Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
It's funny, actually. You're so damn close, and yet so far.
The Practice War [Complete]
- Thread starter Snowfire
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
It's funny, actually. You're so damn close, and yet so far.
No.
Lea, a Mender, attempted to Heal the Medicament cruiser to death; didn't trigger this reaction.
Besides, that would require that they recognize Amanda's Focus from seeing her do other things.
Not that I put it past the SLs, but it has to be vastly more difficult to do at a distance of lightseconds at someone they can't even see, on an active battlefield with hundreds of Unisonbound and other Practice users.
Other theory is that Practice is a literal path to ascension to godhood, a path someone/thing the Shiplords revere walked long ago, and Speaking is an extremely important stepstone on this way.
Shiplords are trying, and failing, to ascend for uncounted millenia, and now a new race is stealing their fire.
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Close.
But if my suspicions are right, the whole golden glow was some of them Ascending. And we don't see them attempting to stop races that want to become Uninvolved.
Besides, their attitude was outrage, not jealousy.
Missing something.
What if it's not their god they're emulating, but their teacher?
Remember, the void presences refer to them as the lost ones. It could well be they are one of several races that were raised/taught by a race that has moved on, and later had a schism about doctrine?
Something fundamental like the Protestant/Catholicism schism about faith and works. Only it came to blows, the Puritans won, and get to impose their way of doing things on all the younger races.
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- Location
- Somewhere out there
That was my guess too but I feel like there was a comment made at some point that said that wasn't it. I can't remember for sure now.
It's been mentioned before that the process of becoming Uninvolved requires at least a majority, if not all, of a species:
It's not something you can do on your own...
Except, hm, I wonder how much the Shiplords have truly integrated the Second Secret? It's possible that each Tribute Fleet has altered their own genetics to the point where that Fleet, as individuals, are different enough that just that Fleet can choose to become Uninvolved by itself, without having to involve the rest of the wider Shiplord species/society. It could be that they're "cheating the system" in a somewhat subtly different way than the Dragons did when they took a few humans with them, thereby linking humanity as a whole to whatever power that gives them the ability to Practice.
- Location
- Somewhere out there
While this is possible, the construct for becoming Uninvolved only manifests when a sufficient majority of souls get together, so it seems extremely unlikely that those left behind could later choose to ascend again.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
... depends on whether or not they can get help from those that did ascend before them. We should ask the mostly Uninvolved around ...
One other thing worth considering is that only the vast majority of a species needs to go through with the Uninvolved process.
With the existence of the Second Secret, it shouldn't take many individuals remaining to be theoretically capable of slowly rebuilding the population.
Minimum number of individuals needed for sufficient genetic diversity should be pretty small when you've got full mastery of the Second Secret.
With the existence of the Second Secret, it shouldn't take many individuals remaining to be theoretically capable of slowly rebuilding the population.
Minimum number of individuals needed for sufficient genetic diversity should be pretty small when you've got full mastery of the Second Secret.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I'm pretty sure that's the exact opposite of reality. The second secret allows you to work with genes, sure enough, but it's black-box technology that can be used without the user fully understanding what they're doing. You need to look no further than our ability to use it for AI, without being able to build non-biological AI, for evidence of that.
For the most part the point is moot, but a species that fully understood the genome -- and had all attendant knowledge -- should be able to do that even without the second secret.
Unless of course there's soul shenanigans that say no to trying to turn yourself into Adam.
- Location
- Peterborough, NH, USA
Hey, speaking of Second Secret tinkering. Anybody else wonder if the Shiplords are the Dragons to a race that had Practice and this whole mess is some kind of FFXIII-esque attempt to get the Creator to come back by screwing things up enough? Like, something along the lines of 'Uninvolve enough races and they'll come back just to get away from the crowding!' might be their goal. Wouldn't explain their tendency to blow up races that fail too hard or piss them off by ignoring their edicts, but it would explain their problems with Second Secret tech.
I'm pretty sure that everything we know about Secrets suggests otherwise.
Cracking a Secret means you understand it's principles. You may not understand it's advanced applications, but the foundational principles are yours. We see Kendl mention this offhand in Second Contact 7.
It didn't get much better from there. Medical technology on a par with some of the most advanced Sixth Secret devices you knew of, an integrated medical nanotech that you suspected was very similar to what the Community had first used to create the Sanctity modules. Weapons systems clearly operating off of Fifth Secret principles, yet built without any understanding of them. A highly illuminating and slightly terrifying brief on the actions of the enhanced Potentials known as the Two Twenty Three in humanity's last clash with the Shiplords. An organisation that Envoy Hawk had apparently founded, whilst acting as a leader for the star system. And who was also, according to the logs, personally responsible for the complete annihilation of a Medicament-class Logistics cruiser.
The problem with creating sapient life, I think,whether AI or bioform, is that they come with souls.
And souls take off on their own self-directed tangents.
Turn 19 - Tinker, Mender, Weaver, Spy
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
November 27th, 2124
"How does it still not make sense?" You asked flatly, though not unkindly, as if stuck waiting for a punchline that never came. "We built it together, how do we both not know what it is?" Your friend's eyes stared back into yours, their usually comforting dark green somehow off. You'd seen Mary puzzled by her work before, challenged even, but confused? Truly and without recourse? You could count the times you'd seen that on one hand. You wouldn't need many fingers either.
"I don't know, Mandy," she sighed, the sound a heavy thing of only slightly detached frustration. "I just don't know." You'd been working together on this for months, becoming steadily more frustrated with your inability to penetrate the mystery of the artefact's creation. You'd tried when you were younger, of course, but you'd been younger then, with all the impetuousness that implied and the scientific instruments of a humanity still struggling to recover everything it had lost. Over the year you'd thrown every scientific test and analysis either of you could think of at the strange and featureless blackbody crystal. And it had remained as steadfastly resistant to them as it'd been the last time you'd tried.
From there, your methods had become steadily more esoteric. The way it shed any attempt to damage it without a scratch led to you acquiring a sheet of Inviolate Matter to place next to the tiny crystal, to see if either would destabilise. Neither did. Direct use of Practice in a variety of ways followed, culminating with Words of Truth and Insight, spoken upon yourself instead of the item and combined with the Mender's Eye. And here you were again, with nothing. A muffled giggle from the other side of the room reminded you, oh so helpfully, that that statement wasn't quite true. You didn't have nothing. This time you had a hysterically giggling daughter, apparently amused beyond words at her the shared inability of her parents to work out how something you'd both made decades ago worked.
She was, supposedly, working on her own projects in the lab and it was highly unlikely that you'd be able to prove that she wasn't. That didn't stop the feeling that she was working at the same time as the two of you most of the time just to see what you came up with next. Now, as she heard you both admit defeat, that giggling, which was really only intermittent, not continuous, stopped short. Mary looked over, your own gaze following hers, to find a truly unusual sight. Iris, your daughter, staring at you in slack-jawed shock. Naturally, you had Sidra save the image immediately.
"What is it, Iris?" The delay meant Mary beat you to the punch.
"It's just, I've never seen you both give up on something before." Your daughter shook her head, sending her curls of iridescent black tumbling. "You've always been able to find something that you can use next time, even if it's tiny." Those words would probably have sparked your irritation into outright anger had they come from anyone but Iris. But you understood the question when it came from her, at least a little. In the next moment, you were standing beside your daughter, and in the one after that you had wrapped your arms around her. Her body was still growing, but she was big enough now to be hard to lift without the help of your Unison Platform. There came the sound of quick footsteps and you freed one arm to let Mary into the hug. She'd understood too, if a bit later. Iris simply let it happen, maybe a bit confused, but still revelling in the simple expression of love.
"We're not infallible, Iris," you murmured warmly an indeterminate amount of time later, giving her one last squeeze before stepping back. "You can look at any history book and know that, we've made our mistakes. But," touched a gentle finger to her lips before she could speak, "I think we understand. You thought this was a game for us, trying to beat the other. Friendly competition, right?"
"Yeah," she nodded again, some energy springing back into her voice. "I know you're not flawless, but this sort of work is such a shared passion for you. Seeing you," she broke off and Mary reached out, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Seeing us fail," she finished for Iris.
"Not just that," A much smaller hand covered Mary's, squeezing it. "It's you giving up, you seemed so confident that you'd find something just a few months ago. I know you've tried to understand this before, and failed then, but it's different to see it, you know?"
"We do," you both said, in the same breath, startling a laugh from your child. You shared a glance with Mary, who nodded faintly, and kept talking, leading with a question. "What have you been doing down here this year?" It was a poor way to change the topic, but there was true curiosity in the question. Iris had just laughed and shook her head when you'd asked at first, leaving you and Mary limited to scouring the inventory lists to try and see what she was doing.
"That's not fair," Iris muttered, lips twisting into an adolescent scowl. "It's meant to be a surprise! And don't ask who for, you did that last time." It was all you could do to not laugh at the scolding tone. Not for it being there, but why. Mary did laugh, the sound a soothing one after the heavy emotion that had filled the room moments before, and her hand moved up to ruffle Iris' hair. Her lips twitched, but she didn't pull away.
"Alright," you said, raising your hands in acceptance of defeat…and also victory. "But you know, we didn't fail at everything, sweetie." That was an understatement. The year had been one of considerable success, even if nothing concrete had come from most of the other projects you'd been working on. They were somewhat drowned out by your last conversations with the Contact Fleet, months ago now. That had been harder than you'd expected, but it had also been worth it.
On an equally personal level to the current failure, you'd made considerable progress in the other matter you'd been working on. Trying to understand the web of links between your race was difficult, trying to translate it into something more grounded than instinct had pushed you to your limits. But only to them, not past, and you'd found the memory of the Reverie you shared with Lorelli a surprising help in the process. Seeing something like what you were trying to find in another's species had given you context in a way you hadn't thought possible, and that showed in the progress you'd made.
You'd found a delicate elegance to links as you'd started to break them down into something that made more sense, something you could put onto a page and not get a look of blank confusion from Mary and a gentle request that you try to write it again. It had taken weeks, the days stolen across the months between Arcadia and other tasks of varying interests, but you'd done it. You weren't done, but the majority of what remained was simply pulling together everything you'd found and hammering it all into a picture that would make sense to someone that wasn't Mary. You'd need her help with that, but she'd already made it clear you'd get it. The thoughts left you listless for a moment, the thread of conversation lost, and you saw the smirk that vanished so quickly from your friend's face as she realised what had happened.
"How about we go out for dinner tonight," she suggested, and you shot her a warm look for filling the space before Iris could drift back to where the conversation had begun. "There's a new place above the spire, converted from the observation post that we watched the Restoration from. It's meant to have some truly spectacular views."
"It's scraping sub-orbital, mom," Iris sighed good-naturedly, but she wasn't saying no. She looked back at the terminal in front of her, then smiled. "But that sounds nice. Can we fly there?" The excitement that question still brought to her face was a treasure.
"I don't see why not." One thing followed another, after that, and it really was a good night. And yet, unknown to you, a piece of your daughter's consciousness churned steadily away on her surprise even as you ate and laughed. If you'd noticed and been able to ask, she'd have told you it was important. In the end, the truth was much more than just that.
Blackbody Mystery: 18 + 45 + 15 (Mender's Eye) = 78. Failure
The Web Between: 100 + 32 + 43 = 175 + 132 = 307/340. Natural Critical reroll: 32!
"How does it still not make sense?" You asked flatly, though not unkindly, as if stuck waiting for a punchline that never came. "We built it together, how do we both not know what it is?" Your friend's eyes stared back into yours, their usually comforting dark green somehow off. You'd seen Mary puzzled by her work before, challenged even, but confused? Truly and without recourse? You could count the times you'd seen that on one hand. You wouldn't need many fingers either.
"I don't know, Mandy," she sighed, the sound a heavy thing of only slightly detached frustration. "I just don't know." You'd been working together on this for months, becoming steadily more frustrated with your inability to penetrate the mystery of the artefact's creation. You'd tried when you were younger, of course, but you'd been younger then, with all the impetuousness that implied and the scientific instruments of a humanity still struggling to recover everything it had lost. Over the year you'd thrown every scientific test and analysis either of you could think of at the strange and featureless blackbody crystal. And it had remained as steadfastly resistant to them as it'd been the last time you'd tried.
From there, your methods had become steadily more esoteric. The way it shed any attempt to damage it without a scratch led to you acquiring a sheet of Inviolate Matter to place next to the tiny crystal, to see if either would destabilise. Neither did. Direct use of Practice in a variety of ways followed, culminating with Words of Truth and Insight, spoken upon yourself instead of the item and combined with the Mender's Eye. And here you were again, with nothing. A muffled giggle from the other side of the room reminded you, oh so helpfully, that that statement wasn't quite true. You didn't have nothing. This time you had a hysterically giggling daughter, apparently amused beyond words at her the shared inability of her parents to work out how something you'd both made decades ago worked.
She was, supposedly, working on her own projects in the lab and it was highly unlikely that you'd be able to prove that she wasn't. That didn't stop the feeling that she was working at the same time as the two of you most of the time just to see what you came up with next. Now, as she heard you both admit defeat, that giggling, which was really only intermittent, not continuous, stopped short. Mary looked over, your own gaze following hers, to find a truly unusual sight. Iris, your daughter, staring at you in slack-jawed shock. Naturally, you had Sidra save the image immediately.
"What is it, Iris?" The delay meant Mary beat you to the punch.
"It's just, I've never seen you both give up on something before." Your daughter shook her head, sending her curls of iridescent black tumbling. "You've always been able to find something that you can use next time, even if it's tiny." Those words would probably have sparked your irritation into outright anger had they come from anyone but Iris. But you understood the question when it came from her, at least a little. In the next moment, you were standing beside your daughter, and in the one after that you had wrapped your arms around her. Her body was still growing, but she was big enough now to be hard to lift without the help of your Unison Platform. There came the sound of quick footsteps and you freed one arm to let Mary into the hug. She'd understood too, if a bit later. Iris simply let it happen, maybe a bit confused, but still revelling in the simple expression of love.
"We're not infallible, Iris," you murmured warmly an indeterminate amount of time later, giving her one last squeeze before stepping back. "You can look at any history book and know that, we've made our mistakes. But," touched a gentle finger to her lips before she could speak, "I think we understand. You thought this was a game for us, trying to beat the other. Friendly competition, right?"
"Yeah," she nodded again, some energy springing back into her voice. "I know you're not flawless, but this sort of work is such a shared passion for you. Seeing you," she broke off and Mary reached out, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Seeing us fail," she finished for Iris.
"Not just that," A much smaller hand covered Mary's, squeezing it. "It's you giving up, you seemed so confident that you'd find something just a few months ago. I know you've tried to understand this before, and failed then, but it's different to see it, you know?"
"We do," you both said, in the same breath, startling a laugh from your child. You shared a glance with Mary, who nodded faintly, and kept talking, leading with a question. "What have you been doing down here this year?" It was a poor way to change the topic, but there was true curiosity in the question. Iris had just laughed and shook her head when you'd asked at first, leaving you and Mary limited to scouring the inventory lists to try and see what she was doing.
"That's not fair," Iris muttered, lips twisting into an adolescent scowl. "It's meant to be a surprise! And don't ask who for, you did that last time." It was all you could do to not laugh at the scolding tone. Not for it being there, but why. Mary did laugh, the sound a soothing one after the heavy emotion that had filled the room moments before, and her hand moved up to ruffle Iris' hair. Her lips twitched, but she didn't pull away.
"Alright," you said, raising your hands in acceptance of defeat…and also victory. "But you know, we didn't fail at everything, sweetie." That was an understatement. The year had been one of considerable success, even if nothing concrete had come from most of the other projects you'd been working on. They were somewhat drowned out by your last conversations with the Contact Fleet, months ago now. That had been harder than you'd expected, but it had also been worth it.
On an equally personal level to the current failure, you'd made considerable progress in the other matter you'd been working on. Trying to understand the web of links between your race was difficult, trying to translate it into something more grounded than instinct had pushed you to your limits. But only to them, not past, and you'd found the memory of the Reverie you shared with Lorelli a surprising help in the process. Seeing something like what you were trying to find in another's species had given you context in a way you hadn't thought possible, and that showed in the progress you'd made.
You'd found a delicate elegance to links as you'd started to break them down into something that made more sense, something you could put onto a page and not get a look of blank confusion from Mary and a gentle request that you try to write it again. It had taken weeks, the days stolen across the months between Arcadia and other tasks of varying interests, but you'd done it. You weren't done, but the majority of what remained was simply pulling together everything you'd found and hammering it all into a picture that would make sense to someone that wasn't Mary. You'd need her help with that, but she'd already made it clear you'd get it. The thoughts left you listless for a moment, the thread of conversation lost, and you saw the smirk that vanished so quickly from your friend's face as she realised what had happened.
"How about we go out for dinner tonight," she suggested, and you shot her a warm look for filling the space before Iris could drift back to where the conversation had begun. "There's a new place above the spire, converted from the observation post that we watched the Restoration from. It's meant to have some truly spectacular views."
"It's scraping sub-orbital, mom," Iris sighed good-naturedly, but she wasn't saying no. She looked back at the terminal in front of her, then smiled. "But that sounds nice. Can we fly there?" The excitement that question still brought to her face was a treasure.
"I don't see why not." One thing followed another, after that, and it really was a good night. And yet, unknown to you, a piece of your daughter's consciousness churned steadily away on her surprise even as you ate and laughed. If you'd noticed and been able to ask, she'd have told you it was important. In the end, the truth was much more than just that.
Blackbody Mystery: 18 + 45 + 15 (Mender's Eye) = 78. Failure
The Web Between: 100 + 32 + 43 = 175 + 132 = 307/340. Natural Critical reroll: 32!
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
And here we are, final part of the turn done, and with an actual failure involved! Then again, you're trying to investigate the most challenging object you have, so that's not entirely surprising given the poor roll. The Void Crystal has a very high DC to get information out of, and is rather an all or nothing choice for investigation. Iris' reaction to the whole business was predictable in retrospect, but it was still interesting to write it all down. Also yes, your daughter is doing a Thing. You will find out what that Thing is when she tells you.
News post for the turn sometime in the next few days. I'm away from home until Monday, but that sometimes helps. We'll see which way it swings this time. Hope you enjoyed this section! Now to catch my flight.
News post for the turn sometime in the next few days. I'm away from home until Monday, but that sometimes helps. We'll see which way it swings this time. Hope you enjoyed this section! Now to catch my flight.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
The crit is why it's 175. Forgot to put in the specific.
Edit: fixed now
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LOL!
More nuanced commentary later, but watching this thing stump two of the brightest minds on Earth is genuinely hilarious.
Have a safe trip!
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- Location
- Staring into the void
Iris seeing this, makes the fail into an win for her development. Seeing the fallibility of her parents in a safe environment, and not in the thick of a chaotic war.
Got an extra "the" there.
Shook HER head?
- Location
- Somewhere out there
See the new tag on the thread: "Iris is invading the QM's mind."
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
Regarding The Void Crystal - can you please answer some questions?
1) Please confirm - are we actually capable of getting a success on this action?
2) Please clarify - are we getting any progress on the research at all, or we have to have a one-action-success? Your wording seems to imply we aren't getting any banked progress.