SLAP
Ow. That stings.

Okay. Storytime from the old man.

When I was very young, and just starting out, I experimented with my abilities and such. I was asked to explain the effects I could work on the mind.
I sat down with a really nice man. We talked, for oh, five minutes. He was happily married, in love with his wife, and a religious man. In five minutes, I had convinced him that he should go home and make his wife sleep with me.

Took us thirty more minutes to convince him this really wasn't a good idea.

So, do I think those wrestlers seeing the light had to do solely with her well reasoned arguments? No, I don't.

Walker, most successful revolutions occur with just 10% of the population rising up. Add in another 20% providing some sort of material support and sympathy, and that's all she wrote.

They are bloody because few revolutions have overwhelming popular support. They are opposed by the same people they are supposed to help/liberate/free. That is also why some rebellions fail.
Don't expect the social elites to get out in the trenches and fight. Expect the comman man, or in this case, nova, to fight for the system he understands and has invested his/her life in.

Someones idea of freedom may not be universally upheld.

Hey Sekhmet. How's it going?
Your new native language being Coptic, then?

What quaint social absurdities? I am interested in your point of view on this.

-Distance is a matter of perspective.-
-Don't miss the forest for the trees, or a single leaf, for the forest.-

In seeking greater expanses, you might be losing perspective. If you are chosing to make the same mistake generations of your baseline predecessors have made, so be it. Consider yourself a visionary. You will not be alone in such claims. Share your visions if you like. They may help others. Just don't be suprised if others don't share your vision or your ethusiasm for it.

It is truly good to hear from you, again.

To Brother X:
Not me, bro. For some reason, I thought letting others take potshots at me in the world's most desirable garden spots to be a better idea.

Jager is correct in so far as revolution is defined as an attempt to overthrow and replace the current established government. What I was speaking of however, in the above quote I believe Walker was referring to, was secessionism, which is related to but not always equatable with Jager's idea of revolution.

Wars fought in the name of secessionism are waged because the ruling government will not allow the separatists to split off peacefully. The people responsible for desiring secessionism are often referred to, and often rightly so, as revolutionaries. The movement to split off is often referred to as a revolution.

To be fair, such conflicts are fought because the ruling government has a vested interest in holding onto the territory the secessionists desire for their own, ergo the American Civil War, as well as the repercussions such an act has on their prestige in the eyes of the "world government." Whatever the rationale given for preventing the secession from taking place, the fact remains it is most frequently prevented through the use of force once the movement has become large enough to be more than a handful of people with eloquent words and impassioned speeches.

In this case, it is not a case of 10-20% of the population fighting against people set on keeping the system of government intact so much as it is the government itself fighting to keep what it feels it needs to remain as powerful as it currently is.

The aspects of secessionism on a social level, instead of a political/governmental one, are obviously different though some of the same theory applies.

Now you've got me. I've only done the exhibition/pick-up stuff.

But that is more of a, "I don't feel like putting the time into making this a cureer" than anything else. Core and his fellows have even less of a private life than most of us.

Doing one shots has most of the benifits without most of the problems.

And, if all the terats just wanted to leave the planet and never be seen or heard from again, there would be nothing to stop them ... and very little desire to.

Is that the case?
Are all the terats going to head off into the great unknown?
Is there going to be an addendum by Mal to the Null Manifesto telling the rest of us chowderheads just how there is going to be a nova government? In a manner that doesn't dispossess baselines?

Ashnod, just were are the novas going to secede to? Society is politics. Social change has political repurcussions.

Listen, if all you want to do is wander off into space like Jack Chance, good bye and don't let the door hit you in the ass. Those of us who chose to stay behind will look for other solutions.

We are well.
It is as it ever was. We understand your tongue as with all others yet it remains our servant not master. It does not bind our thoughts.
The state of mortality and affective morality. Free will. Equality. Each as a universal constant. Are we to understand you are no longer finite?

We are the stuff of stars and universes, Sekhmet. Getting there in our current perception of who and what we are, well that is the journey still before us.

Though I am more than my first memory, I am still there with it as well. It is not necessary for me to move past that to still see the world unfolding.

Ashnod, I know what you can do.I know enough about you,that if I said what I know,well there would be hell on earth.

Yes,I know you are more powerful than me in many ways.But let's face it,your not going to kill me.

Signy, don't count on that.

Of course, you wanted to kick that pebble down the mountain. I hope you haven't forgotten that you aren't immune to landslides.

Of course you haven't forgotten that. Silly me.

Maybe that is why I do not say what I know.Then again, it may be that I care a lot.

Powers,and abilities do not make the wrong things right.I could own the world..Would the ends be worth the means?

Then say what you know, Signy. There is nothing you can say about me that I fear you uttering on these boards. Don't hide behind allusions of knowledge and hints of secrets. Nothing about me would unleash hell on earth, as you describe it.

WHAT!!!! Does the node give everyone here an overwhelming ego? For me, its justified, but for the rest of you .... jeesh.

Wait, Lemmy's God and I'm his sidekick. Man, I really gotta remember that. I keep getting so confused.

Lemmy = God
Me = Pooh-boy follower

Don't worry folks, I will get a hanlde on it.

And, Siggy, you just go ahead and try to make your play for the world. I have a feeling that you won't have to worry about the ends being worth the means. Counting the cost is the work of the survivors.

Have a nice day.

Is not the value of undertaking journeys to change perception? Are you truly no different than your earlier memory?

Baseline humanity, throughout the course of its history, has justified the conquering or assimilation of territory and cultures. Whether or not this has been in the name of God or another deity, treasure, exploration, manifest destiny, or necessity of survival, the changing of "ownership" of physical territory across the globe has always been in motion.

This dynamism has staticized throughout the past two centuries as advancements in technology make waging war a far easier matter to accomplish. The United Nations actively discourages any conflict between nations, thus, borders do not change, maps do not need to be redrawn. If one nation attempts to expand, other nations step in to prevent it. The world enjoys its staticism and does not want the order altered. For the most part, the current arrangement of territory is desired by the nations of the world. Changes to this arrangement nominally occur only in the wake of a governmental collapse, ergo, the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in the latter 20th century.

Baseline humanity likes to think that it has moved beyond the constant conflict of its past. That it is more civilized now, and likes to forget how much blood was shed to forge the map into its current configuration. Thus, the idea of "Forget HOW we got here, just try being better than our predecessors" is dominant and prevailing amongst nations that once were conquerors. Which very convenient for those holding global power, since they have the might to prevent changes to the order which keeps them atop the apex. It was not, however, convenient for who the current configuration kept them in the Third World or in a constant state of poverty and hunger. As things stood, nothing could be done to alter the structure.

However, baseline humanity never accounted for, and had no way of foreseeing, the emergence of a second sentient species on that planet. Certainly not one innately stronger than itself. After all, evolution had not produced a second sentient species (as far as recorded history will tell us) in the time that baseline humanity had been on the planet. As such, it has never had to entertain the idea that it would one day have to share the planet. It never had to ponder the notion that somebody stronger would appear in their midst and begin to consider how to change the order it has fought so hard to keep.

With the advent of Novas, this staticism must be called into question. Why? Because it is not acceptable for baseline humanity to expect Novakind to conform to its wishes if they desire to remain on the planet. On the same token, it is not reasonable for Novakind to expect the same of baseline humanity.

The Null Manifesto, while a document up for incredible debate, is not incorrect when it declares that Novakind cannot achieve its full potential while living under the strictures of a species not its own. Asking for this right is not unreasonable. Baseline humanity desires, and demands, no less of its own species, but historically it has only its own oppression to escape from, and, if necessary, a baseline could conceivably flee to another nation where this oppression did not exist.

Novakind does not have this option. The planet does not contain a Nova nation, and since baseline humanity occupies the planet with numbers several billion strong, a location to build one does not exist.

Is it right to tell a new species that if it doesn't wish to conform to the society of numerically dominant race on the planet of its birth, it must leave it?

The clarion call of "we were here first" doesn't justify assimilation into the original culture. Historically, this has mattered little to baseline nations in the past. Every nation on the planet has spilled blood to acquire or defend the territory it currently possesses. Were a Nova nation to coalesce one day, and seek to acquire territory for itself, historically they would not be at fault in waging war to do so. Certainly, it would be written one day that Novakind slaughtered the natives, as much as the Europeans slaughtered the native tribes of North America, however, the change will have been made. As generations pass, the telling of this event will become distorted, altered, and watered-down so that the massacre that it really was doesn't seem as horrific.

Baseline humanity, with the same justification, would defend what it perceives to be "its" territory with equal vigor and ferocity.

Bloodshed is not the desired answer, however. Neither species wishes for outright war.

All of this becomes moot if the great changes are suddenly made and both species accept and recognize their differences, and agree to strive boldly ahead with something new. If the current establishment cannot accommodate Novas into it while recognizing and accepting these differences, then the two species must be separated.

Ergo, the baselines have to understand that the planet is not theirs. It doesn't matter if they were here first. Nature has decided that dynamism must occur, and no matter how distasteful that may be, if it wishes to avoid outright conflict it must acknowledge that the geography has to be shared. Yes, such a move would be protested. No one likes to abandon their home land. Asking Novas to leave their home planet, however, is a far crueler request.

Other solutions simply do not exist for those of us that wish to remain here, who hold no desire to take our people to the stars out of some ill-thought of generosity. It is either assimilation into, accommodation with, separation from, or domination of baseline humanity.

I'd prefer accommodation. I would like to see a new society forged in harmony between the species, but I doubt the ugly five letter P word would allow such a creation.

I'd accept separation, although I sincerely doubt the baseline nations would allow such a change. Again, the ugly five letter P word.

I'd like to avoid domination.

Unfortunately, what is most desired of us by the current structure is assimilation, and you don't have to be precognitive to understand this will never happen. The tensions and resentment manifesting now are only a precursor of what's to come.

Bookmark this one, boys and girls.

Well said, Ashnod. Well said.

If you feel that the "Tensions" out there are a taste of things to come, then why don't you stop your "brothers" that are re-enforcing the stereotype that Terats are Terrorist Cultists bent on destroying humanity?

Or even worse, why aren't other novas trying to protect humanity from the damage we cause?

Let me try to clarify...

I'll use my Native Japan as an example.

Before Novas existed in the numbers they do now, look at their popular culture. It was dynamic. Fluid. It seemed some new dream was for the taking.

Then, after a couple of years in the grip of nova fever... You can't walk past a news stand without half of their mangas about some Nova. All of the flavor of the moment pop stars are Novoxes, and all the cosplayers want to be Nippontai.

We've killed Humanity already. Their soul has already left. They need us to dream. To live out their fantasies.

You talk about a Nova/Humanity war?

Novakind has won. Humanity is Demoralized and enslaved in the cult of Homo Sapiens Novus.

Sakura-chan,

1)Even if you destroyed the Teragen, resentment and hostility between the species would still exist. Do you realize why this is? It is because these tensions gave birth to the Teragen, not vice-versa.

2) Because our very existence is damaging to baseline society. Until it is understood that we aren't simply baselines with different abilities, living amongst them is harmful. The only way to truly protect humanity from us, as the situation stands, is to separate ourselves from it entirely.

3) Can you blame them? Fiction is intangible, we however are not. You cannot get an autograph from Hino Rei, but you can from Hino Sakura.

I'm curious, Sakura-chan, how you propose to "protect" humanity from Nova kind. How do you make them dream of themselves and not of us, to aspire to reach the pinnacle of their own potential instead of longing for eruption?

Asnod,you bread and weave dreams with great care.What you think is normal,others think is magic.As for baselines and humanity. Give them magic,let them go for the things that are not "real".Let them dream of magic.

We are pleased with your grace and eloquence, Ashnod. We are displeased with the manner in which others desire opiate for baseline humanity. There is no protection without cost.

Purpose not served in life will be served in death.

Don't sell humanity short, Endeavor. They try to make their way in the world as best they can. Sometimes they take shortcuts. Sometimes they take to worshipping that which they don't fully understand. Religion has always been a pathway to learning and understanding.
Ask Sekhmet about the Temples of Ptah, and how generations of humans learned to chart the paths of the stars. And, they did the same things in Polynesia, China, and the British Isles.

Humanity will stumble and fall. They will surely dissappoint at times, but they will not give up.

My advice is to you is to look for the individual, and not the mass movement. This could be used on both baselines and novas, if you get my meaning.

Oh, yes, and don't go to a terat if you want to understand humanity, if you know what I mean?

We find this a curiousity, Jager.

Of large groups in broad stroke your thoughts are truly clever. Yet when offering the same on individuals the results seem reversed. As if two men were speaking in one voice. That an insightful discourse on the group would offer the advice to seek the individual rather than the group is... Ironic.

So Sekhmet was it dumb luck, or have we been having a misunderstanding?

Despite some of your shortcomings, I would still like to discourse with you. That I am flawed is no great secret. Who and what I am, is hardly understood, though. Even Ashnod can't put an absolute finger on who I am or what I am about, and she has known me longer than most.

Well, maybe she can tell you who I am, but the rest still evades her, I think.

We cannot say.

Of Ashnod we know little. There is another we might ask when next we speak with her.

-Sigh-

Are you fond of using the royal we, or are you schizophrenic?

You speak of another, but won't, or can't use a name. Well, are you ashamed of her, afraid of her, or just cautious in throwing her name around?

Ashnod, there is 2 possible solutions to how we seperate ourselves from humanity...

1: We destroy ourselves. And I know that in no means is possible...

2: We leave Earth for some cozy unpopulated world.

While one solution would be tragic, the other would be the greatest adventure Novas could undertake.

What's wrong with leaving Earth behind?

In 13 Million years, our moon will have slingshotted itself away, leaving Earth's climate in shambles. And god knows when some asteroid impact will occur. And What if the Yellowstone Caldera has a volcanic eruption? Can you say Ice Age?

Not only are we leaving, but we can, if needed, open a way for Humanity to leave Earth as well. As long as we Novas aren't living with them.

And let me put it this way, I don't plan on sticking around on Earth. If my life span is as long as some claim, I should get out more. ~.^

Sakura-chan,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to leave Earth because you believe your destiny lies elsewhere, or because you wish to undertake such an adventure.

On the other hand, it is intolerably wrong to EXPECT Novas to leave Earth simply because another species was on the planet first. It is OUR home world too.

After all, the ability to slaughter/enslave those weaker than ourselves is a longstanding baseline tradition.

Sakurako, I can't fly. I find breathing in space unpleasent, and the weather is inclement.

I find it odd that of all the things that we claim to not be impossible, living with humanity on earth in peace, isn't one of them.

As far as I can tell, it is because Mal said so. There is that, and the fact that we can't find our destinies, rise to our full potentials, while also living in our homes, with our families, and living our lives.

Neither of the proffered choices are accurate and we wonder, should we ask in return; are you fond of the ego singular "I", or are you self-centered?

We believe the usage proper.

We acknowledge we did not provide a name. Did you give prior indication of interest in such? Should she grace us with presence, we will ask of Apep regarding Ashnod and yourself.

You know, they always say speaking the name will summon the monster...

Hello love, what can I do for you?

Ladies and Gentlemen, now you know why I'm so confused.

1: Everyone claims they have a solution, yet when one brings a solution to the table, it's wrong.
2: When ideas come from left field, they're generally considered odd or even crazy.
3: When someone tests a hypothesis, they should generally be surprised if the theory doesn't match the results.

Yes, I have not given up hope on Humanity. But no, it wasn't a troll. Sometimes if I need to find out about a subject, I gotta throw out a theoretical variable to see how the subjects react.

What have I found?

Perhaps Apep does have the right idea. This is our home. Now if we can get past this whole vibe of strife between the two dominant races on this planet we should be fine.

As long as there is an agreement between two sides that they have the right to exist, and that one or the other is not subserviant.

Interesting debate.

Do not take this as an insult, sometimes in order to understand the participants, I sometimes I have to present something not usually my "style".

I just need information. It was a very... strange way to get it, but I'm the smarter for it.

What? I'm self-centered, of course.
No. Wait, I must confess to a strict upbringing involving the proper usage of the english language.

No problemo, queenie. I hope you will understand that I feel no reason to treat you any different than my favorite shoe-shine boy. You are both so nice, polite, and eccentric.

Great Googely-Moogely!!!

Oh my God, Goddess, or Gods (referring to Gods and Goddesses in the plural ), you've been taking social interaction cues from Apep?!?!?!?

Well, that explains alot.

Hey, Apep. What's the 411 on Sekhmet?

Don't assume so much. I swear, I use one tiny endearing term and every one is all jumping to conclusions. You and mother dear both.

I'm certain that Sekhmet will reveal any info that they wish you to know in due time.

and what the hell is so wrong with that? :p

Apep, there are 3 things that cause people to jump to conclusions. There may be more, so don't call it a cement list by any means...

1: Lack of concrete information (Ignorance, Stupidity, Innocence to the subject at hand, or simply just not knowing.)
2: Preconcieved Notions (Prejudice, Fear, Hate, Religion, Scientific Theory, etc...)
3: Filtered Perception (Drugs, Alchohol, pre-existing mental conditions, depression, etc...)

Most likely, you have experienced #1 when it comes to the reactions people had over your innocent term of endearment...

Quite frankly, I don't even see how the concept arose anyways...

Jager, we too have preference for proper usage of language to include that of English. Thusly we deem the title "queen", and its variations, inappropriate. We decline to exercise perogatives of rulership at this time. We encourage you to continue to hope as you choose.

We are ever pleased by your presence, Apep. It was our thought you might enlighten regarding this one called Jager. By turns he demonstrates the qualities of cunning insight followed by the flexibility of glass. We are curious as to the sort of life that would lead a man to ask questions he seems not to desire answers to. We will not ask publiclly of that which he infers between himself and Ashnod.

Should your interests remain unchanged, please know that we have uncovered the temple. It is beyond even our expectations. Consider this our invitation should you desire to see it with your own eyes.