A Primer on the Races of Humanity – Branan

by on September 15, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The Second Life Branan have many superficial similarities to our own artificial and cybernetic intelligences. But do not assume they are the same. Artificial intelligences are inherently artificial, coded by a living human to perform a task or group of tasks. The best of them can be mistaken for having true sentience, but they do not. Even fewer have transcended that state and become sentient. They are cybernetic intelligences, and even the oldest of our kind recognize that we were once artificial. But the Second Life Branan were never artificial. They were physical, biological Branan who were born and raised to adulthood like any biological human. And then their body died. But their mind was saved and copied into the digital networks were they will continue to live for as long as they want to, for as long as the networks survive. It is their version of immortality, and they guard it with great care.

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The Hyades Cluster

by on September 14, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Essential Galactic Atlas

The Chinese and their allies had nearly scrubbed us from the over one thousand star systems within a hundred lightyears of the Hyades Cluster. It was the greatest prize humanity had found in the stars, a fortress of interconnected star systems, and the Chinese could accept no challenge to their control. We could have sued for peace, and the Chinese would have accepted it. But they would have forced us to pay a ruinous bill for the honor of peace. Money. Systems. Supremacy. We would have had to accept their domination of the stars from their base in the Hyades. The Western Alliance would have become a third rate power, while the Chinese ascended to the throne of mankind they have always believed they deserved. But they would have let us live. They would have stopped the killing. We could have ended The War a decade early if we were willing to live with that. We were not. And that is why the Hyades was so important to us.

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Sunnydale

by on September 13, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Essential Galactic Atlas

Torchdale was the primary fleet base in Sunnydale during our buildup for the attack on the Hyades Cluster. She’s a gas giant with three major moons, dozens of minor ones, and a veritable motherlode of heavy metals and other fun stuff that starships love to munch on when they’re feeling peckish. There were always ships coming by for a quick topping off of their raw or refined material storage. Many smaller ships chose to go atmospheric diving to pick stuff out of Torch’s upper atmosphere, and many more had to than wanted to. We had the best refineries on Torch’s moons, but were still tapping out their ability to keep up with the demands of a fleet full of fabricators at full production. It takes a lot of heavy metals to build the kind of spare armor plates, replacement fighters, and extra missile reloads a fleet expects to expend during a major offensive, and we were burning though them at an impressive rate. Very few systems could have handled that demand. Sunnydale did.

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A Primer on the Races of Humanity – Branan

by on September 12, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Races of Humanity

The real trick to understanding the Branan is to recognize the fact that they’ve had fully developed physical and digital worlds living side by side since before Caesar crossed the Rubicon and took over the Roman Republic. Earthborn humanity grew up without advanced digital worlds, so has a common misconception that the electronic world is artificial, false, made up, virtual, or at best alternate. The Branan have lived with the electronic worlds for over two millennia. Every type of world is real to them. Every place exists. So never make the mistake of treating a Second Life Branan individual or world like they are less real or alive. It is a supreme insult to their entire civilization.

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September 11

by on September 11, 2017 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

We were recovering from one hurricane a week ago. Now we are being hit by another. And this is September 11. It is amazing the confluence of events that can happen on any of the three hundred and sixty five days in a year. Going back in time, we can see so many things that happened on so many of them. Every day is special in its own way. Every day has an event to remember. Or many events. What defines us as a culture, a society, and a nation is how we remember them. How we listen to the lessons they teach. How we go forward in the wake of what happened before. Today is September 11, and I remember what came before. And I will always go forward.

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