buttrinthum | TDM #3

Entry tags:

!tdm

TDM #3

Arrival / Enchanted Garden

Whether it be sleep or death, you feel your eyes close, and as your body begins to let go, you see a barn owl that is flying through the darkness, soon sweeping you across the clouded sky. You feel yourself mouth the words, “I wish, I wish..” and utter your deepest and darkest desire.

When you regain consciousness, you’ll find you are in an unfamiliar place with no recognition of how you arrived here. You have the clothes on your back, but nothing else. No weapons and if you had a particular superpower, you’ll notice it is missing. All you have is a satchel with a piece of bread, a vial of water and a potion. The potion could be red, blue or golden. There are no instructions about these potions other than two words: Drink Me.

Will you drink it or not?

There is a parchment, handwritten, and it simply gives you a welcoming:

“Welcome to my Labyrinth. Per our agreement, you have consented to live your life here for an undetermined amount of time. In exchange, I will grant you the wish that you desire the most.”

You’re in a garden, surrounded by flowers and plants– most of which you cannot identify. However, there are a few that you can make out: lily of the valley and hawthorn. Time spent too close to the lily of the valley invokes a state of forced honesty. Victims will blurt out anything on their minds with no apparent filter, whether embarrassing, sentimental, or incriminating. Pollen from the hawthorn flowers do not appear to do anything until the individual is near other people. Then, both (or more) people will become increasingly drawn together, until their body parts are touching and cannot be separated.

It looks like there are plenty of others who are just now waking up from their dream-state as well.. why not go ahead and say hello?

[ The arrival aspect of this prompt is reserved for new characters, but anyone can interact with the garden flowers. The effects will last for a few hours or days. ]

A Jungle Out There

Existing dreamers will wake up one day to find that everything is the same as it was - the zombies roaming the streets and the mysterious beings known as devils have all but vanished. The townsfolk and various creatures have returned to the small town, and they continue to man their shops like nothing had ever happened. When asked about the events of last month, they appear confused. Was all that just a dream?

The change in seasons has led to increasing rainfall in Somnius. Better have an umbrella on hand! While that’s hardly an issue, the rainfall has led to the proliferation and mutation of the local flora. Plants and flowers that were simply harmless before have now grown to monstrous sizes, and they’ve developed a taste for flesh! To make matters worse, they are sprouting all over town, be it the town square, your local library, or right in your kitchen sink! These plants range from creeping vines that bind, twist and try to pull people apart by their limbs, to pitcher plants and venus flytraps that trap and devour their poor, unsuspecting victims. There is even a small army of humanoid mandrake roots that have sprouted from the ground and are running amok, invading people’s homes and shops and moving in. These mandrakes appear to mimic human behaviours and likeness. This means that, yes, if it was your routine to have a morning coffee then kick your legs up on the couch and read the paper, you might find a mandrake that looks eerily like you, sitting on your couch and attempting to drink from your cup.

How do we curb this problem? Brute force is one option. Slicing, burning or ripping the plants out by their roots will stop them in their rampage and save the lives of any unfortunate person caught by them. Through trial and error, it was also found that taming the carnivorous plants is possible! This is done with soothing touches, gentle words, and offering trickles of blood or a piece of your flesh to eat. Once tamed, the wild plants are almost friendly and affectionate and can obey very simple commands. The mandrakes can be tamed by allowing them to engage in those human-like behaviours and acknowledging them as other humans. They are drawn to displays of dominance and leadership, and anyone who can impress them may be able to amass their own little army of minions. We’ll leave it up to players to decide what this looks like.

This vegetation overtake will run until the 11th, where the rains start to die down and the sprouting plants gradually become smaller, less aggressive and less mutated. There might be some stragglers running around for a few days after that, but they will be weak and easily destroyed.

Playing House

In the chaos of the vegetation infestation, it’s easy to miss the dragon eggs that have been left within the bushes and in the homes of some people. These eggs are about the size of a bowling ball, and they are armoured and scaly, much like the skin of a dragon. They come in many different colours and are warm to the touch, much like something that is very much alive.

It’s dragon nesting season, but with the aggressive and carnivorous plants running amok this year, the dragons haven’t found it worth raising their eggs. They’ve simply left these eggs and flown off the island.

For reasons they cannot remember or explain, the townsfolk hold a strong reverence for the dragons. They will fight to save an egg from being cracked or destroyed by any of the rampaging plants, even at the cost of their lives. They are also rallying to ensure that each and every dragon egg is cared for until hatching, no matter what it takes. This means they will be begging the dreamers to help them in this endeavor - and yes, there will be compensation in the form of food and currency. Anyone who refuses will be regarded a true monster!

Strangely enough, there’s no manual on the care of dragons within the library of Somnius – or any record of dragons within any recorded text at all. It’s almost too eerie, given that the Raven’s Quill Library holds information about just about anything else, across the worlds. Just like meaningful information about Vaeros, you will not find much about this specific thing.

The Forest Witch does, however, resurface again to provide her well-needed insight. According to her, the only way a dragon egg can hatch is through gentle and loving care, much like parenting a child. This responsibility has to be shared between two, and it’s encouraged that dreamers cuddle together with the egg in bed to share warmth, read to it, take it on excursions and talk to it. Cuddling together with the egg, in particular, can trigger Dreamfasting, which is the sharing of memories. This particular memory will be a pleasant one.

All dreamers are encouraged to find a partner. If they can’t find one, they can be shoved together at the whims of the townsfolk. Maybe you both just look cute together?

[ Eggs will remain until the Relaxed Event (or via an announcement of their hatching once we re-work the schedule from the Feedback Post) on the 27th and characters will be expected to continue caring for them until that period of time. In the event that characters are paired up with a character who doesn't app or drops, they can easily just reach out and find a new partner. It is possible to care for more than one egg with different partners if your character has the time for it, but one egg to two parents is mostly recommended. ]

A Suspicious Message

On the morning of the 1st, some dreamers will receive a message from an unknown user.

What or who do you love most of all?

They will feel compelled to respond with a truthful answer, as if their brains had gone into a trance, and before they know it, their response will be there for everyone to see. It cannot be deleted or changed. The user will not respond personally, but you get the sense they are definitely reading.

[ This is an additional network option for characters to interact with. Feel free to add a network prompt into any of your top levels. If you do not want to interact with this prompt, simply assume your character did not get the message. All threads are public unless actively privated by characters. We generally encourage threadjacking and engagement, so feel free to mention if threadjacking is fine with you so that others are aware. Note that the NPC will not be actively responding. ]

OOC

Welcome to the labyrinthum TDM! All events are game canon. New characters (invited or not) and old characters alike are welcome to play in it. Existing characters can start their own logs or network posts for the event if they wish to.

New characters will arrive depowered and with only their clothing, and will be given a satchel with a crystal pendant, a communication device, some water and bread and a magic potion. If they drink the potion, they will manifest an elemental, healing or animal transformation ability.

With the exception of Castle Vaeros, characters are free to go as they please, so feel free to place them in any of the locations available on the map.

You can find more information about the game here. Any questions regarding the TDM can go under the comment below.

Unique to this TDM, we have dragon egg co-parenting prompt that will be relevant throughout the summer. You can read more details about it here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Despite having been in Somnius for a while now, Ari Tayrey doesn't know about the effects of the flowers. Had she known, she might have been able to warn the newcomer. As it is, she's just taking a walk through the gardens. It's not quite an organised patrol, but that doesn't mean she's not on the lookout for anything unusual - and this man? He does look a little lost. She raises a hand.]

Peace and prosperity! Is all well?

[The young woman looks friendly enough, even in military uniform and carrying a small axe at her belt.]

Peace! [Arthur waves back, relief washing over him like a small puppy, and having to resist the urge to run to meet her!]

[Axe, military but from where? Arthur frequently has to remind people he's not Sherlock Holmes, but he is pretty observant, and unlike the detective, he's far more traveled and affable. Actually, let's go a step back. She's a woman in military uniform. That's not his time period, anywhere in the world.]

My name is Arthur, I'm a bit knackered how I got here, actually. [Is he in danger? Is it illegal to trespass? A night in jail still beats out in the garden with no information however!] I didn't mean to trespass, if I can get directions or find my friends, I'll get right of your territory.

[And inevitably he does his best to turn on the charm.] Much as I'd rather stay and learn more about you and your locale beautiful young woman, I'm sure you're much too busy to waste time on this old bloke. Although if you do have time for drinks, my friends can wait! [And it's the best way to get a handle on even more information.]

[She crosses over to join him instead - which is a terrible idea, considering that he's standing right by the flowers, but of course she's oblivious.]

Citizen Arthur. I'm Lieutenant Arilanna Tayrey. Don't worry, this isn't my territory. I'm just as much an outsider here as you are. This is a bubble universe, and we're all here under contract. Your friends might be here too; it's not impossible. I can make inquiries, if you tell me their names.

[She looks at him again.] I'm on patrol right now, but I like older men. [What? Tayrey, did you just say that out loud? She tries to brazen it out with a grin.]

[Citizen. Citizen? Citizen....]

[It reminds him too much of how desperately strongly he tried to enlist to help in the world war (1 - he doesn't know about the sequel) and how it was constantly rejected, occasionally seen as an intrusion, the royals didn't like his way of going about it, and oh how much they hated his attempts to change things. They refused, so he made his own volunteer forces, and they ordered them disbanded. He enlisted again, they tried to make him a senior ranking officer, but --]

Private, actually. [He insisted. They were all equals in this fight. And while he was training and demanding rubber neck rings (the precursor to lifevests) for the navy, and training firearm safety again as with the Boer war, and war surgeon-ing and recording and documenting everything (and wrote what he felt was his best and most important work, and no one gave a damn) - he was a bit of a wild man and stuck to his guns both literally and metaphorically.] Served as a surgeon in the Royal Army, Boer War and a knight for her Majesty Queen Victoria. [The fun part of that is that it was King Edward VII but thanks to Time travel and what have you, he has to play up the Queen Victoria bit and it gets even more ridiculous since he avoids mentioning the knight title "except when it suits you," as Theo says. Only when it's in his favor. But this time he hadn't even meant to, it slipped out.]

[Still that last part from Tayrey makes him brighten instantly!]

[And so relieved his vampire fangs aren't peeking out on him. Always a risk that. ~~Not right now it's not.~~] Well, if you wouldn't mind, two are better to patrol than one, wouldn't you say?

I daresay my friends might wind up more your type, however, they're almost all older than me. except Sebastian. He hasn't been born yet. [None of that was supposed to escape him!]

[Moving right along.] Le Comte du Saint-Germaine is dear old Daddy. [Should he stop calling him that? Yes. Has he? Not yet.] Dressed all in gold colours, ethereal aristocrat, you can absolutely see where I get it from. [Not that Arthur is the rugged boxer with a mustache anymore, but he's still a boxer and prefers the other end of Paris' social ladder.] Leo is... [Where to begin?!] Absent minded and probably asleep on somebody's floor. Or freeing caged animals. Can't take him anywhere to Dad's eternal annoyance. Theodorus is Dutch, has a perpetual scowl, earrings, [Arthur's hand goes up to his own, out of a reflex] and will be wherever his older brother: Vincent is painting. Honestly I expected them to be in this garden. Sebastian is the butler, he's a history buff like myself, but has his specialties, probably be wherever books are if he's not working hard to be the best at everything. Maybe a coffee shop or cooking.

[And he doesn't care about the others. He likes Napoleon, but that's a name he can't just throw out into the ether! ]

So how long have you been here Lieutenant? Any fun tricks I should know? Does anyone remember their contract?

Queen Victoria! You weren't ever stationed in India, were you? I was there once, assisting the nurses. In Peshawar. That won't make two quarks of sense to you, but it was a time travel accident. [As if that makes it less complicated? Really, she needs to be far more careful with her words.] It was the most under-resourced facility I'd ever seen. [No, that's not helping. Time to change the subject.]

But you were a knight? You rode a horse and wore armour? [The most striking thing about Ari Tayrey's knowledge of Earth is that her chronology is a complete mess.]

I don't think I've met any of the people you mentioned, but I'll look out for your father and the others, and see if there are any records of them here. You're the family rebel, are you? How is it that you have an unborn butler? [Time travel is the obvious answer, but she already mentioned that once, no need to make him think she's obsessive.]

I've been here several weeks. I know what my contract is, I just don't remember the negotiation. That doesn't inspire confidence, but I was imprisoned and desperate to escape; I'd probably have signed anything remotely reasonable. [Definitely not something that a Tradeliner wants to admit to!] Nobody's being tortured here, so that's a vast improvement, and people aren't being used as power cells, and...

You know, I'm feeling a little strange. Do join me on patrol. A second pair of eyes won't hurt. [She gestures back towards the path.]

[There's a long pause. That's one hell of a question.]

[Somewhere behind the sapphire and ocean blue eyes he's remembering the Boer War, and the children and the --]

[Under-resourced.] No, I -- [His mouth is dry.]

[No one's ever asked that. A slight headshake.] I was a writer for that though. [A thick swallow.] The things the government did there were monstrous. Inhumane. [This truth thing is out of hand!] Not just to the Indians, though they got the absolute worst of it, but the soldiers were often not even properly trained in firearms and not seen as living people, just numbers! [He bites back a small biting snarl, it's not like him at all! He's always had problems holding back, but even on this, he can either freeze up, or just toss out something glib and careless!]

[But the Lieutenant seems to be having a moment too, so he siezes on it to breathe deeply and try to steady himself.]

[A laugh!] Oh, aye Lass, that I am. Rebel, trouble, Dad's problem child. But I'm not even the worst. Will got kicked out and he still causes problems. He's going to give Comte a heart attack one of these days, but luckily I'm a Doctor and then he'll be glad I'm on hand. [Maybe. Probably won't matter, greater vampires can't die.]

[Power cells? What HAS she been in?!]

If you know about time travel, then you know the answer too, hah! Righto! Let's get the lead out!

[He doesn't quite run, but it's definitely a bit of a brisk walk as he carefully puts some distance in. Too bad the flowers aren't that easy to escape!] Right, what's a nice soldier like you doing time traveling to hellholes like that?

I can ride horseback, of course, but I prefer cars. Started racing them in the future. That's a wrong sentence. In my past, but I was just in a Time Slip, Sebastian called it. So it was to my past. Another 10 years for cars to really get popular. I love sports, but I was too big to be a jockey, race horses. And we're a couple hundred years out from cavalry being terribly common. After Japan showed how to use guns against cavalry, the potential took off. And in the French Revolution, mousquetaires and cannons played a much bigger role. Armor wasn't going to save anyone: the French used mob rule and cannons. Wild time.

I wrote a lot of stories about that too. I definitely preferred them, but they didn't catch on so well. I tried charging five times higher for my most popular one, and that didn't deter anyone either. I priced my political ones as low or free, and yet... [Gah. He's NEVER this honest! Just an annoyed huff!] Have you ever been on a horse? Or seen cars, or dare I say: air travel? Any favorite sports? Are there many female soldiers in your unit? You're the first I've met. Though I quite fancy that nice blue uniform. [Something something, same as with Rose: makes the mind wonder about what's underneath. Every damn time.]

[She matches his brisk pace, but alas, they aren't out of flower range just yet!]

Earth has so many wars. Almost everyone I talk to wants peace, but it's so hard to maintain. Governments are always going to oppress people unless you have a binding Charter to limit them. I have to be able to look past that. When I was there I... I just saw wounded soldiers. It didn't matter what had happened or why; those men didn't deserve to be suffering as they were.

[There, she's done it again. It's perfectly clear that war is a sensitive subject for him, and she ought to have the tact to just drop it, but instead she's as talkative as if she - well, she's not drunk, she's sure of that. There are other substances that can play havoc with a person's inhibitions, but she's sure they couldn't be manufactured here.

Stop trying to make excuses for your own blundering then, Tayrey. Self-control is all it takes.

She tries.]

I didn't want to be in that place! I was kidnapped. And it wasn't even an ordinary kidnapping, where they want ransom money, or some exchange or concession, and they'll treat you decently enough because they won't get what they're after otherwise. No, this man just wanted to torture us. Forever. And the worst part wasn't even him, it was the other prisoners telling me not to make a fuss and to just accept that this was my life now. Give up hope. I'm a Tradeline officer, I'd never do that, my very first duty was escape and I-

[And this isn't much better.] I'm sorry. I'm happy to be free now, that's all. I'm not usually... like this. [Weirdly emotional. Much too open.]

Cars. [Cars have got to be safe, right?] I actually never got to drive a groundcar. My father used to say there was no need, because Company daughters had people to drive for them - but I always thought it looked fun. Then I left home to be a spacer - and I trained as an astrogator, so that made me a pilot. Starships, shuttles, hovercars - I can fly pretty much anything. Of course very few Company daughters end up shipside, which is probably why they put me straight in for officer training, really. But there are plenty of women out on the lines. You like the uniform? It used to get me some attention, stationside. [Ari actually does a little twirl, and then she's right back walking beside him as if nothing happened.] I miss that. I miss it meaning something. Nobody here knows what the Tradelines are. What we stand for. There's only me as representative, and truth is I only had half a year's seniority to begin with. [Now why did she say that, and not her usual four standard years on the lines which sounds so much better to outsiders?] Have you really never met a female soldier before? Not even a foreign one?

Yes. That's exactly right. Though I'm not even sure Charters are enough.

They told you to give up hope? I'm sorry, Lieutenant, that's awful. Classic British understatement. I have a lot of words, but none to convey my sympathies or respect for your strength in surviving such an unspeakable ordeal. [She's so YOUNG too! How young are Lieutenants usually with her corps? But he can't ask. Maybe if Napoleon or Jean were here, they could.]

[Cars!]

Never? Blimey I wish I could take you for one now. They are good fun!

[That is a lot of words over just head.]

[Spacer. Astrogator. Pilot -- that one he gets! And his eyes just shine with excitement. It IS exciting. Straight to officer training. Probably helped the Lieutenant thing.]

That explains a little. All the officers in my time are the oldest gray men you can imagine. They tried to make me one too and I refused. That's how you get put behind a desk, or worse: used as a symbol. A badge. Another number. Just says, "Dr. Doyle endorses the war efforts." Then stuff you where you can't do anything. That's the only way to take power back from them. You have to choose where you put yourself and how to do the most good. I learned that from Napoleon. Ahhh, but if he ever shows up, don't tell him I said that.

[He grins and leers appreciatively at her spin! Already he feels better than in the last year at least. He's got enough material for another short story or five, and so what if honesty is in the air? At least it's fun!]

No, can't say I have, you really are the first.

As you said Earth... has so many wars. [Earth. That's a statement.] Women fight in their own way. But even in the great war, the war to end all wars...

There was a lot that led up to it. Napoleon riled up all of Europe, and monarchies feared the end of ALL monarchies. Everyone came at him from all sides. It was... awful. A nightmare. The death was millions. More than any other war we'd ever had. But then the Great War came. Everyone had different sides. Treaties and defense pacts. It was a powder keg waiting for a spark. A single assassination was all it took.

Women weren't just doing nothing while all the men went to war. They got organized. 30% of Germanys workforce became women almost overnight. Before that women were expected to stay home, raise children, maybe arts if you could afford it. I learned storytelling from my mother. [A small laugh.] I used to tell her I wanted to kill off my most popular character. She warned me I couldn't. But I ignored her advice. Anyway, the women worked taking over the factories. I can barely imagine how much better your world is, but the factories aren't easy, by any stretch. It's grueling. They had to make the explosives for mortars. Giant metal pots larger than a woman herself, carried by at least four at a time to even bigger tanks they has to stir it in. It was truly awe inspiring. Women weren't even always allowed to vote back then. And only when they were 31. Believed to be a proper marrying and even post-divorce age.

Some women snuck in, but if they got found out, they got booted -- removed. Just like me and my attempts. I tried running for political office even, to try to change it. I failed miserably, but it's just as well, I might have lost my temper and tried to write revenge stories about whoever set me off, tried to rally people to my side. Not that it would have worked. Just as my mother knew, I do not have any sense of what people will think of my work. Even when it's out there, people baffle me. But women are the best kind of mystery. Always surprising me in the best ways.

I've been in a lot of wars. It's hard to tell if they're getting better or worse. By Sebastian's time, it seems like the whole world is at peace, and that seems impossible to me. Dazai's only a few decades forward of me, [A few decades so short!] but it seems like the world is much worse then.

Cardalek has no wars?

Starship, shuttles, hovercraft, I daresay this is all so fascinating to me! A type of flying, but unlike anything I've ever heard. I'm sure it can't compare, but have you ever tried skiing? It feels like flying in short bursts, ice instead of clouds.

Astrogating, navigating but not just by the stars as compass, between them? By Jove... [He laughs and shakes his head.] You learned that in officer academy? That sounds so useful! I wonder if Britain will ever get there. We had no training in guns. They just expected it would just happen. They do now. [He is proud of that.]

Thank you. It was awful, I won't deny it - but at least it's over now. I got out, and when my stay here is done, I'll be going home. That's something to be happy about!

[It's always been that thought that gave her hope, but on the ship it had been as if she clung to it desperately by her fingertips, terrified it'd slip away and she'd lose herself entirely. Here, it's a certainty, if she lives. It's as if she has started travelling home, and she can enjoy the journey.]

Now you- [She points at him, a little smile on her face.] You said you were an aristocrat's son. That's like upper-level Company, so of course all the officers you met were old and grey. Very senior captains. Retired senior captains, yes? Or generals. Whatever ranking system you use. I can assure you, junior officers are much better company! Although we don't have an academy. However could you learn to sail the stars by sitting planetside? We learn shipside, as apprentices.

[Something that had been common practice on Royal Navy ships once too, but likely before Arthur's time.]

Cardalek hasn't been to war, because Cardalek pays Tradeline insurance. If anyone attacks an insured colony, we defend it. It's practical. Lots of the smaller colonies can't spare people or resources for anything more than a small planetary militia for keeping order, so they'd be in trouble if interstellar conflict broke out. The Tradelines protect everyone who wants us there.

[She thinks for a moment.] What's your name, really? Arthur or Doyle? I'd like to read your stories, if you ever write more here. It sounds as if you did a lot of valuable work, despite opposition. It also sounds as if Earther women really were oppressed. Were they not allowed to buy shares? On Cardalek, anyone can buy Company shares if they want to vote. [In theory. Half of Ari's trouble had been Saratha Cordain causing upset by saying that Carrington's genetic experiments wouldn't have citizenship rights. So she feels quite strongly about it.]

Your Napoleon, was he fighting for or against tyranny?

It is. [Just so long as the trauma doesn't follow her in her heart and mind and Hell's bells, the flowers...] The healing doesn't stop though. If this place is good enough, I'll need to see about healing my own memories, but those scars run deeper than you know. That goes for anyone. It's not a weakness, it's the same as healing a physical injury, it's just not as obvious as as missing limb, even if it's just as severe.

Did I say that? [Blue eyes sparkle ALL mirth.] I should clarify. Dear old Daddy Le Comte only adopted me, ["Sired" -- oh good, they must be far enough from the source that doesn't slip out!] as a Patron of the arts well after I was knighted and no longer fighting any more wars. Except the one in my head. [... Okay maybe not completely out of range.] My mother was -- [He rubs the back of his neck in thought. Phrasing. He's never tried with this before.] Catholic. [He closes his eyes. That's meaningless she comes from another planet.] In a time where that meant she raised 10 children, and scarcely had enough to feed us all. [He's trying not to remember his biological father, at ALL, given the drunk and insane asylum and --]

[A headshake.] It got me sent to a Jesuit academy. Dreadful place. Not as bad as where you just were. But the only place worse in my life was the wars. And barely. In the wars, men were equal, and merits mattered. The schools were oppressive. They didn't care about the subject, the students, or learning, it was just a matter of traditions and nothing more. And all too often they used any excuse to dole out punishments.

You're quite right about sailing. I reckon it's not too different from sailing ships. Impossible to learn from a book. And even Doctoring is accepted that after a large point, it must be done in practice. But Earth [STILL WEIRD TO SAY!] was barely a few decades past using apprenticeships as slavery, they hadn't really understood how to set up a foundation for helping instead of exploiting as it were.

The Captains, the Generals, they weren't retired. [Soft grin.] It's an old boy's club. It's just whoever survived all the previous decades got promoted. Oh you survived this battle? You must know what you're doing, have a promotion. And so on all the way to the end. You are quite the youngest officer I've met yet, and I mean that in the very best most complimentary way I can! I quite enjoyed my time among the young privates in the war! Fantastic lads. All the hope and optimism.

[Ack. His throat almost seizes up for a moment, remembering innocent trusting eyes again. Are they out of range? They seem to be. So he slows down, and looks for a good sitting place. He normally is a hyper energetic PUPPY of a man, but he's also usually a vampire! So right now being more human than since being revived, he's feeling his "real" age more than ever!]

[He uses the moment to spend extra time thinking about Tradeline Insurance and the mechanics behind it. Much more than he would normally need. Which is always fun for him. A MYSTERY!]

A bit like East Indies Trading Company then? [Head tilt. She can't know that reference, probably. How to explain it? Best not. He shakes his head instead.] In the British case... the wars were because countries had enough and declared their freedom. Sometimes. Not always. That makes us sound particularly villainous, doesn't it? [And he became a knight for defending the Boer War actions!] They were complicated. [He bites his glove for a little bit in thought, he wants to dig up his own books and then try to figure out the best way to sum up 300 years of politics and history!] France and Britain have eons of rivalry. Germany never forgave France for Napoleon, and decided the best course was a show of force. [More headshakes.] Europe is... messy.

Arthur. [Firmly.] The books might be under the name Arthur Conan Doyle, but I've been bouncing through differnt pennames for awhile now. We writers use names like any other words! Versatility and function, changing with each purpose. I will definitely keep writing. [A happy smile.] You're too kind, but I'm grateful! Let me know what you think! [He'll hover there ~~like Mikorin~~ watching if she gives him even the slightest chance to!! And TRULY fresh eyes, not someone who knows the movies, "Tee-vee show", or all the other blasted forms of Sherlock Holmes out there. And extra reason she might even be interested in his GOOD stuff, not Holmes!]

Women could not buy shares. [Genuinely sadly. He loves women. Don't get him started. Maximum simp.] 1870 they finally declared the Married Women's Property Act, giving them the right to own shares, but with what money? Only their husband's. I daresay my every word makes Earth sound worse by the line! It's truly not so horrible. Women aren't -- [How does he phrase this at all?!]

[His words fail him completely. He can't lie to her, flowers or not, he's just not got it in him.]

[The sapphire eyes just narrow.] Women aren't allowed most things. In some ways they're deemed more valuable than men. In other ways, more fragile. In still others, stronger by far, and therefore not to waste their time. Ostensibly. [Ugh but he hates it.] They're not allowed the academies. There are some schools for women, some nun institutions for the religious. This is... an extremely weighty topic for me, Lass. I'll indulge all your curiosity, I love being asked these things, things no one would have ever dared before, but I'm going to need to do it over drinks, I think. To have an excuse to take my time carefully and pretend I'm just doting on the most gorgeous soldier or lady in the room by far. [A wink!] The short of it is that a lot of men completely rigged the system in their favor, and we've all been trying to untangle their messes ever since, and that's the whole of human history on Earth, I daresay.

[Napoleon is infinitely easier, even though he should be more complex by far!]

[That's an impossible question, and yet, Arthur, dives in as eagerly as everything he does.]

Neither. Leading up to the French Revolution, the French monarchs took advantage of their country and when the American Revolution showed the world what can happen when monarchies squeeze their power --

[Oh but Roman Empire, Napoleon the demi-vampire would also have pointed out that all of it started with Rome. Especially for the Corsican Emperor.]

[He bites his glove again in thought.] He was fighting for the survival of his country. The Reign of Terror preceded him, Napoleon's youth. It goes like this. [He holds up fingers to do his best to tick off a timeline.] Britain and France have fought for centuries. Back and forth always. When the New World, America, was discovered, the race was on! Which of them could claim the most of the territory and lands for themselves. They both set up colonies everywhere they could. When England was doing better, France and England had had another war using America as an extension of it. The French-Indian wars, where France sided with the natives and stoked fear among the colonists of a genocide. They lost, but Britain wanted the American colonies to pay back some of the damages and expenses they incurred. The Americans weren't having it, they didn't ask for the soldiers, they blamed the British for letting the French rile the Indians up, and they weren't being given the same voting rights as the other English governors.

When America declared its separation, France helped them, gave them munitions, and a bit more than that. But they underestimated what this would do in their homeland. Until then, royalty took it for granted that the distance of the oceans was -- I'm sure it's incomparable to star travel, but it used to take months, but it was speeding up, and communications and word was traveling as fast as it does in Le Comte's mansion. France's monarchies went much too far. Further than Britain ever did. But the next step they had in trying to change government was worse. Hundreds of thousands of executions. No trials. It was known as the Reign of Terror. Napoleon was a soldier who studied government more than most others. He knew Roman history better than anyone. The Roman Empire was the largest Earth empire before Britain's, and the largest in term of Europe's land and culture. They had Democracy, and a senate, but they had tyrants, Cesars that took control and became dictators and abolished their senate.

Napoleon was ruthless, but it wasn't possible for him to be anything else in that situation, I think. He became known as the Nightmare of Europe. He was extremely feared, by all the other European governments, who feared losing power. But France loved him. That's still another understatement. They worshipped him. He brought an end to the Reign of Terror. He changed France for the better, didn't reinstitute a monarchy, and brought France back from collapse. He nearly conquered the world. A blaze of passions. Britain exiled him to an island, if he was killed, then France would make him a martyr, and possibly worse chaos. He escaped his exile once, and instantly had an army at his heels ready to follow him to the end of the world if he asked it of them. You can't get that from being a tyrant, not normally, but he was an Emperor, in a time and place that was unheard of. The Eastern half of the world had emperors, but the Roman empire after it disintegrated, people still remembered democracy, and they could accept monarchies, but not emperors. Until Napoleon.

Where I was right before here, Paris, France, 1890s they still love him. Their coins still have his head. They treasure him, because he treasured them. He would do anything for France, but that included trying to take over the world and bring back the Roman Empire, or see if he could outdo it.

Not to be confused with the 'Leon who I live with. He's happy enough just trying new foods, sleeping 20 hours a day, and teaching local street children fencing or survival skills.

I'm not sure this was objective enough either. [Fond grin.] Sebastian is the historian, [Arthur has a moment. He's a historian too, OBVIOUSLY. And while he'd argue he's the best writer of all of them, he will cede his history credentials to Sebastian, if only because the butler is also another 100 years to the future and has an advantage in that, somehow.] but he says, and I agree, no one on Earth has a neutral view of Napoleon. You love him or hate him. [A laugh and a headshake.] That's true of Sherlock Holmes too. [Oh. Blast it. He didn't mean to say that.] Ahhhh a ficitional character. [Bites his cheek then. Because APPARENTLY NOT. Grrr whatever.] Forget it. But Napoleon is... was, a controversial figure, even 100 years later. What he did isn't the problem, as much as how he did it, I think.

I'm fine. [They're far enough away from the flowers that she can say that!] I got out, I'm free now, and I'm not going to let the past hold me back. Tradelines don't want damaged goods.

[No, it's not that simple, but she's trying to make it true. Tradeline mental health provision is limited to a nice contract-ending payout and the best of luck with whatever career you choose to pursue planetside. One aspect of Ari's sector that isn't better than elsewhere.]

I was adopted too. My genemother was a Company daughter who didn't want the child of a spacer she'd just had one overnight with. She probably thought it was very unfortunate, instead of just being carelessness. [More honesty. Ari, whose career would be ruined by pregnancy, knows it's easy to prevent! But then she's not sorry she exists, so... more conflicted feelings. Isn't family difficult?] Someone in poverty having ten children sounds very inadvisable. Not optimal. [See how polite she's being!] It must have been very difficult for you.

I never went to school. My father used to say that mass education was very inefficient. Apprentice spacers don't get terribly high wages, but then we're not paying for the training, so it works out. It's nothing like slavery. Unlike anyone else on the Tradelines, apprentices can leave at any stop they want to. No long contractual obligations. We recognise it's not the career for everyone, and you might not know that until you've spent time living shipside.

I think Earthers are far too much like old Tirva. So much oppression. Women. Apprentices. People from different colonies. There's no respect for essential rights at all. Individuals like you seem to be in the minority. It's probably for the best my people have never discovered Earth. There would either be a quarantine zone or a war.

[But she doesn't want to sound too critical.] Still, I appreciate you telling me about Napoleon. It doesn't sound like there was any side of virtue there. Just authoritarianism. Tyranny on all sides. The people of Tirva - oh, Tirvans were the oppressors my people had to fight for our freedom, at Breakaway - some of them loved their leaders. Many of them. Possibly because of what happened to the dissenters. Trying to take someone else's territory is wrong no matter who does it, but sometimes there are tyrants with good intentions.

[Then she smiles.] I did make one mistake - of course your grey-haired captains needn't be retired! For me, hearing that they were planetside led to the assumption. But they aren't spacers! I wouldn't be so hard on them. Surviving battles does tend to mean you know what you're doing, although if anything I'd expect the opposite in wartime. Younger officers having to step up and take more responsibility, early promotion, because their elders hadn't survived. Breakaway had some young captains. I'm not the very youngest to pass for lieutenant! [Not far off it, Tayrey.] I heard of someone doing it at fifteen standard years, but their parents were both Tradeline, and we suspect they started their training under the minimum age because of it. I was just... I learn quickly. Genetic advantages. And my section lieutenant wasn't going to hold me back, she pushed me for excellence.

Did it really take months to get across an ocean? Plenty of spacer customs came about because of time and distance. The decentralisation of the Tradelines, for one thing. There's code, regulations we all have to follow in order to be Tradeliners, but beyond that every captain is completely independent. No central command. It has to be that way, when we're out in the black months at a time. Used to be years, because of time dilation.

I heard mention of that before, your East India Trading Company. I'm not sure if that would be more like the Tradelines, or like our biggest Companies - interstellar megacorporations. That'll take some explaining...

[She grins at him again.] Not tired yet, are you? I do have to finish my patrol. But I can arrange it so that we finish it right outside the tavern, how's that? So we can talk about women's voting rights and Company Towers and whatever other interesting questions we have for each other, yes?

That's terrible. You're not goods. And there's nothing wrong with needing to heal from trauma. No one can go through something like that and feel nothing. Listen, I'm taking you under my care as a Doctor, and I won't take no for an answer. All you have to do is indulge this old chap with questions, and stories now and again, and don't punish yourself for being in a bad situation and getting out of it alive, but a little wounded, agreed?

[He's REALLY not sure how much good he can do, even beyond, "first do no harm" which he definitely can do, but it's not like he's ever mastered healing his own injuries. Still, he can't ignore it either. He's a knight. And he remembers all too well the soldiers who died for simply not having basic training in the most simple of things.]

[A soft grin about his childhood.] It wasn't my mother's choice. She took in any child of my father's while he was off drinking and having otherwise illegitimate children. That's what I mean about her being Catholic. They don't believe in divorce. And she was willing to take responsibility for his wayward affairs. Alcoholism is a terrible disease on Earth. One of the worst. I didn't mind thar life though! Not that I'll ever let myself back into poverty. But my mother was the best! As soon as I had my own practice, I got a telephone so I could call her all the time. She taught me storytelling, and 9understood public audience better than I ever did. I used to tell her how much I wanted to kill off my main character, but she knew the backlash would be steeper than I expected. Having all the younger children around I got to practice my storytelling, and I've always enjoyed it more than any amount of Doctoring. Easier to see fast direct results.

All right then, your apprenticing sounds more like what I did as a Doctor. At least after the initial many years in college. [Makes a face! He hated it bleh!]

Quarantine zone... quite possibly. But Earth isn't as bad in another hundred years as my own time, supposedly. Not that I have any real idea what it's like then, but Sebastian is from 2019 and everything is less... dreadful. Less disease, less wars, less tyranny. I think I helps to have those like Napoleon happen now and again, to champion a cause, no matter how destructive. It's like wildfire. Frightening, destructuve, terrible, but afterwards, the plants grow back stronger and greener than ever. Almost cleansing.

[A small laugh! Easy going, and clearly impressed!] You're very modest, Lieutenant, but I can see right through how hard you've worked to get where you are! Your adopted father sounds just like my Daddy -- adopted patron: le Comte. Educating you, even if accidentally, in all manners of good politics.

Aye lass. When they first started, it took 61 days to cross the Atlantic ocean. And that was with good weather and using the currents in their favor. But obviously the more they did it, the more it sped up. Telephones weren't invented until after Napoleon's time, 1876, but the aristocracy are the slowest to change, so the idea that word from someplace else would get around to their own corner of the world completely knackered them. Even now they do tend to -- like in India, as you saw. They tend to ignore things that could be solved, because they don't think it affects them personally, and they don't care. That's all adding powder to a keg and they think they can just avoid sparks, but it's impossible, can't be done.

[Another small laugh.] Not tired! [Yes he is. He needs caffeine, maybe blood (not exactly since he's not vampiric this moment!) But he's enjoying himself!] I'd love that lass, thank you ever so much.

[He bites his glove in thought!] East Indies Trading Company is a book onto itself that one is.

Let's see if I can do it justice, but still summarize it. When Columbus set sail, he was trying to sail to India. It's even more months traveling by land, there's all manners of bandits and terrible mayhem in the way, and the spice market was the first thing to really start pulling Europe out of the dark ages. Food, hygiene, culture, all those things started to become important again. He found America instead, a whole other two sets of contents, the New World. The monarchies that funded him sent more and more expeditions to found colonies there or just steal every bit of gold and treasure they could. And they were still looking for an ocean route to India.

Spain and Portugal had a complete monopoly on sailing the world. But in 1588, England defeated Spain's Armada with pure ship firepower technology. Suddenly the world was England's pearl for the taking. 1600, the East Indies Trading Company was founded to wedge apart the monopoly on Indian spices, now that the ocean voyages there were established, and all manner of ports along the way had to be set up to resupply.

It wasn't like they could do it without military firepower, so they had to have some backing from the crown, but because it meant England wouldn't be forced to contribute to her rivals or enemies, it was a very small price to pay.

They started using stocks, raising shares to fund capital to send expeditions off. Oh! Women could own those stocks, but you have to be royal. And to be honest, I think most women knew better. That was the... good things. The part that reminded me of what you spoke of, but everything got dark fast, as you'll probably think it does with Earth. I'm going to find some books on Tirva history, just you watch now!

[A giant beam, and a dark headshake!]

They started slave trading. The Dutch did it too. In those days, everyone did anything they wanted. The Dutch East Indies Company took up power after Spain's defeat too, but they had a really foolish governor who got too into his own head. He believed the English were conspiring with the Japanese and Portuguese to assassinate him and ordered everyone beheaded. After that, no one could work with him obviously, so East Indies, the English one, used that as a weapon to force Netherlands out, and just like that had their own new monopoly on India.

I'll tell you lass, anytime anyone gets power on Earth, it goes straight to their heads, and they can do some terrible with things with it if not stopped.

Most of the British problems in the Eastern world are from the East Indies Trading Company. Some even say American independence is too!

They had a monopoly on tea, and spices are needed to survive. It's the only way to make food last. Medicines too. They also started dabbling in opium in China. Drugs. They would take things other countries wanted outlawed, and market it anyway. And if other countries got mad, run and hide under Britain's military might. That's what they did with America too. They blamed America for expenses incurred by the war, so demanded a sugar and tea tax. Spread the financial pain if you will. But until then, colonies didn't pay taxes, so it was injustice heaped on another.

Obviously, your Tradelines is -- not evil. [A nervous laugh.] I don't think I've ever said that aloud before! I'm not one to shy from controversial opinions, but calling a bunch of bankers and dealers evil? [He rolls his shoulders, closes his eyes, and nods.] They are though. Some of them. When they band together. I had my hero call my main villain the "Napoleon of crime," but I based Moriarty on the East Indies Trading Company. He uses drug dens, black market deals to subterfuge and disguise his slavery -- it's been outlawed internationally, finally though it took a heavy fight! And infiltrates the government to whisper in their ears things to do and people to be paranoid of.

That's the reason India's militia was so criminally under resourced. Because the East Indies Trading Company only sees the cost of buying things like medicines, or protective gear, or training. And they don't have financial reason to give a damn about those lives. It's not theirs, they aren't on the front lines. They're in literal castles far away removed from it. To them it's all just numbers.

They have a charter mind you. But it's just words if people don't exact consequences on them for it. And to some extent, people can't. They can't even wholly boycott, because they owned everything. And even if you did, what about your whole colony?

But it's getting better. People did stop the slavery, and they're still working on tye drugs and the rest. And governments can't get away with everything, so long as there's enough public outcry to pressure them. It's all an ongoing struggle though, like I said.

Edited (Phone I wasn't done!) 2023-06-05 17:32 (UTC)

[Oops, stepped right in the trauma there, Arthur! Her eyes narrow.] As a doctor you'll know medical ethics. Including my right to say no to whatever I please. I won't be under anyone's care. I'm fine. If I'm injured, I'll consult you, and you can be my doctor then, but as it is, I'm quite whole. Perfectly able to do my duty, yes?

[It's true - she could be bleeding to death and if she refused treatment there'd be nothing a doctor from her sector could do about it, not legally. Even beyond the value of self-determination, though, she won't accept that she's in any way unfit to be on the Tradelines.]

Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman, but she really shouldn't have put up with all that. Where I'm from, contracts are time-limited. Nobody should be tied forever to someone who causes them trouble or treats them badly. If anyone did ask you to sign a lifetime contract, that in itself would be a reason to say no! I suppose she hadn't much choice, if she couldn't work or do business. Were there charities who might have helped? We have plenty of those on the Company worlds, to help people who don't have a fair chance, or have been unfortunate.

I don't think it ever really helps to have destructive people. It's always an absolute tragedy when innocent civilians die because of other people's objectives. Each individual life is valuable. It's something we can never get back. None of them should be thrown away for politics or ambition or a desire for change. People choosing to risk their lives is something else, but when an entire war happens planetside, it isn't only the soldiers and the criminals who die for it.

[Tayrey laughs when he compliments her.] Well, my father would be very pleased to hear you say that! It's true, I did work hard. I also thought I had the perfect excuse to be terrible at politics and planetside niceties - poor Tayrey, went spacer so young, no wonder she doesn't know these things! But it seems a Company education isn't so easily lost.

[She's fascinated by his explanations of the history of trade and politics in his sector, and although she keeps walking, she's slowed her pace now. She's definitely paying more attention to Arthur than to what's going on in town. Maybe two isn't always better for patrol!]

I can't say it's like either the Tradelines or our Companies, then! Not beyond superficial comparisons. How anyone can think slavery is acceptable I'll never understand. Then there's taking backing from a government - a monarchy, no less! - and supporting taxation, of all things. That's one of the reasons we fought Breakaway.

[And she might as well tell him about that, since he's sharing so much.]

Imagine it, well over a hundred standard years back. Tirva was a planet in isolation, like your Earth is. The first colonists had gone out, in the slow ships - they might take decades to reach their destinations, or longer. They slept through the journeys. Technology improved, ships got quicker, new planets were settled while the slow ships drifted on. Still, space travel lost you time, one way or another. But still people went out. They went out because of the dream of a new life, of true freedom. Scientists and dreamers, in those early days.

Meanwhile, Tirva slid further and further into tyranny, but it did it gently. No fires and bombs and mass executions. No. Monitoring. Centralisation. Tirva united all its countries under one government, with the promise that it would bring fairness and equality. Instead, it dragged the richer countries down to the level of the poorer ones. And then that government began to watch everything that people did, and everything they said, using technologies. Rebellion would get you executed or thrown in prison, but even minor crimes - in an instant they could cut you off from all your money. Make it so that the doors of businesses literally wouldn't open to you. They'd scan your face and the door would stay closed. How did they do this? They convinced people that without all this, they wouldn't be safe. That it was right to give up all their freedom, or otherwise they'd be at terrible risk of harm. And they made every child on the planet attend one of their schools to be taught this.

The older generations knew different. Some of them. Enter Stanley Lorentzen, a true genius, who developed the Lorentzen equations. He lived on one of the early colonies, close to Tirva. He and his colleagues developed an engine better than anything ever seen, one to revolutionise space travel. The Matsukata drive. The L-space engine. The colonies weren't under Tirvan oppression, but they were unwilling supporters, having to pay heavy taxes back to Tirva. If Tirva could have put them under the same control, it would have, but it couldn't reach so far. Tirva hounded Lorentzen. Demanded he give up all his work to their government, so that they alone would control interstellar travel.

He wouldn't have it! He broadcast a message across Tirva - come out, come out, any who are still free! And the people and the Companies of the rebel enclaves on Tirva all went out. Took passage to the nearest colonies by any way they could. Some built their own ships. Some died trying to flee Tirva.

Tirva hounded Lorentzen. At one point they intercepted a ship he was on, and held him prisoner on Tirva itself, but no matter what they did, he wouldn't give up his secrets. He was released, as part of a trade, but he was never the same again. Stanley Lorentzen died, in the end, because of Tirvan tyranny. And then the colonies declared war. No more taxes. No tribute back to Tirva, no inspections, no communications at all. The Tradelines did not exist then. Most of the colonies were very young. Pioneers scraping an existence. Refugees. Fledgling Companies. But they fought fiercely! Every trader whose ship carried defensive weapons. Planetary militia who learnt to fly. Passenger ships who traded luxury cabins for laser arrays. All different, all individual, but coming together in common cause.

I make it sound easy. But the war took seven years. My great-grandmother was a child when it began, and an accomplished veteran by the end, even though she was still young. We lost so many... but in the end, we were free. Tirva could not hold out against us. We've held a border ever since, no ship crosses over, either way. No communication. But Tirva has sent out no ships, not in a century.

That is the history of my people. Where we came from, and why we value our freedom so highly. [Ari Tayrey blushes a little. She's never told the story like that before, not in that detail. It's one they all know.] My captain could tell you better! But that is the heart of it.

Able to do your duty, but -- [He shakes a hand through his hair, closes his eyes, and nods.] Consider the idea you are more wounded inside than you think. And it's still my job not to ignore it. [So he'll be safe distance monitoring if nothing else!]

Yes. Catholic charity. It's how I went to one of their Jesuit schools.

Oh, indeed. [The two tones of blue eyes darken even more.] Everyone suffered, but they were suffering even before that.

[But he lights up at her laugh and response to the compliment, filing it away in his head!] Truly? You're so brilliant though! I daresay you could have done better than I did at politics, and definitely better than the rest of those old codgers at parliament! I'd love to see you give them what-for!

[And now she's teaching him history and he's beyond smitten!]

[Absolutely hanging on every word! And as a storyteller himself, he knows how valuable an audience reaction is, so tries to give back as much as he can without interrupting, but in his case, it's all eyes.]

[Safety.]

[Was that part of the problem behind Holmes? The illusion that by putting the control back in the hands of the reader, they could claim some safety in a very cruel and unforgiving world?]

[He's completely enraptured by the story, and by the end he holds out a gloved hand.] I quite refuse to believe anyone could have told that better than you! I won't hear of it.

I owe you an apology little tern! May I borrow your hand? [He doesn't explain that tern = arctic bird that spends all day flying further and more than all other birds. But does explain the hand thing, because he doesn't want her to think he means CHOPPING IT OFF or something utterly insane.] This doesn't mean for keeps, it means, will you do me the utmost honor, and trust your hand in mine for a moment so I may issue a proper apology?

[Is she more wounded than she thinks? It's a frightening thought. She's fine, physically, and she's free now, she can be happy here. That should make it all alright. Shouldn't it? If she lets it affect her, she carries it forward, then she's jeopardizing her future career, and she's letting her captor win.

Stanley Lorentzen was never the same after Tirva held him prisoner. It killed him. After he was free.

Stanley Lorentzen had been old and he was physically frail, put under physical stress by his captors. It isn't the same at all.

Tayrey tries not to be troubled by it.]

That school was awful for you! It's one of the problems with charity, I think. Giving people what the benefactors think they ought to have, instead of what they actually want. I know people would say that if you're being given a handout you shouldn't complain about it, but if I were being philanthropic, I'd ask people instead. What would help them fulfil their potential? [She laughs.] Not that a junior lieutenant has much opportunity for philanthropy. I don't touch the Company funds.

I like to think I'd go to your parliament and convince them of the need for a Charter and all the rest, but they wouldn't even let me in the door, would they? Because I'm not a man.

[He seems to like the way she tells the story of Breakaway, though, and she's about to recommend texts to him - Liberty's Fleet about all the little ships that fought, or Children of Breakaway, about those who came of age mid-war, like Miri Carrington - but then he's speaking about apologies, and she looks confused. ]

Little Turn? I'm not the turning sort. Very steadfast. [She smiles.] Plain Tayrey is fine, or Lieutenant if you prefer formality. But of course I'll take your hand. [She does just that, without hesitation.] I don't see that you have anything to apologise for! We've had a pleasant conversation. I've learnt such a lot about Earth!

Indeed. [It's EXACTLY that. Which is why he's thinking through his doctor instincts and weighing them against her prized freedoms.] Give it a a little more time, and I'm sure you'll be dazzling everyone better than charity.

Perhaps in the future then. Or you could go straight to the Queen. Tell her all your ideas and reasons.

No, an arctic tern with an e, is a brilliant type of bird. They fly the furthest, and the longest of all birds every day. Soaring more freely than all others. Which is why I really must apologize.

[Kisses the top of her hand and holds it between gloved hands!] Both for thinking EITC was anything like your proud organization, and more egregiously, for wanting to doctor you without you requesting it. No matter my intentions, I see how much freedom is vital to your identity and I never want to take any of it away. [Identity? Thers something important in there.] That is why I called you a Tern. Birds are the freest on Earth.

On Earth, there is a lot of idiocy when it comes to doctors. We finally created our first injectable vaccines. There was a huge plague, all over the world, and millions more died from that than any war. Yet even with the vaccine, people wouldn't take it. It's always harder to wait, often ends up too late. Still, rather than as a Doctor, I'll try to approach you always as a friend, deal?

[Drops the hand and laughs.] Though I'm still in favor of vaccine mandates, but that's because you could be infecting someone else. Not so with the trauma. And as a friend, I'll let you know, waking up with nightmares or reliving the past is nothing to be ashamed of. I don't know how it is for your Tradelines, but with Earth armies, we still haven't gotten past just burying whatever bothers someone. It's the worst. Because it makes people feel alone, and forces them to pretend they're healthy rather than surgically remove the poison and heal up. I won't dig anything up, [He doesn't know how.] But as a friend, if it surfaces, I'll be on call.

[Sure sure, he says all thus, but reverse it on him, and he'll definitely do his best to run away.]

Enough about miserable things! The sun is shining, the air is crisp, and I'm in the company of the most gorgeous officer I've ever seen. Tell me, you've seen so much! What was the most unbelievable thing you've seen that no Earther would understand?

I should like to meet your queen! I've heard quite a lot about her. I doubt she'd be terribly impressed with my thoughts on hereditary monarchies, though.

[She's very surprised when he kisses her hand! But it does make her smile.] I think it's natural, when we hear about something new, to try to compare it to things we do know. There are similarities, yes? We're an organisation combining military and trade purposes. We operate between colonies. All the subtler details are different, but I'm not offended by attempts at comparison. It would only be troubling if... if you decided to hate the Tradelines because you made the comparison and assumed they must be just the same and that Tradeliners were slavers. But you have more sense than that.

[But then she is troubled.] Mandates? Injectable vaccines do very well at halting disease if you haven't got anything more advanced, but the notion that if someone says no that they should be held down and forcibly injected is... well it's utterly shameful. You convince them. With evidence. If there's insufficient evidence - well, then you can understand the hesitation, yes? Even if you disagree with it. Especially if the entire concept of a vaccine is novel to people.

[She's taking the worst case scenario, but don't think she'll approve of Tirvan-style social sanctions for refusal, either. Tayrey's a hardline libertarian. She's only dissuaded from pressing the argument further because he's talking about friendship - this man she's just met! He can't know what it means to her, she reminds herself. Earthers use the word casually. Even so, it does soften her attitude.]

Tradeliners are supposed to deal with such troubles alone. [Not that she's been very good at that - and how could he know that she woke up sometimes after nightmares that she was still on that ship - or worse, trapped in a formless void of a Nothing?] It's... our custom. But in my case, if that place was poisoning me, then simply being away from it will let me heal, I think. Let me forget about it and move forward.

But you're right! Let's speak of bright things! My very favorite mission was one in which I set foot on a planet that no other person had been to before. As expedition leader, I had the honor of being first. It wasn't a planet you'd want to settle on - bitterly cold, covered all over in ice - but still. I was first. That's on the record. Nobody on that entire world but me and my team.

[Arthur beams, all teeth!] I'd quite like to see that!

I would never do that. [Judge something else preemptively.]

[He gives her a wink.] You might be the first to call me sensible, but quite decent of you, dear, thank you.

[On vaccine mandates? He'll definitely fight with her!] We don't have anything more advanced, it's cutting edge in my time! And we have been convincing them, but some are completely against it. The worst is when they try to argue for religious reasons. Because God didn't make the vaccine. [Exasperated!] Mind, the worst night I ever spent was right after the enteric fever innoculation. I volunteered first since we didn't know the right dose, and the SS Oriental had already set sail. I spent the whole night feeling right sorry for myself. Still better than if I'd gotten the fever in full.

Oh! [He understands the Tirvan comparison:] But I don't mean all citizens have to surrender to be injected. I mean soldiers who are already in tight quarters, and have no capacity to quarantine or avoid one another. A tiny needle and a night of agony is still better than even the mildest of the viruses facing soldiers.

What is it your people are able to do then?

Earth... also emphasizes the loneliness, and it definitely makes things worse. [An absolutely sorrowful expression. He couldn't cure his patients, but at least he could help them not deal with it alone.]

[But bright things!] Sounds like the arctic. Definitely a tern, you.

Did you get to name it?

[She's beginning to revise her opinion of him being so sensible, because if she wants a debate on liberty, he's getting one.] You'd force not just an injection but a night of agony on people? Oh, Arthur. [Tayrey is so very disappointed in you.] I think religion is absolute nonsense. All of it. I'll say that upfront. But if someone genuinely believes that their gods don't want them to have medical treatment, it's their right to refuse. No matter how stupid I might think it is. I don't get to demand that others take on my values.

And you know that I'm a soldier? Essential rights are for everyone. Otherwise it's a slide into tyranny. Convince people by saying now we are not forcing it on you, but that group over there. You aren't in that group, why should you care if they lose their rights? You think you're safe. But then your government will say look, it went so well when we oppressed that group, nobody outside it really objected, let's extend what we're doing. And in the end, you spoke for nobody else's rights, and nobody will speak for yours.

The good thing about vaccinations is that if you have yours, you're immune. It doesn't matter if you're around someone with the illness after that. You don't have to force the unwilling. If you convince most people, that's good enough to stop transmission.

My people? Plenty of diseases didn't leave Tirva with us, and our scientific advances since then - if I said synthetic antibodies would that make sense to you? I don't want to talk over you, or down to you either. But most protection comes in the form of powders you can stir into a baby's milk. The genelabs can do even more. [They're well away from the flowers now, but she's shared this much, she sees no harm in a little more honesty.] I was genetically engineered. Experimental. I'm exceptionally healthy. My immune system is very... let me give an example. [It's a serious one, but he's a doctor, he'll understand] Someone skipped proper procedures and brought a novel pathogen back from a planet to my ship. We were a week out in the black before anyone got sick - but then everyone got sick. I was early in my apprenticeship at the time. I ended up helping to run the ship, because I bounced back so quickly. [Some people didn't recover at all, but he can probably guess that much, and she's not about to dwell on unpleasant happenings from years ago.]

[He gets a sympathetic look when he mentions the loneliness. She's not sure that talking wouldn't be even worse than keeping things to yourself, but if someone really wanted to and felt that they couldn't, that would be hard.]

We didn't get to name the planet officially. Not yet. It already had a designation - but we did put in our request. Cennara. After the daughter of one of my chartists. [She grins.] He suggested it, and I thought it sounded just right.

[She holds her own and he's trying very hard not to fall hard, but he loves a good argument. Which is why his best friend is Theo, after all.]

So am I! [A soldier. Sort of. Volunteer. And Doctor. And gave more a damn about them then all the other officers and politicians.]

[She is completely right about oppressed groups and how the government would use the first experimental patch to try to force everyone else.]

[He can basically just see the poor being used as test subjects.] That's... a good point. I haven't thought of before.

So then what should they do? Only give it to the rich, Frederick the Great style? Trick people into stealing potatoes because they're too suspicious to plant them until the King pretends they're too valuable to share, so lets them steal them instead???

[Does he need to explain that? Probably.] Prussia. Famine. The King tried to get them to plant potatoes, a basic crop, but the people didn't trust it because it was new to them and looks like a shriveled rock. He planted his own garden full of them, posted easy to foil guards, and then made them seem like the most valuable treasure in the kingdom so people would steal them. [As much as Arthur admits the outcome was brilliant... doing it with vaccines???]

But not everyone is instantly immune. Some people won't be, and there's no telling who it is until too late. We can completely eradicate diseases with these! As a solider, you're already putting your life on the line to protect others. You have an absolute duty to protect your comrades! And what about the children or elderly who can't do the vaccines? Without a mandate, parents won't get one. And not all of us were educated away from the masses. [Winks! Because he's definitely enjoying himself, more than ever, and means well with his comment.]

Yes! You're brilliant, and needn't worry about offending me! I'm well aware of my limitations. We've been using innoculations for a century, but the term antibodies is rather recent. Hell, even a little after my time in Paris! [Yeah, he cannot help the smitten look he's giving her though.]

I can't decide if it's reassuring there's still novel diseases in your experiences or disappointing.

Cennarra is a beautiful name. It's the one I'll keep in my heart, even if the official paperwork doesn't come through.

Why would you need to trick anyone? Why do you even think of it that way? If you believe your vaccine is a good thing - a wonderful thing! Then share that with people. Let them see the good it does. Vaccinated nurses working closely with the sick and never falling ill themselves. Disease statistics from regions with higher uptake. You really have to improve your marketing. One moment you tell me other people should be forced to take it because children and the elderly can't, and the next you talk about forcing parents to give it to their children. If I were a parent who knew very little about vaccines and I heard such mixed messages, of course I would say no!

Tell parents how many children die of the fever. Tell them about the lives the vaccines will save. And if they are safe, give them to everyone who can afford them, and found a charity to help with the remainder. And the people who still decline, because of their gods or any other misgivings - leave them alone. If you cannot change their minds with evidence, you have no right to use force where your reasoning failed.

I would walk into all sorts of dangerous situations if my captain required it, but if he tried to order me to inject some foreign substance into my body, one that I mistrusted? I'd be calling breach of contract. There are limits on even a starship captain's authority!

[She has very strong opinions on the matter, and she means to convince him. Protecting essential rights means protecting even the rights of people you think are wrong, or stupid, because other people might think just the same of you.]

If you know about the antibodies, then - a vaccine is meant to give you a mild version of the disease, yes? To prompt your body to make the antibodies. We skip that step, and manufacture the antibodies directly, using picotechnologies - working on an exceptionally small scale. Nobody gets sick from taking these, and it always works - as I said, they're usually given to tiny babies.

[Then she smiles.] The existence of the novel diseases can't be surprising! When we travel to an unexplored planet, we have no immunity to any pathogen that might be there. Some people don't trust our procedures and they won't shake hands with spacers in case we're all carrying offworld diseases! Completely unnecessary, of course, but we respect it.

It'll always be Cennara to me too. I wish I could show you some of the holovid footage we took.

You're too naive. [But his eyes shine, and he's smiling.] People don't do what's best for themselves because it's the right thing. They're worse than wild animals. Suspicious and prone to fear and mysticism and lashing out. I've never injected anyone who was against it, but we don't have centuries or years to wait around for them to accept realities.

I have. I have told everyone I could. I used my position as an author and wrote so many editorials, and they were published. But here's another thing! On that advertising note, you have to argue even more strongly than you believe, or you can't fight the superstitions and tribalism that runs rampant.

If we could, in fact, leave them to quarantine and not join the rest of society, I would, but we can't, and that'd be even more inhumane. To just ignore suffering because someone stupidly made a mistake out of fear and brought it on themselves? Never. Talk about a slippery slope! Where does that end? Any accidents for doing something foolish? Or avoiding treating prisoners because they deserve worse?

[He's trying not to be instantly in love with her, but he's definitely loving the fiery spirit!]

That's brilliant. Do you know how they're made?

I daresay, I wish Earth had been more like that. When the New World was first discovered, more people died from disease even more than the fighting.

I would be greatly honored, Lieutenant. Holovid is a type of photography? If they have my books here, I'd love to show you some of the sketches from my arctic expedition too. But let me stop you from reading the grotesque parts. Soldier you may be, doctor you aren't.

[Ari isn't smiling now though. She gives him a dark look.]

And now you talk about quarantine - you know that's only temporary for individuals, yes - and refusing people treatment? Why? If your vaccine works, the people who have taken it are in no danger at all from the others. You make it sound as if you don't trust its efficacy.

But here we have the heart of it. People are animals. Worse than animals. What do they need? Other people, better people, who have transcended their filthy animal nature by joining the government and holding all its approved opinions. They are needed to control and corral the masses and force them to do what's best for themselves, because they sure won't do it otherwise. Let their rulers decide for them.

[She stops walking, turns to look at him.] I like debate, but I don't hold with dehumanizing people to argue in favor of oppressing them. It makes me very concerned about your values.

[And she doesn't need her reading material censored either, thank you Arthur!]

I don't. As I said, there are some who either can't take it, or it doesn't work as well on, unfortunately. And you -- well, we don't know until it's too late. And the global infrastructure means we can't get it to everyone. Like you landing on other planets that view you suspect.

No way. Control? I trust the government even less, but as long as they have a capacity to save lives, they need to do it. It doesn't happen on its own.

Dehumanizing.... [Hmmmmmmm.]

[Has he lost touch with his humanity? If he did, it was before his death, and not purely because he became a vampire.]

[There's a moment where he flickers back through his memories as a vampire, for all he insists Le Comte is an anethema, an otherworldly being who was never human, never mortal, and therefore incomprehensible to him and the other lesser vampires, has Arthur also fallen that much?]

Do you still want to get coffee?

[She's an arctic tern. Even able to pull icy winds to cloak herself in, exhilarating and fierce.]

It's numbers.

[The Doctor, and the playboy are both gone. They're part of his elementary math morality. Statistics. He loathes when the government sees soldiers as numbers, but only because they don't try to cheat to increase the odds to their favor, and forget the realities that little things can still save lives.]

Percentages. You're rightly concerned about individuals' rights and freedom. But as a soldier, you know some risk is demanded, and the pay out is greater. [The gambler's addiction that makes him only play games he knows he can win.] The risk from vaccines is nearly nonexistent. But I know the elementary math of typhoid. Between 1 in 5 or 1 in 4 people who catch it, die. Gruesomely. More soldiers die from it than all the wars combined. I tell people this math, but they don't accept it. I write it eloquently, but they argue Doctoring is a profession of who-you-know and I'm just friends with all other Doctors so we stick together. That denial doesn't stop a bullet from hitting them, or even always convince them to make sure the food and water are clean enough. And if you tell them that they can take other precautions, not eating contaminated meat or water, they emotionally latch onto that as if there's a way out that doesn't involve a simple shot in the arm. The old gambler's fallacy. The idea that luck is a thing people are born with, or can get because they're special.

You can't control humanity, only yourself. You know what wondrous things humans are capable of. Scientists, explorers, artists, the best of humanity. [How much of the horror had she seen on the other ship, not a star-travel ship?] Earth isn't as advanced as your Tirva. It's admirable not to want us to go that direction, I don't want us to either. But if you don't know humans are the worst monsters on all of Earth, maybe you should read my books, darkest parts and all.

[Both hands up.] I'm not telling you to give up hope. Never. [Ugh. That hits him deep inside. The days he thought at least hope was a fighting chance. A better than 0% chance. Was it even? Did it ever do anything? Or is it just him latching onto hope so he didn't break even more than he had? Even now, he can't say. It wasn't enough. THAT much, he knows damn well.]

But the worst cases are the ones where someone is immune themselves, or just has a mild case, and because it's mild for them, they spread it to hundreds of others because they work with food and won't stay away from that job. They're infectious, and can't understand it, because it isn't hurting them much, and they just don't get it. I'd rather deal with Napoleon any day of the week. I'll take ten Napoleons rather than just one -- [Typhoid Mary.]

[They could have eradicated the diseases if only...]

[He's finally shut up. And the haunted hollow darkness gets pushed back as he can't quite smile, but is back to his glib persona.] Thanks for the escort, solider. [He forgot he was using her rank. Ghosts haunting him and all.] The offer still stands, if you want it.

[Coffee, books, Arthur trying to take his head out of the past and square it with the present here and now. No promises on that last one, but he'll try. He'll try anything. Even magic and fairies. Anything as long as it's not nothing.]

Edited 2023-06-08 04:23 (UTC)

I saw soldiers die of typhoid fever in India. I tried...

[He'd done the same. She's not looking for sympathy, only asserting that she's not speaking from ignorance. That she knows the cost of her position, and yet still holds it.]

Safety. You could keep everyone safe by making them live out their whole life in a padded room. It would save so many lives. And yet nobody would accept that. [One reason why AI development had never really got off the ground in her sector. Far too many risks.] Most of our colonies don't even have real governments, and those that do are very strictly limited by Charter. We'd never allow what you're describing. And Tradeliners wouldn't ever land on a planet where we aren't wanted.

If you acknowledge that there are people who cannot take your vaccine, or people who it doesn't work for, you can't dismiss everyone's concerns as religious nonsense. I'd be asking questions too, in their place, and I'd expect sound answers, not dismissal. I'm human. I'm not a monster, and frankly I'm offended by that assertion. Immoral people exist. That's a reason to be cautious. To oppose them. Not to punish everyone else by taking their freedom.

[Deep breaths, Tayrey. He's not Tirvan, even if he sounds like one, like a caricature of a tyrant out of some Cardalek teaching text. He can't do a thing to you.]

I chose to be a soldier. I chose to take that risk. Nobody forced it on me, and if they tried, I'd fight them. Just as I'd fight if they tried to put me in a profession with no risk at all. Whatever I do, the choice is mine. As it should be.

[There's middle ground. Tayrey would have absolutely no issue with the owner of an individual business choosing to decline entry to unvaccinated people, for instance. But his support of what to her is horrendous government tyranny stops her from exploring any of that.]

[She sighs.] Didn't we agree on something stronger than coffee? I was looking forward to a glass of wine.

I'm still willing if you are. Your values might be antithetical to mine, but what kind of a hypocrite would I be if I tried to force you to believe what I do? If I can't convince you with reason, the failing is mine. You can believe whatever you choose - it's only if you act on those beliefs in a way that violates the rights of others that I will intervene.

[In the event that he joins the council and tries to mandate anything in Somnius, she'll fight him. She'll stop him. For now, it's just talk.]

B. Flowers - lily of the valley

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: disease epidemic

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject