[ARC] Discussion - the Intersection of Progress and Power

Fiction Portal Intergalactic Summit
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Hello, pilots;

I won’t get too deeply into my personal views on megalomaniacal posthuman supersoldiers and their desires to replace the existing order with one structured to suit their capability for violence-- you can likely gather my thoughts just from that statement, after all. Likewise, I won’t get too deeply into my views on existing power structures.

Still, we’re in an odd moment.

Whether through guile, or infomorphic contamination or control, or willingness to move swiftly and reach far, a newly-arisen pirate organization sits now nestled at the core of a Jovian highway system, in a massive station likely full of ancient technologies to be rediscovered and reactivated.

They ask, of course, for the means to expand their control over this, with the promise of plunder and future technological riches. In all likelihood, they’ll achieve their expanded control one way or another, one time or another. The question is: do we aid it, in the hope that there will be technologies that will actually improve the state of the art in the cluster and improve the condition of humanity, knowing that we may be enabling further violence? Or do we… contribute it to the organizations who’ve shown disinterest, lack of progress, and often near enough to spits on us? I’m not inclined to fits of pique over their lack of foresight, but we can both see how this would rankle.

Long-time readers will know I’ve expressed my dismay at the inability of the existing power structures to leverage social capital to integrate the broader base of capsuleers, instead alienating so many, so much so that capsuleers freely flocked in turn to the Nation, the Collective, and now likely the Deathless.

So, as a representative of the one organization that has made a sustained effort to monitor Drifter Hives since their appearance, and thus the organization with the single largest reserve of Coalesced Elements, I can’t help but ask for peoples’ thoughts.

Please note no decision will be made lightly.

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(please also note that I very clearly have opinions, both strong and conflicted, and at this moment am only slightly inclined toward being diplomatic about them.)

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At this point, I think it would best be in line with ARC’s purpose and previous policies if you did not pick one side, but attempted to spread the gimmicks to both of them and in addition to keep some for yourselves. This will maximize the chances that someone will either share or leak any findings that come up, and minimize the chances that one power will monopolize technology.

Not that I can support anyone to support the Angel Cartel. So, pick SoCT.

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When deciding between the lesser of two evils just choose both so that neither may win.

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I would agree with Ms. Rhiannon on this. In spreading the needed components, even to a limited degree, you would maximize the chances of intelligence leaks. Based on many occasions in the past, The Society of Conscious Thought have hidden and kept things from both Capsuleers and the Empires. Helping them would no doubt result in the same outcome. While I personally understand the concern with helping the Deathless, or assisting pilots in doing so…I cannot assist a group sich as the SoCT who would simply keep any discoveries and technology to themselves as they always do.

With that said, my proposal is to sell just a limited number of these Elements, and let the capsuleers choose the fate of them.

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I am available as an Evil, should one need to be chosen.

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Four groups at play here, directly involved and vying for these…things from the Hives.

On one side the Society is asking for what we find, and offering a cash reward. Which is rather tempting to most on the face of it and to many the Society is somewhere between harmless and ‘At least not as bad as those other guys’.

On the other side, the Deathless and segments of the Gurista and Angel Cartel. They offer more. They offer favor, new prototype ship hulls, and the promise of working ever closer with those favored capsuleers as they plunder the secrets of the Jovian megastructure. Alas, many involved are fiends and brigands who find a way to profit from violating most every law and social norm that prevails in their home societies. So trusting them is a wary proposition…

I don’t suppose there is a great pit of fire we could throw all these in, no? Ah well. I have my own thoughts of what to do with the bits and pieces I have. But as far as what the Consortium should do? All I can say is I am glad I am not in such a public and precarious position as you, Makoto. Just so long as you make sure Uriel doesn’t run off and huff these devices or whatever he does with unsecured Jovian technology, I am sure you will make the right call.

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Who are you referring to here? Because if you refer to Capsuleers, that encompasses us all, even you

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Is it not this “The Deathless” person that is being Referred To ?

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we know next to nothing about him. any judgements about anything other than what he wants is simply, getting ahead of ourselves

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You mean stars?

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We know he’s either megalomaniacal or a total edgelord. I mean, ‘The Deathless’? Really? Who came up with that, and how soon afterward did they celebrate their 14th birthday?

We know he doesn’t respect personal property rights so long as it gets him what he wants. Which isn’t unique in the cluster, of course, but a man who’s willing to steal is probably willing to steal from you, if the take is good enough1.

We know he’s willing to work with criminals—thieves, killers, and slavers—to get what he wants. Again, not particularly unique, but a man willing to hand power to those who enslave even their own people… he’s willing to enslave you, too.

These tells us that he doesn’t see others as people, only as tools to be used toward an end. And that tells you that whatever his true goal is, it’s all about him, all about his power.

It may benefit others, but that’s incidental to him, and if it becomes advantageous to him to do so, he’ll betray his allies. Whether that means pitting the Angels and Guristas against one another, selling out ‘useful idiot’ capsuleers to the pirates or sending Angel slavers after eggers’ baseliner kin for leverage, none of it can be considered taboo or off the table for him, or the people in his real inner circle—which, I promise, Angel and Gurista leadership are not. After all, they’re beholden to their own organizations. They have pre-existing interests of their own. They are allies of convenience, only.

So, really, we know a fair amount just from his actions.

Beyond ‘power’, I think ‘what he really wants’ is the one thing we don’t actually know about him.

1. Yes, I’m aware that many capsuleers take things from other people, usually after killing them. I’m also aware that many other capsuleers steal from ESS units in nullsec. For the most part, these are justified by ‘they were the enemy’, either because they shot back, or because politics made them enemies. This is not that. This is more akin to ripping apart Sleeper enclaves just because you can, and taking whatever you like (hello, Amarr Empire!) or the disgruntled alliance member who decides to empty out the hangars, change the ACLs on your keepstar, and pulls all the fuel so your enemies can get all the loot in two weeks. Yes, the enemy may celebrate the occurrence, but after a decade at all levels of the Imperium, I can tell you right now: that person is never really trusted. (This is different in the case of someone who was sent in as a deep cover agent to do precisely that. One is theft and betrayal, the other is espionage.)

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If ARC’s stockpiles of these elements really are as large as rumored, I would imagine you have quite some negotiating power over the deathless. Has your organization not considered reaching out directly and requesting clarification on their motives and perhaps bargaining for exclusive rights on potential discoveries?

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Dear Makoto Priano,

I appreciate that our perspectives on the risks associated with the use of ancient technologies are dissimilar, but given this discussion is an open call, I would like to offer my perspective as well.

In regards to whom the Elements should be handed over, if any, and towards the possible consequnces, these are my thoughts:

I. Cooperating with the Society of Conscious Thought:
Besides the fact that the SotC has not directly asked for the provision of elements, I suspect granting them control of the stockpile, or related artefacts, would see them go unused or quarantined. There bid seems more driven by an impetus to deny the Deathless Circle of these resources than to apply them in a practical manner. - Supporting the SotC in effect means supporting the status quo and stagnation.

II. Cooperating with the Deathless Circle
The Deathless Circle will presumably use the elements as a power source for the operation of its newly acquired Jove technology (at least if the nature of the Element Containment Vessels is correctly udnerstood). Assisting the Deathless in this endeavour will presumably lead to the discovery of knowledge and technological advancement.

I personally do not object to the application these technologies will then serve in the near term. The pirates and empires will do their business with or without these technologies. Generating this knowledge, however, will allow it to eventually be diseminated in the cluster. While the Deathless will likely try and monopolize the results, his coalition will eventually leak or make errors that allow other powers to acquire it as well, making it available to the cluster.

As such, I would generally recommend at least some amount of assistance in this direction. If you were to try and use the negotiation leverage of having a large supply of these elements (as Mr. Raubzen suggested), I would recommend offering the Deathless a deal on grand supply in exchange for sharing part of the results with the public and/or allowing outside observers to gather data from the process.

III. Mitigating measures and side benefits

Given your general distrust of most larger factions, it might also be worthwhile to assist the Deathless indirectly via the sale of these goods to other capsuleers and/or through the reselling of the offered compensation. In this way you can substantially expand the resources available to ARC and use these funds in the furtherance of the noble pursuit of knowledge for the sake of the population.

I suppose my next suggestion will be somewhat more controversial, but it is meant in good faith: I would recommend supplying a limited amount of full sets (Containment Vessel, Control Data and Element) to the Triglavian Collective together with available data on the Deathless project. This is despite my assumption that the Collective will offer neither reward nor knowledge in trade.

I am however relatively sure that the Collective has an ongoing interest in the matter of the Deathless and offering them assistance in this way will help establishing them as a potentially counterbalancing force.

While certainly more time is needed to formulate all the possibilities raised by the absence of a Stellar Transmuter in Zarzakh, I think the Contained Elements might provide a direct or indirect alternative power source to the Shipcaster currently under construction.

Given the hostility between the Collective and the Drifters, I assume evidence of an attempt to combine Triglavian-derived and Drifter-derived technologies will see the Collective take an unfriendly stance towards the Deathless’ project. In essence, you might set two entities you consider hostile against each other to the benefit of the Cluster.

If you need further advice or assistance, I will be happy to provide it within my means.

Signed digitally
Scius Falkenhaupt
Kybernaut Researcher

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Oh Joy of Joys, It’s time for another damn round of “LETS STICK THE ALIEN ARTIFACT IN OUR BRAIN” from all the idiot capsuleers with more guns than brain cells.

Of bloody course the majority of them will pick the options that give them “OOO NEW SHIPS AND WEAPONS” that promise the ability to violence each other in ways that are 5% more violent than current methodologies, even when huffing drugs made from some other banal method involving oh I don’t know, distilled orphans or some such nonsense.

“Deathless” ? Cartel ? Guristas ? A bunch of idiots that consider the inflicting of violence to be the apex of human endeavour. Booooooring. A thousand poxes on them. Such trite boring banality.

SOCT ? Oh right. The spooky bunch of spooky secret spooks that hide out in the ass end of space and pop up every so often to remind people that they’re spooky spooks. Whoop de doop.

I expect all that will be learned is how to violence other capsuleers with marginally more efficiency. No great technological or philosophical breakthroughs. Just more shootier shootyguns. Fan-bloody-tastic.

I should have been a naval architect or weapons engineer, instead of an archaeologist. Seems to be a lot more fardling money to be had from desiging penis-shaped ships with penisguns that shoot exploding penis-shaped projectiles.

Do what you want. Nothing good will come from any of it.

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That’s just silly. I’d never do that.

I’m going to wait for Uriel to do it first and see how it goes.

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Oh hey, this is why you earn the big credits. You’re a thinker.

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Nah, I quit that job. Hauling freight may not pay as well, but there’s less blood and nightmares involved.

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An addendum, pilots. I’ve sent an inquiry to Elder Mentor Raish. An inquiry to the Deathless will follow soon, in one form or another.

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And the inquiry was…?