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Author Topic:   RP: The Believers

Raging Mouse posted 10-05-99 08:14 AM ET
Miriam stands at her desk in New Jerusalem, staring at the aides in front of her. There are eight, and they are either carrying a bundle of multifax -reusable plastic 'paper'- or a datapad. They are here in the role of messengers. The urgent affairs of the day. She nods to the first, a young man, apparently in his twenties, who steps forward. "Sister, we have intercepted several transmissions. The first seems to have originated from a colony led by Nwabudike Schoop. They are announcing an upgrade of their industries to synthmetal technology." Miriam wrinkles her forehead. "What are we currently researching? A woman down the line looks up. "Sister, we are studying the ecology of this world, in the hope of designing terraformers." "Cancel that. We need something to counter this new materiel. Something to safeguard our promised land. We need a weapon." The man operates his datapad. "We could look into the possibility of a laser weapon." "Do that. We will see about the formers then." The woman curtsies and leaves. Miriam frowns. "This is vexing. I was hoping to do only the slightest research, and that at a careful pace, lest we distance ourselves even further from paradise and the embrace of God. And now this robber baron is forcing my hand. We will surely be punished for discovering secrets that God in his wisdom has decided to hide from us. Oh well. What is the next transmission?" The aide gives her an apologetic look. "It is a similar message, from Prokhor Zakharov. He is residing at a location he calls 'University Base', and he boasts about having unlocked the secrets of the human brain." Miriam smiles. "I know Zakharov. He is excited over nothing, for the brain is a mere lump of electrochemical activity, and has nothing to do with our mind, our soul. Clearly, the events on the Unity has left him a bit.. eccentric. But a dangerous one. Continue to monitor his frequencies. Was there more transmissions?" "Yes, sister. There was a garbled transmission lacking the proper ID-codes, but the voice was positively ID:d as Natalia's. She is speaking for a croup called the 'Gaians', and wishes to make contact. She would offer a trade where she provides us with terraforming expertise in exchange for help in research." Miriam smiles again. "Ah, Natalia. Always so protective of her blades of grass. Her offering seems proper. Tell her that we will gladly aid her in her efforts to understand herself, and are prepared to send a document outlining the phenomenons of Social Psychology to her... and a symposium on the religions on earth. Give extra room to the nature-friendly religions. Also suggest that she supplies us with the entire technology of Centauri Ecology, as we have an adequate workforce to take care of terraforming by ourselves. Do you see, my aides, that our lord has not forsaken us? The very moment we are faced with this problem with Morgan Industries, we are offered the solution on a silver plate. I sense friends in these Gaians, even though they are slightly misguided. Was that all? Then you may go." The aide bows, and hurries away. Miriam nods to the second aide, a man in his fourties. "Sister, our scouts now consist of five different teams; three supported by New Jerusalem, and two by New Ganges. The second one was completed yesterday, and New Ganges is ready for new production orders. New Jerusalem is still preparing a new colony transport, and is expected to complete it in two years' time." "Tell New Ganges to stand by. We shall wait and see whether the Gaians accept our proposal; if they do, NG will prepare a team of terraformers. If not, let surplus production go into the energy reserves until we have this new laser weapon. You may go." The aide bows, and hurries off. The next aide starts to speak. The rest of the items on today's schedule are of lesser importance.
Y posted 10-06-99 12:46 AM ET
The University probe team enters New Jerusalem's planetbuster silos. Their mission: To put a bomb in the silos. BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New Jersualem is reduced to a smoking ruin......
Hunterseeker posted 10-06-99 02:55 PM ET
We, the Cyborg Consciousness, offer greetings.
We are willing to sign a Blood Truce( or a Peace Treaty if necessary) to cease any hostilities.
We must point out that we highly disregard your plan for making a society totally based upon emotions and the irrelevant and irrational fear of an artificial ruler or guardian. We mean that safety is never granted or given, but must be made by yourself.
Your technology, Social Psychology is intriguing. It has a detailed explanation of the side of humans, we'll never understand. Would you be willing to trade it for Biogenetics, or if technology offends you, one credit per year for the next fifty years, totalling to fifty energy credits?
Right now, though we will put aside all differences for the common good of all of our people.
End transmission
Hansen out.
Raging Mouse posted 10-06-99 08:00 PM ET
"Why are there no labourers close by when you need them?!" Miriam spouts, pacing back and forth. The only person present is careful not to smile. Miriam's rock-solid temper is renowned, so this outburst must be intended to make an impression on him. That is, to awe or intimidate. The cause of this probably fake anger is a pile of packing crates standing in the middle of Miriam's new study. "Manfred, let's make one thing straight. I appointed you my personal secretary and authorized you to start training a special task force not, I stress, NOT because you would be especially wise or smart -which you are-, but because your psychological readout tells me you are only point five promilles likely to betray the Believers. In other words, you are unshakably loyal even when under pressure. And due to our situation, I will take actions that I strongly- very strongly- suspect would horrify any common faithful."
Manfred nods. "And I am no common faithful." He is of average height, and is wearing a well-fitting robe coloured in orange and blue, with a large marble-coloured tear on his chest. His grey hair is synthetic. The colour, a personal preference. The wrinkles on his face; equally synthetic. They are easily removed by a number of methods, but this man wishes to be seen as old. For old means wise, and wisdom together with diplomatic skills is why Miriam summoned him here, only two days ago. The fact that he is a trained covert operative, as well as self-taught master of intrigue, is the reason why she also selected him to train the Believers' military intelligence division. "As you have certainly read from the profile, members of my faith tend to be very cynical. Also, we are all required to learn basic survival training, as well as a job that can be practiced with materials commonly found in nature. On earth, we were fishermen, woodcutters, potters, warriors. And so on. And here... we shall see."
Miriam stops in front of him, and narrows her eyes. "The psych-profile was very brief on your faith. Almost as if the psych-analyst was embarrassed.. or mocking. Tell me about your faith."
"Gladly. It is classified as a 'cult', by the way. You see, we are atheists -or possibly agnostics. Central to our cult is the belief that when a man dies, he travels to another earth, where he will spend a long transitional period surrounded by the exaggerated results of his actions in life. This period ends when any and all wrongs he commited have been put to right. If you hurt a man, his alter ego will demand you to heal him before you continue your journey. If you destroyed something, you rebuild it. And so on. To minimize this time, we try to live a 'good' life here, and we also learn the basics of engineering and medicine to be better equipped for the journey."
Miriam's eyes narrow further. "Then how can I ask you to kill a man? Why did the profile not tell me you were unable to hurt someone? Why, in short, are you not a useless commander?"
"Because we take responsibility for all effects of our actions. Say, for example, I had an opportunity to slay a ruthless dictator, a murderer of many? If I decline, then the thousands of people he puts to death after that will demand an explanation afterwards, whereas if I kill him I only have to care for him. Plus the added bonus of being able to say 'gotcha' posthumously, of course. You see, almost no matter what you do, you are bound to spend some time in that purgatory, repairing the damage you did. And suicide is no option. The trick is to control the damage. Those you have helped will of course help you in the afterlife."
"What goes around comes around, in other words. Fine. Well, the work ahead of you will be critical to the entire existence of the Believers, so you should be on the positive side of the scale for a long, long time hereafter. Good. Now tell me what requires my attention today."
Manfred goes to a wall. As he gets close, a line forms in it's middle and two panels slide apart, revealing an infoterminal. He punches in his code on the touch-screen, and quickly brings up the day's agenda.
"Highest priority goes to a rather troubling revelation: There is an entire society of cyborgs out there. They have sent a rather blunt message that basically says they are too busy to care about us right now, but wish to buy technology if we are interested. Their spokesperson is one Aki Hansen."
Miriam's face is white. "Cyborgs... what an unholy abomination! A union of flesh and technology, further alienating matter from the joys of the spirit. I truly grieve for their souls, Manfred... if they have any." She pulls herself together. "The most merciful action would be to eradicate them. But to do anything about it, we need to find out where they are, and they aren't bound to tell. I want no mention of this publicly, you hear? The existence of these cyborgs will be secret. And as for their message.. accept the blood truce and politely decline the trade. Let them think we don't care."
"Yours will be done. Next, the Gaians accept our trade in priciple, but are concerned that we are mistreating the planet and it's life-forms. Lady Deidre refers to the planet as a person, by the way. She states that unless we mend our ways she could be forced to take action."
Miriam smiles slightly. "That's just empty threats. Forever the environmental activist, eh? Well, we can go along with her environmentalist fancies as long as they don't become too restrictive. Send a message that we welcome any suggestions she has on coexisting with this 'Planet' of hers, and hope she will be more at ease about trading with us."
Manfred's brow wrinkles further. "Sister, you should know that almost all members of our scout patrols have reported strange visions of communing with an entity called 'Planet'. These come during sleep, and when close to the indigenous fungus-like flora. Both our colonies are several hundred kilometers from the nearest large-scale growth, so I would presume that we therefore haven't experienced this entity before."
"But why wasn't I notified of these visions?"
"The psych-chaplains assumed they were manifestations of the soldiers' psyche trying to adapt their beliefs to this alien environment, so the soldiers were prescribed meditation and prayer and the matter forgotten."
"Well I won't start talking to fungus, and I suspect many of the soldiers tried eating some before they started having 'visions'.. but there might also be something out there.. these are strange paths we are walking, and we shouldn't presume to know what lies over the horizon."
"Wisely spoken. Well, that's the primary agendas taken care of. I will return when further developments occur. With your permission, sister."
"Yes, you may go."
Miriam is left alone. Some workers arrive to carry away the boxes two hours later, and they leave with the impression that a special level of hell is being built to accommodate all the loiterers.
Lord Beselwick posted 10-07-99 03:05 PM ET
Open Link
Channel 4
... Hello again Sister Miriam. I trust your religious experiments are going as planned. I am Captain Ulrik Beselwick and I speak as the voice for the Nautilus Pirates. I hear you've made quite an impression on the Gaians. Now that pleasentries are over I'll get to the point. I'm here to offer you a trade of Doctrine : Mobility for Social Psych. Also I propose a Truce (with your shipping excluded). That's all, Pirates out.
Close Link
Channel 4
Nautilus Wharf
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Author	Topic: RP: The Believers
Raging Mouse	posted 10-05-99 08:14 AM ET Miriam stands at her desk in New Jerusalem, staring at the aides in front of her. There are eight, and they are either carrying a bundle of multifax -reusable plastic 'paper'- or a datapad. They are here in the role of messengers. The urgent affairs of the day. She nods to the first, a young man, apparently in his twenties, who steps forward. "Sister, we have intercepted several transmissions. The first seems to have originated from a colony led by Nwabudike Schoop. They are announcing an upgrade of their industries to synthmetal technology." Miriam wrinkles her forehead. "What are we currently researching? A woman down the line looks up. "Sister, we are studying the ecology of this world, in the hope of designing terraformers." "Cancel that. We need something to counter this new materiel. Something to safeguard our promised land. We need a weapon." The man operates his datapad. "We could look into the possibility of a laser weapon." "Do that. We will see about the formers then." The woman curtsies and leaves. Miriam frowns. "This is vexing. I was hoping to do only the slightest research, and that at a careful pace, lest we distance ourselves even further from paradise and the embrace of God. And now this robber baron is forcing my hand. We will surely be punished for discovering secrets that God in his wisdom has decided to hide from us. Oh well. What is the next transmission?" The aide gives her an apologetic look. "It is a similar message, from Prokhor Zakharov. He is residing at a location he calls 'University Base', and he boasts about having unlocked the secrets of the human brain." Miriam smiles. "I know Zakharov. He is excited over nothing, for the brain is a mere lump of electrochemical activity, and has nothing to do with our mind, our soul. Clearly, the events on the Unity has left him a bit.. eccentric. But a dangerous one. Continue to monitor his frequencies. Was there more transmissions?" "Yes, sister. There was a garbled transmission lacking the proper ID-codes, but the voice was positively ID:d as Natalia's. She is speaking for a croup called the 'Gaians', and wishes to make contact. She would offer a trade where she provides us with terraforming expertise in exchange for help in research." Miriam smiles again. "Ah, Natalia. Always so protective of her blades of grass. Her offering seems proper. Tell her that we will gladly aid her in her efforts to understand herself, and are prepared to send a document outlining the phenomenons of Social Psychology to her... and a symposium on the religions on earth. Give extra room to the nature-friendly religions. Also suggest that she supplies us with the entire technology of Centauri Ecology, as we have an adequate workforce to take care of terraforming by ourselves. Do you see, my aides, that our lord has not forsaken us? The very moment we are faced with this problem with Morgan Industries, we are offered the solution on a silver plate. I sense friends in these Gaians, even though they are slightly misguided. Was that all? Then you may go." The aide bows, and hurries away. Miriam nods to the second aide, a man in his fourties. "Sister, our scouts now consist of five different teams; three supported by New Jerusalem, and two by New Ganges. The second one was completed yesterday, and New Ganges is ready for new production orders. New Jerusalem is still preparing a new colony transport, and is expected to complete it in two years' time." "Tell New Ganges to stand by. We shall wait and see whether the Gaians accept our proposal; if they do, NG will prepare a team of terraformers. If not, let surplus production go into the energy reserves until we have this new laser weapon. You may go." The aide bows, and hurries off. The next aide starts to speak. The rest of the items on today's schedule are of lesser importance.
Y	posted 10-06-99 12:46 AM ET The University probe team enters New Jerusalem's planetbuster silos. Their mission: To put a bomb in the silos. BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New Jersualem is reduced to a smoking ruin......
Hunterseeker	posted 10-06-99 02:55 PM ET We, the Cyborg Consciousness, offer greetings. We are willing to sign a Blood Truce( or a Peace Treaty if necessary) to cease any hostilities. We must point out that we highly disregard your plan for making a society totally based upon emotions and the irrelevant and irrational fear of an artificial ruler or guardian. We mean that safety is never granted or given, but must be made by yourself. Your technology, Social Psychology is intriguing. It has a detailed explanation of the side of humans, we'll never understand. Would you be willing to trade it for Biogenetics, or if technology offends you, one credit per year for the next fifty years, totalling to fifty energy credits? Right now, though we will put aside all differences for the common good of all of our people. End transmission Hansen out.
Raging Mouse	posted 10-06-99 08:00 PM ET "Why are there no labourers close by when you need them?!" Miriam spouts, pacing back and forth. The only person present is careful not to smile. Miriam's rock-solid temper is renowned, so this outburst must be intended to make an impression on him. That is, to awe or intimidate. The cause of this probably fake anger is a pile of packing crates standing in the middle of Miriam's new study. "Manfred, let's make one thing straight. I appointed you my personal secretary and authorized you to start training a special task force not, I stress, NOT because you would be especially wise or smart -which you are-, but because your psychological readout tells me you are only point five promilles likely to betray the Believers. In other words, you are unshakably loyal even when under pressure. And due to our situation, I will take actions that I strongly- very strongly- suspect would horrify any common faithful." Manfred nods. "And I am no common faithful." He is of average height, and is wearing a well-fitting robe coloured in orange and blue, with a large marble-coloured tear on his chest. His grey hair is synthetic. The colour, a personal preference. The wrinkles on his face; equally synthetic. They are easily removed by a number of methods, but this man wishes to be seen as old. For old means wise, and wisdom together with diplomatic skills is why Miriam summoned him here, only two days ago. The fact that he is a trained covert operative, as well as self-taught master of intrigue, is the reason why she also selected him to train the Believers' military intelligence division. "As you have certainly read from the profile, members of my faith tend to be very cynical. Also, we are all required to learn basic survival training, as well as a job that can be practiced with materials commonly found in nature. On earth, we were fishermen, woodcutters, potters, warriors. And so on. And here... we shall see." Miriam stops in front of him, and narrows her eyes. "The psych-profile was very brief on your faith. Almost as if the psych-analyst was embarrassed.. or mocking. Tell me about your faith." "Gladly. It is classified as a 'cult', by the way. You see, we are atheists -or possibly agnostics. Central to our cult is the belief that when a man dies, he travels to another earth, where he will spend a long transitional period surrounded by the exaggerated results of his actions in life. This period ends when any and all wrongs he commited have been put to right. If you hurt a man, his alter ego will demand you to heal him before you continue your journey. If you destroyed something, you rebuild it. And so on. To minimize this time, we try to live a 'good' life here, and we also learn the basics of engineering and medicine to be better equipped for the journey." Miriam's eyes narrow further. "Then how can I ask you to kill a man? Why did the profile not tell me you were unable to hurt someone? Why, in short, are you not a useless commander?" "Because we take responsibility for all effects of our actions. Say, for example, I had an opportunity to slay a ruthless dictator, a murderer of many? If I decline, then the thousands of people he puts to death after that will demand an explanation afterwards, whereas if I kill him I only have to care for him. Plus the added bonus of being able to say 'gotcha' posthumously, of course. You see, almost no matter what you do, you are bound to spend some time in that purgatory, repairing the damage you did. And suicide is no option. The trick is to control the damage. Those you have helped will of course help you in the afterlife." "What goes around comes around, in other words. Fine. Well, the work ahead of you will be critical to the entire existence of the Believers, so you should be on the positive side of the scale for a long, long time hereafter. Good. Now tell me what requires my attention today." Manfred goes to a wall. As he gets close, a line forms in it's middle and two panels slide apart, revealing an infoterminal. He punches in his code on the touch-screen, and quickly brings up the day's agenda. "Highest priority goes to a rather troubling revelation: There is an entire society of cyborgs out there. They have sent a rather blunt message that basically says they are too busy to care about us right now, but wish to buy technology if we are interested. Their spokesperson is one Aki Hansen." Miriam's face is white. "Cyborgs... what an unholy abomination! A union of flesh and technology, further alienating matter from the joys of the spirit. I truly grieve for their souls, Manfred... if they have any." She pulls herself together. "The most merciful action would be to eradicate them. But to do anything about it, we need to find out where they are, and they aren't bound to tell. I want no mention of this publicly, you hear? The existence of these cyborgs will be secret. And as for their message.. accept the blood truce and politely decline the trade. Let them think we don't care." "Yours will be done. Next, the Gaians accept our trade in priciple, but are concerned that we are mistreating the planet and it's life-forms. Lady Deidre refers to the planet as a person, by the way. She states that unless we mend our ways she could be forced to take action." Miriam smiles slightly. "That's just empty threats. Forever the environmental activist, eh? Well, we can go along with her environmentalist fancies as long as they don't become too restrictive. Send a message that we welcome any suggestions she has on coexisting with this 'Planet' of hers, and hope she will be more at ease about trading with us." Manfred's brow wrinkles further. "Sister, you should know that almost all members of our scout patrols have reported strange visions of communing with an entity called 'Planet'. These come during sleep, and when close to the indigenous fungus-like flora. Both our colonies are several hundred kilometers from the nearest large-scale growth, so I would presume that we therefore haven't experienced this entity before." "But why wasn't I notified of these visions?" "The psych-chaplains assumed they were manifestations of the soldiers' psyche trying to adapt their beliefs to this alien environment, so the soldiers were prescribed meditation and prayer and the matter forgotten." "Well I won't start talking to fungus, and I suspect many of the soldiers tried eating some before they started having 'visions'.. but there might also be something out there.. these are strange paths we are walking, and we shouldn't presume to know what lies over the horizon." "Wisely spoken. Well, that's the primary agendas taken care of. I will return when further developments occur. With your permission, sister." "Yes, you may go." Miriam is left alone. Some workers arrive to carry away the boxes two hours later, and they leave with the impression that a special level of hell is being built to accommodate all the loiterers.
Lord Beselwick	posted 10-07-99 03:05 PM ET Open Link Channel 4 ... Hello again Sister Miriam. I trust your religious experiments are going as planned. I am Captain Ulrik Beselwick and I speak as the voice for the Nautilus Pirates. I hear you've made quite an impression on the Gaians. Now that pleasentries are over I'll get to the point. I'm here to offer you a trade of Doctrine : Mobility for Social Psych. Also I propose a Truce (with your shipping excluded). That's all, Pirates out. Close Link Channel 4 Nautilus Wharf