fearing not having their faces eaten by Mind Worms… send them to me. Those who cannot work by your terms, I will put them to use."
Joachim shook his head sadly. "You realize, Mister Nemo, that you're inviting anyone to travel for free and get educated on your dime? This is unsustainable! Whole governments have fallen for such… insolvent policies."
I laughed. I clenched my left fist near my face, opening and closing, and then I grinned. "I need not chase after Metal and Energy. I thank you for your concern, but my wealth is mine to dispose of as long as it does not damage your economy too badly. There's always more where that came from. People are the most precious of resources on Planet right now."
Wealth was fine and all, but no one here gets it. This whole Planet's Resonance Field, the neural net of fungal towers and fungal blooms - a vast, planetwide telepathic matrix…
A telepathic matrix exactly like the one that I was using to send and receive information from all the units under my command. We teleport metal and energy, and kilotons of mass across interstellar distances – why wouldn't we teleport information from place to place?
"In time, even you will realize, that Planet has greater wonders than just these..."
----------------
It was time.
I held the little ring in my hands with all the reverence I could muster. This was a blueprint that only existed in the oldest ARM Commanders. Emergent nanotech-borne viruses could allow both ARM and CORE Commanders to seize control of enemy units and buildings and turn the enemy's strengths against themselves. But this was something they could not – would not – duplicate. This ring was the symbol of authority for ARM… a signature ring, crafted by an ARM Commander's nanolathe, and once handed over to mortal hands it represented the return of civilian control to the galaxy.
A simple little thing, but my ability to lathe it at all meant one thing:
My duty to ARM is done. (You are free.)
The war against CORE is over. (It is the time for peace.)
The defeat I faced was total. (Death is repaid with death.)
I serve and protect whoever the hell I want to. (This concept of 'trolling' intrigues us.)
"A chop. Interesting!" said Alesa.
From the deep frown on Jennefer's face, she had difficulty comprehending the ring's existence as either noun or verb.
"A name seal" I replied. "Derived from the Hindi word 'chapa', though name seals are most often used by Far East Asian bureaucracy, like Chinese Emperors and their Heirloom Seal of the Realm."
"I see. Instead of signing your signature, you're going to stamp the forms. That sounds much less tiring. But is that secure?"
"Please. You really think I'm going to use something as easy to duplicate as ink?"
She tilted her head ever-so-slightly, as if to imply that she did not put anything past me at all, no matter how brilliant or fucking stupid it may be. She would not judge. It was nice to be held to such unlimited potential.
Wait. No. It was not.
I slapped my butt back down on the couch and fanned out the papers. A scanning green beam went over each page, saving the contents to memory, because of course a post-scarcity society who could build nearly anything would not commit to anything unless it could be verified. The Morganites were hardly surprised. The world had advanced much in the 2060s, document scanning was pro forma.
Alesa's eyes glittered with concentration as I pressed the seal onto paper.
Onto the signature line, a metallic blue symbol now rested.
[=◊=]
A simple thing. It looked trivial to duplicate. But the ring was a micro-nanolathe. It was not just a symbol pressed onto paper.
Again and again I marked papers that are banded with strips of precious metal for proof of authenticity. I knew and they knew that these forms were all worthless. The only and strongest contract was that of mutual self-interest.
----------------
It was done. They gathered up the forms and prepared to leave. Alesa held out her hand again. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Commander."
"No, no, the pleasure was all mine…"
But as I reached for her hand, she instead wrapped her fingers around mine and pulled my hand up to her lips. She did not kiss my fingers, but took a deep sniff as her lower lip nibbled at t thumb.
I shivered.
"I do so hope we would… perform mutually beneficial exchanges with each other again, soon." she crooned as she pulled away.
Okay, to hell with it. I couldn't just leave it like that.
I lunged forward, ignoring how she flinched and "Miss deVorcelk…" with strange desperation, I whispered "I would very much appreciate it if you… stayed away from Morgan Metagenics. There's odd coincidences, and then there's tempting fate.
What I've seen may never come to pass, but it would still put me very much at ease if you were not a participant in that clusterfuck."
"I'm afraid I don't follow…?"
"If someone must perform unethical genetic experiments for The Longevity Vaccine, let Zakharov take the damage."
I pulled away, and I saw in her face only confusion and little bit of fear. I'm sorry, I wanted to say. Please forgive my stupid obsolete pop culture nerdity.
"I… will certainly keep that in mind, Commander Nemo. Thank you?" she murmured. Then her voice firmed. "Yes, this has been a very interesting discussion indeed! Let's speak again. Call upon me whenever you want. I'm always at your service, Commander."
----------
Soon enough, the bankers were gone from the building. I collapsed as if boneless back onto the couch, exhausted beyond belief. Dealing with people was so emotionally draining.
Jennefer laid down a cup of tea on the table. "Thank you…" I murmured.
She remained standing there. I bent my head back to see that Jenny stood over me with her arms crossed. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion, her lips a thin bloodless line.
"We need to talk…" she said.
Oh come on! I flopped back and stared numbly up at the turquoise enameled ceiling.
Someone give me a break already!
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10.1
Interlude [07] - Jennefer Marsh
The first five years on Planet were the hardest. It was said that a Landing Pod could support one thousand people, yes. But it couldn't exactly fit one thousand people. My parents arrived on a world where the air was poison, the water was poison, the plants were poison, and the animals… seemed harmless enough. That is, until the Scout Patrols met their first Mind Worm boil, and so there went whatever hopes that Planet would be a gracious host to its uninvited guests.
Given the sheer inhospitability of Planet's ecology, it was often a surprise to other factions that the Gaian philosophy existed at all.
I was among the first generations of those born on Planet. Born Jennefer Marsh to Jack Marsh and Elita Muirne. My elder brother, Robert Marsh, was actually conceived on Mission Year 2100 – on the Year of Arrival – and the second child to be born on a new world. (My parents, I'm now aware, had to marry very quickly.) I was born on Mission Year 2104.
My brother was a fervent Gaian. He grew up in a cold dark hole. And I mean nothing less than a cold dark hole, because the Landing Pod that would eventually turn into the settlement of Gaia's Landing landed along the slopes of the Pholus Ridge. And by land, as my parents recounted to me, it was more like half-crash into a mountainside then sloooowly slide down until the people inside could stop panicking.
The original mission orders called for an orderly settlement made with prefab structures, but even the equipment to put up those structures were irreplaceable. The Landing Pod was disassembled to form the core buildings and facilities of Gaia's Landing. But there were over eight hundred people that needed housing, and if they used all the materials just for housing, then that would mean uncomfortably small hospitals, laboratories, creches and learning centers, factories, indoor greenhouses, and communal areas.
They found some caves, sealed the end, pumped the air out, made sure it was all air-tight, then ran some lights inside. They chiseled out rooms, dug channels for latrines that emptied out into a pit for composting, and for the first year of Arrival, everybody – even Deirdre Skye, I was told – slept on the cold ground on bedrolls and ate mushy food.
For four years, my brother grew up in a cave, raised by an entire troop of adults, who sadly were often just too exhausted coming back from work. He was the only thing to brighten their day, reminding them that all their hard work was for the sake of countless generations yet unborn. I was too young to retain any memory of those days.
I had a much easier childhood. His early maturity, the praise he drew from the adults, this was the standard I wished to emulate.
By Mission Year 2104, Gaian technology and industry had figured out how to create airtight pseudo-concrete out of what was otherwise useless xenofungus, and we gained unlimited and renewable building material. The first open-air farms on Planet thrived. Plants loved the nitrates in the soil, and did not care about the low levels of oxygen in their air.
After living in a hole for so long, my brother cried upon finally leaving that cave for good. He saw the open sky, the cultivated grounds, the farms and forests nestled into rows alongside native flora so that they were pollinated by the symbiotic creatures that tended to the native plants, and the towering mounds of Gaia's Landing… and all was beautiful.
By the actions of his parents, and his parent's peers, he was made free. By understanding Centauri Ecology, all the children born to Planet would never go hungry. By understanding Biogenetics, they would be protected from poisons and disease. By understanding Social Psychology, they can grow up as well-adjusted citizens ready to claim their birthright. Deirdre shared this knowledge to all other factions encountered on Planet, asking little in return.
The least he could do to respect the sacrifices of the generation before him was to preserve and protect their legacy of respect and harmony with Planet's native ecosystem. Planet's ecology was almost entirely symbiotic, there were few predator-and-prey species. By contrast Earth's rich garden was a charnel house of blood and fang and terror. Wild animals were just that – wild, and if they attacked, that was their nature. Left unprovoked however, mankind on Planet could so very easily live in harmony, peace, and satiety.
Only mankind could claim responsibility. So, he accepted the burden of being responsible for other people's lives. Explorer, pioneer, captain - he was the best of us.
And now my brother was dead. Murdered by the Spartans.
--------------------------------------
The first five years on Planet were the hardest. It was said that a Landing Pod could support one thousand people, yes. But it couldn't exactly fit one thousand people. My parents arrived on a world where the air was poison, the water was poison, the plants were poison, and the animals… seemed harmless enough. That is, until the Scout Patrols met their first Mind Worm boil, and so there went whatever hopes that Planet would be a gracious host to its uninvited guests.
Given the sheer inhospitability of Planet's ecology, it was often a surprise to other factions that the Gaian philosophy existed at all.
I was among the first generations of those born on Planet. Born Jennefer Marsh to Jack Marsh and Elita Muirne. My elder brother, Robert Marsh, was actually conceived on Mission Year 2100 – on the Year of Arrival – and the second child to be born on a new world. (My parents, I'm now aware, had to marry very quickly.) I was born on Mission Year 2104.
My brother was a fervent Gaian. He grew up in a cold dark hole. And I mean nothing less than a cold dark hole, because the Landing Pod that would eventually turn into the settlement of Gaia's Landing landed along the slopes of the Pholus Ridge. And by land, as my parents recounted to me, it was more like half-crash into a mountainside then sloooowly slide down until the people inside could stop panicking.
The original mission orders called for an orderly settlement made with prefab structures, but even the equipment to put up those structures were irreplaceable. The Landing Pod was disassembled to form the core buildings and facilities of Gaia's Landing. But there were over eight hundred people that needed housing, and if they used all the materials just for housing, then that would mean uncomfortably small hospitals, laboratories, creches and learning centers, factories, indoor greenhouses, and communal areas.
They found some caves, sealed the end, pumped the air out, made sure it was all air-tight, then ran some lights inside. They chiseled out rooms, dug channels for latrines that emptied out into a pit for composting, and for the first year of Arrival, everybody – even Deirdre Skye, I was told – slept on the cold ground on bedrolls and ate mushy food.
For four years, my brother grew up in a cave, raised by an entire troop of adults, who sadly were often just too exhausted coming back from work. He was the only thing to brighten their day, reminding them that all their hard work was for the sake of countless generations yet unborn. I was too young to retain any memory of those days.
I had a much easier childhood. His early maturity, the praise he drew from the adults, this was the standard I wished to emulate.
-----------------
By Mission Year 2104, Gaian technology and industry had figured out how to create airtight pseudo-concrete out of what was otherwise useless xenofungus, and we gained unlimited and renewable building material. The first open-air farms on Planet thrived. Plants loved the nitrates in the soil, and did not care about the low levels of oxygen in their air.
After living in a hole for so long, my brother cried upon finally leaving that cave for good. He saw the open sky, the cultivated grounds, the farms and forests nestled into rows alongside native flora so that they were pollinated by the symbiotic creatures that tended to the native plants, and the towering mounds of Gaia's Landing… and all was beautiful.
By the actions of his parents, and his parent's peers, he was made free. By understanding Centauri Ecology, all the children born to Planet would never go hungry. By understanding Biogenetics, they would be protected from poisons and disease. By understanding Social Psychology, they can grow up as well-adjusted citizens ready to claim their birthright. Deirdre shared this knowledge to all other factions encountered on Planet, asking little in return.
The least he could do to respect the sacrifices of the generation before him was to preserve and protect their legacy of respect and harmony with Planet's native ecosystem. Planet's ecology was almost entirely symbiotic, there were few predator-and-prey species. By contrast Earth's rich garden was a charnel house of blood and fang and terror. Wild animals were just that – wild, and if they attacked, that was their nature. Left unprovoked however, mankind on Planet could so very easily live in harmony, peace, and satiety.
Only mankind could claim responsibility. So, he accepted the burden of being responsible for other people's lives. Explorer, pioneer, captain - he was the best of us.
And now my brother was dead. Murdered by the Spartans.
--------------------------------------
Sending off the Colony Pod broke our family.
About nine years past Arrival, the Council floated the idea of setting up a base to the north, in a much better location than Gaia's Landing. Whereas Gaia's Landing was set up along the slopes of a hill, though with the good fortune of a sheltered bay that would likely become very useful later on, there was a much flatter area to the north with better rainfall and two areas with veins of minerals close to the surface. This area was also within reach of a Pholus Ridge peak with geothermal activity… and hot springs.
It was the perfect location for farming, mining, spreading out the population, and perhaps tourism and relaxation. It had the potential to become the de facto capital of the new faction formally known as the Gaia's Stepdaughters. Deirdre approved of the idea.
My father and my elder brother were eager to move and work there. However, my mother wanted to stay. By then, at 2112 when the Colony Pod had finished construction, she had born my father four children – a boy, a girl, a girl, and a boy again. At this point Gaia's Landing was well-established, and the younger children were made to go to school instead of the informal hands-on apprenticeship method of instruction that educated my brother's generation. Gaia's Landing had grown comfortable.
Traveling overland on Planet was still very difficult, and the task so very labor-intensive, that it would be years before we'd all see each other again. Just as my mother had good reasons not to leave, my father could not be persuaded to stay. He understood the philosophy of conservation and the great usefulness of relying on renewables and living within one's means, but he had never really been comfortable with the Gaian outlook that was starting to speak about Planet in near-mystical terms.
Not all colonists who were in the Landing Pod were a part of Deirdre's team, after all. In the confusion of the evacuation, colonists just headed for the nearest pod upon waking up. My father was a very practical man, and had little need nor patience for that sort of thinking. He simply endured it the same way he endured everything else.
The Council was very heavily under Deirdre's influence however, because of course the people were only too happy to elect and re-elect the people who figured out how to feed them, and clothe them, and warm them and continued to look for ways to make their life on Planet safer and more pleasant.
The new colony would be named The Flowers Preach. Even then, I was sure, the name irritated my father very much.
About nine years past Arrival, the Council floated the idea of setting up a base to the north, in a much better location than Gaia's Landing. Whereas Gaia's Landing was set up along the slopes of a hill, though with the good fortune of a sheltered bay that would likely become very useful later on, there was a much flatter area to the north with better rainfall and two areas with veins of minerals close to the surface. This area was also within reach of a Pholus Ridge peak with geothermal activity… and hot springs.
It was the perfect location for farming, mining, spreading out the population, and perhaps tourism and relaxation. It had the potential to become the de facto capital of the new faction formally known as the Gaia's Stepdaughters. Deirdre approved of the idea.
My father and my elder brother were eager to move and work there. However, my mother wanted to stay. By then, at 2112 when the Colony Pod had finished construction, she had born my father four children – a boy, a girl, a girl, and a boy again. At this point Gaia's Landing was well-established, and the younger children were made to go to school instead of the informal hands-on apprenticeship method of instruction that educated my brother's generation. Gaia's Landing had grown comfortable.
Traveling overland on Planet was still very difficult, and the task so very labor-intensive, that it would be years before we'd all see each other again. Just as my mother had good reasons not to leave, my father could not be persuaded to stay. He understood the philosophy of conservation and the great usefulness of relying on renewables and living within one's means, but he had never really been comfortable with the Gaian outlook that was starting to speak about Planet in near-mystical terms.
Not all colonists who were in the Landing Pod were a part of Deirdre's team, after all. In the confusion of the evacuation, colonists just headed for the nearest pod upon waking up. My father was a very practical man, and had little need nor patience for that sort of thinking. He simply endured it the same way he endured everything else.
The Council was very heavily under Deirdre's influence however, because of course the people were only too happy to elect and re-elect the people who figured out how to feed them, and clothe them, and warm them and continued to look for ways to make their life on Planet safer and more pleasant.
The new colony would be named The Flowers Preach. Even then, I was sure, the name irritated my father very much.
------------------
AN: FINALLY, after loads of restarts, the Gaians landed right where I needed them for the story. However, do note that I'm also messing with the timescales as long as it would make for a more interesting story. A lot of things in the early days are accomplished astonishingly fast.
Because I need the Faction Leaders not to be old fogeys by the time practical anti-aging treatments become available again.
Because I need the Faction Leaders not to be old fogeys by the time practical anti-aging treatments become available again.
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10.2
And that was my childhood. By the age of eight, I was left without paternal or brotherly influence. However, it wasn't as if I was without guidance. In a way, every Gaian is a parent to all the children on base. We spent most of our days in the Children's Creche while the adults worked, and as we grew up we were always welcome to ask questions and learn more about the different jobs and new careers on base.
School was fun, because there was always some practical application for what we were learning. By the time I was sixteen, there were enough people and we had the beginnings of an Industrial Base that the concept of a 'college' entered the Gaian school system. That was an incredible time, because Deirdre herself would lecture on occasion about Xenoempathy and Life Systems. All around me, with every day, the world was changing and growing bigger.
The Gaian Explorers were among the bravest people on planet, mapping out the land and prospecting for resources for only the sake of discovery, not pay. They climbed mountains and willingly entered fungal bloom sites. Every great discovery was paid in lives, such as learning that low-frequency radio waves and radar attracted Mind Worms.
It was only later that radios were set up to use high-frequency hopping that imitated Planet's innate strange electromagnetic fields that long-range communication became possible.
It was the explorers that, in 2107, found the wreck on the UNS Unity. It was a heart-wrenching scar on the face of Planet, thousands of kilometers across, with all sorts of debris scattered around the impact site. It was the explorers who braved the possibly radioactive site to see what could possibly have survived of humanity's great work. They found some intact Unity Supply Pods with equipment that could be repurposed, mining lasers, and some archives that helped us recover Information Networks and advanced the creation of an Industrial Base.
But there was only so much one could do exploring on foot and on Rovers. The sea was the frontier to study, my brother said to me. It normally would take up to three months to travel the wilderness between Gaia's Landing and The Flowers Preach, hardly good conditions for sharing and trading resources. But on a ship? That was just a week.
--------
Three years after leaving to set up a new colony, our family was whole again.
This time my father would stay for good. But not my brother, he would be part of the new Sea Explorers, on the first long-distance ships made with schematics traded with the Spartans. We were only two years apart in age, but I wanted to go on an adventure too!
He patted my head and said "The most I can do as an Explorer is to look at things and haul up samples. Study hard so that you can tell me what these things are that I'm bringing back."
And those were glorious days indeed. Laying down an explorer ship was a great undertaking, one that could perhaps be used for other base facilities that could make our lives
Who was there to round the crown of Hera, to glimpse a land so pink with xenofungus from end to end? Robert Marsh! Who broke into the Northern Ocean? Robert Marsh! Who sailed all the way around the Pholus Ridge and the Sea of Pholus to arrive at the newest Gaian colony built as our gateway to the East? Robert Marsh!
Of course, he was just one of the younger sailors there, the honor would go to Captain Nobel, but oh damn it – I wanted more than just a pat on the head! Adventure!
My father didn't allow me to join the first wave of colonists to set up the Song of Planet, established to the southeast of Gaia's Landing. From his experience, that was always the least enjoyable part of the experience. But I wanted to sleep in uncomfortable conditions and work with limited means, too! That was what makes it worth the trip!
"You're cute" one of my friends said to me. "But you're crazy."
--------------------
My time arrived at 2119, all this while my brother was promoted to an executive officer on the newest ship, the Rosinbloom under Captain Nobel's command. It was a Laser Foil, because we learned heavier weaponry were necessary to deal with attacks by Isles of the Deep.
Fascinating creatures! They were actually the aquatic vector of the Mind Worm, fused together as one mass through a natural calcifying glue. Bouyant with gas pockets, these living islands, which could grow to the size of actual islands, roamed the seas in search of prey or carrion. They moved through some form of water jet, capable of speed matching or even exceeding our motors.
And of course, there were also capable of psychic assaults as their land-borne cousins.
My brother was wildly considered a vessel of good luck for the crew, because while they were all paralyzed only he could move as if unaffected and steer the ship away.
So, with the launching of the second Gaian Explorer ship and the keel being laid for the third (and Transport craft don't count), it was my brother's turn to live up to his promise. Scientists are needed aboard, and I would learn what it means to be a Sea Explorer.
Adventure was a whole lot of sitting and waiting. I tried not to grumble. I asked for it. The Dawn Greeter had a crew of 20, and everyone pulled their weight. The Executive Officer of the ship was more like the one in charge of logistics and paperwork. My brother promptly pawned off that responsibility to me as soon as I joined the crew so he could spend more time joining the surveyors whenever the ship pulled to shore.
"This is not favoritism or nepotism!" I complained. "This is just abuse!" The crew found it too funny. Jerks. But I was good at math and reading maps, so it wasn't too bad.
And, in time, I would officially become the Dawn Greeter's executive officer, under Captain Jean Boothby, while my brother was finally captain of his own ship – the GSV Dendrobium. The newest ship was actually armored with layers of sythnmetal and had its laser cannon in a turret. It was as close to a warship as we dared build.
We Gaians only ever had three ships that could be said to be of any military use, and we sent them all out to accompany a Sea Colony Pod paid in part by the Morganites. We would have to sail past dense sea fungus, where an Isle of the Deep might suddenly appear. Planet was dangerous, but the most dangerous beings in it were other humans.
And now my friends were dead, murdered through Morgan lies.
------------------------------
My brother could not have died. He was the favored son of Planet!
But he placed his ship between us and the enemy, and the Dendrobium was lost with all hands. He fought and he gave his life to give us and the Sea Colony Pod time to get away.
"Should we… wait?" I was asked. Left unspoken was 'for the bodies to float up?'
I shook my head. It was only an hour ago that I saw Captain Boothby's cut nearly in half, her shoulder exploding into chunks. Her corpse fell on top of me, and I screamed in both terror and disgust. The lady who taught me all the little tricks of survival on sea that my time with the Aquafarms did not impart, her smile and her strange 'hih-hih-hih' laugh, gone in an instant.
And people called the Morgan-Spartan War a farce just because it didn't involve armies fighting on land. Why, a few days ago, were we so gods-damned naïve as to think raiding involved no real violence or deaths?
I wondered if it was not a punishment for our own brand of hubris?
We Gaians are not a chosen people.
We are those who have chosen. Freely, with eyes wide open, we have decided to live in a way that respects life and seeks to avoid senseless waste and hostility. Yet have we deluded ourselves that being a more moral person should somehow protect us from danger? Deirdre knew there was a risk, but like most of us, though that Gaian bioconservatism and Spartan survivalism were not innately opposed concepts. By accepting the offer, by deliberately placing ourselves in the path of Spartan guns, we hoped our neutrality would help end their foolish conflict.
If my brother, who deserved most of all to live and change Planet for the better – if his fate is rejected, what hope was there for us?
After an hour, we saw a ship approaching from the horizon. We thought that the Morgans, contrary to our expectations, would dare to send their own ships for rescue even with the threat of Spartan warships in the area. As it approached, only then did we realize – it was far too big.
Sending that Sea Colony Pod broke us.
There was nothing that could put us back together again, not even the greatest miracle of science.
School was fun, because there was always some practical application for what we were learning. By the time I was sixteen, there were enough people and we had the beginnings of an Industrial Base that the concept of a 'college' entered the Gaian school system. That was an incredible time, because Deirdre herself would lecture on occasion about Xenoempathy and Life Systems. All around me, with every day, the world was changing and growing bigger.
--------------------
The Gaian Explorers were among the bravest people on planet, mapping out the land and prospecting for resources for only the sake of discovery, not pay. They climbed mountains and willingly entered fungal bloom sites. Every great discovery was paid in lives, such as learning that low-frequency radio waves and radar attracted Mind Worms.
It was only later that radios were set up to use high-frequency hopping that imitated Planet's innate strange electromagnetic fields that long-range communication became possible.
It was the explorers that, in 2107, found the wreck on the UNS Unity. It was a heart-wrenching scar on the face of Planet, thousands of kilometers across, with all sorts of debris scattered around the impact site. It was the explorers who braved the possibly radioactive site to see what could possibly have survived of humanity's great work. They found some intact Unity Supply Pods with equipment that could be repurposed, mining lasers, and some archives that helped us recover Information Networks and advanced the creation of an Industrial Base.
But there was only so much one could do exploring on foot and on Rovers. The sea was the frontier to study, my brother said to me. It normally would take up to three months to travel the wilderness between Gaia's Landing and The Flowers Preach, hardly good conditions for sharing and trading resources. But on a ship? That was just a week.
--------
Three years after leaving to set up a new colony, our family was whole again.
This time my father would stay for good. But not my brother, he would be part of the new Sea Explorers, on the first long-distance ships made with schematics traded with the Spartans. We were only two years apart in age, but I wanted to go on an adventure too!
He patted my head and said "The most I can do as an Explorer is to look at things and haul up samples. Study hard so that you can tell me what these things are that I'm bringing back."
And those were glorious days indeed. Laying down an explorer ship was a great undertaking, one that could perhaps be used for other base facilities that could make our lives
Who was there to round the crown of Hera, to glimpse a land so pink with xenofungus from end to end? Robert Marsh! Who broke into the Northern Ocean? Robert Marsh! Who sailed all the way around the Pholus Ridge and the Sea of Pholus to arrive at the newest Gaian colony built as our gateway to the East? Robert Marsh!
Of course, he was just one of the younger sailors there, the honor would go to Captain Nobel, but oh damn it – I wanted more than just a pat on the head! Adventure!
My father didn't allow me to join the first wave of colonists to set up the Song of Planet, established to the southeast of Gaia's Landing. From his experience, that was always the least enjoyable part of the experience. But I wanted to sleep in uncomfortable conditions and work with limited means, too! That was what makes it worth the trip!
"You're cute" one of my friends said to me. "But you're crazy."
--------------------
My time arrived at 2119, all this while my brother was promoted to an executive officer on the newest ship, the Rosinbloom under Captain Nobel's command. It was a Laser Foil, because we learned heavier weaponry were necessary to deal with attacks by Isles of the Deep.
Fascinating creatures! They were actually the aquatic vector of the Mind Worm, fused together as one mass through a natural calcifying glue. Bouyant with gas pockets, these living islands, which could grow to the size of actual islands, roamed the seas in search of prey or carrion. They moved through some form of water jet, capable of speed matching or even exceeding our motors.
And of course, there were also capable of psychic assaults as their land-borne cousins.
My brother was wildly considered a vessel of good luck for the crew, because while they were all paralyzed only he could move as if unaffected and steer the ship away.
So, with the launching of the second Gaian Explorer ship and the keel being laid for the third (and Transport craft don't count), it was my brother's turn to live up to his promise. Scientists are needed aboard, and I would learn what it means to be a Sea Explorer.
Adventure was a whole lot of sitting and waiting. I tried not to grumble. I asked for it. The Dawn Greeter had a crew of 20, and everyone pulled their weight. The Executive Officer of the ship was more like the one in charge of logistics and paperwork. My brother promptly pawned off that responsibility to me as soon as I joined the crew so he could spend more time joining the surveyors whenever the ship pulled to shore.
"This is not favoritism or nepotism!" I complained. "This is just abuse!" The crew found it too funny. Jerks. But I was good at math and reading maps, so it wasn't too bad.
And, in time, I would officially become the Dawn Greeter's executive officer, under Captain Jean Boothby, while my brother was finally captain of his own ship – the GSV Dendrobium. The newest ship was actually armored with layers of sythnmetal and had its laser cannon in a turret. It was as close to a warship as we dared build.
We Gaians only ever had three ships that could be said to be of any military use, and we sent them all out to accompany a Sea Colony Pod paid in part by the Morganites. We would have to sail past dense sea fungus, where an Isle of the Deep might suddenly appear. Planet was dangerous, but the most dangerous beings in it were other humans.
And now my friends were dead, murdered through Morgan lies.
------------------------------
My brother could not have died. He was the favored son of Planet!
But he placed his ship between us and the enemy, and the Dendrobium was lost with all hands. He fought and he gave his life to give us and the Sea Colony Pod time to get away.
"Should we… wait?" I was asked. Left unspoken was 'for the bodies to float up?'
I shook my head. It was only an hour ago that I saw Captain Boothby's cut nearly in half, her shoulder exploding into chunks. Her corpse fell on top of me, and I screamed in both terror and disgust. The lady who taught me all the little tricks of survival on sea that my time with the Aquafarms did not impart, her smile and her strange 'hih-hih-hih' laugh, gone in an instant.
And people called the Morgan-Spartan War a farce just because it didn't involve armies fighting on land. Why, a few days ago, were we so gods-damned naïve as to think raiding involved no real violence or deaths?
I wondered if it was not a punishment for our own brand of hubris?
We Gaians are not a chosen people.
We are those who have chosen. Freely, with eyes wide open, we have decided to live in a way that respects life and seeks to avoid senseless waste and hostility. Yet have we deluded ourselves that being a more moral person should somehow protect us from danger? Deirdre knew there was a risk, but like most of us, though that Gaian bioconservatism and Spartan survivalism were not innately opposed concepts. By accepting the offer, by deliberately placing ourselves in the path of Spartan guns, we hoped our neutrality would help end their foolish conflict.
If my brother, who deserved most of all to live and change Planet for the better – if his fate is rejected, what hope was there for us?
After an hour, we saw a ship approaching from the horizon. We thought that the Morgans, contrary to our expectations, would dare to send their own ships for rescue even with the threat of Spartan warships in the area. As it approached, only then did we realize – it was far too big.
Sending that Sea Colony Pod broke us.
There was nothing that could put us back together again, not even the greatest miracle of science.
----------------------
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UltimatePaladin
Aspiring Creator
Yet TA manages to accomplish that in spades. It looks at supcom's feats, and says "cute."
Arafell
Verified Cephalon
- Location
- Oregon
Hah! I get the two mixed up. Spiritual successors and all that. Doesnt help that i last played TA 15 years ago. . .
Jonen C
F.M.D.G.
- Location
- Lincopense, Ostrogothia, Suecia
Game and movie series.
Threat level depends on the advancement and spread of the infection, which is further dependent on whether native life is susceptible, and the current local techlevel which goes from "Survival economy with near future techbase, somewhat simplified for ease of production with a minimal industrial base" to "black hole powered flying battleships firing lasers at transport cruisers armored with frozen spacetime to get at the teleporting infantry armed with string disruptors carried within before they get a chance to deploy through the tachyon forcefields surrounding the base the battleships are defending".
T-virus should be a threat for any base that does not have the facilities to prevent a disease outbreak (which was probably never intended to be Zombies, but is ambiguous enough that, hey, if that's your headcanon it's not in anyway worse than mindworms, right?), and remains a threat for bases protected only by Research Hospitals (which probably increase the threat posed unless Zombies are a known risk with existing containment/quarantine protocols) and the Human Genome Project (which should only help identify risk factors)...
Nanohospital should neutralize the risk except if the base is sabotaged or overrun due to a global collapse...
EDIT:
I recced it on SB too:
Joe.
Last edited:
10.3
o0o
Nemo.
A man with no name. A name without a nation.
All marine scientists inevitably comes to read about the Nautilus and its travelers in their adventures 20,000 leagues under the sea. Jules Verne was a classic adventure and a very well-presented science fiction story for its day. The wonders of the sea however would in the consciousness of mankind pale beside this tortured man who chose to live apart not just from the laws of man, but the very natural habitat of his species.
He was living mystery that survived through the centuries.
And now, another Nemo rescued us, gave us shelter, and even as he bled he revealed – that he possessed power over us. How could you trust such a man?
"If you allow a man a chance to be good, then he will be good" Captain Nobel said to me. "But if you expect only evil from someone, then evil is something you breed in both your hearts."
"Why? It's not... as easy as you make it sound, sir. We could be in so much danger again. Where is the justice in that?"
"Because we must, because anything less it would be a betrayal of everything they died for. We must put our fate in someone else's hand not because we're afraid, but because we are brave enough to believe that there is still good in the world."
Everyone else had left to their own rooms. Nemo was in his plush bedroom. Nemo was arrogant and bombastic and sometimes he was just such a child. That was even more terrifying, because how could you trust someone with such power with so little self-control? A tantrum would do so much damage.
Captain Nobel and I were standing right outside the door. "We have all lost people. Not just this time, but every time we as Explorers set out. I've seen comrades die screaming, Mind Worms burrowing into their eye sockets to lay eggs inside their brains. I am not saying this to say this loss isn't the greatest we've suffered – but that we as Gaians, it is also a part of our nature to live with sacrifice.
If he did not come along, what do you think would have happened?"
"Maybe the Morgans would come around in a day or two. Maybe they'd do it to finish us off. The lifeboats… they would have enough battery power to bring us to shore. But if we did that, our fuel cells might not have enough to keep charging our air recyclers and water purifiers. We would…" here I took a deep breath. "We would have to draw lots."
Our main problem was air – Chiron had very low oxygen levels, and enough atmospheric pressure with nitrogen compounds to make every breath poison. Inert gas necrosis after prolonged exposure could be expected from breathing in the barely breathable air at sea level.
People had to die so we could survive. If I had to give my life up, I could only hope to face it with so much dignity.
"Do you understand what I'm asking from you?"
I nodded and prepared my heart. "Yes, sir."
He just sighed and began rubbing at his forehead. "No. Clearly, you don't. It doesn't matter if he rescued us, it doesn't matter that he's been so helpful. You are a trained medic. You're going in there to help. Anything more than that? If he tries anything, it is your duty to beat his face like a drum until he stops."
"… sir, maybe we should bring back Adelaide for this."
"Not for gratitude, Jen, nor to secure an alliance. (Besides, in this condition? She'd kill him.)" He coughed. "Listen carefully, this is your mission."
"Sir."
"A man of mystery is only powerful as long as his mysteries remain a tantalizing prospect. I believe that is why he chose to ally with us, the Gaians. He knows we are the only ones who would respect his need to keep secrets. If he comes to us as a friend, then we Gaians will be his friend.
This has ever been our philosophy. A community is not a place, it is a connection to history and meaning, and ours is that never again shall we repeat that which led Earth to ruin."
"What does this have to do with Nemo? He's just one man."
"I am not blind, Jen. I recognize the way he walks, the way he talks, the way his eyes look at everything with a mixture of both familiarity and incomprehension. This is a man who might as well have walked straight off the blood-stained sands of southern Turkey or south California. I speak to him not as someone on Planet, but as unto a lost tourist on Earth, and he responds in kind."
I gasped and put a hand up to my lips. "Sir! Are you saying…?"
"That Earth may have sent a second expedition? It is possible, but we should have seen a drive flare by now."
"Then… what do you think this is all about?"
"I don't know. And this is what's most important, Jen. You have to communicate to him – it doesn't matter. We don't care. We will treat him as an equal, we will respect his boundaries, but neither are we going to kowtow to his whims. If he wants servants and sycophants, he can just get the hell out. There is no one else on this Planet that he can turn to who won't be full of prying jackholes."
"I… see."
"Take care of him, but don't let him push you around." The Captain paused to consider. "In fact… it might be better if you were a bit more aggressive with him."
"Sir!" I huffed. "I do not have that fetish."
"Why must you young people always put everything in a carnal context? I mean treat him as you would your brothers."
I put a hand over my heart and winced as I bowed. "I… can do that, sir."
o0o
Now Nemo looked up at me with a touch of fear in his eyes. Where was the sense in that?
'Why me? What power do I have over you?' I wanted to ask. We were playing a silly little farce where we pretended we were hiding nothing from each other. My captain ordered me to take care of him, and I did. I ordered him around, and he obeyed. It was as if instinctive for him. It looked as if he would tolerate from me anything short of nagging or physical violence.
It was a delicate dance. We could see how much Nemo enjoyed the sometimes vicious repartee between him and Captain Nobel. We all pushed, trying to provoke reactions from each other. It was… fun. It bordered on the disrespectful, as I said before.
I remembered: "Normally at this point a commanding officer would say that should you not get emotionally involved. But nuts to that. Be compromised. Get your emotions all tangled up in his well-being. You're not his handler. We're not the Morgans running a honey pot scheme. You're batwoman."
"… I don't follow." Na na na nan na na?
"Go and tell him that. If he's really from Earth, he's going to recognize what it really means."
"That glorious sunuvabitch…" was Nemo's response later. "An officer's orderly, without whom he might as well just stay in bed being useless to anybody. The Alfred to my Bruce Wayne. The Jurgen to my Ciaphas Cain. The Sancho Panza to myself as Don Quixote de La Mancha." He blinked, with his eyes owlishly wide. "That's… heh. All right. Let him know I really appreciate this."
"Um. May I ask why can't you just say it yourself, sir?"
"Because that would be rude, Jen. Just rude."
Please do not involve me in the infantile games between you two.
o0o
"What do you think I'm angry about this time?" I asked instead, in a much gentler tone of voice.
"I… honestly have no idea" was his response. He groaned. "I mean, there are far too many things, how the heck should I know? It's your call." He splayed his arms out as if ready to be crucified. "Just hit me with it."
This was probably the reason why I was the one trusted to supervise him. I was the only one among the crew that would NOT take advantage of the many openings to innuendo he offered.
Was he just playing with me? Was it just some sex thing after all? I was not a very worldly woman. I was not… experienced… in such things. But even I could tell that when that Morgan woman was trying to seduce him, what I initially thought was interest was actually sheer naked terror.
Treat him as you would your brothers. That was easy. Because as much as I respect my elder brother, Robert Marsh was sometimes just so much such a reckless idiot. And my youngest brother, William? Annoying. There were times I loved them to bits, and times when I would love to break them to bits. This was the normal sibling experience, I was told.
"You were whispering something to that Morgan woman…? You really scared her for a moment there, sir. I don't mean to imply anything, but… are you sure it's something that won't come back to bite you later?"
He let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, about that… I really regret doing that."
"Umm." I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. It's none of my business anyway, sir."
"For all I know, anything may happen now! It's probably just a coincidence!" he hurriedly added, as if that would offer any defense. Instead of taking my hint out of the uncomfortable line of questioning, it seemed he would rather double down on the idiocy. "Even if the logo for Morgan Metagenics looks anything like an Umbrella, that doesn't mean I may have to pre-emptively nuke the place!"
What.
Nukes. What. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, and I had to remind myself that I was not in any way allowed to beat any answers out of him. "Morgan Metagenics?" I asked hesitantly. "What's going to happen at Morgan Metagenics?"
He began to wave his arms around wildly. "Nothing! Probably nothing! Very much nothing!" he stopped. "… there's a tiny tiny tiny chance there may be zombies."
"Zombies." I said back tonelessly.
"I'm not proud of it…" he whimpered.
"You saw the future… and it was zombies."
He groaned louder and hid his face in his palms. "I'm not sure. I don't know… I can't know. She's too much like Alice, it's like the universe is taunting me."
'What is wrong with you?' I did not ask, because I knew the answer. Most likely it was the same thing that was wrong with me. "Who is Alice?' I asked, in a softer and more conciliatory tone of voice.
"Alice… is exactly like how she appeared on Resident Evil. If Miss deVorcelk has someone on staff named anything similar to Jill Valentine or Albert Wesker, I really don't want to have to clean that up."
Wait. Resident Evil. "Excuse me, what. Are you saying…" It was like a hammer was hitting me right behind eyeballs. "Do you mean … are you talking about fiction?"
"Um. Yes."
Fiction.
I closed my eyes and massaged my temples.
Fiction.
How much of anything he'd said so far could we take on face value?
This only really added more fuel to the time traveler theory. I sat on the table and picked up the cup of tea. I took a few sips in silence to collect myself. Ahh. This was a fine Gaian blend. Fiction.
Of course. If you had submarines, it was inevitable you would name one of them Nautilus. If you had a starship, it was inevitable one of them would be named Enterprise. And it would become one of the most decorated ships of the fleet, because the crew would take for granted that they had to live up to the name.
The ARM Empire... was that fictional too?
"This… Oh." I raised my thumb to my lips and began nervously chewing on my thumbnail. "I have no idea what I should do about this. Captain only said to hit you if you fucked it up. But if you're fucking with them, I don't know if I should cheer you on. This is an amazing way to get them to waste so much time and money chasing after shadows. Was this your plan all along?"
He groaned and covered his face with a pillow. "It's not planned."
"That… doesn't really matter, does it?"
There was no response for a long while, that I wondered if he did manage to choke himself. But eventually his voice filtered through the pillow – "Jen...?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I can't... I can't take vengeance for what happened. Only you – only Deirdre Skye – only the Gaians have the right to assign blame and call for reparations. I'm just here to help you get home."
It was a good thing his face was covered, he couldn't see me reel back as if I'd been backhanded. He was right. He was helping us out of the kindness of his heart and we've been just as brazenly using him.
"I understand. Please excuse my impudence…" My brother did not die for this.
"But that you said… is a really good idea."
"What."
"It's a nonviolent solution. I can do nonviolent solutions." He laughed while pressing the pillow even harder into his face. "The Spartans may feel my A-game. I don't think Deirdre can deny me that… though the Morgans may have led them to false conclusions… they are the still ones who made that final decision. It should have been equally as easy, even easier, to choose not to murder."
Here his voice drifted off into wonder. "For it to be so easy not to murder…"
There were so many questions that I wanted to ask, so many mysteries I wanted to unravel, so much injustice I wanted to see avenged. Yet, it would not be right.
I was, after all, a Gaian. I remembered the Gaian Acolyte's Prayer –
- - - I shall not confront Planet as an enemy, but shall accept
- - - its mysteries as gifts to be cherished. Nor shall I crudely
- - - seek to peel the layers away like the skin from an onion.
- - - Instead I shall gather them together as the tree gathers the
- - - breeze. The wind shall blow and I shall bend. The sky shall
- - - open and I shall drink my fill.
Like Planet itself, I would not seek to demand things from Nemo in all his strangeness and all his anachronisms, for whatever knowledge or wealth I might gain was not worth the friendship we cultivated.
Oh...! If only it were possible for Nemo and my brother to meet each other, I am sure they would have become fast friends too.
o0o
Because brothers and sisters were natural nemeses.
When viewing him through that lens, it was surprising how very little I had to fear. It was surprisingly how little restraint I had to exercise in the danger of offending him somehow. The power he represented was intimidating, but once you figured out that much like Captain Nobel he relished being able to provoke reactions out of people, the best response was just a calm unamused stare.
"That is adorable." Captain Nobel once said, upon seeing my stern disapproving gaze for the first time.
"Stop bullying my XO, Jacob." Captain Boothby came to my defense. Now hers was a glare that could strip paint off a hull! I spent so much time in front of a mirror trying to imitate that look.
A shower of viscera, eyes full of shock, as the head starts to peel away from the neck –
I closed my eyes and took six deep calming breaths. I blinked and turned my focus back onto my work –
o0o
A day had passed, and we all had enough of the Morgans and their lifestyle.
Adelaide and Rommel approached, each carrying a heap of monogrammed towels. "Hey, Nemo. Since you're the one paying for all of this, the Captain said to ask if it's okay to steal the all towels in the suite."
I looked up from the checklist, about to ask "… why?" when Nemo responded with clear understanding.
"Oh, right. It's tradition." It's a what? "If this high-class hotel can't deal with its guests keeping some souvenirs, it's out of luck getting its high-paying clients back for a second stay."
"See?" Adelaide said, bumping Rommel with her hip. "It's fine. Pack it in."
"Not so fast! We need a second opinion. Jenny, what do you think?"
I turned away, completely losing interest. "You may steal if you want. It's a small thing, all it takes is knowing you can live with yourself as a thief."
"Tch. Fine." Adelaide put her towels on top of Rommel's pile, covering his face.
Nemo tilted his head slightly. "Wait a second, why bother asking me if the final decision's going to be Jenny's anyway? It's not like I don't understand it, what with the whole Gaian chain of command and all… but what's the point in asking twice?"
"There was always the chance you two would agree on the best decision." Rommel answered carefully as he shuffled away.
"What the hell." Nemo turned and pointed at me. "What is this, Jen? Are you my Jenemy Cricket now?!"
I looked up. "Jenemy Cri… oh. Jiminy Cricket. Pinocchio." I loved that movie. Let your conscience be your guide. I smiled. "Yes. Yes I am."
He looked stunned for a moment, then his face spread out into the most awestruck boyish grin. "I can live with that."
I held the data slate up to my face. I was no longer some giggly teenager, surely I wasn't blushing.
"HELLOO CAMPERS!" Captain Nobel burst into the room and announced "WE'RE ALL PACKED UP AND READY TO GO! EVERYBODY OUT, CHOP CHOP. EXCEPT YOU TWO OVER THERE, DON'T THINK I DON'T SEE YOU HAVING A MOMENT THERE.
WE'LL COME BACK IN TWO HOURS, LOVEBIRDS. TEE TEE EFF ENN."
"I approve." I said out loud.
"Eh?"
"If you want to go over there and strangle the Captain? I'd just like you to know I pre-emptively approve of that course of action."
"You are the best conscience." Nemo replied with an gleeful grin, and he leapt off the couch to spar against the Captain some more.
Captain Nobel was a master at breaking sequence. I did not whether to be relived or annoyed every time he implied something about Nemo and myself… the harder he pushed us together, the more we would try to keep our distance. Or maybe he was training us to think it would not be such a bad thing?
A true master at Social Psychology. He was not the Gaian's foremost Explorer for nothing, able to hold together a crew for years in isolation in out in the wilderness. He was like that odd uncle in the family, the one who always showed up at around mealtimes, and you were never quite sure if he was a bum or just independently wealthy.
Captain Nobel and Nemo were gyrating in place and clawing at the air. Oh Planet. Was that supposed to be some sort of rap battle?
o0o
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