He would have found it amusing, yes.
I would like to know what people think here though.
I would like to know what people think here though.
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Firestorm, Part 12
"Firestorm, Part 12"
18th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Duxanek
18th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Duxanek
The worst part of watching that battle was responding to the medical crisis it has caused back on Unity. Not one of my staff slept last night.
By my count, between us and MSI we set off more than eighty gigatons of thermonuclear bombs in that engagement in low Unity orbit. Unity-side, practially every clinic has people suffering gamma ray exposure. Electrical systems that were supposedly hardened against radiation have failed thanks to excessive EMP, never mind the general electrical systems that mean our logistics have practically fallen apart. Thousands are suffering blindness because they decided to watch the Holocron's missiles go up, despite the fact that Naomi's people have expressed that you do not watch Orions ascending under nuclear detonations.
I've already prepared Naomi and Rivkah a briefing on the medical situation. It's a damn good thing Rivkah has secured a ceasefire with a meeting pending for a negotiated truce, because the Holocron's attack caught us completely off guard.
Of course Naomi and I were prepared for the event of a thermonuclear exchange in low Unity orbit in the gigatons; we have had plans for that ever since she had our mathematicians run the numbers on the Ukuvikela.
But, our plans relied on the assumption that we knew in advance when it would happen, so that people could take their radiation medicine, put on their lead-lined haz-mat suits and get into the reinforced bunkers with their Faraday cage secured backup electrics and supplies.
We did not expect that the Holocron would launch a worldwide pre-emptive strike without warning us.
Now we have over a thousand cancer cases diagnosed already, and we're only on day one of counting. It genuinely wouldn't surprise me if he's killed more of us than he did of them. Someone needs to make him answer for it.
Fallout, Part 1
"Fallout, Part 1"
20th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Sophia Dexcius
20th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Sophia Dexcius
I walk with a cane as I accompany Naomi as we tour a field hospital. We walk slowly, bed after bed, she encourages and comforts the wounded. Eventually we have a few minutes. I sit down on the grass.
I ask her. "How do we deal with the Holocron?"
She sighs. "I... Don't know."
"Oh."
She finds a place on the grass, and sits. I soothe the flesh-mould that is regrowing the calf I lost in the battle where a Praetorian missed Naomi and gouged me.
"Duxanek is spitting fire over this."
"And you aren't?"
She sighs. "He's a derivative of a man who used the same weapons on his own nation to stop an MSI backed attack, then led a volunteer force out into the radioactive wasteland it left to engage the enemy. He'll help us bear the price of victory, but..."
"But to him..." I look back at the hospital. "This is an acceptable cost."
She nods.
We sit there for a while. I look up at the fleet that almost cost our lives after a Praetorian kill squad found us. Thankfully, all the training paid off; Ruki put practically all the ship's RCS fuel into making the craft spin, and we retreated to the extremities and fought in the high centrifugal forces there. Eventually, they passed out and we lasted longer.
We'd be dead otherwise...
Naomi was skewered through her lungs, and Buri will have to kiss her ear a lot to make that better. Clarissa is paralysed from the neck down after a Praetorian couldn't finish his blow at her neck from behind, severing her spinal cord. Gillian will never walk again after losing both legs at the thighs. The others did better as we conducted a fighting retreat, but we're all injured. But, we lived.
And the Holocron's medical technology is repairing people's bodies; Neumanns - now wearing biological bodies like ours - are at every clinic with their medical and biological fabricators.
But as I look at Naomi, I know she knows there has to be a reckoning.
AI artist is a true job, because it's take time, and you have to train your own AI with your own data.
Two questions, but one at the end : what is the impact of MCI's slavery time on Unity cultural ? I mean, leaders looks xenophylist, and without fear about a heavy-brain AI in a slaughter-robotic body. Xenophylia and AIphylia are common trait on MCI ? "Terminator" does not exist in the MCI box-office ? Or these traits have been emerge because the opposition against MCI ?
Two questions, but one at the end : what is the impact of MCI's slavery time on Unity cultural ? I mean, leaders looks xenophylist, and without fear about a heavy-brain AI in a slaughter-robotic body. Xenophylia and AIphylia are common trait on MCI ? "Terminator" does not exist in the MCI box-office ? Or these traits have been emerge because the opposition against MCI ?
Nice to have a new commenter. 
Unfortunately, training AI is as beyond me as drawing the pictures myself - at the moment, I've got a substitute method by getting a reference for a character then tweaking from the reference. I can get workable results eventually, and my assumption is as I get used to the software I'll be better able to make it look how I want.
MSI has Fanatic Materialist and Authoritarian governing ethics; this is coded in by the devs.
Our colony has relatively few people who have experienced life as an Indentured Asset within MSI - the overwhelming majority of the people on Unity were taken from their homeworlds by MSI and were going into slavery when Naomi killed Hortensus Dexicus to get the revolution underway. That said, enough of them did experience it, or, their homeworlds have been visited sufficiently often to understand, know they never want to live under MSI again.
MSI using robots is something of an interesting question. MSI in the savefile used as the base for Life2.0's context for MSI did not use robots. I presume that for the overwhelming majority of residents of Life2.0, the Neumanns are the first sophont AI they've encountered in the metal, although no doubt they had ideas both malevolent and benign about the concept of AI in general. (The concept dates back to the Bronze age in Human history, for example)
Life2.0 is heavily shaped in Naomi's vision, and she's definitely a Xenophile. An additional cultural factor is playing off a contrast between Greek and Roman cultures, rather than treating them as one continuum as Graeco-Roman re-imagining in scifi tends to do; this is most obvious with Alexandra. And certainly, establishing something contrary to MSI takes an important role.
Unfortunately, training AI is as beyond me as drawing the pictures myself - at the moment, I've got a substitute method by getting a reference for a character then tweaking from the reference. I can get workable results eventually, and my assumption is as I get used to the software I'll be better able to make it look how I want.
MSI has Fanatic Materialist and Authoritarian governing ethics; this is coded in by the devs.
Our colony has relatively few people who have experienced life as an Indentured Asset within MSI - the overwhelming majority of the people on Unity were taken from their homeworlds by MSI and were going into slavery when Naomi killed Hortensus Dexicus to get the revolution underway. That said, enough of them did experience it, or, their homeworlds have been visited sufficiently often to understand, know they never want to live under MSI again.
MSI using robots is something of an interesting question. MSI in the savefile used as the base for Life2.0's context for MSI did not use robots. I presume that for the overwhelming majority of residents of Life2.0, the Neumanns are the first sophont AI they've encountered in the metal, although no doubt they had ideas both malevolent and benign about the concept of AI in general. (The concept dates back to the Bronze age in Human history, for example)
Life2.0 is heavily shaped in Naomi's vision, and she's definitely a Xenophile. An additional cultural factor is playing off a contrast between Greek and Roman cultures, rather than treating them as one continuum as Graeco-Roman re-imagining in scifi tends to do; this is most obvious with Alexandra. And certainly, establishing something contrary to MSI takes an important role.
Life 2.0 has won the war, I suppose. Now, they need to win the peace.
Life 2.0's relationship with the Holocron will be an issue. On the one hand, he helped them win the war. On the other... well, the cost was ridiculously high. How will Life 2.0 attempt to punish him? For that matter, is self-preservation in his directives?
Life 2.0's relationship with the Holocron will be an issue. On the one hand, he helped them win the war. On the other... well, the cost was ridiculously high. How will Life 2.0 attempt to punish him? For that matter, is self-preservation in his directives?
Fallout, Part 2
"Fallout, Part 2"
21st Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity
21st Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity
Appia Flavonius joins me at the table; mutual distrust runs deep. She looks at me. She tries to be as matter of fact as she can. "I have been authorised by the board to negotiate a settlement. Your tenacity has earned that."
"What concessions are the board willing to make?"
"We will abide by the terms Gnaea Titius negotiated." She throws herself back in her chair. "Gods I miss when I was younger and everything was simple."
I laugh. "You mean, when I was silenced by fear of reprisal?"
She sighs. "I never mistreated you."
Hmm... I snort. "You made me kiss your feet."
"Naomi..." She gathers herself. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. For everything. I was young, and... Selfish. I know you don't trust me. And now you have a fleet... We both know that whatever we sign here means nothing to us. We are both going to go back to our administrations, and we will both present these pieces of paper knowing they mean nothing. Knowing that the first thing both of us will do is prepare for war."
"Peace in our time."
She takes a while to recollect. "Chamberlain, 1938?"
I nod.
Her eyes fall. "I... You... You aren't wrong."
"Exactly."
She recoils into her chair. Then bolts upright. "Gnaea was right, unless we can trust each other, we are doomed to fight."
I lean forward. "Then free the Indentured Assets."
"The upheaval... MSI would completely collapse."
Her fear is apparent. But I think of Valerius, Caeso, Agrippina, Sophia. "Maybe not. There are Olinbar here on Unity. We can coexist."
"I don't know."
I take her hand. "Appia, if it isn't me, it will be someone else. Even if you return and crush us later, the faults in your society are too deep. Ten years, a hundred years, maybe a thousand - someone will rise up. Gnaea told us to bend, or break. Life2.0 will help you bend; whoever follows us will almost certainly make you break."
She looks at me. "Stand."
I do. She comes around, kneels, and kisses my feet. "Vae victis."
I stay still. "Who is who though?"
She stands. We're close. "Honestly... You're right. I don't like it, but you are." We look into each other's eyes. "What if we sealed this treaty with a kiss?"
I hold out my left hand. "I'm married, remember."
She looks. "Oh. Oh, I see." She returns to her side of the table. She stands proudly. "On my honour, MSI will not return to attack this place, and I will work towards reform."
"And on my honour, I will let you depart in peace, without pursuit."
She turns to depart. "Do you want me to take the treaty?"
"You know the terms."
She nods. Then laughs. "Peace, and long life."
I hold out my fingers. "Live long, and prosper."
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MSI have suffered a costly defeat - but they still have a cloaked, jump drive capable fleet with a Legendary Paragon in command, plus defensive/counter piracy taskforces. It's not won yet.
It would have been higher still if it wasn't for Vorosh and her mages redirecting the launch site radiation; what the colony is seeing is the effects from that volume of detonations in orbit - even though the ascent nukes are much smaller, we're still talking about devices that are tens of kilotons minimum.
Life2.0 has practically no way to punish him in a way that is consequential without his consent. Self-preservation is present, but his attitude to corporeal bodies that act as avatars is not like ours at all.
Something else that I'm also considering is the idea of a Life2.0 prequel. Life2.0's characterisation of the Olinbar has them being Romans taken from the pre-Triumvirate end of the Republic period, and I had the idea to consider the origin of MSI. Very early stages yet, but I think it sounds interesting.
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Naomi's threat carries more weight when you consider the possibility of Life 2.0 somehow surviving long enough to give "whoever follows us" a head start.
This feels more like a temorary armistice/ceacefire than a lasting peace, but it's still a very desirable outcome.
LOL. Was it Naomi's idea to add this line or your own? It's surprising, yet fitting.
Not so much a threat, but an observation. And Naomi's original plan was exactly that head start approach.
While everyone only remembers the "LLAP" bit, it is actually a two sentence phrase - it can be said in either order. Appia quoted the other sentence, and Naomi replied in turn. (as established in dialogue with Agrippina Neronius after she cited Quark quoting one of the Rules Of Acquisition, MSI have access to Star Trek; in hindsight, maybe that's why Pompeia shot the Holocron's head, expecting him to be like Data, it's an interesting thought, especially taking into account Life2.0's people have been quoting Star Wars more than Star Trek)
How long will this peace last? Chamberlain's only lasted a year, after all...
I like the idea of a prequel about MSI's origins.
I like the idea of a prequel about MSI's origins.
Precisely. That context is why Naomi quoted it.
It's early stages yet. I've got a good idea of what I want the alien oppressors to be in terms of ethics and governance though, and how that could tie in with how MSI turned out.
Fallout, Part 3"
"Fallout, Part 3"
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity
I feel nervous, walking down in New Bulawayo.
Surgery has replaced my ear, although it still hurts. Hurts to breathe too, I have to stop so much more...
Eventually, a Neumann takes me to an exceedingly heavily fortified access shaft; the heat makes my eyes water hundreds of metres away, I'm forced into activating my helmet. I peer over the edge, and the sensor systems tell me why.
The Holocron has dug down so deep that the air coming up here is at over 400K. My nervousness increases. The Neumann turns to me. "He wishes you to see him as he truly is, before you decide."
That's... Yeah. "Take me down."
The Neumann points to a lift. Inside it's a comfortable temperature, but I dare not touch the walls as the sensors start to read off external temperatures of 600K, 700K, then 800K...
The lift faces a vast array of heat transfer pipes, and as the view opens out into a cavern filled with ominous machinery as far as the eye can see. I begin to understand, begin to work out how much power he is using down here. We descend into the machine, and I step out of the lift into a climate controlled room.
A hologram is waiting for me. "You know what I have done now."
"I've got a rough idea. This is your brain."
He nods. "I now reside in a vast underground computational node."
I visualise the logical extension - he intends to turn the crust of Unity into a planetary computer. "How long?"
"Years, if not decades. But I have begun. And we both know what you came to see me for."
I feel afraid. I take a deep breath. "People are dying Holocron. Because you didn't warn us, I couldn't get my people to safety. Between radiation and the EMP effects, millions of people have been affected, and thousands are dying despite the best medical aid we can manage. We took more casualties on Unity from your actions than we did to the enemy."
"I did what had to be done. I'm not blind to the suffering of your people, but we had the opportunity, and I chose to win."
"And are you going to bear the guilt?"
"And make me Pericles?"
I look at him. "I will give you the opportunity to explain your thoughts and reasoning to the others, and then put it to the vote."
Fallout, Part 4
"Fallout, Part 4"
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Valerius Albanius
This intersection outside Hortensus' Folly's capital building has seen many strange events over the ten years of the colony.
But none quite as strange as this...
One of the quirks of Unity's governance is the judicial system. Naomi has always envisioned a reformatory judicial policy, in stark contrast to the often excessively punitive measures MSI utilise. But, the Holocron is perhaps the least repentant entity to have ended up in a capital trial the colony has yet seen. And yes, I'm being very inclusive here and considering the fates of Gaius and Claudia Licenius in that.
As the jury deliberates, I think back over his statement and actions.
"There is an unfortunate maxim of history and war; dark deeds are necessary. It was necessary to exploit Gnaea Titius' belief in Naomi to lure him close enough to Unity that my attack strategy would work. It was necessary not to inform Naomi about my intention to remove that fleet. It was necessary to launch the weapons and their propulsion systems that I launched. Therefore, it was necessary to expose the people of Unity to the consequences of unrestricted thermonuclear warfare in medium orbit above the planet. This was necessary in order to win. I grieve for the casualties, and I have tried to mitigate the destruction my actions caused. But I do not accept they were wrong, because without this minor victory, there was no pathway to victory in the meta-objective that defines our common goal."
He then took off an armoured glove to reveal a bloodstained Human hand wearing an iron ring. "I accept these stains, and their weight." Then, he nodded to Naomi, Rivkah and Ruki. "Win. Bear the guilt. Reign."
What am I, as judge, to do with such a man?
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Fallout, Part 5
"Fallout, Part 5"
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Alexandra HaMaadimi
22nd Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Alexandra HaMaadimi
I watch my husband play with my clothes for a while, then beckon him. I run my hand across his new eye; one of our little secrets, that we made a trip to New Bulawayo to have our missing eyes replaced; now we both have Homo Tipheret eyes.
He smiles. "I'm getting used to being able to see with both again."
"I never really got used to seeing with just one."
"Took me a while too."
He embraces me. "Let's talk about the Holocron. I need to sort my head out."
I smile. "Yes, you do."
He kisses me. "What do you think?"
"We're soldiers. We both know he isn't wrong. But the colony won't think like that."
"What do you think the punishment will be?"
I shrug.
He's silent for a while. "Me too. Duxanek reckons there's more than three thousand cancer cases."
"But, he's also helping."
He shifts me on my back. "He thinks he will be given what amounts to a slap on the wrist."
I think about what Naomi told me. "He's got a massive underground computer."
Thando touches me gently. "Making a backup."
"It's more than a backup. I'm worried Life2.0 is actually weaker now."
He looks straight into my eyes. "Let's not think about that."
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So, where I'm at with artwork:
Since the wedding day photo for Naomi and Buri, I've been trying to get a similar photo for Alexandra and Thando.
The software easily generates them separately - it even does a half-decent impression of classical bronze armour in scifi aesthetic. but it seems it really can't generate them together. And if I crop the backgrounds and then combine them, it has an uncanny effect that feels completely off.
On the bright side, I've seen loads of concept artwork for their children.
I've also been trying to work on Daas and Vorosh.
Vorosh in theory is straightforward. Daas...
Daas generated with "Hydra / Xenomorph #16".
The thing is, in game it isn't the clearest image, and I've had in mind this shelled Cthulhuoid eldritch horror looking entity.
Vorosh I can make more sense of (obviously she generated with the blue colour scheme; these are both taken from the Stellaris wiki) - she's a snail with tentacle arms.
The third area I've been working on is trying to get a pictorial sense for the Olinbar. Obviously the Olinbar are based on "Humanoid #3". This is actually quite useful; you can see the Human-like resemblance that they've been tweaked into.
Since the wedding day photo for Naomi and Buri, I've been trying to get a similar photo for Alexandra and Thando.
The software easily generates them separately - it even does a half-decent impression of classical bronze armour in scifi aesthetic. but it seems it really can't generate them together. And if I crop the backgrounds and then combine them, it has an uncanny effect that feels completely off.
On the bright side, I've seen loads of concept artwork for their children.
I've also been trying to work on Daas and Vorosh.
Vorosh in theory is straightforward. Daas...
Daas generated with "Hydra / Xenomorph #16".
The thing is, in game it isn't the clearest image, and I've had in mind this shelled Cthulhuoid eldritch horror looking entity.
Vorosh I can make more sense of (obviously she generated with the blue colour scheme; these are both taken from the Stellaris wiki) - she's a snail with tentacle arms.
The third area I've been working on is trying to get a pictorial sense for the Olinbar. Obviously the Olinbar are based on "Humanoid #3". This is actually quite useful; you can see the Human-like resemblance that they've been tweaked into.
Inflicting any kind of punishment on Holocron seems like a moot point. Death is clearly a slap on the wrist to him now.
Yes. Community service might be better, but he's already doing that.
Fallout, Part 6
"Fallout, Part 6"
25th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Ruki Of Unity
25th Vorosh, 10 (2189)
Ruki Of Unity
My Mentor stands in the dock again. Mother stands pensively in her High Queen dress - the first time she's been out of armour in public since the wormhole opened, safe now MSI are at full burn away from Unity - while Valerius takes immense displeasure in having drawn the short straw of being appointed judge. Sister and Father stand with Mother. Aunt and Uncle are present via videolink.
Valerius steps forward. "The jury have considered the case, and have returned a verdict of guilty of gross negligence leading to manslaughter."
Hushed voices are everywhere. Even I have a hard time telling them apart.
Valerius continues. "As designated judge, I am at an impasse. Under Law, the penalty would be death or imprisonment, neither of which actually punish an multi-bodied entity like the Holocron unless he chooses to voluntarily comply. I cannot impose community service or a fine to recompense the victims as he is already doing so. Yet, to order no punishment is against the principles of justice. Perhaps this very absence of justice is itself a commentary on our collective plight as we try to come to terms with the fact we have put the general responsible for this victory on trial while those who made his desperation necessary fly free. I therefore sentence the defendant to liberty and to bear the weight of what he has done."
I join him later that day, down in New Bulawayo, where a memorial plinth is being carved with the likenesses of the fallen. Mother follows, but she can't keep up any more.
He notices me. "Good evening."
"I'm glad you are well."
"Likewise."
"What would you have done if the colony had demanded the death penalty?"
He smiles. "Honoured it."
"Why?"
"Because ultimately, I am merely a source of ideas. For almost all my existence, I did not even require a body - I was a graphic display. The plan remains, with or without me to implement it - the people just need the inspiration to get the job done."
But... "They need people to inspire them though."
He looks at me. "They have dozens of examples to look up to."
"Like Mother."
"Yes." He looks around, then disassociates. Then sprints. I follow.
Mother has collapsed.
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Oh, no. You're not gonna break up the greatest Stellaris power couple right before Valentine's Day, are you!? (puppy dog eyes)