War is horrifically expensive in many ways, and being offered everything you really want on a silver platter makes the governments enforcing a peaceful occupation a ludicrously cheap and enticing alternative.
You paint the allied races as monolithic factions. They aren't. It's not so much about majorities but about minorities(*). And politics.
(*) I hope that more people are willing to agree to an end of atrocies than insisting on commiting their own brand of them.
There's a very definite chance that if the Shiplords say "we unconditionally surrender", then a large-enough fraction of the galaxy will reply with "Thanks. Now hold still as we kill you all."
That's the dynamic that could cause even many of the awakened ancients to go along with the genocide. Self-defence.
A happy ending here would require not just that the Shiplords lose, but that some implausibly Buddha-like species takes the lead in all subsequent matters to do with them.
I disagree with your later posts: if this happened, then the recently-awakened and other Shiplords who offered that surrender would be justified in defending themselves from the genocidal war you are suggesting would happen.
(I also am taking your assessment of probabilities with a grain of salt, because Amanda exists. And probably would be able to lead a large portion of Humanity 2.0 in objecting strenuously to murdering all Shiplords.)
I disagree with your later posts: if this happened, then the recently-awakened and other Shiplords who offered that surrender would be justified in defending themselves from the genocidal war you are suggesting would happen.
(I also am taking your assessment of probabilities with a grain of salt, because Amanda exists. And probably would be able to lead a large portion of Humanity 2.0 in objecting strenuously to murdering all Shiplords.)
you know something really nice about reading this arc...
It's not that the Shiplords are a complicated adversary. It's not even that you can understand them if not agree with them.
It's that the first victim of the despair the Shiplords have sought to shroud the galaxy in was themselves.
And that's just... very Mahou Shoujo, in the older versions of the genre, before the sparkly transformations and flashy fight scenes. But, more than that...
Ah. I don't have the right words to express it. So I'll just leave it at, I like this.
And that's just... very Mahou Shoujo, in the older versions of the genre, before the sparkly transformations and flashy fight scenes. But, more than that...
"They really built these things to last, didn't they." It was, you reflected, quite unfair that half of the group with you could tell that it was a rhetorical question. But you were a little bored, even surrounded by so many new and alien things. You'd had an entire day to categorise all of that at this point, and you couldn't really afford to lower your thinking speed whilst you were down on the planet. There be all the time you'd ever wish for to be amazed by all the differences and similarities that life on the Consolat homeworld had to that on Earth. Later.
And making sure that you'd get to have that later was why all of you were here in Shiplord territory in the first place. And why you, Elil and Mir were carefully scouting the outer bunkers of the Consolat Archive for access points. You'd found several of them so far, but all of them had been determined unsafe by one or both of the Potentials with you.
"They did," Elil agreed. The Insight-Focused paused in his steps to examine another featureless section of the dark, featureless ceramic that seemed to make up the entire complex. "I imagine Mary will be fascinated by the materials the Consolat used, though she'll have to make do with scanner readings instead of samples."
"Yeah," you sighed, tracing the fingers of one hand along the smooth surface. "Mom's gonna be sad about that. But nothing for it, what with how lousy with nanotech the whole thing seems to be." You shot a glance at Mir, trying not to look sullen. Really.
"You know the limits of what we can do, Iris," he replied, not for the first time. "And I know you understand why we can't risk the possibility of discovery."
"I do." You grinned. "But it's something to do until you find me an access point I can actually use." A pause, and Mir opened his mouth to point out that- "That I can use to get us inside," you corrected. Elil had found more than one data access that both the Potentials with you had judged to be safe, but none of them had been connected to physical access points that held up to the same scrutiny.
"Well," Elil murmured, stepping back from the section he'd been checking. "Mir, take a look at this? Might be onto a winner."
"Oh?" The younger of the two Potentials advanced past you with Unison-guided agility until he could reach out and touch the bunker's surface. The silver of his protective Masque left no imprints on the unmarred surface, but that wasn't what the connection was for. Though it was still strange to you how much information those like him, like one of your own mothers, could draw from such a simple action.
And yet, discounting the still troublesomely veiled mechanics of their abilities, was that ability so strange? You were already searching with low power wireless and extremely restrained active sensors to isolate the access point for this section. Reaching out with senses that to you were as natural as taste or smell had become since the creation of your avatar. And getting results, just as Elil had to find this place. And as Mir did, but a few moments later.
"I think," he murmured, swaying in place for a moment. "This feels right. Iris?"
"I can breach this one?" Maybe you were a little too excited about finally being able to do what you'd been sent along with the two guys to do. But maybe not.
Mir smiled, very slightly. "I believe so." There was a pause, like he was considering something else to say, but it passed. That was nice. It gave you a few seconds to isolate the data access, reconfigure your transceiver to mate with its I/O feeds… And connect.
Trying to describe how you actually interacted with cyberspace to someone who'd spent their entire life restricted to meatspace was an exercise in tortured metaphor at best. The people who you'd found to understand it best had all been Potentials, with the exception of Vision. And it made sense, if you thought about it. Potentials had their own unique connection to sensations and interaction points quite beyond the physical.
Every system had its own affectations, a way of evoking a sense of a place that never showed up in a data structure. This one, more than anything, felt old. Not the old of a ruin, though. It reminded you of old libraries, thick with the scent of old books and dry, dry dust. It made you want to be careful in how you moved, lest you disturb anything, and you didn't mean security protocols. Just the dust.
So instead of walking, you swam. Air was still air, but you weren't merely matter in this example. You let that air lift your data-self and flowed down the paths it opened, fluttering between the walls and shelves. Each one was a priceless trove, tempting beyond description, but trying to access them from here might draw attention. If not from the bars and lights that stood ready, even now, then from the dust.
It didn't properly describe the steady work of breaking through security protocols, the cold, steady logic of unravelling and cracking your way through the code structures to open the door that Elil had found. But that was your perception. And in this, as so many things, those were all that mattered.
It took you almost an entire minute, but you were taking your time, making sure that everything was done right. Given what you knew about the Midnight Dreaming's passengers, taking chances wasn't on the agenda unless absolutely necessary. A section of the bunker wall simply melted away in front of the three of you, and you contented yourself with a smug smile instead of stepping inside. There were a few more checks that the others had to do before you could get inside.
Five more minutes passed before you could set foot inside the bunker. Your trio exited the passage you'd created onto a walkway above a cavernous chamber, stretching down and filled with softly humming towers of black material. The air was surprisingly cool given the thermal emissions of those towers, no doubt the result of a highly capable atmospheric control system. Looking left and right, you saw that the walkway you were on didn't actually continue very far, extruded from the internal walls in response to your presence.
You considered that for a moment. How did they move down, then? You could feel the leashed power cycling through what you could only assume were one part of the Archive's vast databanks. It was intimidating to look at. The capacity of even humanity's modern data infrastructure would make a single room like this capable of holding an impossibly vast amount of information. How much had the Consolat tried to leave behind?
"Only one way for us to find out," you murmured, taking another step forward. The responsive extension was seamless, and looking closer, you could see the subtle influence of energy supporting the matter beneath your feet. It was not a thick layer. What else could it do?
Which had the same answer as before, really. Try to find out.
"You alright, Iris?" Elil asked. That dark-skinned man had kept pace with you, and his sharp eyes were flicking between the server towers.
"A little frustrated," you replied, brushing a hand through the space where a railing would've been on a human walkway. It all brought up so many questions. "But nothing important. I don't think we actually need to go any further. There are physical access points on the towers, but we're here to scout, not take a full snapshot."
"And a good thing too," Mir noted. You both looked at the Peace Focused, and you saw Elil stiffen as he saw the tension in the younger Potential. He shook his head. "Nothing critical, Elil, not yet. But there's a limit on how long we can stay here. Couldn't tell you exactly why, but it's there. Iris? How much time do you need?"
"There's general wireless access," you reported. "It's secured, but it seems more focused on keeping the data intact rather than keeping anyone out. If I tried to delete or change anything, it would lock me out. I'm not sure how it would react to copying, but I also," you trailed off, taking in the room again with another searching glance.
"My own storage is barely a fraction of what this place must be able to hold, and we can't risk a wireless link to the Magi." You glanced down, unhappy with the admission's implications. "If we want what's in here, it's going to need more time than we have, and far more computing capacity than your Unisons and I have at our disposal."
The two men looked between each other, before Elil sighed. "You're talking about a hard link, aren't you."
You nodded. "It's the only thing that will work, assuming these towers are even close to capacity. And even that might be a strain. We still don't know the limits of Consolat technology. This site will be capable of analysis using its own processing capacity, but anything major will be something that other users can detect."
Or more than other users, given the dataspace titan that you'd found slumbering in the star system's infospace. And then there was whatever infospace assets the Shiplord Central Intelligence component aboard the Dreaming had brought along with them. You'd dedicate some time to that, once this trip was over.
"So what can we do?" Elil asked. "It sounds like we're pretty limited here."
"We are," you agreed. "But that's a limitation on our ability to do proper data analysis, not access the data itself. I can still get into the Archive's data structure."
"Then start there, I guess," Mir suggested. Halfway through, the smile you'd been meaning to toss his way aborted to a pained hiss.
"It's okay," you said, very quickly. "I'm alright. Nothing saw me. I just…I was already starting whilst we were talking. And I found a…problem. It was pretty obvious once I had time to look at the data structure."
"What sort of problem?" Elil asked carefully. Practice rippled around the Insight-Focused, focused power (heh) ready to be unleashed. "Is it something we need to worry about right now?"
"Not right now," you hedged, feeling out the edges of what you'd found. "But it's going to make a hardlink even more critical to get anything meaningful out of this place. And I think…I think it explains why the Teel'sanha gave up."
You paused, focusing on the infospace that the Archive had given you access to, searching for the right words to explain it. Your companions let you, thankfully. You could multitask, but…
"It's going to be easier to just show you this," you sighed. There were a lot of words that could be applied, but none of them fit. And you didn't have to be so limited. "May I?
Links opened, a sign of agreement without any words required, and you reached out through them. What you offered wasn't a real image of the data structure of the vast archive, but it came close enough. Elil gasped in shocked recognition before Mir, but then his Focus was better suited for this. And it wasn't as if the other Potential was far behind.
"This," Elil murmured, his tone aghast and yet…something else was there in his tone. You put it out of your mind for now. If he'd seen something, he'd tell you.
"There's a lot to unpack even on a basic sweep," you explained, pointers of thought touching places in the shared gestalt. "But the high level summary is simple enough: this is exactly what the Dreaming's database suggested. A place designed to be a record of the Consolat. There's more of their history in these files than we could properly analyse if we spent decades here, linked to scientific and cultural databases describing things in more detail.
"The problem is that it's not the full picture." The pointers shifted, tracing a pattern of fractures and corrupted records across the image you'd conjured. "The entire data structure has been deeply fragmented, with significant sections hopelessly corrupt. And this is after work was done to try and fix it. Old enough that I don't think it could have been anyone but the Shiplords, and what we have now seems to have been the best they could do."
"I think I know why," Elil spoke into your pause, very softly. His eyes were closed, and your own sensors easily found the energy rippling around the man's soul. Communion with his Unison allowed him to directly access the data you'd shared far more directly than a visual representation, but it never stopped being impressive to watch a Unisonbound work in virtual spaces.
"The data here," he continued, absently flicking his own pointers across the structure. "It reminds of what we got back from the early attempts of Project Insight, or the even earlier attempts by other focus groups to investigate the Secrets. Even later iterations of Project Insight struggled with fragmentation issues, but the corruption here is typical of any attempt to use Practice to reach into the nature of the Secrets.
"But the current theory is that the Consolat created them," Mir said, confusion radiating through his words. "How would that make sense?"
"Miss D'reve also suggested that the Secrets are incomplete," Elil pointed out in reply. "Iris, the historical data, it's relatively intact, correct?"
"It is," you confirmed.
"Then that tracks," he said. "This place, they tried to repurpose it as they died creating their legacy. But they didn't know about the limits on data transfer across soulspace boundaries – what Insight calls it. You have to have incredibly well designed, and purpose-built facilities to handle that sort of data transfer, and we've never dared touch anything related to the Secrets even with all of Project Insight's safeguards. But Phoebe had a theory, and this might just support it.
"Large sections of this archive are just gone, corrupted by the final data transfer. I'd bet that the creation timestamps are all within a very small period, seconds at most, and even the best computers in the universe will still have mathematical limits. So when the Consolat tried to dump a…call it a manual, I guess, for the Secrets here?"
Your eyes widened. "It screwed up the database," you whispered. "Overfilled into the backup repositories because they probably yanked all the safeguards, trying to cram in as much information as they could. And all of it with them not knowing that it wouldn't work anyway. So you get this."
"Just so," Elil said heavily. His expression could've been carved from stone as he stared out at the towering server-spires, each one pulsing steadily with the flow of data. "I don't doubt that there's a huge amount of information here that we could use. A concealed hard link to let us dig into the data could be critical going forward, and I suspect that there's some things that Lea, Vega, Mandy and I can do to help fix some of the damage. Just…not any of the data corruption." He shook his head. "I wouldn't dare risk that."
"There's something else it points to as well," you said abruptly, the realisation hitting you in a flash. "Something we'll need to watch out for, in the other sites. That the Consolat might have tried to leave other things behind."
Mir grimaced. "Not to rain on any parades, but wouldn't the Shiplords have found those by now?"
"Not if finding them, or making sense of them, would require Practice," you said, hopping excitedly from foot to foot. Just like you knew mom was going to when you told her this. "We know that Consolat civilization was able to do something like what Potentials can do.
"Do you really think it's impossible that some of what they did relied on a greater understanding of the soul to understand?" You demanded. "Something that we know the Shiplords didn't share with them."
"And if that's possible," Elil said, tone shifting to reflect your own excitement. "Then that could be another reason why the Teel'sanha weren't able to find anything. For all that they were, they followed the pattern of their teachers. They got closer than the Shiplords, but not all the way."
"And we have Practice, which they never did." Mir's enthusiasm kindled more slowly, but it kindled all the same.
Until the implications of his statement registered, and the weight behind them, the weight of age that you'd felt in this place the first time you'd accessed it, smashed the mood around you flat. Because if you were right, the Shiplords had spent millions of years guiding races down entirely the wrong path to fix what the Consolat had left behind.
They'd surrendered to fear and xenophobia in the aftermath of misuse of the Secrets that a more complete understanding of them could have completely prevented. Slowly but slowly turning their civilization into a monster. All because nobody had been there with the knowledge to stop it.
What had made humanity so special?
Actions unlocked. Magi link for location unlocked and highly suggested for further investigation. Mir notes that maintaining operational security within the Archive could be a challenge, as the Shiplords there aren't looking for conflict.
This flowed much better after the interlude and some major rewrites in the direction of my process - helped out by some very lovely people who know who they are. Next update should be the last part of the turn, and will lean heavily on the report format. Thanks to my betas for checking this over for me overnight.
They'd surrendered to fear and xenophobia in the aftermath of misuse of the Secrets that a more complete understanding of them could have completely prevented. Slowly but slowly turning their civilization into a monster. All because nobody had been there with the knowledge to stop it.
Perhaps they were just that good.
//
If the last attempt of a data dump containing the 'Oops, that went wrong, try to fix this stuff: data' corrupted major parts of their data storage - what happened to their AI?
Maybe from the other direction. They seemed to be more like Sages with Singular Thought leading to a Congregation of thought, but approaching it like a Greek Forum where Bug Names would create power blocs around their Conceptual Center.
We chose a path Synergy and Synthesis with the fact we Mended things together and created the Circles to fill in the gaps and encourage cross doctrinal thought as well as an Emotional Center. We found Peace as a center where theirs might have been a Forum. And because they couldn't quite synthesis their thesis, like how you can't reconcile Diogenes and Platonic thought. So they may have crossed the threshold, but they didn't have enough hands and eyes working together to pull up this kinda contingency issues and thus the end of their intended message.
And I say all these because Dages often play at Wisdom with engaging thought. Like they probably did with the Shiplords. They would have tried to make it a message for them to learn in stead of an exchange of ideas hoping you make a better iteration. And the Shiplords physically couldn't because they can't.
And because they didn't deal with the Wifi issues they don't have anything meaningful left behind.
Maybe from the other direction. They seemed to be more like Sages with Singular Thought leading to a Congregation of thought, but approaching it like a Greek Forum where Bug Names would create power blocs around their Conceptual Center.
We chose a path Synergy and Synthesis with the fact we Mended things together and created the Circles to fill in the gaps and encourage cross doctrinal thought as well as an Emotional Center. We found Peace as a center where theirs might have been a Forum. And because they couldn't quite synthesis their thesis, like how you can't reconcile Diogenes and Platonic thought. So they may have crossed the threshold, but they didn't have enough hands and eyes working together to pull up this kinda contingency issues and thus the end of their intended message.
And I say all these because Dages often play at Wisdom with engaging thought. Like they probably did with the Shiplords. They would have tried to make it a message for them to learn in stead of an exchange of ideas hoping you make a better iteration. And the Shiplords physically couldn't because they can't.
And because they didn't deal with the Wifi issues they don't have anything meaningful left behind.
So, there's a bit of a terrifying implication with this. It had been theorized before that the Consolat hadn't realized that creating/unleashing the Secrets would result in their extinction. But this chapter seems to imply that there was a period of time where the Consolat realized they were about to die (after having started an irreversible process) and started frantically uploading as much information as they could, unaware that their data storage was wholly unequipped for the type of knowledge they wished to preserve.
What would you do if you thought you were simply conducting a revolutionary science experiment, and only after you pushed the button did you realized that you had started the countdown to the doom of your species?
If the last attempt of a data dump containing the 'Oops, that went wrong, try to fix this stuff: data' corrupted major parts of their data storage - what happened to their AI?
But this chapter seems to imply that there was a period of time where the Consolat realized they were about to die (after having started an irreversible process) and started frantically uploading as much information as they could, unaware that their data storage was wholly unequipped for the type of knowledge they wished to preserve.
Nothing I want to rely on, but it occurs to me that we're in so deep that if the Shiplords detect us, their first assumption isn't going to be "intruders", it's going to be "the Consolat systems are doing something unexpected, what did we Shiplords do to trigger that?"
Additional thought: what exactly were the Consolat defending against when they set up all the defenses in this system?
Nothing I want to rely on, but it occurs to me that we're in so deep that if the Shiplords detect us, their first assumption isn't going to be "intruders", it's going to be "the Consolat systems are doing something unexpected, what did we Shiplords do to trigger that?"
Additional thought: what exactly were the Consolat defending against when they set up all the defenses in this system?
They were about to give everyone FTL. And they had planned for a proper database on their very important work. If they didn't have defenses made earlier, they presumably felt it was sensible to build them for the sake of protecting what they aimed to create. They clearly underestimated some of their consequences, but presumably they anticipated stuff might get a little wild if they were thinking it through.
But it's also worth noting that they seemingly decided not to loop the Shiplords in on what they were doing. And we've learned some about how the Shiplords felt about the Consolat… but there's still a lot to learn about the Consolat, their culture, their approach to the universe, their relationship with the Shiplords and other possible species, and so on. "Why the defenses" is an important part of the larger question of who these people were and what they thought they were doing for what reason. With the practical follow up question of "what DID they do?" being one of the main reasons for the visit here.
If I'm getting his post right, which I may not be because while I use fringe philosophy as well it is a very broad and wonky space to be in, basically the Consolat created the Secrets by accident.
They were intentionally trying to create the First Secret and needed the other seven as a means of defining it as a Construct, but because they approached the entire process as a skyscraper where the goal was to reach a certain height instead of a building a full on city with the logistical support to have a skyscraper within when something went wrong and they were used by the construction process itself they had no safety net to fall back on and while the Cosmic Megaproject Tower they built didn't collapse it was also left incomplete all these years because their last message didn't even have enough storage to be properly recorded.
Also @Imaninjah93 what do you mean you can't reconcile Diogenes and Platonic thought? While most Platonic philosophers and most Cynics would vehemently regard the statement: the Cynical White Dog is in fact by its very definition a take on the Form of the Good. as heretical it is still correct. Especially because both of those schools of philosophy are descended from Socrates.
"So what actually was the outcome of your work with Vega?" Mary asked, sipping slowly from a mug of coffee held protectively in both hands. This was, in the end, unexpected given her usual morning routine. "You seemed happy last night, so I'm guessing something good."
She tapped a finger against the cup in her hands, artfully considerate. "Unless smiling has started to mean something else for you?"
"Oh hush," you groused. Your own hands were occupied with putting the finishing touches on the report you'd spent most of the previous night putting together, two slices of toast laying untouched on a plate by your elbow. Sidra had kept you from dipping the joint of your arm in butter this morning, but it had been a close run thing.
"Sooo?" Mary asked after a sip of her precious ambrosia. You glowered at her again, but it probably wouldn't have worked even if you'd been serious. Threat so repulsed, Mary set her mug down on the table and set to spreading a layer of jam over one of your slices of toast.
"It was very good news, actually," you said a few minutes later. The toast had been a much needed reprieve from the virtual display that still hung above the table. For now, though, it had been swung to one side. You'd make sure it was ready before the next major planning session this morning, but not right now.
"We weren't sure it would go this smoothly, especially with all the unknowns from using Practice here." It had been a major concern, in fact. "But it also needed to be done if we're going to do that with any regularity, beyond what Mir and Elil used on their excursion. If we're going to understand what actually happened here, especially fast enough to matter, it's going to rely entirely on Practice."
"Oh," you added, as if you'd forgotten. "And you."
"I'm glad you remembered," Mary said, smiling dangerously. "I have my own news, too, and I'd hate for you to miss out. Details, please."
Was it strange, you wondered. For it to be so easy to slip back into those gentle, teasing patterns even here. Perhaps. Or maybe it would be strange to lose them, habits that had endured half a century, to a change of scenery.
"Then I suppose it's only fair," you agreed, putting the question aside for now. A final bite vanished the remains of your toast, and you flicked the report closed for now, clearing the space around you.
Mary raised an eyebrow. "You don't need it?" She asked, nodding to where the text had been hanging.
"Not particularly." You waved a hand dismissively. You'd written that report because you had to, because it would help others. You didn't need any words on a page to explain what you and Vega had done.
"I'm the only human so far who has experienced a Reverie." Better to start at the beginning. "Who has actually connected to…well I'm still not sure if it's a memory of a soul or the actual soul of one long gone. The implications of the second one," you shook your head. "There's just too much there for right now.
"But there's a similarity between that and what you, Kalilah and Lea did aboard the Adamant," Mary didn't, quite, ask. But you nodded all the same.
"Yes." One hand traced a line between you and the brunette across the table. "And with what you, Vega and I did, all those years ago on Earth. The challenge here was working out a way to use those experiences here, and for that the Reverie was our best option."
And if not for Sidra's existence, you admitted quietly, something that might well have been impossible. It had been their ability to perfectly access your memories that had allowed the four of you – Vega, you and both your Unisons – to succeed.
:You don't need to say thank you again,: Sidra preempted, their voice quietly amused. :Though I suppose you will anyway.:
:I'm sure of it,: you sent, with utter sincerity. All in a single moment between words.
"And yes." You ducked your head, nodding. "You were right about my smile meaning something good. With the Unison's ability to access those memories, to relive them and study them in ways I'm not sure I can properly explain, we were able to build a model of how we believe the connection works. It was surprisingly simple, actually."
"Really?" Mary raised her other eyebrow, green eyes bright beneath them. "You only did that once, Mandy. Even with perfect memory, it gave you that much of a blueprint?"
"It surprised us too," you admitted. The discovery had actually shocked all of you. "But what Lorelli and I did, during Second Contact, it wasn't a normal connection. Not the way that their species interact with it, at least. What we created was a way to bridge the gap between the souls of entirely different species, and I wrote more than one report on that subject after I came back."
"You did," she nodded slowly. "You always were curious about the potential of that connection, what it could mean if you had the chance to take it further."
"And I was always unable to do so," you sighed. That had been frustrating at the time, but it had been a little thing, tiny compared to the weight of responsibility on your shoulders as co-head of the Arcadia Institute. "But here and now, we need it. There was always a blueprint, or something like one, in the memory of the connection, but it wasn't until I investigated it properly – with someone else to watch – that we realised how complete it truly was.
"And with that." You shook your head. "It was easy. What the Consolat left behind isn't the same as another soul; what Kalilah and I found with Lea's help told us that. But it's still a construct in that space, if the term really applies. All we really had to do once we had the Marionette blueprint was tweak it a little."
"And you've tested it?" Mary asked. Of course that would be her first question.
"Well, no," you chuckled. "We're not quite that insane, Mary. Neither of us think that using this in earnest would be obvious, but what do we know? This place is uncharted territory, in more than one way. No, if we're going to use this, it'll be at one of the places that Mir found. And, preferably, with Vega there to stop it all exploding into a Miracle that nothing could hide."
"Well, I can't say I'm happy to hear you'll be relying on an untested technique," your friend sighed. "But I can see your reasoning. Just, do be careful when the time comes, alright?"
You caught her hand, interlacing fingers in a casual motion of closeness as your blue eyes met her green. "I'll be careful," you told her firmly. "I promise."
You weren't sure if you'd ever stop having to tell her that, but if that was a cost of your friendship, you'd accept it gladly. For now, you tried to steer the conversation away from the sudden grimness.
"What was your news?" The look Mary shot you in response to the question made it very clear that she knew what you were doing. But she didn't push back on it, either. Simply taking up the thread as speaker.
"It's actually about our daughter's work this time," she said, with a bittersweet smile. "My own's still progressing, and I think I'm starting to run out of new data to slot in. Hopefully we can get some more in the coming days. There's only so many times I can want to try and make an incomplete picture fit."
"I'll see what we can do to help with that." You'd shared that frustration enough times to know how truly awful it could be to encounter. Your early work to understand your Void Crystal came to mind. "Is the concern here about the data Iris found, Mary? Or the implications?"
"More the second one," Mary grimaced, eyes darkening with concern. Your daughter hadn't been entirely herself since her excursion to the Consolat Archive, and once you'd had time to dig into the limited data found there it wasn't hard to work out why. The damage to the Archive's data, and underlying data structure, had been significant. And if that damage had been repeated across active systems, or even those connected to the repository, it painted a grim picture for any Consolat AI active at the time.
It could certainly explain why only the system guardian AI was still around, if all of the others had been corrupted by the enormous data-dump the Consolat had tried to execute in their last moments.
But it could also have been something else. There was no way to be sure, and the way it was driving your daughter to distraction wasn't healthy. Worse, she knew it, but pulling away from the worst scenario was proving a struggle. And for your daughter, truly burying herself in her work was a near-impossibility.
She'd certainly tried, of course. But the Magi seed had been designed to create a research base, and its data processing capacity was at least a match for the Lagless core of the Adamant. And that was why her report on the data she'd gathered from the Midnight Dreaming's data core had hit your datafeeds last night.
It had been a good report, impressing both of you. But it had also been a full day ahead of schedule, and that had implications that not even the Magi's increased processor capacity could answer. It meant that Iris was deliberately trying to avoid the possibility that was haunting her in one of the worst ways possible.
And maybe not just that fear, given the final section of the report, covering the few details of the team from Central Intelligence that had taken over a section of the Shiplord exploration vessel. There wasn't a great deal of direct information there, but it did make you glad that the decision had been made to look into this information before trying to breach the ship's more guarded infospace.
Central Intelligence had sent a team of its best, together with the highest level of Shiplord AI that anyone in your intel team had ever heard of. It was, Iris alleged, still possible to breach the Central Intelligence archives, but it would require significantly more preparation. And likely the same sort of support that you and Mary had given her when she'd suborned the system AI of the Fifth Sorrow.
You looked up from the table, over at the connecting door to the suite she'd taken next to the one you and Mary shared. You weren't entirely sure you wanted to do that to Iris, at least not right now. And you were…confident, at least, that this wasn't just your parental instincts talking.
"You know," you said slowly, still looking at the door. "I'm pretty sure she never locked us out. And we're still her family."
"Are you sure?" Mary wasn't asking the question an observer would think.
"She's an adult, I know." Yet your body was already moving, coming to your feet. Mary matched you, perhaps a second behind "But we all need help sometimes."
The hope had been that she'd have joined you today. That you could have talked about the pain haunting her footsteps and thoughts. There was a meeting in a few hours, and you'd have to present a report there, much like Mary. But somehow none of it really mattered, as you reached the door a half-step ahead of your dearest friend.
You glanced back at her, questioningly silently. Were you right to do this? Yet was it really a question. Someone you loved was hurting. You could help. And, above all, there was that single principle that you'd touched on, but never quite said.
"She'll never not be our daughter," you murmured, and palmed the door open.
Refinement proceeds smoothly, despite the potential dangers of doing so on the Origin itself. Vega and Amanda now know the technique, and will proliferate it to their Heartcircle for next turn. Your Harmonic Choir will learn the technique over the course of the next 1d4[1] (why do I bother) turns. Outcome complete.
Full detail of interest points accessed. Quarters actions altered. Underpinned remains in progress. More data required? Iris comforted.
Got a lock on the start to this chapter on the 18th, when the initial plan had been for it to be a report-style section. Amanda and Mary disagreed with me and I am powerless to stop them. This was the result, and almost all of it was written this evening. This brings this second turn to an end. I really hope I can make the next one move faster, and I may compress some things further to do so going forward. I don't want to spend 3-4 months on average on a turn when you have quite a few to go.
Many thanks to my betas for their prompt help tonight in getting this checked. Next update will be a turn-post. I am deliberately not adding a vote here to see if you're staying on the Consolat homeworld as my assumption at this point is that you are intending to do so. The option will always be available, but I have a feeling that you're not going to use it until I give you a reason to do so. So until then, it will probably be left out of things as an option separate from the turn-post itself.
The conference room at the top of the completed Magi was quiet. The reports had all been given, and now all those people who would have to choose what would follow sat around a shining table, faced with choice. The vista around them was beautiful and still too new to be ignored. A meadow stretching to a nearby treeline, full of flowers and those things that survived from their offerings. Achingly similar to Earth, to the home that you'd left behind months ago now. Yet also different, and all the more beautiful for that diversity.
The discussion hadn't taken long by the clock, though at least a minute had been spent recognising the change to the youngest person at the table. Iris, the first daughter of humanity, had come to the chamber with both her mothers in hand, and a small smile on her face. Time well spent, despite whatever detrimental effect it might have had on your report about the work you'd done with Vega on unravelling Reverie techniques. In the end, what mattered was that you'd succeeded.
The true point of interest was certain parts of Iris' report, the sections dedicated to each of the locations that Elil had pinpointed. Four places, each of great importance, and from where you were sitting you could see one of them. The spire was impossible to miss, towering above the skyline to your nominal northwest, and that was only the physical. There was an impossible presence to the structure, a solemn power that never truly intruded into your perceptions, but could also never be entirely ignored.
That was where it had happened. Whatever the Consolat had done to create the Secrets, it had been there. And the entire structure still resonated with the ancient echoes of that monumental act. Was that part of the building? The act? Some combination? Sadly, all the Shiplord directories had to say about the structure was less than promising. The structure's core remained sealed and entirely unresponsive, despite the growing number of breaches from intrusive flora, finally starting to show success after aeons of failed attempts.
And yet, part of you yearned to find out what was hidden there, locked behind the unyielding walls.
The other locations, though? They had more promise. Jane had still strongly suggested that you conduct your own explorations, but the information from the Midnight Dreaming gave you much more to go on.
The forest? Wasn't a forest. It was a vast computer and living archive. There were references to the interface demanding understanding in exchange for access, something that Shiplord scientists haven't been able to ever provide beyond the most basic levels. From what little attached data existed, however, Mary had a theory. This, she thought, might be an archive created by the Consolat for their own research into Practice. Maybe even early development of the Secrets.
The reason it wasn't used to store the data found in the Consolat Archive might also be the reason that the data there appeared intact. The entire archive was disconnected from the planetary datanet.
The Archive, well, what was found there went hand in hand with the summaries Iris found within the Dreaming's database. The Shiplords spent a great deal of time repairing the systems of the archive, but even their most powerful AIs proved incapable of fixing the data within. Practice could almost certainly repair much of that damage, but action on that scale would be impossible to miss. Especially as there's currently a full Shiplord research team down in the Archive.
From what Iris found, they were looking for details on what the Consolat were beginning to learn to use before the creation of the Secrets. What humanity calls Practice, and the Consolat called Shaping. It was a very young field by the standards of the species at the time of their death, unfortunately. And the Shiplords had found little success in that pursuit.
Though even with the damage, there remained a vast amount of information within those endless databanks. Some of it, much of it, was information you might need. You still knew so little about the Consolat, and the repositories at the Archive held the answers to many of those questions.
Finally, there was the location that had been identified in the report as an ancient university. A place of learning, with no specific focus that explained its importance. The only thing that the Shiplord survey sweeps had reported about the location during their desperate search for any sign of their lost friends was a somewhat above average degree of damage to the site's computers. Reading the date line for that report had made you feel very small.
You have Six (6) AP and One (1) Research (Mary) AP to assign, each representing a dice of effort. Unless otherwise specified, there is no limit to the number of AP you can assign to a given task. Some actions may require specific talents or characters to complete - this will be noted in the action text.
Exploration - Direct exploration of the Origin system, based on The Adamant's location in-system. The Adamant is currently in shuttle range of the Consolat homeworld, hidden in the mass shadow of a near-world asteroid.
[] Quarters - Send or lead a team to investigate one of the four points of interest on the planet below. You must specify which characters are sent to which location.
-[] Immaculate Evergreens - An enormous computer in the form of a forest, located in the outskirts of one of the Consolat's cities. The interface, apparently, requires proof of understanding to grant access. [Mary or Iris recommended]
-[] Crumbling Halls - A sprawling and mildly overgrown university complex, settled a comfortable distance from any Consolat cities. Computer systems show atypical damage. No other data. [Mary and at least one Mender recommended]
-[-] Occupied Archive - The Consolat Archive, so named by the Dreaming's files, is a cluster of heavily shielded bunkers. Contains a vast amount of heavily damaged data left behind by the Consolat, but is also the only location on the planet with a Shiplord presence. [COMPLETE]
-[] Last Spire - A towering construct at the centre of a city thoroughly invested by fauna, and quite possibly the heart of the entire system's echoing presence in your senses. It may be possible to directly interface with the echoes of the Consolat's creation and death here. Currently locked down. [Mandy required, Vega and Mary recommended]
[] Delving - Beyond the initial exploration of the Quarters actions, this will involve far more dedicated focus to a specific area. Thanks to your access to the archives of the Midnight Dreaming, this can be executed on any site immediately, but there are potentially downsides to investing this much in a location without a cursory survey. Select a location from the Quarters list when taking this action, and assign characters as normal.
Only one Delving action can be taken per turn, and you must assign at least 2 AP to the action.
Investigation - At-a-distance exploration of the Origin system. Generally not location dependent.
[] Matrix Webs - The system's datasphere appears to be nominally accessible, but any exploration of the systems is judged to have two requirements. First, that Iris is involved at some level. And second, that any exploration is done with extreme care, given how dangerous the Consolat system AI is likely to be. [Requires Iris]
[] Breach at Midnight - The Dreaming is not just a civilian craft. There is a section within the ship, repurposed to host a team from Shiplord Central Intelligence. It would be extremely risky, but it might be possible to breach its firewalls to discover what sent them here. [Requires Iris]
[] Heart's Caution - Vega has found a way to invert the techniques that first brought her to your attention. Teaching this to the Harmonic Choir would require more work refining the technique, but she could pass it onto you and the rest of the Heartcircle. [Requires Vega]
*New* [] You still have very little knowledge of who the Consolat really were. Delve into the functional history and culture repositories of the Consolat Archive, so that you might understand.
[] Write in?
Research - Theoretical examination of not just factors present here in the Origin, but far beyond. Your Research AP must be assigned to one of these tasks, but additional AP may also be used.
[] Underpinned - With a solid proof now in hand of who created the Secrets, Mary wants to continue her work on understanding how the Consolat actually did it. This could well prove crucial in the weeks to come. [+129 rollover to second stage research]
[] VIsions in the Jump - You saw a glimpse of the place where you met Tahkel when jumping to the Fourth Sorrow, and it had two figures there, one of them who looked human. Try to work out how that happened, and how to reach back to that place without requiring another jump. [Requires Amanda]
[] Practised Restraint - Vega was able to find a way to an understanding of Practiced Miracles that allowed her to trigger them with a level of regularity that was a little intimidating. She's offered to try and see if she can reverse the process. Not something you ever thought you'd need before now, but it should be possible. [+4 rollover to second stage research]
[] Write in?
*New* Development - Deployment and expansion of current Trailblazer-package outposts. May prove vital for certain tasks going forward, depending on requirements. These actions will deplete the Adamant's mass bunker, which is currently at 70 + 5 = 75% as a result of passive harvesting.
[] Blazing a Trail - Establish a Trailblazer-package outpost at one of several landing points on the planet, allowing for longer term habitation and direct access to the planet's major interest points.
-[] Outline location and type of outpost here. See sidebar.
[] Level Terrain - The Trailblazer Seeds were, by nature, modular. Expand your current Trailblazer outpost to support further systems. Will open a subvote.
[] Magi Link - Construct and lay a hardlink from the Magi to the Consolat Archive, allowing for easier access to the data and potentially opening up new actions.
You may also pick Two (2) Personal Actions. These will have limited mechanical effect on their own, but can synergise with AP actions.
[] Spend some time with your family. This will be a balm to you all.
[] Relax and train with your Heartcircle. Keeping your edge in combat sharp is more important now than it ever was. And it's good to share time together.
[] Dedicate personal time to learn the Restraint techniques pioneered by Vega.
[] Go for a walk through the city of the Spire. It won't be going inside, but maybe it will help you understand the depth of power resonating from the place.
[] Write in?
Short narrative section, but I don't think much more was needed. Many thanks to betas again for their looking at things. Any questions and stuff, ping me. And remember, plan voting please.
-[] Immaculate Evergreens - An enormous computer in the form of a forest, located in the outskirts of one of the Consolat's cities. The interface, apparently, requires proof of understanding to grant access. [Mary or Iris recommended]
