Citizens
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Frank told us this: 'I hear there are worlds out there where kids still learn from books. They go into a classroom every day, they memorize things, then later they type those things out in controlled environments. Or worlds where everyone's supposed to whatever creative job they feel like! What use is learning to draw or sing in a world where there's no human resource department to co-ordinate the galleries and concerts? On Alterra worlds, psychometric testing and specialized digi-training makes the most of everyone's talents.'
Max Zoinkoff: 'I started out in marketing for Alterra Survival Systems. It was good work, but I thought I could do better. I set up my own company, developing bespoke code for the Seamoth so it could operate in open space, not just underwater. I sold up to Alterra ten years ago and now it's one of the most widely used vehicles in the galaxy. Now I'm on the board of directors, and I haven't looked back.'
George said, 'An average day for me starts at 10am. I live in a controlled habitat on Terra 17, so everything I need is less than five minutes away. I'm a naturally empathetic person, so I took work as a companion. I spend my days visiting clients, talking with them, learning about them, paying them the attention that everyone needs and deserves, and like most people on Alterra worlds I'm lucky enough to earn a living doing things I enjoy.'
Kaz says, 'We're lucky. We're free. We have jobs. There are trans-govs out there that do everything with robots, or where weapons are legal, you know?'
Jamie had this to say: 'I design artificial worlds, including some of the most popular factory defaults. To do what I do you need to know what people really want. They want excitement, adventure, new experiences, to be whoever they want to be. My job is to make that happen. There are people who say we spend too much time escaping our lives and not enough time making them better. Those people are usually from outside of Alterra space.'
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When the hostilities of the Expansion ceased, the tactical value of the hard-to-reach colony systems on the edge of the China Territories plummeted. Recouping from the war, the central government left them to starve. The systems in question declared independence, claiming their infrastructure as their own, and their intent to become self-sufficient.
Today the Mongolian States is seen as a relatively minor power on the outskirts of colonized space, yet it remains one of the fastest expanding trans-govs in the galaxy. There is little centralized control. In times of war, a defense force can be raised between the chief officers of the major planetary clan-corps.
Mongolian societies inherited their technologies from the Chinese, but incorporated the customs of their multicultural colonist base. Non-synthetic foods remain popular. Religion is a strong component of society, but the Mongolians take a relaxed view of competing faiths, believing gods to be universally and equally flawed. Mongolians will often be heard proclaiming, 'I believe in gods, so long as they don't try to command me.' If pushed to explain how they can believe in a god with no authority they will explain, simply, that all people are gods, and their authority is equally zero.
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'Charity' is an archaic concept which the realism of today's Alterrans has rendered obsolete. We understand that we are each responsible for ourselves, but the best way to get the most for ourselves is to work together with Alterra. The implication of this reasoning is clear: if someone is in need, they must find a way to be needed.
Alterra Alms is a training academy for those that need to be needed. We're not a charity, because we don't ask for handouts - we prefer to think of ourselves as a philanthropic beneficence facilitation service promoting synergy between employer and workforce.
AA operates on a lottery system. By investing any number of credits you will be entered into our prize draw. Larger investments yield higher chances of winning. Your credits will go toward training unskilled colonists in vital tasks such as maintenance and interpersonal skills. The colonists receive this training voluntarily and free of charge, on condition of a minimum contract with one of our investors on completion of their training.
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Definitions:
Trans-gov - An independent authority in de facto control of at least one solar system and phasegate.
Citizen - A person who consents, consciously or implicitly, to the authority of a recognized trans-gov.
The Charter - The full legal contract agreed upon by 37 separate trans-govs, and summarized herein.
The Trans-System Federation (TSF)- Military police charged with enforcing the terms of the Charter; independent of, but funded by, the trans-govs.
Trans-System Phasegate - Any permanent installation which enables warping of spacefaring vessels between solar systems.
Trans-gov Principles:
1. Each trans-gov is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others:
a. Each has the right to own phasegates and planetary infrastructure
b. Each has an obligation to share phasegate access with other trans-govs on fair terms at no cost to themselves
c. Each has an obligation to financially maintain and comply with the TSF
2. Each trans-gov has the right to self-government, subject to the restrictions laid out below:
a. No trans-gov may develop weapons and technologies outlawed in appendix 91
b. No trans-gov shall engage in population abuse
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How are the 'individuals' which make up a hive mind to be categorized? Are they merely dumb components of the larger, intelligent organism; or is the larger 'mind' merely a product of the independent organisms? Can it be both?
We define organisms by their traits, but find invariably that these traits depend on those of their environment. The concept of a tadpole is meaningless without the concept of the frog it will develop into. The idea of a predator is empty without an understanding of its prey. This begs the question: if we define everything by reference to everything else, what are have we actually explained?
An illustrative experiment was recently performed on the hive mind colony discovered on Strader VI. A device was placed outside the nest which would electrocute individuals approaching it. An ant colony would have lost many individuals before a basic danger signal was successfully communicated between them, resulting in 'learnt' avoidance of the device. Successful, but costly.
The Strader VI colony quickly formed into two factions:
- One attempted to move the device by brute force, sacrificing individuals as they did so
- The second attempted to cover the device in sand.
These two goals being mutually exclusive, a fight ensued. The first faction was beaten, in virtue of their reduced numbers. The device was safely buried, and the survivors called a truce. From the perspective of the individuals, this experience must have been horrific. From the perspective of the hive mind, a nagging problem had been overcome with the most effective solution. Which perspective is the 'correct' one?
I suggest that it is neither. By attempting to fit such entities into our rigid set of concepts we are painting onto the world a false impression of concreteness and meaning, which is a reflection of our concepts of ourselves.
We describe Strader VI individuals as 'attacking' one another, just as we describe microbes in the human body as doing the same. Yet the Strader colony, like the body, cannot be healthy as a whole without the 'aggressions' of its components. We describe neurons in the brain as being dumb, but brains as a whole as intelligent - but when an idea takes hold in the brain, and forces out inferior ones, do we describe this as an act of aggression? Do we mourn dead neurons?
When a philosophy, or a technology takes hold in human society... when wars are fought over them and people die... is that rightly seen as being good, or evil? This is not to undermine the meaning of our existence. From where we stand, our existence is very serious indeed. But is our civilization, and our universe, really any different from the colony on Strader VI? Is intelligence something limited to things of flesh and blood? Or is the universe truly one giant intelligent system, and we but amoeba blowing self-important potholes in its surface?
We would do well, as scientists, to remember that our goal is not to paint the world as we see it, but to see it as it truly is.
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Torgal Corporation is a long-standing, family-run clan that operates almost a dozen mining and trading operations. The company share price hit an all time high on the announcement by a Mongolian cabal of their intention to construct a new phasegate utilizing Torgal materials. These plans were put on hold when Bart Torgal, the intended leader of the new mining operation, disappeared along with his father.
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Controller: Sit rep!
Analyst: Ma'am, the Aurora's gone dark. Last known position on collision course with planet 4546B.
Controller: Did the life pods launch?
Analyst: None registered so far, Ma'am. And there's something else.
Controller: Say it.
Analyst: When the Aurora left dock, her emergency equipment was still on factory settings.
Controller: You're telling me we have a bird in the soup, and their Survival PDAs are running VANILLA?!
Analyst: That's the situation, Ma'am... Ma'am, what should we do?
Controller: Bring me every star chart, tech geek and concentration enhancer in the building...
Analyst: Yes Ma'am!
Controller: ...and god DAMN it you build me an update package, and you find me a way to flash them Version 1.1!
Analyst: Ma'am, there's not enough bandwidth to send everything, but I think I can optimise the automated habitat terraforming algorithms to fit them in.
Controller: You mean to say we have survivors out there with rock-faces jutting into their habitats? Make it so!
Controller: The moment we're done here I want to know who let that ship leave dock without a single room in the constructor database!
Controller: Listen up, I want this package streamlined! You don't need a focus-group approved surface texture when you're fighting for your life on an alien world. If the power systems are beta, pack them up and move on!
Controller: Tell me about this planet the Aurora was orbiting.
Analyst: Unexplored. Capable of supporting life. Ocean planet. O2 atmos-
Controller: Backtrack. Ocean planet?
Analyst: Affirmative. Does it mean something?
Controller: It means we're in more trouble than we thought. Get me the fluid dynamics team!
Analyst: Update package away, Ma'am.
Controller: Well done everyone. Now get back to work.
Analyst: Ma'am, the team needs to rest.
Controller: Listen up! Anyone who wants to tell me they've got it bad, stop and ask whether you'd rather have been on the Aurora. They're alone right now. They're scared. They're beset on all sides by alien nightmares - and it's only going to get worse. If you still think you should be resting rather than working on a way to keep those people safe, you bring it to me and you'll be reassigned. I'm sure the TSF could use some more bodies in the Kharaa conflict.
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