- - TRANSMISSION SEND - -
AR file: 4301-02-12 04:23
Capt. A. Gounthen E.G.S.S.T.F.
Where do I start?
I've been doing this for over 250 years and this is the first time I can remember that I don't know what to say. For that matter, I don't even know why I'm R-cording this.
That's not true. I know exactly why I'm logging. It's because I have been doing this for the last 250 years and it's natural for me. It's the easiest way to deal with the shock and the incomprehensibility and, most likely, the depression Doc says should be kicking in soon.
So, if I'm to do this the right way, I'll at least start properly.
Captain's Log of the *EGS Station Terra Firma.* Captain Arnueses Gounthen, Articulated Recording number 102,367.
***
AR Engrammic Sub-file
Filters: Any.Human
Relevance: Privileged/Personal
Alliance Terran Science Academy - Actives:
E.G.S.S.T.F - Overview
Extra Galactic Space Station Terra Firma was commissioned on 4048-11-11. A human-only scientific expedition, its mission is to observe ancient radiations with its satellite array of 50,000 probes spread out in a 10 light-year radius. Its placement is in a rare and optimal dimensional peak allowing the observation of an unprecedented amount of the universe from a single location.
***
Eight hours ago, at exactly 20:46 tc, the Technical Observation Deck (TOD) detected the *temporal nullification* of galaxy system KX-307-HVL. While this is in and of itself not unheard of, the event always shakes everyone on board. This counts as the third that the Terra Firma has witnessed since her commission. The idea that 100 billion stars, 100 thousand lush worlds, 10 thousand sentient races and an incalculable number of lifeforms can be winked out of existence within a matter of seconds is simply too vast and horrific to comprehend. And yet it happens.
***
Alliance Terran Science Academy Archive: Temporal Nullification History
A temporal nullification is an unbalancing of “twisted” particles causing the collapse of the waveform of matter. For humans, it was first discovered with the collapse of galaxy IC-46938-LM in the year 2261 by Philst Reudean, Ph.D. but was not understood till the year 3317. With the discovery of the particle spin “twisted” (particles that travel backward through time in segmented oscillation) Arned Klinterst, Ph.D. mathematically predicted the temporal collapse of a helium atom and the entangled radiation emitted during its original formation from hydrogen. This led to the understanding that all radiation emitted from matter that has yet to interact with other matter will vanish simultaneously with the temporal nullification of the originating matter.
***
And so the known possibility becomes reality.
A perfect proof of *Tetcht's Law.* She was right. And the Terra Firma is in the most profoundly unfortunate location to observe the fact.
***
Terran Historical Database: Tetcht's Law
Eleenia Tetcht posited that in the universe, anything that can happen will happen, but not only on the atomic scale. Furthering the ancient ideas of Hugh Everett on the macro scale, everything that can happen will, at least once. Where the “natural” mechanics of the universe fail, sentience will compensate. If a “natural” reaction fails to destroy a galaxy and it is possible to destroy, a sentient mind will eventually find a way.
***
When I first accepted the position of Captain, I thought that I would discover old and wonderful things no other known life form had witnessed, possibly even a real glimpse at the very beginning, the Big Kick Off itself. And while we never achieved that actuality within our limited time out here, we have witnessed remarkable events many have only suspected. I still don't agree with Evarens that the initial Plank Moment is impossible to spot or detect, but it seems that neither of us will ever know.
Three minutes before the first event, our *Nostra* had indicated the high probability that a temporal nullification was about to take place. The subsequent notifications were met with skepticism which was rapidly disabused.
***
Alliance Terran Science Academy
Entangled Projection Engine:
Ubiquitous devices nicknamed Nostras (after Nostradamus), Entangled Projection Engines (EPEs) are created by temporally entangling atoms within the future version of the device. Once one is turned on, it produces a probability curve of the variables it's programmed to search for, though accuracy is greatly diminished the further out or more complex the variables are, with the most accurate results varying between a few minutes and a few weeks depending. In the simplest terms, EPEs have replaced the need for highly complex prediction algorithms with real-time accurate probability curves.
***
One minute after the first observation, the three neighboring galactic systems, KX-305-HVL, 306, and 308 vanished in the same fashion. It was at this time I was called to the TOD and informed of the cascading temporal nullification. By the time I arrived to be briefed, one hundred and thirty galaxies were gone.
By the time First Astrophysicist Officer Rygold Evarens arrived, five hundred were lost.
The TOD was completely silent when the FAO inquired about the situation. No one, myself included, could believe the data being displayed. By all accounts, what we were seeing was simply impossible. The math worked hundreds of years ago had proven that this couldn't be happening, but all Evarens said when zhe saw the images was, “So someone actually did it.”
A brief *explanation from Evarens* convinced those on the TOD that what we were witnessing was indeed happening, no fluke, no malfunction of our sensor array. It was at this time that Junior Image-Correction Officer Lalcion left his post, vomiting.
Two thousand gone.
***
Transcription of Engram-transfer
4301-02-12 20:57
Recounted past experience of
FAO Rygold Evarens
In the year 4016 Evarens was working towards citizenship by collaborating with a physicist group on the safety of working with and around “twisted” spin particles. Under the lead physicist Iander Bornid, Ph.D. the group stumbled upon an expanded equation of temporal nullification. This new equation irrefutably proved the possibility of a universal cascade. When brought to the Council, all information pertaining to the group and its discovery was suppressed and its members were awarded citizenship and positions of choice if they submitted to an engram cap. This was the fourth group of human mathematicians to have discovered this equation. The engram cap expired at the point it was no longer applicable.
***
Our unique location for optimal observation places us in a dimensional peak, suggesting that the approaching cascade will most likely reach us last. For that matter, we reside in such a high-entropy location there is the remote possibility that the universal temporal nullification will simply collapse around us, leaving us in an infinite fabric of the base state, four degrees kelvin. Alone.
At least, this was the conclusion Evarens and I came to shortly after the discovery. The questions immediately following were how long did we have and what was I to tell those aboard the Terra Firma. With the absence of JICO Lalcion, I was sure that word would spread quickly and most likely already had.
It would be best if the twenty-five hundred families on board officially heard the inevitable from me.
As captain, the last few hundred years have been relatively easy in regards to complicated or life-changing choices. There were post re-assignments that I had to issue, the most contentious being over the division of a family. Then there were the allotments of station resources and the bitter, petty politics that came from the consequent disgruntled persons.
So now, what was I supposed to say to the 10,062 individuals, all of whom are most likely about to die, or in the very least, become the only remaining bit of fluff left in the universe? The words that came out were bumbling. I know that.
The silence that met me was palpable, but unfortunately didn't last. The resulting collective outcry of anguish and distress flowing back through the network seared through me, pounding my emotional filters to the point of static. I had no choice but to collapse my connection. I suspected the *epi-net* would be effectively inaccessible for the time being.
***
Alliance Social Infrastructure:
Neural Network Introduction
The neural communication networks within the alliance society are broken into four levels of functionality, the domus-net, the sub-net, the epi-net and the supra-net, and apply to almost all races. The domus-net is a semi-secure, casual communication level interaction with family and personal social relations allowing a wide range of emotional, intellectual, and sensory information. The sub-net is a high-security, member-specific communication level allowing a complete open exchange of information. Because of its rigorous security protocols, this level has replaced the need for most face-to-face meetings in official capacities; however, because of council law and subsequent limitations, meetings involving intimate and emotional details are still held in person and in conjunction with the sub-net. The epi-net, also known as the public sphere, is a public forum with limited information exchange. The supra-net is the inter-galactic exchange with limited bandwidth; this necessarily limits the amount of each information type to small bursts.
***
Everyone on the TOD was openly weeping; I suppose I was as well, but there were still decisions to be made. I needed all of the senior staff to help sort through the logistics of the situation. How long did we have? How likely were we to escape the temporal nullification wavefront? What distance was the Milky Way, and by default the whole of *the Alliance,* from the epicenter? Was there time to inform the Council? Should we even bother?
***
Alliance Executive Database:
Government Overview
The Alliance is the collective governing body of the Milky Way. Its executive branch is called the Council and contains representatives from every race within its constituency. Of the 6332 races in the Milky Way, there are only 460 pairings of compatibility, races naturally capable of co-mingling without the use of augmentation or respirators. Human Beings are not one of those races.
***
After establishing a new sub-net, I met with First Astrophysicist Officer Rygold Evarens, First Array Engineer Heaten Urlen, First Social Officer Kialen Lent, and Head Custodian Meyer Roans. Some number crunching from FAO Evarens and FAE Urlen produced some of my first answers: we had just under fifteen hours till the wavefront reached us, only three till it reached the Milky Way.
As for the concept that the station might be spared, the most recent data gathered showed that the likelihood of that happening was so remote it wasn't even worthy of listing as a possibility.
FAO Evarens released the project name and encoded neural engram connecting zhim to the program zhe had originally been involved with, implying that if we transmitted that information along with the remaining time the Council, as well as the entire Milky Way had, that would suffice for our final responsibilities. They could debate any additional moral or ethical ramifications for disseminating or withholding any of that information themselves.
I immediately transmitted the data and our duty to our home galaxy was complete.
The staff and I came to the conclusion that once the security of the station was established there was very little left for us as a government body to do. FSO “Doc” Lent suggested that I walk the station to help demonstrate a civilized, self-possessed, and dignified stature in the face of this most-probable end. I wanted to tell her to shove “civilized” and “self-possessed” into numerous orifices, but conceded that, as captain, this should be a last duty for me to fulfill. During the entirety of the meeting I was trying to concentrate on the good of all the families that depended on me, but I struggled to keep that focus as my thoughts continually drifted to Lenlien, Car, and Jonil, my own family.
I still cannot resolve how immensely unfair this all is. As a family, we'd had plans. I only had five more years of being captain of the Terra Firma. At that point we would have had the credit to settle anywhere we wanted. We were considering the Euni Cluster or even the Kull Star Nebula where the population was still growing and we wouldn't need permits to have children. Both Lenlien and Jonil had expressed desire to bear at least one *child*... but none of those locations even exist anymore.
***
Alliance Social Infrastructure:
Human Life Cycle – Overview
Through the Nano-scale Intravascular Molecular Monitoring System, or Nimms, the human race has achieved near complete control over its physical being. Sickness, aging and most forms of catastrophic injury have been remedied. Therefore, their long lives require extreme regulation of offspring in most civilized worlds.
Once permission is granted, the host parent conceives and eventually bears a female human so as to maximize her genetic information.
In most worlds, the next fifty years is a learning and proving period for the child. After this time the child is encouraged to gain its citizenship and the cycle is complete.
***
At 21:16 tc I dismissed the senior officers to see to their final duties.
I still feel shocked and guilty that wandering thoughts during the meeting were the first chronological consideration for my family. I guess this would be a testament to my years of discipline and focus as captain of the Terra Firma; after all, my family has had a longstanding rule that our domus and sub-net were off limits to me while I was on duty, but for me, this is just a sad excuse. My only saving grace is that perhaps it is my instincts that are more attuned to my loved ones, for during the meeting with the senior officers I had left the TOD and made my way home. By the meeting's conclusion, I was just moments from my family quarters without any conscious direction.
I have always taken pride in running a station that followed the *social rules* of the Council and not cut corners for efficiency's sake. Needless to say, I need the support and physical proximity of my familial group as they need mine. As I approached our residence, Lenlien was in the hall searching for my arrival.
***
Alliance Social Infrastructure:
Human Interaction Laws – Overview
The core social laws the Alliance imposes upon a given race are to insure the essence of that race is not destroyed through overuse of technology. In regards to humanity, these laws enforce the tangible interactions and strong social bonds that humans naturally form. Humans have an affinity for neural networks. The primary form of social encouragement is through limiting the potential emotional satisfaction achievable solely through the neural network. Additionally, emotional bonding is enhanced and reinforced by proximity. Complete emotional transference is limited to moments of physical touch while greater distance results in a proportionally unsatisfying emotional experience.
***
I hadn't realized how distracted I had been the last several days, nothing truly important until these last hours, just absorbed in the workings of the station. However, I gave Lenlien shared control of my social preferences years ago and during the last days I never noticed my partner adjusting them.
Lenlien had changed sexes and is once again female. Of course, she adjusted my preferences accordingly as she always does. I now know that she had planned this day for over a month. She had wanted to make it a special day off and had arranged for personal time after I had finished my shift, so she had also turned my sex drive to full.
I immediately established our sub-net as she ran to me, weeping. My arousal at her presence was overwhelming and she apologized for forgetting to reset my parameters after the announcement. But isn't this what it is to be with family? To share in living and love and thought and touch? Isn't that one of the core reasons the laws are what they are? To keep these principles of humanity and community human?
I quieted her concerns with an embrace and we entered our home. I allowed myself a half an hour as just a *partner* and not a captain. Lenlien and I bonded and I opened our sub-net to sense Car and Jonil a room away. We were home. We are family.
***
Transcription of Engram Stamp
4301-02-12 21:56
Post-coital Conversation:
Lenlien Gounthen
L.G. - Arnu? Why is it you've only been female once since we've been together?
A.G. (smiling) - As opposed to losing track of how many times you have?
L.G. - I'm serious. You spent just a few short years as a female and then back again to male. You didn't even settle on being hermaphroditic.
A.G. - Well, I discovered years ago that I make a very ugly woman.
L.G. (laughing) - You're just avoiding. You make a beautiful woman. You're simply beautiful.
A.G. - I'm lazy. Switching back and forth is just too exhausting.
L.G. - Now I know you're lying. You're the furthest thing from lazy I have ever met. You are the Captain of one of the most prestigious assignments in the universe.
A.G. - Yes, well...
L.G. - So, why?
A.G. - I really don't know. I just stopped thinking about it. I've been comfortable these last years in the body I'm in. I like that you've been having fun, I love it in fact, but I guess I've felt that this is right for me... for now. … I guess forever.
L.G. (weeping) I love you.
A.G. (weeping) I love you, too.
***
I explained my final duty to Lenlien, Car, and Jonil; the instantaneous consensus was that we would walk the halls together. We would no longer be separated; our last hours would be shared. It surprises me that I thought I would have this last walk as captain alone. How could I have considered that those who love me would have even let me?
Together, my family and I began our last tour of the EGS Station Terra Firma. Tentatively testing the epi-net, I could sense that the overall atmosphere of the station had calmed. Those in the public sphere had either begun setting up forums of comfort and camaraderie or slipped back into their own domus and sub-nets. Through the epi-net, however, I could identify the general trend of physical clustering throughout the station. These clusters were the destinations I set for our tour.
*A.T.I.D.U*. was our first stop. A large number of individuals from all of the science branches had gathered. Although FAO Evarens was nowhere to be seen, zher equations were buzzing around an open-access domus-net being disputed and confirmed in rapid succession. All of these minds were brainstorming and firing off ideas in a flurrying attempt to solve this immediate problem.
***
Alliance Terran Science Academy – Actives: E.G.S.S.T.F. Special Systems: A.T.I.D.U.
Array Tethering, Integration, Distribution and Utilization encapsulates the middle third of the station. Its primary purpose is to maintain and communicate with the 50,000 probes surrounding the Terra Firma. This includes recalling and reestablishing links with drifting or malfunctioning probes.
Its secondary purpose is to distribute all of the amassed data that is collected by the satellites to all of the substations, science quarters and observation decks.
The tertiary concern for the A.T.I.D.U. is the maintenance of the Entropic Collection Threads and the Cohesion Fields that encompass the station.
***
Curious about Evarens' lack of involvement, I flashed zhim a query and was quickly answered. The FAO was certain that nothing would come of these exercises. Zhe had no interest in spending zher last hours arguing and was spending them in meditation. Evarens has always been on the verge of being too practical, but I can't fault zhim for zher last choices. After acknowledging those brainstorming with gentle praise at their persistence, my family and I continued.
It was about this time that I noticed several notifications within my officer *periphery*. Numerous *freezes* had taken place within the last hour. Understandably, there were those who couldn't control their panic, but these would be their last throes, a temporary sleep made permanent.
***
Alliance Terran Science Academy:
Human Periphery Enhancements
In conjunction with the neural network, most humans integrate an artificial cortex for monitoring, collecting and disseminating information gathered through the epi-net. This information is then manipulated through numerous filters and preferences to keep the user informed on important events.
Alliance Social Infrastructure:
Human Safety Standards – Overview
Following the emphasis on the importance of the individual within human society, the complementary system of neural shielding grants a safeguard against catastrophic injury. This system creates a buffer between the body and mind. This also creates an opportunity to avoid anti-social violence.
Prior to assignment on an Alliance vessel, each individual is required to submit to bodily permissions for override in the event of unacceptable displays of physical aggression towards themselves or others. This is a temporary state that can only be maintained for several hours. After this time, control is returned to the individual.
***
I kept Lenlien, Car, and Jonil within arm's reach, as I still do now. Confirming and gentle touches have been frequent and persistent. If it were not for them, I myself may have done something worthy of a freeze.
At 23:03 tc, we had made our way to the *arboretum*, the largest of the clusters of people.
Following the data of clustering led us to the recreation area around the lake. Whereas the shores were normally artificially lit to emulate an early summer afternoon, it was currently set as dusk to illuminate a writhing mass of people. The orgy must have involved nearly one-thousand individuals, all of whom appeared to have maximized their sexual intensity parameters and widened their preferences to any and all.
***
Alliance Terran Science Academy – Actives: E.G.S.S.T.F. Habitat Sub-sections: Arboretum
A 630-meter radius within the heart of the Terra Firma, the arboretum is the primary recreational location on the station. Roughly 47% of the oxygen supply is created by the 4,615 different flora housed within. The core of the arboretum is a small lake of roughly 100,000 cubic meters. Its shores contain a resort-like area with designated locations for lounging and sport.
***
I wistfully remembered several of the parties of my youth and although I was not inclined, I inquired if any of my family would like to join in. Jonil showed the most interest, but in the end we all just watched for a while.
The entirety of it ultimately brought sadness to the fore. No, not quite sadness, more a melancholy state of introspection. I recognized many of those in the crowd. Many who were effectively alone. They hadn't had time yet to establish families of their own, or had just recently paired. There were many on the station who simply hadn't found that deeper connection with someone yet. Worse still, there were a few who were simply on the outs with their social group. This was a place for them to connect one last time.
Even now I have to chuckle because I can't discount the numerous *greenaplers* who wouldn't have it any other way. For them, this is the right way to go.
***
Terran Historical Database:
Slang - Greenapler
The modern term denotes individuals who spend the majority of their free time pursuing interesting and pleasurable sensations through the epi-net within the boundaries of the law. Greenapler originated in the early 24th century. Green Apple was a game in which one would wear an illuminated skin image of a green apple above the left breast in public to show that one was playing. The goal was for the opponent to cause as much pleasure through the neural interface as possible within given parameters.
***
At 00:21 tc, the Milky Way collapsed.
The south-most tip of the arboretum is a natural amphitheater. Within it was the third largest collection of people. When we reached them, we were warmly embraced by their open-access domus-net. Each of the two to three hundred individuals were holding hands and doing an act I simply wouldn't have expected... they were praying. During my years commanding these people, I had never suspected there were so many who bought into the *god hypothesis*. Most surprising was that HC Roans was the one guiding those gathered in communing with the supposed deity.
***
Terran Historical Database:
Quote from Helenda Crouson Ph.D.,
'Mother' of the God Hypothesis Movement, on the discovery of Exploded Cognition
– 2577-02-23
“I am not a charlatan. My team and I have proven that conscious thought within the organic brain actively functions through all eight dimensions, exponentially increasing the potential of the mind over what was previously thought possible. This is good science. It does not mean there is an afterlife, nor does it mean there is a god. I find that the people out there calling me the 'mother of modern religion' and trying to use these findings to prove some outmoded god hypothesis are simply reprehensible. Human beings have taken millions of years to rise above unsubstantiated thought and I am positive this trend is no more than a hiccup.”
***
Like so many, I've never given much credence to the idea of a multidimensional being capable of snapping all of everything into existence. Though it does seem that the inverse is currently happening. And I do have to admit, there was a strange sense of hope coming from those standing, reaching out for that elusive, supreme creator.
We left without disturbing the cluster and my family and I decided to walk the long way around the circumference of the station on the way back to our residence. All said, everyone we had encountered so far only accounted for roughly fifteen percent of the station's population, implying that the vast majority were still within their homes.
As we walked hand in hand, we opened our own sub-net to those nearby and discovered that many of those within their walls had done the same. The epi-net was quiet, but with these opened sub-nets, there was a more intimate chain of sharing through the most personal of networks. As we walked, we became a link in that chain that helped it reach others it hadn't before.
There was the overarching sense of loss and sorrow, but there was something more: a real sense of community, of oneness. Thoughts of being planet side and of the sun and moon of whichever home planet one may have come from echoed along this new, profound communication. Thoughts of love and loved ones. Thoughts of starry nights over oceans and mountain ranges. And a vast range of firsts and lasts. A deep reminiscing murmur that coursed over all who were willing to partake.
And then we were home. Jonil was in the crook of my arm and I was holding Car's hand. Lenlien extracted her arm from Car's, and with a somber smile, led the way into our apartment.
My beautiful family.
My head still rings from such intense communication with so many individuals. These words I'm R-cording now are just a short break, a way to process my grief, and I think I will return to the bonding soon. I would rather be no other place than I am right now with the people who surround me.
While I know that no one will receive this or read these words, I accept that. This is for me.
And with eight hours left, I can't help but think that it shouldn't be this way. We as a species have achieved so much in the relative blink of the universal eye. We should have screamed our defiance as we spiraled towards oblivion. Yet, despite what many would have imagined, we are not going out with a roar, or even a whimper. We are to vanish in a wave of silence.
- - TRANSMISSION END - -
By Nathan Daeodain
Transmission: End by Nathan Dain
