Once upon a time there was a far away planet known to some as Tulagwee, where a race of small but intelligent creatures called the Mimyn lived. Now, when I say "far away", I'm talking about another galaxy, folks. And it just so happens that "once upon a time" includes today. And while translating Mimyni to English, the team of Mimyn who found themselves trapped on Earth would come to refer to their native world as "Tulgey Wood".
Now, I know what some of you are saying: "Another galaxy? Surely you're not suggesting they used some magically advanced space ship to get here?" No, of course not. Most nations on Tulgey Wood are no more advanced than we are today -- some a little more, most somewhat less. Yes, unlike the otherworldly beings you often hear of, the Mimyn are not a single, planet-spanning civilization, where all the members share the same racial personality traits such as "logic" or "honor" or "greed". Just like humans, each and every Mim has their own ideas and beliefs, likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams. And for the same reasons we do, like-minded Mimyn form various clans, nations and corporations to further their greater goals.
One of these nations called themselves The Promyn Collective. They were not the richest or most powerful culture, but their quality of life was considered one of the best. They cooperated in all parts of life, from gathering and distributing resources, to education and entertainment. There were many times other nations, in their drive to create bigger and better things, managed to achieve more than the Promyn at a faster rate. However, the Promyn did not consider life to be a race. If they could afford the work others produced, they found ways to purchase them. If not, they learned to live without it. After all, it often seemed like any new gadget or fashion would be quickly outdated by someone else. On Earth, one might compare them to a nation such as Norway -- content, socialist, but not a political, economic, or technological superpower. And the Promyn Collective had one other thing that many other Mimyni nations did not have -- a population that fully understood how their world worked.
You see, in the more powerful nations, the common Mim might own a wide selection of fantastic electronic devices, but have no idea how they functioned -- or how to repair them. They sampled from a bounty of foodstuffs, but few knew how to produce their own plants or care for the animals they ate. While the many companies provided them with the goods and services they needed, the average individual was only free and happy as long as the system behind their lifestyle was functioning normally. Should something fall out of place, most were helpless to address the problem.
In the Promyn Collective, however, ALL citizens were acutely aware of how the tools they used were made, and the skills and effort involved in creating them. No one was an expert on everything, of course -- citizens still specialized to get the job done as efficient and professional as they could. But no one's job was seen as less important as anothers -- the Mimyn who took away refuse in the city and the Mimyn who organized technology companies were considered equals. They both benefitted each other, and they knew how each fit into their own lives. This common appreciation for art, science, technology, philosophy, economy and nature helped build a society with few serious internal conflicts. All had what they needed to live, and they knew the repercussions of taking from others. They helped one another and did their best to support they dreams of their fellow Mimyn as best they could. The mentally ill were well cared for. And while privacy was respected, most Promyn felt very comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas with one another, fostering hundreds of tight-knit communities that formed the basis of the greater community at large.
The Promyn Collective had found ways to minimize conflict with other nations, too. By settling in lands that others did not desire, they were forced to find new ways of survival. Such a lifestyle kept others from wanting what they had, and fostered the inventive minds of the citizens. They did their best to make themselves less of a target, even if that meant going without the finer things in life. Over time, they won the respect of many nations, even without the power or money others had. But some in the world found fault with all others -- even the Promyn.
While other nations had achieved space flight, their efforts slowed due to political or economic factors. Space was interesting, but to the public it just couldn't be justified. A few stations orbited among the communication satellites, but to most the idea of visiting other worlds was a novelty idea relegated to science fiction entertainment. The Promyn, however, feasted on knowledge of all kinds, and they knew the world they lived on was only one tiny piece of the universe they dreamed of knowing. Space travel was expensive, and required extensive resources. But the love of space travel was a common fancy of young Promyn. Homemade rocketry kits and telescopes were found in nearly every workshop (a staple of Promyn homes). But such technology was not to unlock the Mimyni access to other worlds. Instead, the key discovery was made by a cartoon animator.
The progress of film and video projection on Tulgey Wood was similar to Earth -- reel to reel film led to digital, 3D effects, and experiments with holograms. Focused lasers had been used to project on distant surfaces, various types of primitive hologram devices were available, and wearable goggles with augmented reality were common in the richer nations. But for one artist, a theater premier for his independent animated film was not enough. He wanted everyone to see. Even releasing it on Tulgey Wood's worldwide computer network could not guarantee the viewership he wanted. No, he needed a screen that everyone could see, a screen that was always tuned to his film during its showing. A screen that half the world could not help but to watch. His screen would be the moon.
Tulgey Wood actually had two moons -- the smaller was hardly brighter than a large star. But the larger.... the larger filled half the sky. And it was this the artist had vowed to project on. But how? Even during a new moon when the sunlight ceased reflecting off its surface, he would need a way to project millions of pixels of light from his studio, to the moon, and back to the eyes of a billion Mimyn. The atmosphere would affect the sharpness of the image twice, not to mention the uneven surface of the moon. He knew the basics of optics and video, of electronics and mirrors and photons and refraction. He knew of gravity's ability to bend light. Working for months, he came upon a solution - rather than bounce a light off the surface, he would, using quantum entanglement, make light from a full moon BEHAVE like a laser, aimed back at the world. One trip through the atmosphere could be adjusted for. Then, the world would see his art. Perhaps he failed to consider the larger ramifications of his idea -- what would foreign marketing executives or political propagandists do with such an ability? Such futures were not his concern, however. Finally, the moon itself would be under his control. Or so he thought.
The artist's plan was not discovered until a week later. The movie had never been shown, but he had documented the process of creating and testing his device. His neighbour, worried about his absence, forced his way into the studio. Inside, he found a chunk of the dwelling missing, as if something had taken a bite out of the home from within. The camera which had recorded his last moments was retrieved and viewed. A flash of light, a small "pop", and the inward pressure of scraps of paper were all that the device had left behind. A high powered telescope was accessed and some internet crowd sourcing on the imagery finally resulted in the discovery of the artist's remains on the surface of the moon. What had been created as an advanced video projector had turned out to function if a crude (and unfortunately fatal) teleportation device.
Not all Promyn citizens worked alone. On Earth, the Japanese have a proverb that states "None of us are as smart as all of us," an ideal the Promyn held as well. Groups of sixteen individuals (Mimyn have four fingers on each hand, resulting in a base-8 number system) -- each showing prowess in different ways of gathering information, thinking about ideas, or working with the environment around them -- were developed. (Mimyn come in a wide range of colors and it was generally known that colors reflected inherent abilities), Raised from a young age to work together, a "clutch" (Mimyn lay egss -- generally one at a time, but a clutch contains eggs from sixteen couples) would gain lessons from all parents and other members of the community. While the groups were formed with each infant given a role from birth, members of a clutch did not have distinct "jobs" -- instead, all would be raised as researchers in the area that best reflected their interests and talents. A parent tended to know their child would grow to be gifted in music or physical strength, but as the Promyn found any skill could be beneficial for any job, none seemed restricted by the system. On the contrary, it was much easier to prepare an education that fit each child while teaching the same set of information -- each would take from the lesson the pieces which fit them best. It was one such clutch which had the fortune of researching the artist's mysterious teleportation device.
The "Teleporter Clutch" was soon known as the "Wormhole Clutch" as it was determined the device was capable of creating two stable openings (the planetside portal safely contained in a pressurized room) through which properly protected individuals could travel instantly to and from the moon. Power use was unexpectedly low, and the decide was replicated and distributed among a number of other clutches. It wasn't long before the other nations of the world began to notice the formation of research colonies on the moon -- set up by a nation with no effective space program, nonetheless. Trade agreements were set up, and a select number of allied nations shared in the technology. Mining and tourism created a booming market for affordable surface-to-moon travel. The Promyn Collective funnelled its income from their discovery into the Clutch programs. it wasn't long before it became universal throughout the nation, and its adoption in other societies increased. Worldwide intellect rose sharply. Advances in the wormhole systems allowed for force fields which allowed portals to be opened without the need for pressurized rooms or suits. One could stroll along the lunar surface in their daily attire, protected from the vacuum of space and radiation, as they viewed the stars first-hand without the obstruction of an atmosphere. And of course, one bright researched was curious enough to wonder where ELSE they could point the wormhole generators.
Many worlds were discovered -- nearly all rocky wastelands or gas giants. Researchers discovered that large gravity wells (stars and black holes) bent the projector's beam, requiring complex algorithms that calculated bouncing vectors like pool balls to reach stars they could not even see. It was this sort of miscalculation that created an "infinite loop" -- a wormhole that projected back into its entrance portal. Experiments confirmed that things entering the portal arrived BEFORE they were sent. One could not travel back to a time before the device was activated, but it DID allow for the creation of wormholes on worlds thousand of light years away or more. The process was refined, and entire organizations were formed to explore the galaxy. New sources of minerals and compounds were discovered. Colony worlds were formed. And then it happened -- one world was discovered that contained bacterial life.
Confirmation that they were not alone affected Tulgey Wood dramatically. Most were ecstatic at the discovery. But there were others that were not so happy. Some philosophies held that Tulagwee was the center of the universe -- if not literally, then at least figuratively. Many world religions hinged on the fact that the universe was created exclusively for them. The discovery of the wormholes seemed to confirm this idea -- but the possibility that there was another world with life on it indicated a frightening possibility: what if another intelligence was found? This could not be allowed. While the use of the wormholes was essential to their goals, they had to be controlled. The research had to stop. The clutches would have to be destroyed. Critical thinking could no longer be allowed.
A systematic discrediting of the Clutch system began. Soon, it's use declined until it was all but gone outside of The Promyn Collective. The people of other nations regressed into the crass commercialism that corporations were more than happy to provide them with. There were more than enough worlds discovered for generations of vacation resorts and the materials to construct them from. And it wasn't long before those who owned toe portals no longer knew how the worked. As long as they continued to function as needed, they would not be used for any new discovery. The discovery of bacterial life was forgotten -- a faulty piece of data from the "kooks" in Promyn. But if Promyn had managed to enlighten the world once, it might find a way to do it again. And one group decided to bring an end to the nation which "played as the gods".
The Followers of Epicon were a violent people who found fault in all others. Believed they were the "chosen people" of their god Epicon, they clung to traditional ways all while the world around them moved forward. Their holy writings spoke of what had been interpreted as the wormholes, and they dreamt of using them to carry their followers throughout the stars, taking them step by step closer to the face of Epicon himself. But what of the lifeforms? The possibility of intelligent life on another world enraged them -- it was bad enough these Promyn heretics were traversing the universe Epicon had given them, but they would not stand for beasts of the stars claiming the same right. No, if such beings were to be found, it would be the Followers who found -- and destroyed -- them first. And to do that, The Promyn Collective must fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment