What's left of us
From the memory pool of Revered Elder Josephine Dufresne
When the Union Council first convened, the oldest of our number, Courtney Fleming, opened the initial session by asking whether we were cursed from the beginning as a species, or if the fate which had befallen mankind truly was one we had brought upon ourselves. A question with a controversial answer to this day, and with much less clear answers than an early 21st century human would have thought, considering how advanced technologically our civilization has grown to be. They also probably would flee us or try to kill us on sight - an ironic consideration, really, considering how we are the result of decisions made and not made by them and their direct ancestors. And even if somehow we could stop and talk, they certainly wouldn't acknowledge us as humans. But humans we are, the United Remnants of Earth, and as we are, fate has given us custody of a planet that has greatly suffered at our predecessors' hands...
The blue planet of myth is no more. The death blow was struck shortly after the first inhabited landing on Mars, in the year 2063, according to the calendar used back then. The particulars went largely unnoticed by the mass of humanity at the time. The age of information had given birth to the age of control. Automatic, highly sophisticated machines ensured that the masses of the "developed countries" were kept ignorant of how their world was truly ruled and for whom, and focused on the inner enemies that had patiently been fostered to keep the masses distracted, and hide from them that their lot had truly become miserable, while the sparse ranks of their ruling classes grew ever more corrupt and authoritarian.
The end came as a result of greed and negligence. In the spring of 2063, the thermonuclear fusion experimental site created for the ITER project in south France was still in use, a consequence of graft and mismanagement delaying the construction of the experimental production site DEMO. ITER's budget had been cut in the wrong place, and notably with regards to the indispensable absorption layer for the high velocity neutrons released during the fusion reactions. The cheaper layer broke, resulting in a catastrophic nuclear meltdown that wiped out a hundred thousand square kilometers on the shores of the Mediterranean basin - that was the greed.
The human cost was immense, with 42 million dying directly or indirectly from the consequences of the explosion. France and Italy were the hardest hit countries, and after all the deaths, the irradiation of a hundred and the disastrous economic consequences which ensued, resulting in widespread misery for two of the largest member states of the European Union. And as 21st century humans were usually wont to do, they sought someone to blame - and their governments hid the truth and provided patsies, blaming the explosion of ITER on terrorist sabotage, like so many other and smaller accidents had come to be over the course of the years. And the populations, enraged at what had happened, demanded a thermonuclear eye for a thermonuclear eye.
Yet, their leaders, and the world leaders in general, thought they could control the fallout. Vast mock cities were built in the middle of the Sahara for the specific purpose of their destruction being filmed. The various dictatorial regimes ruling the world supplied their contingents of "undesirables" to fill those mock cities, and give the appearance of actual retaliation. And in the fall of 2063, the entire construction was nuked into non-existence, and a quarter of the desert alongside it.
That was the negligence, as the result was the release of hundreds of millions of tons of radioactive dust and sand in the atmosphere, covering the entire planet in a shroud that hid the sun permanently, causing a dramatic drop in temperatures, dooming all the vegetation not sustained in hydroponic installations. Then the rains started to fall, bringing down with them massive doses of radiation no one and nobody was prepared to endure. The resulting destruction of the entire world's biosphere was swift and nearly absolute. Society broke down completely as irradiation syndromes brought a permanent solution to the problem of planetary overpopulation, and it really seemed like our species was doomed to extinction, alongside all other species unfortunate enough to have coexisted with mankind on earth.
Irradiation, however, brings mutation and rapid evolution, and it was our stroke of good luck that one of the newly evolved lifeforms actually thrived on radiation and seemed capable to survive in a symbiotic relationship with a large number of species, including mammalians. Our ancestors took that as a sign that whichever greater power had put mankind on Earth did not in fact want to wipe out our species. Abandoned, mutated, forced to survive in a completely broken down society, they took the leap of faith. It worked, and the species were saved... after a fashion. For our ancestors had largely mutated already, and continued to devolve as a result of the symbiosis. And the pleasant and harmonious appearances of early 21st century humans have since become a distant memory, only existing in what few media from that era survive...
Human life today is nothing like what it was in the earliest years of the 21st century, before the age of information began to precipitate our species' downfall. The most evident difference lies, of course, in our appearances. By original human standards, we are monsters, abominations they would have great difficulty telling apart, even where the gender is concerned. And we have enough of a biological memory of the fact to make coupling a repulsive activity only a few of us find the courage to engage in. It does not yet endanger the continuation of the species, as our symbiotic relationship with the parasitic life form fate bestowed upon us seems to considerably extend our life expectancy, and most of us survivors who embraced the worms are still relatively young, even by old human standards. The oldest member in the Union Council, the overseer of our astrological department, is only 48, and she has good hopes of living for another century or more.
We do suspect that there has been a heavy price to pay by embracing the symbiosis. We are stronger, cleverer, more durable, but what keeps us alive needs the contamination from radioactivity to sustain itself, and we have no idea how, should our species actually reach for the stars someday, we would manage to create a favorable environment for us on an Earth-like, uncontaminated world without considerably damaging its ecosystem, and we are all agreed, after the horrors we have endured, that vitrifying outer worlds would not be an option. We keep using nuclear energy because it is the most efficient, and because we have little choice to keep up the levels of radiations our organisms now require, but the age of mankind as a force of destruction is over, and so is the age of information and trust in central government.
Our shared goals as a species are remembrance and the betterment of ourselves. And should we ever happen upon other lifeforms, untouched by our kind of dark fate, we will do all in our power to preserve them from horrors similar to those we endured in our past. For that purpose, we will ascend, we will transcend ourselves as a species, and we will find the way to the stars. We very much aim to become a superior species, but not as masters; as guides, as friends, as mediators, like we act already for those among us already willing to trust us with our fates, and as I will, as the Revered Elder elected and chosen to guide our path for a while. And we will always remember what fate befell us, and do our utmost to ensure it is never repeated for others...
Hello, and welcome to a completely weird experiment that may or may not go anywhere, as I'm not entirely sure the game is going to be stable as we're only staying in 1.8.0 for a few more days and, as you may have noticed, this Stellaris is modded to hell and back to allow for any and all kinds of possibilities ^^ Still, since reading stnylan's excellent Pax Humanitas (which I heartily recommend you read at https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/pax-humanitas.987613/ ), I've kind-of wanted to write a roleplaying AAR at this game. It is going to be crazy...
I'll be playing this along with writing it, on a game client that will evolve a little more before eventually becoming a "consolidated" 1.8.1 game (ie. there'll be the long hassle of integrating 40+ mods into one Stellaris folder whenever Paradox don't think issues need fixing immediately anymore). Weird things might happen, the pace will be completely random, and I may very well lose horribly at some point, but hey! That's the game, and this will not be an optimal playthrough by any measure. I mean, you've seen the five negative traits, and there'll be more broken stuff in one direction or another
There is no balance whatsoever in that game. I'll just be trying to have fun telling a story, and hopefully you'll have fun reading it.
Enjoy, and if you wish to know what mod something you see comes from, feel free to ask in comments.
When the Union Council first convened, the oldest of our number, Courtney Fleming, opened the initial session by asking whether we were cursed from the beginning as a species, or if the fate which had befallen mankind truly was one we had brought upon ourselves. A question with a controversial answer to this day, and with much less clear answers than an early 21st century human would have thought, considering how advanced technologically our civilization has grown to be. They also probably would flee us or try to kill us on sight - an ironic consideration, really, considering how we are the result of decisions made and not made by them and their direct ancestors. And even if somehow we could stop and talk, they certainly wouldn't acknowledge us as humans. But humans we are, the United Remnants of Earth, and as we are, fate has given us custody of a planet that has greatly suffered at our predecessors' hands...
The blue planet of myth is no more. The death blow was struck shortly after the first inhabited landing on Mars, in the year 2063, according to the calendar used back then. The particulars went largely unnoticed by the mass of humanity at the time. The age of information had given birth to the age of control. Automatic, highly sophisticated machines ensured that the masses of the "developed countries" were kept ignorant of how their world was truly ruled and for whom, and focused on the inner enemies that had patiently been fostered to keep the masses distracted, and hide from them that their lot had truly become miserable, while the sparse ranks of their ruling classes grew ever more corrupt and authoritarian.
The end came as a result of greed and negligence. In the spring of 2063, the thermonuclear fusion experimental site created for the ITER project in south France was still in use, a consequence of graft and mismanagement delaying the construction of the experimental production site DEMO. ITER's budget had been cut in the wrong place, and notably with regards to the indispensable absorption layer for the high velocity neutrons released during the fusion reactions. The cheaper layer broke, resulting in a catastrophic nuclear meltdown that wiped out a hundred thousand square kilometers on the shores of the Mediterranean basin - that was the greed.
The human cost was immense, with 42 million dying directly or indirectly from the consequences of the explosion. France and Italy were the hardest hit countries, and after all the deaths, the irradiation of a hundred and the disastrous economic consequences which ensued, resulting in widespread misery for two of the largest member states of the European Union. And as 21st century humans were usually wont to do, they sought someone to blame - and their governments hid the truth and provided patsies, blaming the explosion of ITER on terrorist sabotage, like so many other and smaller accidents had come to be over the course of the years. And the populations, enraged at what had happened, demanded a thermonuclear eye for a thermonuclear eye.
Yet, their leaders, and the world leaders in general, thought they could control the fallout. Vast mock cities were built in the middle of the Sahara for the specific purpose of their destruction being filmed. The various dictatorial regimes ruling the world supplied their contingents of "undesirables" to fill those mock cities, and give the appearance of actual retaliation. And in the fall of 2063, the entire construction was nuked into non-existence, and a quarter of the desert alongside it.
That was the negligence, as the result was the release of hundreds of millions of tons of radioactive dust and sand in the atmosphere, covering the entire planet in a shroud that hid the sun permanently, causing a dramatic drop in temperatures, dooming all the vegetation not sustained in hydroponic installations. Then the rains started to fall, bringing down with them massive doses of radiation no one and nobody was prepared to endure. The resulting destruction of the entire world's biosphere was swift and nearly absolute. Society broke down completely as irradiation syndromes brought a permanent solution to the problem of planetary overpopulation, and it really seemed like our species was doomed to extinction, alongside all other species unfortunate enough to have coexisted with mankind on earth.
Irradiation, however, brings mutation and rapid evolution, and it was our stroke of good luck that one of the newly evolved lifeforms actually thrived on radiation and seemed capable to survive in a symbiotic relationship with a large number of species, including mammalians. Our ancestors took that as a sign that whichever greater power had put mankind on Earth did not in fact want to wipe out our species. Abandoned, mutated, forced to survive in a completely broken down society, they took the leap of faith. It worked, and the species were saved... after a fashion. For our ancestors had largely mutated already, and continued to devolve as a result of the symbiosis. And the pleasant and harmonious appearances of early 21st century humans have since become a distant memory, only existing in what few media from that era survive...
Human life today is nothing like what it was in the earliest years of the 21st century, before the age of information began to precipitate our species' downfall. The most evident difference lies, of course, in our appearances. By original human standards, we are monsters, abominations they would have great difficulty telling apart, even where the gender is concerned. And we have enough of a biological memory of the fact to make coupling a repulsive activity only a few of us find the courage to engage in. It does not yet endanger the continuation of the species, as our symbiotic relationship with the parasitic life form fate bestowed upon us seems to considerably extend our life expectancy, and most of us survivors who embraced the worms are still relatively young, even by old human standards. The oldest member in the Union Council, the overseer of our astrological department, is only 48, and she has good hopes of living for another century or more.
We do suspect that there has been a heavy price to pay by embracing the symbiosis. We are stronger, cleverer, more durable, but what keeps us alive needs the contamination from radioactivity to sustain itself, and we have no idea how, should our species actually reach for the stars someday, we would manage to create a favorable environment for us on an Earth-like, uncontaminated world without considerably damaging its ecosystem, and we are all agreed, after the horrors we have endured, that vitrifying outer worlds would not be an option. We keep using nuclear energy because it is the most efficient, and because we have little choice to keep up the levels of radiations our organisms now require, but the age of mankind as a force of destruction is over, and so is the age of information and trust in central government.
Our shared goals as a species are remembrance and the betterment of ourselves. And should we ever happen upon other lifeforms, untouched by our kind of dark fate, we will do all in our power to preserve them from horrors similar to those we endured in our past. For that purpose, we will ascend, we will transcend ourselves as a species, and we will find the way to the stars. We very much aim to become a superior species, but not as masters; as guides, as friends, as mediators, like we act already for those among us already willing to trust us with our fates, and as I will, as the Revered Elder elected and chosen to guide our path for a while. And we will always remember what fate befell us, and do our utmost to ensure it is never repeated for others...
* *
Hello, and welcome to a completely weird experiment that may or may not go anywhere, as I'm not entirely sure the game is going to be stable as we're only staying in 1.8.0 for a few more days and, as you may have noticed, this Stellaris is modded to hell and back to allow for any and all kinds of possibilities ^^ Still, since reading stnylan's excellent Pax Humanitas (which I heartily recommend you read at https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/pax-humanitas.987613/ ), I've kind-of wanted to write a roleplaying AAR at this game. It is going to be crazy...
I'll be playing this along with writing it, on a game client that will evolve a little more before eventually becoming a "consolidated" 1.8.1 game (ie. there'll be the long hassle of integrating 40+ mods into one Stellaris folder whenever Paradox don't think issues need fixing immediately anymore). Weird things might happen, the pace will be completely random, and I may very well lose horribly at some point, but hey! That's the game, and this will not be an optimal playthrough by any measure. I mean, you've seen the five negative traits, and there'll be more broken stuff in one direction or another
There is no balance whatsoever in that game. I'll just be trying to have fun telling a story, and hopefully you'll have fun reading it.Enjoy, and if you wish to know what mod something you see comes from, feel free to ask in comments.
* *
Last edited:
