Interlude 8: Dirty Pictures

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase CRYSTAL TOWER. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase CRYSTAL TOWER, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Warning: Unauthorized access to this file is punishable by death followed by post-mortem interrogation, extinction of all Citizen Honors (if applicable), and listing as a Dishonorable (Second Class) on the Wall of Shame.

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are encrypted using infectious basilisk cipher patterns. Attempted decryption without the proper key will result in permanent consciousness seizure and destruction of all memory patterns in all nervous systems connected to the decrypter.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 10

The tablet was an old friend. They'd stolen it from the very first convoy they'd robbed. Mara had used it to copy Ermon's essays to blank sticks for distribution in Lucky Strike, to keep track of their supplies, to store their carefully-assembled maps of the ruins. They'd changed the memory sticks when she'd left the camp – no one was quite sure just how good Elysium IntSec's computer forensics were, and no one wanted to find out – but the rest was still the same. She could remember where every dent and scratch had come from.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 9

The Observatory Refugees

Following the destruction of the Elysium Mons observatory in 5,021 AD, Ermon Vigili, Mara, Dee Vigili, and other junior staff fled into the northern wastes to evade capture. They found shelter in a network of Architect ruins on the border of Elysium and the neighboring city-state of Lucky Strike. At the time, Lucky Strike and Elysium were at odds, with Lucky Strike supported by the Amazonis Bloc. The revolutionaries supported themselves by preying on Elysium convoys and mining operations in the area, then escaping retribution by falling back across the border, selling or trading their loot at remote exurban facilities. Since they refrained from attacking Lucky Strike facilities, the authorities turned a blind eye to their activities.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 8

Mara had never liked big meetings with people she didn't know. One at a time was fine, but to be among a crowd of strangers she was expected to talk to, made her uncomfortable. Fortunately, Dee was willing to do the talking for her.

Review: Darklost

I recently finished Darklost by Mick Farren.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 7

Conditions for the Martian Revolution – Military

Historically, Martian wars had been dominated by the use of fission weapons. During the 4600's, an earlier blossoming of culture in Amazonis Planitia was snuffed out by a nuclear bombardment that destroyed several of the contending cities. After this, cities had refrained from using fission weapons except on the battlefield, observing a tacit rule-of-war to limit battles to outside cities. As a result, while wars often caused extraordinary casualties among the military, they were also limited; enemy cities were off-limits unless they could be taken by subversion or sabotage. Military objectives were restricted to the seizure of mines, fortresses, transport links, and other exurban assets. Military units were primarily elite formations equipped with low-yield fission weapons and armored vehicles, often retained as mercenaries rather then regular soldiers.

Review: Riddlin Rising

I finished Riddlin Rising: Book I of Emergence, by Jeff Judkins and Roy Ashcraft.

Server Responses #8

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: Democracy in the Democratic Republic of China

No information is available in response to this query. This query has been forwarded to the public data server.

Server Responses #7

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: Personal affluence scale

No information is available in response to this query. This query has been forwarded to the public data server.

Interlude 7: The Importance of Clarity in Communication

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase HIEROPHANT. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase HIEROPHANT, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Warning: Unauthorized access to this file is punishable by death followed by post-mortem interrogation, extinction of all Citizen Honors (if applicable), and listing as a Dishonorable (Second Class) on the Wall of Shame.

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are encrypted using infectious basilisk cipher patterns. Attempted decryption without the proper key will result in permanent consciousness seizure and destruction of all memory patterns in all nervous systems connected to the decrypter.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

Server Responses #6

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: Second Golden Age, Republic of Mankind; technology comparison

A full comparison would extend to several hundred pages. A partial comparison would note:

Autotropy: Second Golden Age autotropy was limited to genetic modification, pharmacological enhancement, and cybernetic interfaces, with some extreme cases using electronic augmentation of the human brain and full-body replacement. The Republic of Mankind makes extensive use of full-body replacement, neural parallel processing, and wide-spectrum electronic augmentation.

Computation: The Second Golden Age primarily used crystal matrix computers. The Republic of Mankind uses mixed neurological/crystal matrix systems.

Energy Production: The Second Golden Age primarily used hydrogen-boron fusion. The Republic of Mankind primarily uses SULTAN-invocation power plants.

Standard of Living: The late Second Golden Age achieved 8.9 on the Personal Affluence Scale. The Republic of Mankind achieves 5.1 on the Personal Affluence Scale.

Review: Thongor in the City of Magicians

I recently finished Thongor in the City of Magicians, by Lin Carter.

Server Responses #5

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: All known extraterrestrial species

The complete list of known extraterrestrial species is MaxConInfo with security phrase TOTALITY, and is over 3,000,000 entries long. You are not cleared for this information. A partial list of known technological extraterrestrial species includes:

Aihai (believed extinct)

Architects (believed mostly extinct)

GARGOYLE

HORNET (classification arguable; moderate threat)

PERSIMMON (believed mostly extinct)

Reticulans

TYRANT (extreme threat)

This does not include assorted unique alien entities or alien species believed to be fictitious.

Review: The Ithaqua Cycle

I recently finished The Ithaqua Cycle, one of Chaosium's themed anthologies, edited by Robert M. Price.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 6

Mara lay on the sweat-soaked blanket and stared up at the ceiling. Just enough light leaked in from the corridor outside to make out the pattern of rust in the steel. The air this deep in the bowels was hot and humid and barely moved, the stench of unwashed people building to an almost tactile reek – they said that, another dozen levels down, you sometimes found people dead, choked on their own exhalations.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 5

Conditions for the Martian Revolution – Cultural

The new wealth from trade and industry supported a corresponding cultural explosion. Subsidizing artists, scholars, and educational institutions became a mark of prestige and affluence among the upper nobility, guildsmen and mercantiles. The Elysian Academy, founded in 4,881 AD, was a key center of this new intellectual ferment. Originally intended to provide a scholarly gloss to noblemen not rich enough to afford private tutors for their children, over time more and more children of the new middle classes were sent there.

Server Responses #4

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: SULTAN

Exotic quantum vacuum state. Exposure of baryonic matter to SULTAN causes rapid decay into gravitational radiation and exotic subatomic particles. SULTAN-invocation systems are used in power generation, propulsion, and weapons systems.

Server Responses #3

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: Are there any last reports from Earth in the hour of TYRANT's reawakening?

Warning: The information after the dotted line is a transcript of a news transmission recovered from the Martian Deep Archives. It is an unusually complete example of transmissions from Earth during TYRANT's reawakening, and typical of other recordings. Some contents may be deliberate falsehoods to protect unsafe or unauthorized information. This information may not be accessed by personnel scoring 4.0 or lower on the PsyVul scale. This transcript is classified as a level three memetic hazard, and may cause oneiric hallucinations, false scopaesthesia, stress, nausea, and obsession. If you suffer from these or other symptoms after reading this transcript, contact a qualified psychoneurologist immediately. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times.

Review: The Only Thing to Fear

I recently finished The Only Thing to Fear, by C. J. Henderson, writing under the pseudonym Robert Morgan.   This is one of his Teddy London series.   I didn't realize that it was actually one of the later ones when I bought it, as I haven't read the earlier installments, just a few London stories in anthologies.

Server Responses #2

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: GARGOYLE

GARGOYLE are an alien species originating from deep space and which has conducted operations in the solar system intermittently since the Jurassic Age. GARGOYLE is known in DocInt as “the Mi-Go” or “Yuggothians”.

GARGOYLE maintain a base of operations on a large cometary body in the Oort Cloud, designated by the security phrase BLACKSTONE, known in DocInt as “Yuggoth”. The current status of GARGOYLE within the solar system is uncertain, but the Deep Space Reconnaissance Network has not detected any signs of exodus.

For more information on GARGOYLE, consult your HIEROPHANT historical indoctrination briefing file.

Review: The Night Land

I recently finished The Night Land, by William Hope Hodgson.

Server Responses #1

Response from HIEROPHANT Data Server to Query: TERRACE

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as MaxConInfo, security phrase HIEROPHANT. Unauthorized access to this file is punishable by death followed by post-mortem interrogation, extinction of all Citizen Honors (if applicable), and listing as a Dishonorable (Second Class) on the Wall of Shame. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase HIEROPHANT, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Server Queries

So, back in the original alternatehistory.com thread, one of things I've been doing is having the HIEROPHANT data server respond to queries.   Post something like "Query: TERRACE" or "Query: The martian city state considered the most powerful and influential during 4700 AD", and the "server" responds in-character.   A fair amount of background material's been revealed this way, though I'm trying to make sure that you don't need to read the server responses to understand and enjoy the story.   But, over the next week or so, I'll be posting the more interesting server responses.

If you want to query the server on the blog, post a comment with "Query: XX".   Be aware that: first, it can take me a while to actually respond, because I'm busy and almost always have an extensive backlog.   Second, the server sometimes responds with "This information is above your security clearance" or the like.   And third, the server answers in-character, so it may not always tell the truth.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 4

Mara had forgotten the smell of the hives, that deep sweaty reek of too many bodies in too little space with nowhere near enough air filtration, topped with rotting garbage tang floating up from the lower levels. After a while you stopped smelling it, but after so many years away from Elysium it was enough to make her long for her the rubbersweat odor of her airmask.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 3

Conditions for the Martian Revolution – Economic

The prolonged peace and expanding trade brought by the Vigili dynasty led to a corresponding expansion of the Elysium economy. Elysian luxury goods – personal electronics, glasswork, jewelry, personal animals, foodstuffs – found markets across Mars. Even in the Amazonis Bloc, having an Elysian raptor on your shoulder, or serving Elysian luxohol at a dinner, became a marker of prestige and wealth.

CH2: Homecoming, Part 2

The train was silent as it pulled into the customs station. Mara waited, hand on her document stick. Calm. Just stay calm. They said the snakes had sensors that could measure your heart rate...

CH2: Homecoming, Part 1

 “Desperation is a fact of life in many poor, overcrowded countries.” -Anthony Lewis

Conditions for the Martian Revolution – Political

Although Martian society had been remarkably static for nine centuries, there had been certain political, economic, social, and technological changes in the decades preceding the Elysium Mons Observatory incident that laid the way for the revolution to come.

Interlude 6: Mission Planning

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase CONIFER. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase CONIFER, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

Interlude 5: Hard Lessons

Mara huddled behind the sand dune under her camouflage poncho, hugging her stolen rifle under herself, waiting for the signal. The cold ate through her fur, coming up at her from the hard sand, a bone-deep ache that never left during the long winter nights. She sucked at the tube in her airmask, swallowing the sugary fluid to replace burned-off calories.

Interlude 4: Kicking the HORNET's Nest

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase HIEROPHANT. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase HIEROPHANT, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

Interlude 3: The Past is Always With Us

The ruins ran underground for kilometers here. Millennia ago, someone had excavated this section, clearing out the vast, arched chambers, carefully cleaning the dust and grime from the alien mosaics covering the walls, running lights and com lines throughout the vast complex. Then they'd all left, when Earth had been lost, and studying the past became a luxury men could no longer afford.

Interlude 2: The Physicist

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase CRYSTAL TOWER. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase CRYSTAL TOWER, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Warning: Unauthorized access to this file is punishable by death followed by post-mortem interrogation, extinction of all Citizen Honors (if applicable), and listing as a Dishonorable (Second Class) on the Wall of Shame.

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are encrypted using infectious basilisk cipher patterns. Attempted decryption without the proper key will result in permanent consciousness seizure and destruction of all memory patterns in all nervous systems connected to the decrypter.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

Interlude 1: Your Daily Intelligence Briefing

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase HIEROPHANT. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase HIEROPHANT, close this file immediately and contact your infocon officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 11

Destruction of the Elysium Mons Observatory

In the early 6^th millennium AD, there was an active group of revolutionaries operating in Elysium and other Martian cities. Tragically, very little is known of these heroes, many of whom would no doubt be listed as Martyrs on the Wall of Honor if their names had survived. When Preliminary Observations was found in the files of one such revolutionary in 5,021 AD, its censorship pass was revoked, and Lee Ludei and Pol Vigili were recalled from the Observatory to Elysium for questioning. After they left, Elysium security forces surrounded the observatory and detained the staff. Some junior personnel, notably Ermon Vigili, Dee Vigili, and Mara, escaped the roundup. With the exception of Ludei, the senior staff were Martyred. Ludei, being a relative of the Autarch, was placed under indefinite house arrest.

Reminder: The highest possible honor is to die in defense of humanity.

Ermon Vigili, Dee Vigili, Mara, and the other Observatory personnel fled into the wastes to escape arrest.

Previous Next

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 10

 “You can't do this!” someone shouted.

They'd herded them all into the cafeteria at gunpoint, most of them wearing no more then sleepwear. Mara caught sight of the MuniPrin at the front of the room, speaking to a female soldier. She pushed through the milling crowd towards him.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 9

The Elysium Mons Observatory

In 5,009 AD, a group of nobles and guildsmen of the Elysium colony petitioned the municipal government to allow construction of an observatory on Elysium Mons. Their overt aim was to determine whether human colonies survived elsewhere in the solar system; covertly, they hoped to reenergize interest in retaking Earth. The group was led by MuniPrin Lee Ludei, a private scholar and nephew of the ruling Autarch of Elysium. Other senior members included Pol Vigili, a senior Academician of the Sensologists' Guild; Val Milesei, a former Third Commander of the Elysium military, discharged for medical reasons; and Vil Noli, a trimind bonded to the Communicators' Guild. Many noteworthy figures from subsequent Republic history were involved in the project, such as Ermon-N0001, then Ermon Vigili, a Journeyman of the Sensologists' Guild; Dee-N0012, then Dee Vigili, a menial of the Orphans' Guild contracted to the project and later Apprentice Sensologist; and Mara-N0011, then simply Mara, a menial of the Orphans' Guild and later Aide to MuniPrin Lee Ludei.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 8

The store was in the High Quarter of the city, an enormous hemisphere cut out of the rock hundreds of meters below Elysium Planitia. The ceiling was painted blue and lit by concealed floods, creating an illusion of a wide-open sky stretching above the stores. Lines of ornamental bushes and decorative flowers ran down the center of the neat, clean streets. Mara had never been in the High Quarter before, had never seen anything even remotely resembling it except in vids of Lost Earth – everyone knew the elite lived well, but the sheer scale of luxury they had achieved astonished her, made her very conscious of the new silver epaulets on her new black uniform, signifying her as personal aide to the MuniPrin. The street was paved with a white plastic looking like stone, obviously intended for no traffic heavier then the packbot trailing behind her. The shops were ferociously reserved, tinted black windows looking onto the bright street betraying no sign of advertising, no trace of their occupants except a modest iron plaque with their name and Guild affiliation.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 7

Martian Guild-Feudalism

Approximately a millennium elapsed between the breakup of the Martian colony government and the emergence of the Dark Republic. After the second civil war in the early 4100's, the Martian population stabilized and began to grow. However, although there were periods of relative abundance, the expansion of the industrial base was never able to outpace population growth for very long, as intercolonial warfare or the periodic reemergence of TYRANT servant-cults among the psychologically vulnerable would inevitably destroy whatever progress had been made.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 6

 “Tell me what happened, in your own words.”

Mara sat in the middle of the room. She'd never been in this room before, set at the very deepest end of the underground habitat, lined with racks of servers and file cabinets. MuniPrin Lee Ludei and his trimind companion sat behind a desk, while Ermon stood in front of her, questioning her.

“I was beginning my reexamination of the latest Mercury imagery,” she began.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 5

End of the Second Golden Age

Warning: The information within the dotted lines is a sanitized description of TYRANT. Some contents may be deliberate falsehoods to protect unsafe or unauthorized information. This information may not be accessed by personnel scoring 4.0 or lower on the PsyVul scale. This description is classified as a level three memetic hazard, and may cause oneiric hallucinations, false scopaesthesia, stress, nausea, and obsession. If you suffer from these or other symptoms after reading this description, contact a qualified psychoneurologist immediately. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 4

Connect yellow cable to yellow slot. The instructions were very clear. But all these slots were the same color, and the data ports on the server bore no resemblance to the diagram in the instructions. Mara laid the tablet on the concrete next to her and thought.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 3

Second Golden Age of Humankind

According to the official Republic historical curriculum, the Second Golden Age of Humankind lasted from 2,452, with the signing of the Unification Treaty, to 4,026 AD.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 2

Mara stared out of the crawler at the ground below. She'd never been this far from Elysium before, never been this high before. From here, the rail lines spiraling out of Elysium to its many tributaries looked like thin bands of wire, stretched taut over the red Martian plain. An ore train was pulling in from Albor Tholus, cars loaded with hematite stacked up behind the engine, like beads of oil sliding down a string. To the far north, she could see a dust storm sweeping towards them, a band of red rolling down from the pole.

CH1: Unlikely Revolutionaries, Part 1

"A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets." -Napoleon Bonaparte

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are classified as Maximally Controlled Information, security phrase HIEROPHANT. Unauthorized access to this file is punishable by death followed by post-mortem interrogation, extinction of all Citizen Honors (if applicable), and listing as a Dishonorable (Second Class) on the Wall of Shame. If you are not cleared for MaxConInfo with security phrase HIEROPHANT, close this file immediately and contact your information control officer for debriefing using the security phrase PANIC YELLOW.

Warning: This file contains information classified as a level three memetic hazard. Consult a qualified psychoneurologist before accessing this file.

Warning: The contents of this file past the dotted line are encrypted using infectious basilisk cipher patterns. Attempted decryption without the proper key will result in permanent consciousness seizure and destruction of all memory patterns in all nervous systems connected to the decrypter.

Reminder: Control of dangerous information is vital to the future of the human race. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.

Welcome to Toxic Stars

"There can be only one nation: Humankind.   There can be only one state: the Republic of Man.   There can be only one goal: Victory." -Citizenship Oath of the Dark Republic

"You have no idea how far we will go to survive." -Dr. Harold Gates

Reminder: Maintain proper information hygiene at all times. What you do know can hurt you.