GiovanniBlasini
Transhumanist Nutcase from Niops IX
- Location
- San Diego, CA, USA, Sol III
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Either way, that was a hell of a good job on that section, Hiver.
Rifts
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
30
Jhita stared at the screen for a long moment after the last recording shut down, her antenna slowly moving in thought before she said what I had been thinking. "What the fuck?"
I flicked my ear where I was standing with my avatar next to her in her lab, nodding. "That's... very strange. It made it sound like Surak was leading an army. Like they nuked a city. That never happened, he spread his message with apprentices and messengers. Vulcan turned to his thinking over time, peacefully."
Jhita rubbed her nose. "Could it be a fabrication? Ivy, run an analysis on the data."
"I have been, but it's so old and fragmented... I think it's genuine."
"This... if this is true, it puts a whole new spin on the history of Vulcan." Jhita said and licked her lips. "Wow. I have heard the saying that history is written by the victors, but..."
I shook my head. "Keep in mind that this was most definitely recorded by enemies of the Vulcan government and it sounded like they didn't have all the information.. I bet that if you are a... Klingon, you can make Jovians sound like evil AIs working to take control of the Federation pretty easily. Especially if you take things out of context."
Jhita looked up at me in surprise. "You mean you aren't?"
Sticking my tongue out at her, I continued: "Though... this was not meant for propaganda. These were personal logs. These people really believed this."
"What else can you find in the data we salvaged?"
I sighed and crossed my arms. "Not a whole lot that's useful. Fragmentary system files... I have the flightpath, at least, it lead from Vulcan on a differing path and then ending up here. Seems like they managed to climb out of the gas giant only to have an equipment malfunction. Their only chance was to try to set down on this moon or crash back into the gas giant."
I knew what that felt like. But it seemed that they had worse luck.
Jhita sighed and leaned back in her chair. "This is going to cause big waves on Vulcan. If they are able to find any evidence to support this... wow."
A thousand years of history changed. From a people stopping their warring ways and instead working together with logic and understanding to...
A stable world built on the blood of those who wouldn't see things their way. But from what we found in the Romulan files, this didn't match that either. Then again, they also lost all their technology for a while after arriving on Romulus. They could have forgotten too.
This was in the past. A lot of people were dead, but... it was a long time ago. What would happen if this really came to light? If it became known and somehow verified?
It could cause a massive upset in Vulcan society. They could start to doubt Surak's teachings.
How would it make T'Ro feel?
What was more, I had a responsibility to the Jovian Gathering. Right now, Vulcan was politically on our side, not only on the Council but in general. We were working quite closely with the Vulcan Science Council on a number of projects.
How would releasing this information affect that and the political balance in the sector? Either it wasn't accepted as truth and the release could be seen as an attack on the Vulcan culture or... it was believed and could cause widespread problems.
"Jhita..." I slowly said. "We need to delete this data."
"What!?" She exclaimed and span around in her chair. "This is valuable information about the past of Vulcan!"
"Yes... but nothing good can come of it. All it would do would be to rip open old, long healed wounds. No matter what Vulcan was like in the past, now they are a peaceful people. All this would do is to cause trouble."
The Andorian frowned up at me. "Ivy, I'm not hearing this. This is the truth, don't they deserve to know it?"
"If it's the truth. It's fragmentary files and a limited perspective from a hostile point of view."
Getting up, she poked my chest. "Stop that right now. This is their History. Their past, this is where they come from. Ugly or beautiful, peace or war... they deserve to know it. It's not your call to make, is it?"
I hesitated.
What was worse was that she was right. They did deserve to know what was in that databank. They deserved to collect their dead. But was it really the right thing to do? It was the easy thing to do.
Hide the truth and keep the peace or give them the truth and possibly cause problems.
I slowly sighed and leaned back against the console. "...There are moments like this when I wish I had a Captain. Someone else to make the difficult decisions." I admitted after a moment. "What's the right thing to do?"
Jhita shook her head and licked her lips before she shrugged. "...I'm not sure. But I do know that they deserve to know. It has to be the right thing to do. But I know this much, if you delete that data, you can drop me off at the next civilized planet. I don't want anything more to do with this if you do."
"Jhita... You know I can't..."
"I know. Just letting you know."
I crossed my arms with a frown. "...You are right. It's not up to me to decide. There are five Vulcan crew members on board. I'm asking them to join us here so that they can review the data. They can decide what to do and vote on it. I think that's the best we can do."
She frowned at my avatar before she finally nodded in agreement. "...I guess you may be right. Why don't you want this released?"
"I have to think about the political climate. I have a responsibility to you and everyone else on board. To the Gathering as a whole and the Federation."
"Even if it means hiding the truth? Hide the sacrifices of these people as they searched for their new homeworld? Away from the killing? Even if their people became the Romulans..."
"Even then." I said quietly. "They deserve better. But the universe is rarely fair. And sometimes we have to look out for the living, not the dead. No matter how much the fallen deserve to be remembered."
The Andorian fell silent at that.
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I flicked my ear where I was standing with my avatar next to her in her lab, nodding. "That's... very strange. It made it sound like Surak was leading an army. Like they nuked a city. That never happened, he spread his message with apprentices and messengers. Vulcan turned to his thinking over time, peacefully."
Jhita rubbed her nose. "Could it be a fabrication? Ivy, run an analysis on the data."
"I have been, but it's so old and fragmented... I think it's genuine."
"This... if this is true, it puts a whole new spin on the history of Vulcan." Jhita said and licked her lips. "Wow. I have heard the saying that history is written by the victors, but..."
I shook my head. "Keep in mind that this was most definitely recorded by enemies of the Vulcan government and it sounded like they didn't have all the information.. I bet that if you are a... Klingon, you can make Jovians sound like evil AIs working to take control of the Federation pretty easily. Especially if you take things out of context."
Jhita looked up at me in surprise. "You mean you aren't?"
Sticking my tongue out at her, I continued: "Though... this was not meant for propaganda. These were personal logs. These people really believed this."
"What else can you find in the data we salvaged?"
I sighed and crossed my arms. "Not a whole lot that's useful. Fragmentary system files... I have the flightpath, at least, it lead from Vulcan on a differing path and then ending up here. Seems like they managed to climb out of the gas giant only to have an equipment malfunction. Their only chance was to try to set down on this moon or crash back into the gas giant."
I knew what that felt like. But it seemed that they had worse luck.
Jhita sighed and leaned back in her chair. "This is going to cause big waves on Vulcan. If they are able to find any evidence to support this... wow."
A thousand years of history changed. From a people stopping their warring ways and instead working together with logic and understanding to...
A stable world built on the blood of those who wouldn't see things their way. But from what we found in the Romulan files, this didn't match that either. Then again, they also lost all their technology for a while after arriving on Romulus. They could have forgotten too.
This was in the past. A lot of people were dead, but... it was a long time ago. What would happen if this really came to light? If it became known and somehow verified?
It could cause a massive upset in Vulcan society. They could start to doubt Surak's teachings.
How would it make T'Ro feel?
What was more, I had a responsibility to the Jovian Gathering. Right now, Vulcan was politically on our side, not only on the Council but in general. We were working quite closely with the Vulcan Science Council on a number of projects.
How would releasing this information affect that and the political balance in the sector? Either it wasn't accepted as truth and the release could be seen as an attack on the Vulcan culture or... it was believed and could cause widespread problems.
"Jhita..." I slowly said. "We need to delete this data."
"What!?" She exclaimed and span around in her chair. "This is valuable information about the past of Vulcan!"
"Yes... but nothing good can come of it. All it would do would be to rip open old, long healed wounds. No matter what Vulcan was like in the past, now they are a peaceful people. All this would do is to cause trouble."
The Andorian frowned up at me. "Ivy, I'm not hearing this. This is the truth, don't they deserve to know it?"
"If it's the truth. It's fragmentary files and a limited perspective from a hostile point of view."
Getting up, she poked my chest. "Stop that right now. This is their History. Their past, this is where they come from. Ugly or beautiful, peace or war... they deserve to know it. It's not your call to make, is it?"
I hesitated.
What was worse was that she was right. They did deserve to know what was in that databank. They deserved to collect their dead. But was it really the right thing to do? It was the easy thing to do.
Hide the truth and keep the peace or give them the truth and possibly cause problems.
I slowly sighed and leaned back against the console. "...There are moments like this when I wish I had a Captain. Someone else to make the difficult decisions." I admitted after a moment. "What's the right thing to do?"
Jhita shook her head and licked her lips before she shrugged. "...I'm not sure. But I do know that they deserve to know. It has to be the right thing to do. But I know this much, if you delete that data, you can drop me off at the next civilized planet. I don't want anything more to do with this if you do."
"Jhita... You know I can't..."
"I know. Just letting you know."
I crossed my arms with a frown. "...You are right. It's not up to me to decide. There are five Vulcan crew members on board. I'm asking them to join us here so that they can review the data. They can decide what to do and vote on it. I think that's the best we can do."
She frowned at my avatar before she finally nodded in agreement. "...I guess you may be right. Why don't you want this released?"
"I have to think about the political climate. I have a responsibility to you and everyone else on board. To the Gathering as a whole and the Federation."
"Even if it means hiding the truth? Hide the sacrifices of these people as they searched for their new homeworld? Away from the killing? Even if their people became the Romulans..."
"Even then." I said quietly. "They deserve better. But the universe is rarely fair. And sometimes we have to look out for the living, not the dead. No matter how much the fallen deserve to be remembered."
The Andorian fell silent at that.
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
I support Jhita in this argument. Enforced ignorance in favour of preserving a status quo is just as bad as mind controlling an entire population.
- Location
- Oz
It does seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill. If the Vulcans are going to lose their shit over this then they really aren't Vulcans. It is a couple of millennia old data fragments from some proto-Romulan refugees. Who were fleeing from the loss of a planet wide ideological revolution. Who birthed a culture so full paranoia and doublethink that it eventually auto-Darwinated.
Encrypt the mission files with a one-time pad and send it back to New Jupiter. The Gathering can forward it to Starfleet.
Encrypt the mission files with a one-time pad and send it back to New Jupiter. The Gathering can forward it to Starfleet.
- Location
- Pale Blue Dot
Stupid way to go about this: Send it to news-outlets all over the place without supporting evidence and present it in as inflamatory ways as possible.
Smart way to go about this: Use the system. Send it discreetely through proper channels.
The actual political problem here is not that the information is explosive. That happens all the time. The actual political problem here is that the ship is that taking the ship and all data to Vulcan is an affront to the Romulan people. Because it's one of their ships, with people from their shared pasts who had declared for Romulan cause.
As we all know Romulans are peaceful and thoughtful people who could not possibly take such an affront personally.
Hiding stuff like this just makes the Jovians actual villains in this story. Stuff gets out, sooner or later. There is such a thing as Vulcan high command. There is such a thing as 'highly qualified Vulcans' onboard. If those five start screaming and try to kill each other immediately after hearing this, reconsider, but otherwise? Take it to Vulcan command or Vulcan Archeologists (those guys handle explosive truths now and then), and let them handle it. That way, the data can be checked, doublecheked, then if true it can be spread in non-explosive ways.
Just hiding the info is basically to give the Romulans the perfect ammunition to destabilize Vulcan and show the evils of Jovian AI's. It might make for drama, and show why hiding stuff is risky business indeed, but also show a very not-wise AI. That may be the point, of course.
Smart way to go about this: Use the system. Send it discreetely through proper channels.
The actual political problem here is not that the information is explosive. That happens all the time. The actual political problem here is that the ship is that taking the ship and all data to Vulcan is an affront to the Romulan people. Because it's one of their ships, with people from their shared pasts who had declared for Romulan cause.
As we all know Romulans are peaceful and thoughtful people who could not possibly take such an affront personally.
Hiding stuff like this just makes the Jovians actual villains in this story. Stuff gets out, sooner or later. There is such a thing as Vulcan high command. There is such a thing as 'highly qualified Vulcans' onboard. If those five start screaming and try to kill each other immediately after hearing this, reconsider, but otherwise? Take it to Vulcan command or Vulcan Archeologists (those guys handle explosive truths now and then), and let them handle it. That way, the data can be checked, doublecheked, then if true it can be spread in non-explosive ways.
Just hiding the info is basically to give the Romulans the perfect ammunition to destabilize Vulcan and show the evils of Jovian AI's. It might make for drama, and show why hiding stuff is risky business indeed, but also show a very not-wise AI. That may be the point, of course.
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
What romulans? They're all dead, remember? Taking it to Vulcan is the only... logical... choice left, because there is nowhere else left for it to go.
And that line of logic, protecting people from truth for their own good, is how the most corrupt tyrannies are formed. Remember the voyager episode with the dinosaur scientist finding the origins of his people? Most insightful moment in voyager I think is when Jokata offered an alternative presentation of 'the truth' than the interpretation of the dinosaur government.
Give the information directly to the Vulcan government. Let them handle it goes they want. They are grown ups. They can handle unpleasant revelations of history.
Give the information directly to the Vulcan government. Let them handle it goes they want. They are grown ups. They can handle unpleasant revelations of history.
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Kevin Mackey
Dea Imperator
- Location
- Holy of Holies
It's not a Vulcan vessel it's Romulan. Therefore it should be given to the remnant of the empire wherever it is they reside.
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
What part of 'THE ROMULANS ARE GONE' do you not understand? They're all dead. The ones who were at the embassy pretty much psychologically collapsed and mostly committed suicide. There is no remnant of the empire. All gone, buh-bye, none left.
Kevin Mackey
Dea Imperator
- Location
- Holy of Holies
I suppose I could be wrong but I was under the impression that though the romulan empire, and all occupants of it during the heretic war, were dead and gone there still existed some small population scattered throughout the rest of the galaxy. It is to this diaspora that the ship rightfully belongs.
And if as you say I'm wrong and there are no meaningful populations of Romulans in existence then the wreck is property of the Jovians as its discoverers since it emphatically is not Vulcan.
There are some Romulans left, but they are basicly all refugees, they have no territory of their own. Even if they wanted to claim the former territory of the Romulan Empire, they can't hold it, either from hostile neighbors or from the Berzerker remnants still wandering that region.
Kevin Mackey
Dea Imperator
- Location
- Holy of Holies
Right. I'm not saying they'd hold the planets of the empire nor have a claim to them, save perhaps Romulus itself. Only that they would be the cultural inheritors of Romulan society and thus the heirs to this destroyed vessel and its data.
31
It was the middle of ship night and the mess hall was empty. The kitchen was closed, but of course the replicator was still open for anyone that wanted it.
My avatar was the only one there as I flew through space towards the closest subspace relay to get in range to transmit the information of the crashed ship and all the data we had collected from the find. All of it directly to the Vulcan science council, to Circle and to Memory Alpha, the Federation's largest data library.
I crossed the arms of my avatar as I leaned back on the couch. This was... I was still undecided, but crewmen T'lov, Marrik, Kerm, Tov'ok and Leset had all voted after reviewing the information. Four to one to transmit it to Vulcan.
To quote Marrik, "To know is always better than to not."
I couldn't argue that he was wrong. But I still couldn't make up my mind about what I would have done if I was the only one making the decision. What was best? What was right? Were they even the same thing?
I had even gone as far as disconnecting my aeroshuttles and my avatar from my main instance and spent a couple of hours literally arguing with myself about it before I rejoined again.
That didn't mean I was any closer to finding a definite answer. Maybe there wasn't one. Maybe there was just one that was less wrong. But damned if I could see which it was.
Maybe I was just too dumb. I mean, not like I was any smarter than an intelligent human. I just thought faster and made it look like I was smarter. I also had the main computer helping out for pure fact checks and such.
None of which helped here, no matter how many ethics books I read.
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' was an old Vulcan saying. The dead people here were the few... and so were the Romulans right now. Vulcan was the many.
But that didn't mean it was the right thing to do, to erase the evidence. It sounded great until you ended up being one of those few... the tyranny of the majority. There was a reason democracies had protections built in for minorities.
I opened the doors as Drake reached them on his way to the replicator before he paused in surprise when he spotted my avatar, "Ivy? What are you doing here? With the lights off?"
"I felt like sitting in the dark. I was in a dark sitting mood," I sighed and turned the lights up. "Sorry if I startled you."
"You didn't. Are you okay?" he asked as he ignored the replicator and walked over to sit down next to my avatar.
"Me? I'm fine. Just... unsure."
"Ah. The data from the Vulcan ship," he said and nodded. "Yeah, I saw it. If that's true, that'll be one hell of a mindfuck for Vulcan."
"Yeah."
"And you are still unsure if we are doing the right thing returning it?"
I didn't say anything as I ran my sensors through space all around. I let the silence drag out for almost five seconds before I spoke up, "I was... so sure I was doing the right thing once. When I intercepted those nukes and broke the Prime Directive against the orders of my Captain. I KNEW it was the right thing to do. How could it not be? Now... now I'm about to not stop discord, but cause it. Even if they manage to verify this or at least enough of it to prove or disprove it, it's going to have some sort of negative consequences. It's like the subspace weapon, Drake. I don't know what the right thing is. I think it is to give the information to Vulcan. It's rightly theirs, but..."
He shifted and put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him, resting my head against his shoulder.
"Ivy... ignore all possible political consequences. There is no way for anyone to know the future, not really. Not for us. Sometimes you have to put your faith in the Prophets. You just have to do what you think is right and trust that everything will work out."
I didn't say anything for a minute before I sighed, "I don't have your faith, Ken."
"Doesn't have to be in the Prophets, silly ship," he said with a smile. "Faith is faith. No matter if it's in your friends, some sort of higher power or in this case, the Vulcan people. They are strong and are going to look at this like they do all things. Logically."
He had a good point. The Vulcan people were strong and whatever they were, it was not emotional. They may reject the evidence as false, but they wouldn't overreact no matter what they decided about it.
"You may be right. But what do you think I should do?"
"I think they deserve to know," he said and shrugged. "Won't be easy if it turns out Surak was... well... not what their history says he was. But they will have the truth. These people don't deserve to be forgotten."
"They really don't," I agreed with a sigh.
But even so, I was torn. We were going to release the information, that was already decided. But was it the right thing to do?
...Screw it. I was just going in logic loops here like some kind of badly programmed VI. I was taking the option that would let me metaphorically sleep at night. Drake was right. I was not my job to look after the Vulcan people. I was a science ship and my first responsibility was to keep my crew safe. Soon after that was the truth.
That was my mission. Gather data, discover information, find out the truth of things. If that truth made some people uncomfortable, then so be it. Hiding it away just because it could hurt someone's feelings was wrong. Hell, thinking about it like that, if the Federation hid that our creator also made the Berserkers from us I would be fucking pissed and with good reason.
"Drake... thank you," I said quietly with a smile, "I think I needed that and you are right. The truth may be a dangerous thing, but it is rarely the wrong thing," I said and shifted to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for helping me sort things out. You really are my best friend."
"...You're welcome, Ivy," he said with a small smile before I rested my head against his shoulder again. We stayed like that for a long time.
It was nice.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
My avatar was the only one there as I flew through space towards the closest subspace relay to get in range to transmit the information of the crashed ship and all the data we had collected from the find. All of it directly to the Vulcan science council, to Circle and to Memory Alpha, the Federation's largest data library.
I crossed the arms of my avatar as I leaned back on the couch. This was... I was still undecided, but crewmen T'lov, Marrik, Kerm, Tov'ok and Leset had all voted after reviewing the information. Four to one to transmit it to Vulcan.
To quote Marrik, "To know is always better than to not."
I couldn't argue that he was wrong. But I still couldn't make up my mind about what I would have done if I was the only one making the decision. What was best? What was right? Were they even the same thing?
I had even gone as far as disconnecting my aeroshuttles and my avatar from my main instance and spent a couple of hours literally arguing with myself about it before I rejoined again.
That didn't mean I was any closer to finding a definite answer. Maybe there wasn't one. Maybe there was just one that was less wrong. But damned if I could see which it was.
Maybe I was just too dumb. I mean, not like I was any smarter than an intelligent human. I just thought faster and made it look like I was smarter. I also had the main computer helping out for pure fact checks and such.
None of which helped here, no matter how many ethics books I read.
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' was an old Vulcan saying. The dead people here were the few... and so were the Romulans right now. Vulcan was the many.
But that didn't mean it was the right thing to do, to erase the evidence. It sounded great until you ended up being one of those few... the tyranny of the majority. There was a reason democracies had protections built in for minorities.
I opened the doors as Drake reached them on his way to the replicator before he paused in surprise when he spotted my avatar, "Ivy? What are you doing here? With the lights off?"
"I felt like sitting in the dark. I was in a dark sitting mood," I sighed and turned the lights up. "Sorry if I startled you."
"You didn't. Are you okay?" he asked as he ignored the replicator and walked over to sit down next to my avatar.
"Me? I'm fine. Just... unsure."
"Ah. The data from the Vulcan ship," he said and nodded. "Yeah, I saw it. If that's true, that'll be one hell of a mindfuck for Vulcan."
"Yeah."
"And you are still unsure if we are doing the right thing returning it?"
I didn't say anything as I ran my sensors through space all around. I let the silence drag out for almost five seconds before I spoke up, "I was... so sure I was doing the right thing once. When I intercepted those nukes and broke the Prime Directive against the orders of my Captain. I KNEW it was the right thing to do. How could it not be? Now... now I'm about to not stop discord, but cause it. Even if they manage to verify this or at least enough of it to prove or disprove it, it's going to have some sort of negative consequences. It's like the subspace weapon, Drake. I don't know what the right thing is. I think it is to give the information to Vulcan. It's rightly theirs, but..."
He shifted and put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him, resting my head against his shoulder.
"Ivy... ignore all possible political consequences. There is no way for anyone to know the future, not really. Not for us. Sometimes you have to put your faith in the Prophets. You just have to do what you think is right and trust that everything will work out."
I didn't say anything for a minute before I sighed, "I don't have your faith, Ken."
"Doesn't have to be in the Prophets, silly ship," he said with a smile. "Faith is faith. No matter if it's in your friends, some sort of higher power or in this case, the Vulcan people. They are strong and are going to look at this like they do all things. Logically."
He had a good point. The Vulcan people were strong and whatever they were, it was not emotional. They may reject the evidence as false, but they wouldn't overreact no matter what they decided about it.
"You may be right. But what do you think I should do?"
"I think they deserve to know," he said and shrugged. "Won't be easy if it turns out Surak was... well... not what their history says he was. But they will have the truth. These people don't deserve to be forgotten."
"They really don't," I agreed with a sigh.
But even so, I was torn. We were going to release the information, that was already decided. But was it the right thing to do?
...Screw it. I was just going in logic loops here like some kind of badly programmed VI. I was taking the option that would let me metaphorically sleep at night. Drake was right. I was not my job to look after the Vulcan people. I was a science ship and my first responsibility was to keep my crew safe. Soon after that was the truth.
That was my mission. Gather data, discover information, find out the truth of things. If that truth made some people uncomfortable, then so be it. Hiding it away just because it could hurt someone's feelings was wrong. Hell, thinking about it like that, if the Federation hid that our creator also made the Berserkers from us I would be fucking pissed and with good reason.
"Drake... thank you," I said quietly with a smile, "I think I needed that and you are right. The truth may be a dangerous thing, but it is rarely the wrong thing," I said and shifted to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for helping me sort things out. You really are my best friend."
"...You're welcome, Ivy," he said with a small smile before I rested my head against his shoulder again. We stayed like that for a long time.
It was nice.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Last edited:
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
Really?Welp.... this is embarrassing....
- Pronouns
- she/her
Ahem.
The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth!
Scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth!
It is the guiding principal upon which Starfleet is based!
And if you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth,
You don't deserve to wear that uniform!
This is becoming a speech.
You're the Captain, Sir. You're entitled.
Hmm. Not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise
The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth!
Scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth!
It is the guiding principal upon which Starfleet is based!
And if you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth,
You don't deserve to wear that uniform!
This is becoming a speech.
You're the Captain, Sir. You're entitled.
Hmm. Not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise
- Location
- Pale Blue Dot
Interesting detail is that this back-and-forth is now also history. The Jovian AI that found explosive history, went 'Ooops', thought about it, let the Vulcan crewmembers vote about whether they thought their people could handle the truth, and then followed said vote.
And that is perhaps quite a bit more important than thousand years old history.
And that is perhaps quite a bit more important than thousand years old history.
32
As soon as I transmitted the location of the crashed ship and the database we collected from it to the Vulcan science council and everyone else that deserved a copy, I turned right around and headed back out of range again.
Because I sent a copy to Circle and I felt like he might yell at me if I was still in comm range once he had reviewed it. Because that stuff could potentially be political nitroglycerine. As much as I hated to cause Gates more stress than he is already dealing with, it was something I needed to do.
I had to trust the Vulcan people to be able to handle it even if the information did turn out to be true.
I had to dare to see the world for what it could be, not just for what for what it was. The Borg, the Berzerkers, the Tholians, the Dominion... everything that has gone horribly wrong since I was brought out of the sim.
No more. I refused to allow any of it to dictate what I did or thought anymore. Fuck all of it, things could be so much better than this and nothing would ever get there if you didn't dare imagine how much better things could be.
Things didn't need to be like this! We could be so much better.
I did a slow roll as I hurled through space at six and a half thousand times the speed of light. It felt good to stretch my field for a while even if this was nowhere near my absolute flank speed, I could push over twice this for thirteen hours if I didn't mind needing new warp coils at the end of it. Still, this was faster than was efficient.
But right now, I didn't care. I had not strained my engines since the first tests around New Jupiter. I didn't dare push it up to maximum warp though. Merilyn would be pissed if I put that kind of strain on my systems without due cause.
Hmm. That nebula has an unusual level of zinc in it. Relaying findings to astrometrics labs and logging for future reference.
Hmm. Deuterium tanks is at a negative collection rate. Reconfiguring bussard collectors to increase input. Shifting course five point six degrees towards a path of slightly higher density of hydrogen per cubic kilometer.
Hydrogen collection rate is back in positive numbers.
Those actions were just part of thousands, tens of thousands I was doing every second of every day and night. The most powerful sensors I had ever had swept space, studying distant astronomical phenomena.
I was holding a total of a hundred and eleven conversations, running diagnostics of all shipboard systems, running two separate tactical simulations, organizing all hundred and fifty one drones on board and helping a six year old girl find her way back to her parents.
I'm pretty kitty lady.
This was me. This was what I was meant to be. We were literally made for this existence. This was why we were not a thousand times smarter than the normal human. We were made to think faster and more things at once, not better.
Until we could find a way to do that without compromising this, this was what we were. And it was glorious.
I felt a bit bad, actually, for my biological friends. They had no idea what it was like. Not really. They couldn't understand, they just couldn't. They knew I could think faster and do more than one thing at once, but they... they just didn't understand.
It's not that they were stupid, they were not. I have met quite a few people that were outright smarter than me unless I cheated and used my increased clock speed. Like T'Ro.
If I kept my clock speed matching hers, she outthought me seven times out of ten. We had played enough chess to make that one perfectly clear.
But they didn't have the experience, the... the point of reference needed. But just because they didn't understand, didn't mean I thought less of them or loved them any less. If anything, I respected them even more.
Such limited senses, such limited ways of thinking. Only able to think of one thing at a time and biological beings evolved, grew, died and advanced. Further and further. From sticks and fire to warp drives and antimatter. They figured it all out. Including how to create and build us.
Being more didn't always mean being better. Sometimes being more just meant being different. But differences was what the Federation was built on.
Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
And sometimes it really meant being better. I have yet to find another species that was better at controlling a starship. Of course, we were literally made for it so I doubted it would happen either unless we found a better AI species.
There was just a joy in flying, to feel my warp field bend the very fabric of the universe around me.
That black hole is having an unusually slow rotation speed. Relaying findings to astrometrics lab two.
"Hmmm..." I said and looked at my friends from my screen. "That's a 23. The Ogre doesn't seem to notice your approach at first but then he spins around at the last moment and roars! He swings for you with his big wooden mace. Everyone roll for initiative. Sparks, rolling to hit against your AC."
The girl groaned, "Damn it! I was sure I could do it."
"Great job, Sparks," Richard 'Ri' Thoreau complained. "Now they will all know we are here. I told you that I should have polymorphed him."
"My stealth skill is crazy high! It should have worked!"
The third member of their little group reached for the dice and rolled. "Twelve," Tuvek said, the Vulcan shaking his head. "The odds was on Sparks' side on this, Ri. The Ogres in this region have a high magic resistance due to the arcane energies."
"See!" Sparks said and redid her ponytail before she sighed, "Get on with it."
I flicked my ears, "As the ogre starts to move, you dodge backwards at once, the mace just missing you, but it was close enough that you could feel the wind of it passing against your face."
"Awesome," she said and rolled her dice, "Initiative... 1!? You have to be kidding!"
"He must have freaked you out," Ri chuckled and scooped the dice up to roll. "17. I go first then. Okay... uhm... Magic resistant, so I use my telekinesis spell and throw the daggers I have in my belt at him."
I grinned at him, "Roll against...."
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Because I sent a copy to Circle and I felt like he might yell at me if I was still in comm range once he had reviewed it. Because that stuff could potentially be political nitroglycerine. As much as I hated to cause Gates more stress than he is already dealing with, it was something I needed to do.
I had to trust the Vulcan people to be able to handle it even if the information did turn out to be true.
I had to dare to see the world for what it could be, not just for what for what it was. The Borg, the Berzerkers, the Tholians, the Dominion... everything that has gone horribly wrong since I was brought out of the sim.
No more. I refused to allow any of it to dictate what I did or thought anymore. Fuck all of it, things could be so much better than this and nothing would ever get there if you didn't dare imagine how much better things could be.
Things didn't need to be like this! We could be so much better.
I did a slow roll as I hurled through space at six and a half thousand times the speed of light. It felt good to stretch my field for a while even if this was nowhere near my absolute flank speed, I could push over twice this for thirteen hours if I didn't mind needing new warp coils at the end of it. Still, this was faster than was efficient.
But right now, I didn't care. I had not strained my engines since the first tests around New Jupiter. I didn't dare push it up to maximum warp though. Merilyn would be pissed if I put that kind of strain on my systems without due cause.
Hmm. That nebula has an unusual level of zinc in it. Relaying findings to astrometrics labs and logging for future reference.
Hmm. Deuterium tanks is at a negative collection rate. Reconfiguring bussard collectors to increase input. Shifting course five point six degrees towards a path of slightly higher density of hydrogen per cubic kilometer.
Hydrogen collection rate is back in positive numbers.
Those actions were just part of thousands, tens of thousands I was doing every second of every day and night. The most powerful sensors I had ever had swept space, studying distant astronomical phenomena.
I was holding a total of a hundred and eleven conversations, running diagnostics of all shipboard systems, running two separate tactical simulations, organizing all hundred and fifty one drones on board and helping a six year old girl find her way back to her parents.
I'm pretty kitty lady.
This was me. This was what I was meant to be. We were literally made for this existence. This was why we were not a thousand times smarter than the normal human. We were made to think faster and more things at once, not better.
Until we could find a way to do that without compromising this, this was what we were. And it was glorious.
I felt a bit bad, actually, for my biological friends. They had no idea what it was like. Not really. They couldn't understand, they just couldn't. They knew I could think faster and do more than one thing at once, but they... they just didn't understand.
It's not that they were stupid, they were not. I have met quite a few people that were outright smarter than me unless I cheated and used my increased clock speed. Like T'Ro.
If I kept my clock speed matching hers, she outthought me seven times out of ten. We had played enough chess to make that one perfectly clear.
But they didn't have the experience, the... the point of reference needed. But just because they didn't understand, didn't mean I thought less of them or loved them any less. If anything, I respected them even more.
Such limited senses, such limited ways of thinking. Only able to think of one thing at a time and biological beings evolved, grew, died and advanced. Further and further. From sticks and fire to warp drives and antimatter. They figured it all out. Including how to create and build us.
Being more didn't always mean being better. Sometimes being more just meant being different. But differences was what the Federation was built on.
Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
And sometimes it really meant being better. I have yet to find another species that was better at controlling a starship. Of course, we were literally made for it so I doubted it would happen either unless we found a better AI species.
There was just a joy in flying, to feel my warp field bend the very fabric of the universe around me.
That black hole is having an unusually slow rotation speed. Relaying findings to astrometrics lab two.
"Hmmm..." I said and looked at my friends from my screen. "That's a 23. The Ogre doesn't seem to notice your approach at first but then he spins around at the last moment and roars! He swings for you with his big wooden mace. Everyone roll for initiative. Sparks, rolling to hit against your AC."
The girl groaned, "Damn it! I was sure I could do it."
"Great job, Sparks," Richard 'Ri' Thoreau complained. "Now they will all know we are here. I told you that I should have polymorphed him."
"My stealth skill is crazy high! It should have worked!"
The third member of their little group reached for the dice and rolled. "Twelve," Tuvek said, the Vulcan shaking his head. "The odds was on Sparks' side on this, Ri. The Ogres in this region have a high magic resistance due to the arcane energies."
"See!" Sparks said and redid her ponytail before she sighed, "Get on with it."
I flicked my ears, "As the ogre starts to move, you dodge backwards at once, the mace just missing you, but it was close enough that you could feel the wind of it passing against your face."
"Awesome," she said and rolled her dice, "Initiative... 1!? You have to be kidding!"
"He must have freaked you out," Ri chuckled and scooped the dice up to roll. "17. I go first then. Okay... uhm... Magic resistant, so I use my telekinesis spell and throw the daggers I have in my belt at him."
I grinned at him, "Roll against...."
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Last edited:
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
What sort of messed-up future D&D is this? Attacker rolls against AC, not defender.
This is not how AC works. The Ogre rolls a d20 to hit, and adds its attack bonus, and if that total meets or exceeds Spark's character's AC, then the attack hits (I assume this is a D&D equivalent).
Edit: Ninja'd
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
Urgh.... I am a disgrace to betas all over... *hangs head in shame*
You are quite correct. I'll fix it later.
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Unless they're using THAC0, but THAC0 was weird and convoluted, and the attacker still rolled.
There are other systems where one would roll Dodge to avoid getting hit after the attacker rolls, but almost all of them are classless systems. And I don't care how smart Ivy is, she's not making any edition of the Palladium system playable without extensive house-ruling.