Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two

by Michael Brachman

  I've heard this criticism from others, in different forms. Basically, Rome and Rei are too reasonable and rational to be full three-dimensional characters. Now everybody is entitled to their opinion and I think there is some validity to this but not completely. I worked very hard to convey to you the character's feelings through visuals. Rome crying, Rei clutching his chest and so on. The fact is, Rome came from a culture where emotions were to be suppressed to the point where they were supposed to be more like automatons. Rome's progress to get in touch with her feelings was not an overnight process. Interestingly, to some degree, this process was acknowledged in a professional review of Rome's Evolution on Risingshadow. This is what the reviewer said:

  The protagonists are endearing three-dimensional characters. What I like most about the protagonist is that they feel realistic. Although they're intelligent and they seem to be perfect, they also have human traits and faults that make them vulnerable.

  I guess the bottom line is a quote from the very same reviewer cited at the top of this article:

  You can never please everyone, no matter how good or bad you are at it, so, this can be taken with your preferred measure of salt.

  Entry 2-246: August 29, 2014

 

  Occam’s Razor

  According to Wikipedia: "Occam's Razor is a principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctness used in problem-solving." I may not be stating it exactly correctly but I have always interpreted this as meaning whenever you are trying to explain something, usually the simplest explanation to fit the facts is the correct one. For example, a man goes out for cigarettes and never comes back. Maybe he got abducted by aliens or maybe he just took off. While he may have been abducted by aliens, it is more likely that he just decided to run away from his responsibilities.

  In Rome's Revolution, Occam's Razor is employed on multiple occasions to help Rome and Rei and OMCOM whittle down the facts to the simplest explanation. Here was Rome's take on how Rei's Ark II ended up at Tabit:

  “We do not need to make assumptions. We know exactly three things,” Rome said.

  “OK. Tell me....” Rei offered.

  “One, your ship must have been in this system. The sarcophagus is proof of that.” A blinking red dot appeared right in the middle of the screen.

  “Right. Next?” Rei asked.

  “Two, your ship ended up at Tabit.” The screen zoomed out reducing Tau Ceti to a yellow dot next to the red dot of the sarcophagus. A blinking white dot appeared off to the right.

  “That white dot, that’s Tabit?” Rei asked.

  “Yes,” Rome replied. A faint green line connected the white dot to the yellow one. Some Vuduri numbers appeared along the length of the line. Rome did something then a cloud fuzzed out the region around the yellow and red dots.

  “Finally, this star system has an extraordinary number of extra-solar objects. This is the very region we are in now.”

  “And you’re thinking we hit something?” Rei asked.

  “Or it hit you,” Rome said.

  “Yes. I guess Occam’s Razor says we don’t we need any more than that. We probably got hit as we were approaching, swung around the star and got a gravity boost, like a slingshot, that just happened to send us your way.”

  OMCOM also used this principle to deduce that the stars were being consumed by Stareaters:

  To OMCOM, this was remarkable. Many possibilities but the same statistically significant solution. OMCOM used a reverse form of Occam’s Razor and assumed this common solution was the correct solution and used it to chart backwards to discover the actual problem. If such a thing were possible, he was astounded. The scenario suggested was statistically impossible using his old style of thinking. Regardless of whether it was correct, OMCOM knew that his logic retraced all permutations back to the same solution making it the only one worth considering.

  He also used this principle to deduce that MASAL was still alive and responsible for not only Estar's actions but also multiple other oddities (mandasurte disappearing, etc.).

  All in all, Occam's Razor is a very useful way to navigate through life's complexities and make sense of it all.

  Entry 2-247: August 30, 2014

 

  Yet more ice

  Several days ago I told you about how, at the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, the windshield of The Flying House iced up as soon as it hit the atmosphere of Deucado. The idea was that the spaceship was sitting at -80 Celsius, only a little warmer than the temperature on Pluto. The moisture in the air froze instantly and obscured Rome's vision. She was forced to effect a landing using instruments only.

  However, the thick coating of ice was not limited to just the windshield. It coated the entire ship from top to bottom. It was so thick that Rome was unable to lower the landing gear. Here is the relevant section:

  Rome peered down at the instruments and toggled the display to MIDAR. She pointed to one section. “There appears to be a clearing there or at least fewer trees. I will try and set down there.”

  Rei looked forward and could see nothing but the bright ice. He closed his eyes. This was not what he had planned.

  Rome pressed a button on the front display. She stared at it then pressed it again, twice. She banged at it with her fist.

  “What?” Rei asked.

  “I cannot get the landing gear extended,” Rome said worriedly. “The doors will not open. It must be the ice.”

  “Do we need them? Can you land without them?” Rei asked.

  “Yes,” Rome replied. “I can do it. I just have to be careful.”

  It took all of Rome’s concentration to bring them to a dead stop, hovering above the clearing, using the MIDAR as a guide. Gently, she lowered the ship paying careful attention to the altimeter. All along the hull, there were crackling noises but at last, they felt themselves touch down. Rome took her hand off the sticks and sat back in her chair and breathed a huge sigh.

  “You did it, Romey.” Rei said with relief.

  “We did it,” Rome said.

  I would like to point out (by making it in bold) that Rome had a brief moment of frustration, even anger, when she banged the console. I think this shows that even this early on, her emotions were developing at a rapid rate.

  Entry 2-248: August 31, 2014

 

  The Erklirte – Part 2

  Over the past few days, we have been reviewing the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution whereupon Rome and Rei were attacked as soon as they arrived at their soon-to-be new home world of Deucado.

  The whys come later but for now, I thought I'd review the formal definition of Erklirte which is the Vuduri word for Ark Lords. The Vuduri call those of us from the 21st century Garecei Ti Essessoni or Essessoni for short. This means the Killer Generation because in our time, nine people died during the Great Dying. There was a small group, members of the Darwin Project, who returned to Earth and they were called the Erklirte or Ark Lords. So, all Erklirte are Essessoni but not all Essessoni are Erklirte. Clear? Here is the formal definition from the Wiki entitled Rome's Revolution: The Science Behind the Science Fiction:

  The sequel to the novel Rome's Revolution, called The Ark Lords, is almost entirely devoted to this topic.

  The Great Dying occurred in 2081 AD and was caused by an artificial virus. Nine billion people died. You will find out the origin of the virus in The Ark Lords. Even though several million humans survived, the chaos created was so devastating that society devolved into nomads and farmers. Things stayed that way for nearly 600 years as the remaining humans eschewed science and technology, blaming it for the near extinction of the human race.

  The Ark program was supposed to consist of four Arks but in reality consisted of five. The fifth Ark, sometimes called the Stealth Ark, was launched in 2076 and sent to the Chara star system. There were no habitable planets there so the Ark looped around and returned to the Earth in the year 2655 AD or 579 PR. It landed in Northern New Jersey, to the west of New York City.
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  Rather than the crew being a mix of 80% white and 20% gray as previous missions, this Ark was 100% gray. Also, the male to female ratio was 4:1 rather than 4:5 as normal. When the crew of Ark V landed, they immediately settled and created a compound sealed off from the outside world. They ran raids and captured women to bring up the male to female ratio.

  They were very warlike and cruel. They reintroduced slavery and used their superior technology to begin building an empire. The people came to refer to them as the Ark Lords or in Vuduri, the Erklirte. They represented the very worst of mankind and the people of our age.

  Tomorrow, the conclusion.

  Entry 2-249: September 1, 2014

 

  The Erklirte – Part 2

  Yesterday, I gave you Part 1 of the formal definition of Erklirte which is the Vuduri word for The Ark Lords taken from the Wiki entitled Rome's Revolution: The Science Behind the Science Fiction. Here is Part 2:

  The subjugated masses began a resistance movement which broke out into a full-on war following the Battle of Chicago. Even though they initially had no competing technology, the people of the area, led by Jack Henry (later called Hanry Ta Jihn by the Vuduri), won the battle by sacrificing a score of people before revealing they had discovered a secret cache of Essessoni weapons. The result of the battle was the resistance captured several Erklirte vehicles including one with a particle beam cannon. Once armed, it gave the people a fighting chance.

  Hanry Ta Jihn was killed and was elevated to martyr status. His death served as an inspiration to all and the people of North America descended upon the Erklirte compound and eventually killed all of them.

  Thus the name Erklirte has become synonymous with cruelty and the bullying that comes with superior technology. With the legacy of our generation (called the Essessoni by the Vuduri) nearly wiping out mankind and the cruelty of the Erklirte, many Vuduri assumed they were one and the same. It was not until the arrival of Rei Bierak and his contributions to the betterment of mankind that the Vuduri came to realize that not everyone from the Essessoni generation was Erklirte.

  Entry 2-250: September 2, 2014

 

  The River Karole

  When I first started writing the modern long-form version of Rome's Revolution, I kept copious notes. When it was all said and done, I had a folder almost an inch thick. However, when I started Part 2, I didn't do quite as much research. I only made a few sketches and dove right in. I have shown you a map of Deucado and the orbits of the moons but that was about it. So now, for the first time, I am presenting the extensive and detailed map of the topography of Deucado as seen by Rome and Rei right after they crash-landed.

  Pretty crude, huh? But it was enough. There is an arrow where the Ark II crashed. We can assume and I did assume that was where Rome and Rei set down as well. Here is what they experienced:

  “We did it,” Rome said.

  “Yes, we…” Rei frowned then opened his eyes wide. “Oh, no,” Rei exclaimed, “MINIMCOM!”

  He leaned forward and shouted into the grille mounted on the front panel, “MINIMCOM, are you there?”

  They heard nothing but the sounds of water running, somewhere off in the distance.

  “MINIMCOM, can you hear us?” Rome said.

  There was no answer.

  I put the sentence in bold to relate it back to the map above. The River Karole is the long straight wide river on the right. The smaller tributary near the Ark's landing site was the water they heard in the background.

  The River Karole was the only major river I ever plotted out on the planet. I know there are others. For example, when Rome and Rei were tracking the would-be assassin named Steele in the middle part of Rome's Evolution, they crossed several streams, one of which was quite deep.

  The River Karole (named after my friend Carole) empties into Lake Eprehem and keeps it filled to the brim. It was also the river that Rei had to cross when he was making his way from the Ibbrassati village back to the secret compound in the mountains. I'm sure we'll revisit this river again. I know that Fridone uses it as a frame of reference so that Rei was able to fly Rome to the Vuduri compound for medical assistance.

  Entry 2-251: September 3, 2014

 

  The Ibbrassati

  In Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, we meet a new group of people who call themselves The Ibbrassati. The word ibbrassati is Vuduri for oppressed.

  They are not really a new species, they are simply mandasurte who have been transported to Deucado as part of MASAL's genocidal plan. We got a hint of this early when Rei first entered Rome's mind. Here is that paragraph again:

  Rei saw the day her mother became aware that her father’s ship had disappeared. Rome was just a teenager. In passing, he noted that all knew that many mandasurte disappeared. The Vuduri did not care. Nothing was ever done.

  So even early on, we knew something was up.

  This is an example of where I kind of painted myself in a corner. In the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution which was entitled VIRUS 5, it was my original thought that the mandasurte were being kidnapped and transported to Deucado because The Overmind was performing the genocide. It wasn't until later that I discovered it was MASAL and the "samanda within a samanda" that was responsible.

  I kind of extricated myself partially with the sentence in bold above. I tried to push forward the idea that The Overmind simply turned a blind eye and didn't think about it much.

  Anyway, the Ibbrassati were just the mandasurte dumped on Deucado and stripped of all technology. They had a fishing village on the edge of Lake Eprehem and a secret enclave to the north where they were trying to mount a return to a technological state. But mostly they were to be pitied. They had no knowledge that they were put on Deucado to "accidentally" die when the asteroid came slamming down.

  The village itself was interesting. It was little like a town in the old West. It had dirt covered streets and houses and somewhat of a culture. It even had a government. Later, after Rome and Rei liberated Deucado by destroying MASAL and breaking up the Onsiras, many of the Ibbrassati elected to remain on Deucado and help build the new world.

  The town expanded and came to be known as Ibbra City which is just a play on words. It amused me, what can I say?

  Entry 2-252: September 4, 2014

 

  Planning your day

  As I've mentioned before (It's always sunny on Deucado), I don't like dealing with night so most of my action takes place during the day. However, in Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, I wanted to have the action take place over a 72-hour block so I had to acknowledge that night occurs. Even in science fiction.

  The solution was the plot out the action to map which scenes took place during the day and which took place at night. I wanted the book (which became part 2) to start out with Rome and Rei together, have them split up, go on separate journeys and end up together again for the climax. Here it is, kind of visually:

  Rei's journey was the be in the physical domain: from the Ibbrassati village north, meeting the Deucadons, crossing the River Karole and ending up at the Vuduri enclave again.

  Rome's journey was to be intellectual. She took on the Overmind of Deucado and broke it down, step by step, until it finally understood that not only was genocide wrong but now that the Stareaters had arrived, the Vuduri needed the mandasurte more than ever.

  So I had my narrative, I plotted the phases of the moons Mockay and Givvy and off I went.

  Entry 2-253: September 5, 2014

 

  How do you know?

  One of the running jokes of Rome's Revolution was that every time Rome and Rei went up or down a ramp, they would run smack into danger. This idea was first put forth in the beginning of Part 2. They had just survived the crash landing thus escaping the attacking Vuduri and thought they were home free. They cracked open the cargo hatch and ran right into an angry mob:

  There standing at the base of the ramp was an angry-looking mob holding spears, pol
e-axes, machetes, crossbows, swords, maces, clubs and knives plus a variety of other harsh-looking objects that Rei did not recognize. In summary, they were pointing pretty much every weapon ever conceived by primitive man at the space-faring couple.

  “Great,” Rei said. “From the frying pan into the fire.”

  The leader of the Ibbrassati was a man named Trabunel and he challenged Rome to prove that she and Rei were truly mandasurte and not just Vuduri spies ready to expose their secret base.

  The whole thing is preposterous, of course. If they were really Vuduri, the renegade group of Ibbrassati would have already been exposed. Nonetheless, to keep the plot moving along, Rome had to figure out how to prove it. The answer came to her in a flash. The Vuduri are a very cold people, not fans of physical contact and never, ever kissed one another. So, here is how she solved the problem:

  Rome lowered her head and looked Trabunel in the eye. “I will show you.”

  She turned toward Rei and in English she said, “Kiss me.”

  “What?” Rei whispered, confused.

  “Kiss me like you love me,” she said.

  “But I do love you,” Rei replied.

  “Then do it!” Rome commanded.

  “OK,” Rei said. He opened his arms up to her and she entered them, pressing her belly up against him. He kissed her long and hard, not knowing why and after a moment or two, not really caring. He never tired of this woman, her soft skin, her clean smell, he just wanted to hold her always…