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buttrinthum2023-04-25 02:34 pm
TDM #3
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. ]
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.
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. ]
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. ]
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.
no subject
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.]
no subject
[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.]
no subject
[Too late to take it back.]
[She's not a monster?]
[But she chose a soldier's life.] It should be your choice. Absolutely. [The common ground.]
Oh right! Blimey, I plum forgot. Right-o! Definitely wine.
[And there's a real smile. She's tense, and young, and it is hard for him to imagine humanity less monstrous, but --]
Are you sure there's nothing monstrous inside you at all? Not to doubt you, but-- [He closes his eyes again, to think and pause.] I'd hate to think it only lurks on Earth. Like a disease as well. [A sick wry grin there, and he lightly scratches his chin.] Maybe we should quarantine the planet until we get our act together. If violence and exposure to it keeps the contagion active, how many generations would it take?
[But he's a mystery writer, a fan of Poe, a creature of the night itself.] A pair of humans I know 100 years to the future, do seem to be from a world less monstrous. And a lot more unaware of the problems in the past. In all of Tirvan's tyranny, did they still have slavery or serial killers leading up to the absolute safety dicates?
Your axe. My time has rifles. Mostly used for hunting, but also used for war and murder. Some people think just banning them altogether for safety is the only way. Same with cars. When they first come out, they're dangerous, of course. But rather than bans, or no laws at all, I think there's easy safety measures that must be implemented. Training soldiers how to use their guns properly. Do you know that wasn't done? Officers thought it was just intuitive. Or that everyone's parents would take them hunting and show them that way. Even to be a Doctor, you have to a license. To prove you studied and swore the oath, and passed the tests. [License to Kill. She is NOT going to appreciate that joke!]
I think there's no point in giving doctors licenses if you're not going to trust them with the study beyond everyone else. School is still a barrier to entry in my time. I'm trying.... [He gives her a genuine heartfelt glance. The real Doctor behind the writer behind the glib playboy.] I'm trying use my writing to teach people how to look at the world more clearly. [The one thing he thinks he got right with Sherlock.]
Well, it's all academic, isn't it?
[A headshake and back to nearly trotting along! He can STILL feel his age affecting him and he might just spend all day in bed tomorrow reading/writing if this keeps up!]
[Weren't they going to switch to LIGHTER things too?!]
Have you ever had a pet? It sounds like you became a soldier pretty young. [He has no idea HOW young, but yes.]
no subject
[She looks thoughtful when he talks about Earthers and their violence and tyranny, about being a monster. A disease. Contagion. Hadn't she wondered that? If she spent too long around them, would she become like them? But her little book of changes said no. Her steadfast maintenance of her values said no. And Earthers were more than just their faults.]
I'm not a monster. We have a code. We don't initiate aggression. There are immoral and violent and damaged people in my sector too, it's not some utopia. If it were, the Tradelines wouldn't be necessary. But other humans being that way doesn't make me a monster. I'm an individual, not part of some great human collective. And we don't start the violence. We defend ourselves, and those under our protection. That's why I mentioned quarantining Earth - because otherwise some Earthers would surely attack us, and then we'd retaliate, and it would get worse. Quarantine or war.
Slavery? I'd say everyone on Tirva was a slave, except the government. But I don't know what it was like, before the tyranny.
That's one reason I don't support restrictions on weaponry. Or... vehicles. [As if she thinks the latter is completely absurd.] That's not to say we don't have certifications. I had to qualify as a lieutenant! Those examinations were tough. It's the same for doctors - and every Tradeliner, no matter what their job, is trained with guns, because in extreme circumstances everyone might be needed. On the smaller colonies, or on the frontier, the planetary militia trains every citizen who's willing to learn! I think the difference is that we don't get the law involved. Anyone can buy a starship and try to trade along the lines, they just can't call themselves Tradeliners if they're not part of our organisation. Most people would want to see a qualified doctor, but anyone can try to offer medical services if they want. The qualifications hold value, but they aren't meant as barriers. But- [she shakes her head] -anyone trying to use a gun without any training is an idiot. A military that doesn't train its recruits is... almost beyond belief.
[They're almost there! He might be able to see the pub up ahead. But yes - lighter topics please, Ari!]
You've got to join the Tradelines young if you want to be an officer, but - no. [She laughs.] Animals on a starship would be a misery for whoever was working in the cargo bays! Some ships will trade in them, but my captain refuses. No live cargo, and no paying passengers. Both are more trouble than they're worth! And before I joined the Tradelines, I lived in Cardalek Tower. On floor 284. No animals up there either!
no subject
[Padded rooms don't solve it, but solve the origins? What even are all the origins?]
When you retaliate, how thorough are you? Both Tradelines, Caradelek, and yourself individually.
[A wry grin. He still thinks she's naive, she saw India during the pandemic and the war, so she shouldn't be, but maybe it's just Earth being...]
[Monstrous. He doesn't have another word for it. Or rather, he has hundreds, but they're all the same meaning in the end.]
284? How many stories was it total? [A headshake.] I shouldn't be surprised. But they just finished the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and that's only about 80 stories tall. The pinnacle of Earth human architecture. The tallest manmade structure in all the world. [WRY GRIN!]
I had a dog in Paris. A King Charles' Cavalier. [He holds his hands about the small size of it.] Feisty sly little fellow. Very excitable. [Identical to Arthur.] My friend Theo also has a dog, but his golden retriever is much bigger. His brother has a raccoon, they're normally wild scavengers. Infamous in North America for digging in trash. I always thought animals would become more prominent to living with humans in the future, but maybe it's the other direction? You can usually judge a man by how he gets along with dogs. More than other people. We use them for everything. Hunting, tracking criminals, some are royalty decorations. It's said they can even smell diseases, though I've seen no proof of it yet.
"No passengers" because they're fussy and think paying means they get to call the shots?
How young were you when you joined? I was too old when I volunteered, so I set up my own, and they made me disband, so I quite understand not wanting much government oversight, but looking at it from their angle, they didn't want a rogue doctor using his popularity to start a chaotic mob-rule vigilante movement. [A small chuckle. And he WOULD HAVE TOO!] That and they didn't like the way I didn't go through the usual channels, and I might have started a mini-Napoleonic momentum, changing everything, doing away with aristocracy. But they couldn't refuse me as a Doctor. That's why they tried to make me an officer. So I couldn't spread my ideas, all contagion and popular. So they could still put me away from the people behind a desk. Which is why I refused. Private, just as if they'd let me join despite my age.
no subject
It's our tallest tower. Three hundred livable storeys, and the peak beyond. Who lives at the top of the Eiffel Tower?
[His explanation about the dogs confuses her a little.] I don't see why people would want to live with animals, but I'm not from your future! I'm from another universe entirely. One where if your Earth does exist, it's unimaginably far away from my people. Earthers are strange about animals. Some think I'm odd for not liking pets, but they'll happily slaughter animals and eat the remains! My people don't do that. If Earthers judge people by how they treat animals, the outcome wouldn't be positive for most. [Monstrous? She tries not to think about it. It's something her people would only do in a very desperate situation, for survival.]
[But he makes her smile again by asking about passengers.] Passengers are fussy, sure, and they don't understand that we can't set exact arrival times because it depends on L-space conditions, and the Prosperity is a small ship and they'd all complain about the tiny cabins. Not to mention that they'd be useless in a crisis, or worse. [She laughs.] Years ago when people spoke for a Tradeliner who had died, if they wanted to convey being useful, adding value, they'd say he was never a passenger. It's a little unfair, since passengers do pay! But that's how they saw it.
Your military has strange customs. We'd see making someone an officer because he was a doctor as about as logical as making him a doctor because he was a qualified officer. Both should be something you earn! [She almost asks what he'd have done to the aristocrats, but she doesn't, because maybe she doesn't want to know the answer. Ari might not like the idea of aristocracy, but mob violence is even worse.]
I had thirteen Cardalek years when I signed my first Tradeline contract. That's an ordinary age for an apprentice. [She's expecting him to be annoyingly Earther about it, but she won't lie. Might as well get it over with.]
no subject
[Nah.]
[They know the risks, same as Tradeliners. What really makes them decide to be pirates anyway? He's tempted to suggest Treasure Island, but she might hate it. Sometimes black and white morality is a kindness. One Arthur lost a very long time ago.]
No one lives atop the Eiffel Tower. It's got a radio antennae. The whole construction is just girders. Assembly iron pieces. Art. To show the world it could be done. Eiffel is the name of the architect. He also gifted America the Statue of Liberty, a giant copper statue in New York City. For Paris, it's a tourist attraction. Helps promote Paris as the city of art and development. Culture. Pinnacles of human achievement.
You don't eat meat. Or raise livestock. Not just you personally, anyone from your worlds. Realm. Okay, I'm going back to the don't read about my Arctic Expedition... unless you let me censor it. It was a whaling venture. We used whales and seals for fuel, meat, and fur. Leather. It's a brutal grotesque process. They did start to ban it, but only much more recently. I didn't hold back in describing it, because I wrote it for other Doctors or the morbidly curious. I wanted people to feel disgusted if they're going to. When you harpoon a whale, they're so massive, you can't kill them right away, bullets can't peirce it. So they start butchering the animal before it's dead, and it doesn't even feel it, there's so much -- [Fat, blubber, the skin, things she doesn't need to hear, and he would literally censor for her sake. CAREFULLY:] meat... that buffers the nerves that it's only towards the end that it starts thrashing and can kill the whole ship and crew with one good swinging attempt to get away. That's why I was a doctor on board, it's deadly work. And you do not want to read what they do to the baby seals.
[He doesn't feel especially human now.]
[That's weird.]
[Is he becoming like Comte?]
[More vampiric?]
[Normally he'd feel something. Some kind of way. Emotions. But he doesn't. It's just some tucked away part of his brain that acknowledges humans are monstrous. Earth humans anyway. But he doesn't want them eradicated like pirates. They probably WOULD attack Tradeliners in his time though, he has no doubt about that. And normally if he was worried about someone being naive to humanity's monstrosity, he'd be... worried. Maybe almost scared for them. Flashing back to innocent eyes. But it's not that she's too trusting, she's just from such a different time and realm that their experiences have such a giant gulf between them. Or maybe he's numb. Who knows?]
People don't judge humanity collectively by how they treat animals. Humans are animals, and we're -- at least on Earth, as prone to violence as all others. [Was Arthur more or less violent than anyone else? Before or after death? Had he changed? How much?] Maybe a little worse, but whales and gorillas will kill men too. Orcas; killer whales, will torture other animals for fun. There's a difference between dogs and others, because dogs aren't purely wild. They descended from wolves by mankind, on Earth, raising them and using them as guards and whatever else. Treating a dog well is understanding you're doing it for your own sake. A dog is unconditionally loyal to its master, will do anything for them. If you abuse it, it can't speak up either. It might bite you, but not if it only has ever seen kindness. Someone who treats a dog well understands that it's just for their own sake. Someone who does the opposite, just wants an excuse to be violent, and they're too cowardly to fight the stronger forces who keep hurting them, so they take it out on something smaller that can't fight back. [Boys do it with other boys too.]
What's L-Space?
Yes. The military is... not efficient. And those flaws are going to doom it someday if someone doesn't come along who fixes it from top to bottom. [Winston Churchill, interestingly enough, took a GREAT DEAL of his ideas directly from Arthur Conan Doyle.]
How long does it take for Cardalek to circle the sun? Are you familiar with Earth hours or 24 hour days?
[13 is young, but he's from the Victorian Era where 14 is the standard for apprenticeships and doing mines or heavy machinery that usually gets children killed, missing fingers, or black lungs. And it wasn't uncommon for boys of 6-12 to run off to be cabin boys on ships, so he just thinks "Ah, so that is universal."]
You keep saying it's not perfect, but -- [Shakes his head!] It's an ordinary age for apprentices in my era as well, but most of them couldn't become officers without exceptional skills. The kind of lad who's sold into an apprenticeship hardly can negotiate his own contracts. A lot of them aren't always literate. That's another government mandate we have. To get children to actually learn to read, there's a law they have to be in school, not on a job. Otherwise, they wouldn't, there's too many people who would say "Cheap labor," and take advantage of them. There's laws that ban them from being flogged too, but I guess that's never a thing in your realm?
I hear what you're saying, Tirva's not Earth, you're from a part of... space, that doesn't know of Earth. But even just one hundred years ahead of my time, Sebastian and Comte's guest are after Earth has sent men to space and the rest. A much more peaceful time for Earth. But Dazai is only 50 years ahead of me, and his time seems even more violent. The cultures are different, no religions, different fiction and art, but the technological development and certain things about humanity are in common.
[Leads into the tavern, reflexively holding the door open all chivalry and even moving to move a chair out for her.]
How about the people here? Are they like anything you've encountered before? Colonies?
no subject
I'm sure I'd feel disgusted if I read about all the killing of animals on your expedition, but if that was your intention, then where's the trouble? I don't need a censor. Words on a page can't hurt me. I already know that Earthers are brutal towards animals. How is reading about that worse than watching a man die of fever and knowing you can't help him, or holding... holding someone while she bleeds out over you and knowing that even if you had a medic right there, nothing could be done anyway, and maybe feeling grateful that you weren't standing where she was when the pirates-
[She catches herself. Frustration with the way he's talking to her doesn't excuse that.] I'm sorry. [Much more quietly.] That wasn't called for. But don't think I'm some... Company princess who can't read about anything unpleasant.
There's a difference between humans and animals. It's reason. It's why if a predatory animal kills a colonist, that's a tragedy. If another colonist does it, that's a crime. Humans, at least in my sector, have the capacity to do better. To be better. We've used our intellect and our rationality to gain our freedom and flourish among the stars. To pursue excellence, and uphold rights and values. Animals can't do any of that. We have more potential, and with it, the responsibility to shape our societies in the right ways. [Very optimistic Enlightenment thinking - but look at all they've achieved! Isn't she justified?]
L-space is a higher dimensional space that we travel through, to make our journeys in space faster. Lorentzen space. Think of it like a shortcut. Part of my job as an astrogator is to guide the ship safely through it, because it looks so different to ordinary space, and most people can't handle the perceptual distortions. [She smiles.] Timekeeping is much harder. There are 'standard years' that spacers try to use, based on the orbit of Kishar. Cardalek's year is shorter than Kishar, I think. By a little. But none of us career spacers ever really know how old we are. Even if we keep track by our homeworlds, that won't line up with subjectively experienced time. It's all estimations.
[It's such a relief to her that he doesn't start calling her a child and condemning the Tradelines that she doesn't mind explaining more.] Most Tradeline apprentices are the relatives of other Tradeliners. Not all, but it's common. So we're not exploited. Me? I stowed away on a ship, which is absolutely not the way to do things, but I had less sense back then. I knew I had to be exceptional, to avoid being put off at the next stop - so I stood in front of the captain and negotiated contract, argued for my value. That they were badly in need of a trainee astrogator - I did my research before I chose the ship! - and that I'd be the perfect candidate. I took the aptitude tests and scored practically off the scale. He was so impressed that he didn't just take me on in astrogation, but put me in for command training too.
[Impressive for a thirteen-year-old to have such confidence, certainly, but she had her advantages. The genetic ones she'll admit to, but an upper-level Cardalek upbringing and that intensive, personalised education must have helped too.]
And no, there's no violence like that towards apprentices, that would be- [she waves a hand] -initiation of aggression. A serious breach of contract. There's extra duty if you don't keep up standards. Or fines.
I think it's the individual's choice whether to study or work. [She shrugs.] If all that's on offer is bad contracts, nobody will take them. I wouldn't have complied if a government tried to force me into a school - and even if they'd gotten me into the building, they can't make a person pay attention and learn anything. [She'd have been an exceptionally disruptive student, made them think better of violating her rights.]
[Learning to read is important, of course it is! But that's so self-evident that anyone choosing not to must have their reasons for doing so. She can just about imagine a society so impoverished that children's labour is needed for a family's survival - but in that case, what does forbidding that labour do to the family? ]
[She's pleased to get into the tavern, and smiles at him as she takes the offered seat.]
Thank you - but shall I go up and get the drinks? You won't have local currency, and I don't want them taking advantage of a newcomer in barter. You can owe me one. [Another smile.] When I have them, I'll tell you all about the people here. I can pick a bottle of wine, unless you wanted something different?
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[He swoops into giving her a hug reflexively, trembling slightly. He's definitely been there. And it's exactly that. Of course the things humans did to each other was worse than even what they did to other animals, but it was why he wrote the things he did. A completely insane irrational part of him feels guilty for writing about it, as if that somehow is why she had been there, but it's probably just the irrational desire to exert control. As if blaming himself would give him more power than he initially had, or ever had over it. He couldn't save them either, and that feeling, that crushing despair...]
[Is all too familiar.]
[He shivers and lets go, shivering again, looking away.] No. Not a princess. I'd say you're the good things about humanity, the strength and enduring spirit, but there are still some things that no one should have to push themselves through.
[Maybe it's just a sideways guilt. He still feels guilty about the many lives he couldn't save after all, so blaming himself something he was not a part of is "easier" to face.]
That sounds incredibly difficult, but understandable. Vampires struggle with keeping track of time even without the difficulty of time travel and overlapping their own timeline. [Did he say that out loud?]
[But he laughs in surprise at her stowing away, and her brazen negotiations with the Captain in order to get her apprenticeship.] Clever girl. Some boys in my time would do that, but girls... [Well, he mentioned the problems with that.]
Except if everything is a bad contract, then there's no good contracts to pursue. You speak of many options, but for most of the world -- time, Earth, we hadn't reached a point where anyone was doing better. We're still moving past slavery, so you have a bunch of people who just want to replace it with quasi-slavery.
I hated school so much. I was a terrible student. And a law is far from adequate. It punishes the parents and the children if they're sick. As a Doctor... [He adopted children and tried to both cure and teach and it was a travesty and he failed completely. He shakes his head!] But it's the only way to stop employers from using children. Because then they have no excuse. And a fine wouldn't work, they'd just have to make sure they made more money than the fine cost.
[He grins at her defending him so he doesn't get taken advantage of!] I will owe you. I can't say I've ever had a lady buy me anything before, but wine would be great. I'll trust you to select something.
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No more of that. She has to be stronger. Better than that. Forget about India. Forget about poor dead Clover Becket, who is far from the only spacer to have been killed by pirates.
She shrugs.]
I'm a Tradeliner. I do my duty. [She's polite enough not to point out how far he overstepped, because she thinks she's to blame - but she's certainly less talkative once she's thought about it.]
If there's nothing but bad contracts then your workers need to try group negotiation. With no workers, there are no profits. Your people learned not to enslave one another. You can do more. [It's a very low bar, but she has that much faith in you at least!]
[Despite the slightly awkward shift in her demeanour, she has no hesitation about getting the wine. She brings back a bottle, sweet and red, and pours it for him.] Something you said out there. Vampires. You know many of them? [It doesn't seem scornful or sarcastic, but genuinely curious.]
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Oh yes, unionizing is the new flame fanning around the world. I mentioned before aristocrats worried about Napoleon and France's ideals spreading, that's one of them. It's new for everyone in my time though, so it hasn't really had time to catch on, pan out, for everyone to pick and choose the best benefits of it and all that.
[He needs to get off thinking about Doctor things, but vampires--]
A few.
Only two that struggle the most with time. [Being immortal will do that. And those sired by Le Comte weren't as immortal.] I'd once written a book about a man who thought his wife was a vampire, and showing people how to avoid jumping to that conclusion, but now I know some personally. There's a lot of fairies here, and magic, isn't there? [How much to keep secret he isn't sure yet.]
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[Yes, capitalist Ari is very much in favor of trade unions if people want them, because people should have the freedom to organise! And well, anything that brings a bit of balance to Miri Carrington's power is good, right?
She takes a long sip from her glass as she looks at him.]
You're a doctor, yes? A rational man. There's a rational explanation for everything. There are all sorts of alien beings here, and we're in a universe with different natural laws. Magic is a singularly unhelpful and practically meaningless word. If you mean a phenomenon that couldn't occur on your Earth, I'm sure there are plenty! It's best to describe them properly, and then we can begin to understand them.
I never met a vampire, but when I was- [No. Positivity now.] Before. Before I got here. I met a man who had been the slave of one. He was... very psychologically damaged by it. [Yes, she thinks that's a fair description of Max Maximum.]
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[And never use the word "magic."]
I don't know much about unions, to be honest. Doctors aren't ever going to do it, or need a guild, but I expect you could have quite the conversation with Theodorus Van Gogh about it. He's an up and coming leader in the Paris merchant guild, and while his focus is on art dealerships, he's very protective of his artists and understands all facets of it. I agree with you about the merits behind negotiations, but that's not possible if someone doesn't have basic education. They wouldn't know they have this capacity, or any rights. That's the worst part of slavery.
I take it you weren't raised much with fairy tales then.
[The blue eyes narrow sharply about the vampire slave.]
[If men are generally physically stronger than women (or rather, just more willing to be brutal and violent in Arthur's opinion) then vampires are twice that again. A human wouldn't stand a chance against a vampire.]
The two I know would never enslave someone. It would be-- unwise. [Even Will wouldn't do that.] Not doubting you in the least. [She was clearly shook up by the previous place.] It would just be easier for a human to sabotage a vampire if they didn't want to be there. [Sebastian, for example. The butler was indispensable. And more like a big brother to Le Comte than the other way around. The idea of him being a slave, was ludicrous. He could probably handle all of them. But a vampire with a human slave, wouldn't be public, and would have to treat them like an abusive husband, probably.] Which... goes back to what I was saying about slavery. If you don't know your worth, you can't begin to negotiate for yourself. Like being taught boxing. If you don't know even the basics, how are you going to protect yourself in a match?
Was he able to get help? You said almost everyone there was very defeated.
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It sounded to me like the problem on Earth isn't people not knowing their rights, but not having them. That has to come first. After that - I know that on some of the colonies there are songs about Charter rights. Children's songs. Tiny children who can't read well - or even someone who never learns - they'd still know about all their rights, life and liberty and property. [And it usually is those; it's the more politically-motivated colonies who go in for Charter songs.]
I was raised to be rational, yes. [There had been one nanny who had told her fantastical stories, but even as a child Ari had known that her family wouldn't approve.]
[She's silent for a moment, considering the vampire situation.] I believe that the two you know wouldn't have done that, but if what I've heard about vampires is accurate, they still would have murdered humans for sustenance, yes? [One situation where eating animals would be the lesser evil!]
As for that man, he... this is unpleasant, but maybe not unfamiliar to you. There's a particular fault in some weak-minded people in that when they are subjected to an intolerable situation, they rationalise it. They tell themselves they are happy in captivity. They're more angry with others in their situation who don't comply than they are with their captor, because it reminds them of their own weakness. This man took that line, I think, and kept flying it right along to the frontier end. He loved the vampire who enslaved him. [It's clear she finds this disturbing. Disgusting, even.] I had a lot of concern for him, and... pity, but I don't know if there's any real way back from that. The environment wasn't exactly conducive to recovery.
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They don't have the rights, but how would they get them if they've only ever known otherwise?
No no, we -- vampires don't need to murder at all. It is a parasitic relationship. Completely at odds with the natural order. Extending one's life at the cost of blood of another. [His eyes probably have that two-tone quality that denotes him as vampiric to those in the know. Not human anymore. Then again, he doesn't realize he doesn't have his fangs at all right now, they're not simply retracted, they won't come out even when he tries later. Even though his stamina is lacking, it could just be the new world, new air, who knows what else?] But it requires less blood than even most doctor's tests in my time do. [He holds up his fingers for a vial sample size.] There's even a blood substitute made from flowers called blanc. Although one couldn't survive solely on it.
Humans don't need vampires, but vampires are wholly dependent on humans.
Some women love being bitten. [He just casually throws that out there, relaxing in his seat and sipping the wine, pouring her some too.] It's ecstasy inducing. Rather like an orgasm in sex. Or so I'm told. But I have known some women to like it so much, they keep coming back for more, even without knowing what they're asking for.
Right, such a relationship would necessitate a rather abusive husband style relationship, I think. Especially with a man. Vampires aren't too different from aristocrats. Their power is only as good as their standing in society. If the public decides they're not worth keeping around, they're not going to have power for much longer. The few I know are very careful not to make it public.
Which is the general theory on Earth about fairy tales. That fairies, vampires, ghosts, all sorts of non-human entities exist en masse, but are very selective with whom they reveal themselves to in order to stay out of danger. Most people don't always notice what's right in front of their own eyes. But given the way humans treat animals like seals and whales, if I was a non-human I wouldn't want to risk public opinion trying to skin me or use me for fuel either, eh?
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[She's perceptive enough to catch that stray we, although she's not ascribing too much immediate significance to it, just mentally filing it away. It may be nothing.]
The way you put it, it sounds as if vampires could maintain perfectly fair contractual agreements with humans if they chose. A small amount of blood in return for a fair payment.
[But he really doesn't think much of women, does he? She watches as he refills her wine glass, the flow of that dark red liquid. Then she picks it up, takes another long sip.]
In my experience, men enjoy ecstasy just as much as women. [Take that as you will, Arthur.] I don't know why anyone would be bitten the first time, but then people behave strangely sometimes. [Klaus likes to be bitten. It's not the same, but it's still inexplicable to her. Animalistic. If Arilanna Tayrey made a deal with a vampire, she'd be handing then a little vial of decanted blood.]
Earther marriage is practically designed for abuse. [Not holding back on the controversial opinions! She doesn't think anything she says can be worse than Arthur's mandates, so she's not going to be shy.] Like I said, we don't do lifetime contracts out my way. But even then, this man was a slave, so his abuser wasn't like a husband.
I thought that even on Earth, fairy tales were fictional stories for small children. I'm more convinced by the theory that their authors might have spent time in bubble universes like this one.
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That is exactly how the two greater vampires I know get their blood ethically. They buy blood from the willing, who also have to be healthy enough to sell it. As a Doctor I helped ensure precisely that. A lot of impurities go into blood, and any little thing could change the taste completely! Killing someone would be a terrible travesty, not just because life is sacred, but from a purely practical standpoint, if you found one you liked the taste of, how would you get more? And the more someone starts to enjoy it, the sweeter it tastes -- I'm told.
Men do, absolutely! [A giant grin!] But in the 19th century, most of them aren't willing to admit it, unless it's via violence or some other deemed socially acceptable form of masculine balderdash. [Nope, Arthur LOVES women! He thinks women are the greatest. It's men he doesn't like! -- Not individually, but collectively men globally. Individually, he likes most people. Though he gets insanely conpetitive with authors.] And I'm not human enough anymore to be able to experience a vampire's bite the same way. [Just winks. Despite that alarming statement.] I could ask Sebastian, but he'd either think I was coming onto him, or slap me with his gloves for what is quite obviously not purely intellectual curiosity on my part. So I only know of women willing to talk -- at length -- about their experience with the bite. And all the vampires I know are male. Most women have more sense, and haven't gotten themselves turned. [See?]
I can't say as to your acquaintance. I can't imagine anyone mistaking Sebastian as a slave. But he has more freedom than anyone he works for. I can't think it would be possible without severe psychological breaking however. Vampires are stronger and faster than humans, but they need blood for anything and even just denial, disgust, or fear can turn the blood repellant.
I do think lifelong is... too long. It's hard to imagine you'll be the same person in a few decades, and worse knowing how different the whole world is one year to the next, but it was designed to protect women. In theory. [Both hands up!] In France they are far more liberal about it. One night affairs are perfectly reasonable, and Kings have had all manners of multiple consorts at the same time. Perhaps that's the difference? In Great Britain: the English King kept divorcing his wives in order to marry a new one. In France, they didn't care. Same with same-sex relationships. In England, they're illegal. A playwright got sentenced to hard labour for it, well he was also propositioning children, but when it's a man propositions teenage girls they don't seem to care as much. France is very live-and-let-live about it all.
Bubble universes. [Thinks that over.]
Not always. I wrote a lot of my early stuff for children. But instead of the world I know nothing about, I wrote about the things I know and I -- [He clenches a fist. He feared they'd never get to see. Hoped to give them hope. Hoped to make them live a little longer.] I wanted to teach them in the way schools couldn't. [Loosens the grip!] Practical things. I daresay I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could write about places like this.
[Hope. Cheery things. Less macabre death. Honestly of course he's a vampire, what else would he be other than undead?]
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[One could interrogate the origin story, of course. Tyrannical Tirvan government, dupes and victims under its power, brave Lorentzen and his rebel following. What came before? What worse secrets lay in their history? But of course Ari Tayrey would say that the free colonies didn't carry responsibility for any crimes of old Tirva.]
[She looks momentarily very confused when he talks about what's acceptable for men, and then laughs. Oh, he didn't understand her, although she didn't think that she was being very subtle, or that he was very innocent-minded. Men don't get their ecstasy from violence. He can't think they're all sadists!
Maybe she'd have teased him about it, but what he says next changes her train of thought entirely. Not human. He certainly looks human, but she's not going to ignore the clues placed before her. He must want her to know.
Another drink from the glass.]
They should care if anyone is propositioning children, no matter where it's happening. [True, if one considers how the Tradelines defines a child! But equally she can't see that anyone would take issue with teenage Tayrey propositioning Captain Laitinen, twice her age. He wasn't her captain, so there's no trouble.] Other than that, it seems like a lot of trying to restrict other people's private business for no good reason. I wouldn't have guessed, though, about France. [Most of what she has been told about France came from the British, and they're hardly unbiased.]
We do the same on the Tradelines. One night affairs. Overnights. When the ship puts in for fuel and resupply. It works well for us. [If they'd been downstation, now, she'd have considered him. More than considered. Although now she's second-guessing herself, because what if that's all... pheromones or the like, because of what she suspects he now is?
She takes another sip of wine.]
These two ethical vampires. One of them is you yourself, yes? Or at least you are leading me to think it, but you and I just went on a long walk in bright light, and I understand that a vampire wouldn't enjoy that very much.
[If she's very wrong, he might laugh at her for the paranoid reasoning, but that's a risk she's willing to take.]
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It sounds almost lonely though, the way you do one night affairs. As liberal as I might be with mine, the women I meet can still find me again for another if they choose. Good for the ego.
[A giant grin!] No. Actually, I'm not a greater vampire. And I don't consider myself ethical! [He's a Doctor and yet! He actually does also follow the English knight code of conduct rather deeply. But he only says it so he can keep being a playboy and he doesn't want people trusting him!] But vampires can handle sunlight, garlic, crosses, everything stories get wrong. There's still some -- many limitations. Food isn't sustaining, and as I said: vampires are parasites. They need humans, humans don't need vampires at all.
I lived in a mansion with them, and a few others like myself. I don't know that I'd call the owner entirely ethical either. He's never been human, unlike me, I at least used to be, so his thinking I can't usually understand. But he obtains his blood ethically, that I can promise. And Sebastian is entirely human, but enjoys working as a butler there because of other benefits.
I'm a lesser vampire. [Just daring this "magic" world to come at him.] No capacity to turn someone into like myself, no transformation powers or whatever else have you.
But that's the other reason I can't go asking Sebastian if he's ever been bitten. He knows I don't drink from anyone, rules of the house! But I use it to enhance romance with women who want it. Haven't had a chance with men yet. Most of them wouldn't take such an offer well.
sorry, thought I replied here!
[Some people are frightened of genelab children and what they might become, but Tayrey learnt quickly on the Tradelines that while she might pick up theory and skills lightning-quick, there's no substitute for shipside experience when it comes to the actual decision-making.]
[Then she laughs.] There are criticisms I could make of living on a starship with a crew of two hundred. Loneliness is not among them! I only had time to myself in my cabin, and that was tiny. I think that's a particularly Earther interpretation, that the only connections that really matter are overnights. They're not very important to us. Just for fun!
[She listens carefully to his explanation about ethics.] And why should the women take such an offer any better than the men would? I imagine most would find it alarming and some would find it appealing, in either case. It is unusual, though. To find someone who admits to being unethical. Most try to justify their decisions.
np np
Ah, I understand better now. You'd probably find my relationships with the mansion's members much lonelier, since we're all artists and keep a general distance. Your view is also much more liberal about -- overnights as you call it. At least more than most Earth, maybe on par with France.
[A grin, and if his fangs aren't sprouting now, maybe he's not in danger of it at all. Weird.] Because sodomy is illegal in England in my time, and men have a tendency to see someone like me as a threat and competition. They're much more likely to take such an offer as if it means something is wrong with them. Something they'd have to prove they'd deny, and with violence if necessary. Women on Earth use their societal status as cunning and less overtly aggressive -- testosterone levels you understand, to make a game out of claiming their power using seduction. A little bit of danger [Holds his fingers up a pinch.] not too much, only adds to that, heightens the adrenaline rush. In men, that adrenaline gets used for boxing. I don't mind, but I find it much less enjoyable to get punched than playfully pushed with a coy, [Falsetto voice:] "Oh you~!" and come hither eyes.
Most people haven't died yet. [Arthur...] It affords a certain perspective of the price of life that others don't think about in how they pay for it.