Life2.0 - a Broken Shackles Narrative

[CBR JGWRR]

"Back Into The Darkness, Part 10"
31st Ykrett, 6 (2183)
Naomi Of Unity​

Vopisca isn't quite dead, we managed to get her to the medical bay in time. I had to leave Daas and Vorosh to her - partially to sort my own head out, but also to clear a way for the most wanted person on Unity to get to treatment.

Vorosh approaches me at the doorway. "She is unstable, and critical. We have tied her down, she's too dangerous to operate on. It's a matter of time."

"Awake?"

"Yes. I fear that if she goes to sleep, she won't wake up." She leans in close. "Naomi, are you really sure you want her alive?"

"No. I'm not. But I want to believe that they can change."

Vorosh turns away quietly to review monitoring instruments. I walk towards our prisoner.

She is barely awake, muttering under her breath.

We grew up together. I was twelve, she was thirteen, when we first met.

She manages to look at me. She laughs, before coughing up blood. "Stupid slave."

"Is this really how you want to die?"

She smirks this time. "It amuses me. Here you are, one slave comforting a dying Olinbar, while another slave monitors my health. I take pride in that."

Insulting her parents didn't work. Different tactic this time. "I remember the way we used to make art together in the playroom."

She softens. "Life was good then." It doesn't last. "But then I learned, and I understood our places in the world. You were only ever there to serve." She's strained herself talking too much; more blood coughs up.

She looks past me, but not for long, lifting her head takes too much effort. I don't fall for it, not this time.

There's a tug on my arm. "Mum?"

"Yes Rivkah?"

"Who's this?"

Vopisca strains to lift herself up. "Mum?"

"Married, with daughter."

She tries to laugh. More blood, and a chunk of flesh. Then coughs. More chunks of lung. And more. As the coughing fit takes over, her last look is at Rivkah, and she collapses still.

Just like that, someone I once called a friend is gone from the worlds. "Good bye Vopisca. I wish it had been different."

Edit for spelling.

 

[Macavity116]

So Rivkah does get a brief face-to-face with a living Minamar. The interaction may have been brief, but first impressions are everything. This might just stick with Rivkah for the rest of her life.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Living Olinbar, but yes. Not that any of our regular cast care of course, which is why they are used interchangeably.

Heck, most of them do it deliberately.

We are almost - three planned posts, plus one additional Rivkah internal monologue - from the finish of the Back Into The Darkness series on the digsite.

It always struck me as something that would be done before the first science ship is built.

---

Edit to add - while typing up the next piece, I realised I had misremembered the spelling of Vopisca (the 'i' goes before the 's', not after) so been through correcting it.

Not that any of our characters except Naomi would care about that either really.

---

Edit 2 - another thing I've been testing is using first person perspectives for everyone, not just Rivkah. It seems to be working.

 

[HistoryDude]

Wow. Vopsica is a massive idiot here. Some people can't be changed, I guess...

Also, was that an implication that the young slaves weren't actually treated like slaves?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Nightmares"
1st Pik, 6 (2183)
Rivkah Of Unity​

I don't sleep easy that night. Nightmares of Mum turning into a Minamar, their third eye bursting out her forehead.

They are scarily close. Seeing a living one... Like, I knew they were similar from the skeletal structure, but the resemblance is disturbing. Apart from the third eye, you could be forgiven for thinking Minamar and Humans were related. I wonder which came first. Instinct says Humans, somehow. It feels more like Minamar upgraded themselves from Humans by adding the eye. Maybe skin colour too; I mean, ok I haven't seen any purple Humans, but Monica is an extremely light pink, while Mum is a darker black-brown than some trees. Li looks more yellowy. There's a lot of variance there, so maybe there are purple Humans and for whatever reason none were on the ship. Maybe the purple Humans get treated differently by the Minamar?

Vopisca...

That was what Naomi called her. And that was what Mum actually said, not the Synthesiser. It's a Human name, but really old. Like all the Minamar names actually, they're all Latin. And Latin is old enough that none of the Humans have Latin names, there's loads of derived languages instead. It could be they are some sort of spin off that retained old names for cultural reasons.

And there's the way they exploited Mum. Obviously Mum herself is a bad example, because she's perfectly happy in a marriage where Dad has his way with her when he needs to rut once every two years, which although she wouldn't say it, with her past it is a relief for her. But other Humans have much more frequent sex, they have no mating season. Even doing it not for reproduction. It isn't difficult to extrapolate that known Human behaviour, and add it to the Minamar superiority complex, it is easy to see that Minamar enjoy the exploitation of Human women.

I wish I could get back to sleep, being awake is as bad as the nightmares.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Wow. Vopsica is a massive idiot here. Some people can't be changed, I guess...

Also, was that an implication that the young slaves weren't actually treated like slaves?

Naomi's early years of being a Companionship Asset were spent being used to teach Olinbar children (e.g. Vopisca) how to relate to their slaves. It was only after puberty that they made her a prostitute instead. What Naomi missed growing up is that the attempts to manipulate Olinbar children were actually part of the curriculum for the Olinbar children to learn to recognise so that they do not fall for it as adults.

From Vopisca's perspective, Naomi has always been beneath her, and present circumstances are just a temporary setback, and in a way Naomi's response was what Vopisca expected her to try.

 

[HistoryDude]

This latest chapter has disturbing implications... are the Minamar a human subspecies? Did they modify their biology to "prove their superiority"? If so... how, exactly?

What's up on Earth, actually? That could get us some answers to these queries.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

This latest chapter has disturbing implications... are the Minamar a human subspecies? Did they modify their biology to "prove their superiority"? If so... how, exactly?

What's up on Earth, actually? That could get us some answers to these queries.

We just don't know - the Devs deliberately left it as open as they could, with the only hard constraint to work with being that they use the HUMAN3 namelist (the Latin one) and that the changes from Human to Olinbar are within what the Genetic Ascension allows players to do. (normal genetic modification doesn't allow portrait changing, but the Genetic Ascension tradition has a perk that allows it)

See bottom of page 5 for theorising; with the amount of time for changes to take place, there's a variety of possible paths.

This chapter is Rivkah internalising what she has learned about them and extrapolating to fill the blanks in her knowledge.

Earth is obviously an unknown to our characters; they'll find out more when Thando arrives.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Back Into The Darkness, Part 11"
1st Pik, 6 (2183)
Ykrett​

If I was organic, I would be sick from fear.

Instead, I am surrounded by them. Bevkirans are somewhat underrepresented on Unity...

I am face to face with torture itself. Again. The cables dangle like a tentacled monster from the depths before a gaping maw that seeks to drown me, imprison me, devour me whole in the deep places of the worlds.

And the worst part?

The people preparing to strap me in, are my friends.

The darkness calls, the void summons with every check Daas and his team conduct. The machine looks down on me like a demon encased in steel, ready to battle in the mind, to spew all the horrors it can array, drag me down beneath the waves and the light, where no Bevkiran returns from.

I look away.

But little Rivkah sees me.

She smiles encouragement, just like her mother does. Doesn't quite look the same with her sabre teeth of course, but in a way, there's a bite her mother never could have. I nod to her.

Naomi arrives at last, just as Daas finishes his checks. He looks at me. "Ykrett, I've done my best, but I have no idea if this will work properly. It could kill you."

I look at the vampiric, infernal device. Sights and sounds reverb through my consciousness as the demon starts fighting, haunting me with memories, trying to drown me out of my own head. The battle, my mind against it's mind, has begun.

The last time I faced one, I was afraid, dragged kicking and screaming, defeated. Eighty years of my life that demon stole.

But not this time. I am not defeated. I am not trapped. This time, I will Win. I look at Naomi. She smiles the smile that united us all. Rivkah punches the switch, and I beat my boulders in defiance as lights blaze against the beast. I turn to my enemy, watch it recoil in fear. "If this be the end, then I will rage towards it."

 

[Macavity116]

I can appreciate Ykrett's mindset, but this is still a pretty dark sequence. Eighty years' worth of torment is a lot for one Sentient to process.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

It's darker than you think. He's a Lithoid. What natural phenomenon would they be most afraid of?

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, that... certainly sets a mood.

Let's hope that Ykrett can get through this... for the sake of everyone in Life 2.0, including him.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Of course he will. They have plot armour, and I need Ykrett as the Admiral of Life2.0's Naval Liberation Assets.

When they get some of course.

It seems like it's missing the mark somewhat... Somehow, it seems like it has come across as defeatist. And it isn't that I'm aiming for; I'm aiming for Ykrett having a badass establishing moment where he faces his darkest demons and smashes them in the face. It's as Prachett said:

“Why does the third of the three brothers, who shares his food with the old woman in the wood, go on to become king of the country? Why does James Bond manage to disarm the nuclear bomb a few seconds before it goes off rather than, as it were, a few seconds afterwards? Because a universe where that did not happen would be a dark and hostile place. Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain.” ​

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Back Into The Darkness, Part 12"
1st Pik, 6 (2183)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Ykrett is inside. Now we wait.

What will happen?

I worry for Ykrett. "Mum, why do you believe that we can do this? That this won't kill him? What if we lose? I mean, if we fail here... Everyone we know and love, will be lost. They'll kill some, enslave others... What if we are better off giving up?"

"Hope."

"Is that all we have?"

"It's what Rebellions are made of, Rivkah. Hope."

"But MSI..."

"What about them?"

"I've seen the battleplans. You are actively expecting them to send warships so powerful they can leave our home a wasteland of melted slag."

"Yes. I'm counting on it."

"Isn't it risky?"

"In a way, yes. But in more important ways, no."

"We're outnumbered, outgunned..."

"But, we have something more."

"What though?"

"Estel." Mum looks at Ykrett. I follow. Her face does that searching for a quotation look she does. "'And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite.'"

I curl up on the floor. Mum sits beside me, still looking at Ykrett. "I don't know where that's from."

"Ainulindalë, Tolkien. My Mum recited the whole story, but I can't remember as much as I used to. But this bit sticks with me."

"That doesn't explain it."

"In the book, it's where Eru establishes that he is in control, and for all Melkor's schemes, he can only bring to pass what Eru ultimately wills."

"Eru being God?"

"Yes."

"Why would God make MSI though?"

"Made in the sense that He created them, I'm honestly not convinced that they were made by Him; I believe that they were Human once, before they were made into what they are today."

I know what she means. "They self-modded."

"No, I don't think that."

I look at her. "What do you think?"

"I think someone once uplifted them, and modified them, much more than two thousand years ago based on what I remember of Roman society. And being uplifted, they began to seek to uplift others. But darkness took hold, and they marred the good with evil."

Ooh. That's... That explains why she is like this, there's a part of her that thinks that they could be good. I'm not sure though... "But why would God allow them?"

"Think of what good they could accomplish."

Like most things Mum says, what she really means is hidden in the lesson. I connect the dots. "Is a good version of MSI part of what you are aiming for with Life2.0?"

"Yes."

I have an idea. "Following on that Melkor guy, do you think God made MSI just so that it would lead to us?"

She smiles. "That is estel."

I look at Ykrett again. "I just hope he makes it."

Mum smiles. "He will."

"How do you know?"

"Estel."

We wait. He has to wrestle with the system to overcome the lockouts they use to separate the subconscious processing from the active mind, then win mental control over the processing, after which he inputs his activation, and becomes the system. In theory. And Daas said that was the most simplified explanation he could give. Think I need to study more, Mum got the full explanation. The signal that he has control? He'll turn the lights on. And more importantly the main computer unlocks.

And there's nothing we can do to help him; if we interrupt, the system activates the failsafes and delivers a massive electric discharge straight into his brain. Daas has put an interrupt in, but we can't test it because if we don't have control over the system, it realises it's been tampered with and self-destructs.

Turns out MSI did think about what happens when someone tries to hack their systems...

Still, if Ykrett can't do it, no one can.

Minutes turn to hours. Mum is sorting paperwork while we wait. Not very well though.

I'm about to curl up and sleep, when I notice the lights are on. Mum sees it too, and she calls the guy on the Captain's console. It's working again.

Daas sprints into action, shutting down MSI countermeasures now that we are back to command level control. Mum wants all the security measures offline, and then the main computer made public access, and then we'll start sifting the data for useful things. I run to Ykrett. Daas unhooks him. He falls, hits the ground. I try to lift him, but I can't.

I look in his eyes.

Mum, well her eyes are black, but they sparkle. But Ykrett's eyes are cold. Grim. "Ykrett?"

He stirs. "I saw the abyss." He speaks slowly. Eyes flicker rapidly, like he still sees monsters. He's calming, steadily.

I smile. "And slew the horrors."

He nods. "Thank you little Rivkah, for sending the light so far down."

 

[HistoryDude]

Naomi's a Tolkien fan?

Also, does she know Star Wars? That got suspiciously close to "rebellions are built on hope".

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Yes and yes. Rogue One in particular would be required viewing.

But she can't really share them with Rivkah until Thando arrives.

 

[Macavity116]

I think if asked to chose between Star Trek and Star Wars, I'm willing to bet Rivkah would latch onto the tale from a galaxy far, far away.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Rivkah's Diary"
4th Odoos, 6 (2184)​

It's been three months since Ykrett unlocked the main computer; everyone has been sifting through the records for useful things, and we're just getting back to normal. There's some damage to the records from the crash, but a surprising amount is recoverable. Not all of it good; Dad stopped an attempted lynching of Shendredie and forgave him publicly. Shendredie's people have started coming back to the colony now.

With internal sensors back, we now know there won't be any more surprise Olinbar discoveries. I'm not sure if I like that or not. It would have been interesting to have a proper conversation with one.

Mum reckons the recovered data will save years of research and development of our own.

The more I learn though, the more afraid I feel.

I get nightmares of purple skinned Humans wearing masks coming and taking me away in the night. I started sleeping in the day, but it's not helping that much. I've been doing Mum's job at night while Mum and Dad are away. Monica is back from Heinrichstadt, she's been helping too; she loves her husband, but Heinrich is... Heinrich. Her job is so mentally demanding that I can sleep at least. Mum wept when I told her about the nightmares. She wanted us to not have them.

The thing is, I'm afraid. I have a comfortable life here. I look at what Mum, Dad, Ykrett, Rhizome of Ebony, Daas, Odoos, Shendredie, all of them, went through, and I don't know how I'd cope with if we went through that again.

I need to go toughen myself up.

I need Mum back, she understands me.

What I really need is hope. But I suppose that we don't really have hope until MSI is dealt with. Maybe my children will be the ones who grow up free at last.

Actually, you know what? The Olinbar have to earn the right to stress me out like this. They probably decided we weren't worth caring about years ago, so why waste my life worrying that they'll come here? Until they actually turn up, I'm not going to worry about them.

And if they do come, I'll eat them.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

I think if asked to chose between Star Trek and Star Wars, I'm willing to bet Rivkah would latch onto the tale from a galaxy far, far away.

Yes, she would. It would be a lot more personal for her than Star Trek, and lightsabers would be cool. I suspect she'd like Princess Leia most. Or Chewbacca, but Rivkah is probably still a bit young to find him interesting.

Most of the characters would prefer Star Wars, I think; it is the story of a rebellion against an evil empire, and they'd appreciate that. Ykrett definitely would. Buri's public persona would, but in private he'd prefer Star Trek as it reminds him of Naomi.

 

[Macavity116]

Actually, you know what? The Olinbar have to earn the right to stress me out like this. They probably decided we weren't worth caring about years ago, so why waste my life worrying that they'll come here? Until they actually turn up, I'm not going to worry about them.

And if they do come, I'll eat them.

Love that resolve, Rivkah.