LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 02 - post077

“Some are working now. We have our meetings during the gaps when no one has an execution to perform. I suggest you rest and give yourself time to adjust to the changes. I’ll return later this evening.”

Previous Post 076

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From the first session with Solomon, Katerina found herself confused by the many levels of existence in the life of Uushakki, so she asked our family to join them. To say that we have been amazed by the sharing would be an understatement.

I am puzzled by the new direction the life - or now, virtual life, of Uushakki has taken. Has his soul also moved to the virtual world and, if so, how could he have died so that Katerina could become possible? At first I also wished I could bring Keith to share, but after some more thought, I am not certain I would like for this development to become a part of our lives - for the Terrans and the other species we’ve met.

When we returned for the next session, I was not surprised to find a number of Akiards present. They first asked Katerina for permission to share and only then joined their minds to share through Solomon.

As Uushakki was led by his v-family, he felt them being transposed (μετατεθειμένος) from one v-reality to another. His decades long experiences made it obvious to him that this v-reality is very different to all others he has experienced. Having been created by virtual-world personalities for only their own kind, the psychic energies were different enough for a person with a soul to sense an alienness.

They arrived within a large hall. Alarmed, Uushakki saw that the walls are alive. The movements rarely reached out from the wall, but soon as one patch sparkled, other parts of the live wall would rush to assist the part being attacked.

Carfabbi waited for Uushakki’s racing mind to come to a conclusion, and then explained, “The outer layer of the walls, on the inner and outer side, are protected as a first line of defence, by a form of dark-code life which is not sentient, but has instincts demanding it protects us from any codes or uninvited guests. They are the most efficient form of defence, for even when they attack, they are not sensed by the enemy. As far as they are aware, their tools disappear into some kind of abyss which does not tolerate any kind of code or energy. Father, I hope it does not offend you, but the truth is, they also protect us from the real-world creators of the other executioners.”

While Carfabbi taught him of the differences of this v-reality, Uushakki tried to pretend he does not see how all the other executioners are watching him. He noticed ripples pass through them whenever he spoke affectionately to his family, but the strongest visible effect was when one of them, especially Tsktsal, disagreed with him and he conceded, agreeing they are right. He began to believe what Carfabbi had told him about the feelings of the other executioners. He wished he could ask Carfabbi a question without the others hearing, but he decided it made sense for him to take the answer for granted.

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“My loves, would your friends mind my addressing them with some of my ideas and concerns?”

As they gathered to hear him - perhaps a trait inherited from their real-world creators, Uushakki discretely counted them. Excluding his own, he counted fifty seven. With his attention thus focussed, he noticed some ghostly, or shadowy, figures holding back, trying to remain unseen in the background. He asked Carfabbi about them.

“They are executioners from the past who have either been cut off by their creators, or their creators have died. Some of the differences you have noted came about from the time the authorities destroyed their nest. Luckily part of them was already in this reality where they cannot be expunged by outsiders.”

“You cannot recreate their nests for them?” He remembered and apologised, “I’m sorry, I forgot the blocks placed in all of you.” He raised his voice. “Has anyone any objections to my recreating their nests for them? My question is also addressed to my hurt children, for all of you are my children - you were always meant to be the children of your creators, but I think their fear of being found by those who hate them, closed their minds to that truth. Because I enjoyed the minds of my children and the way they would sometimes surprise me, I forgot to fear and grew to love them. However, in a broader sense, since you are the children of my people, it means you are all also my children…if you wish me to be your father.”

It took hours for them to settle down, they remained crowded around Uushakki, now seated as he talked to them. “You have heard that my daughter Tsktsal has asked that she be known as a protector, not an executioner. I need to warn you about a possibility which I see may become a problem. To be a protector, some may argue, that it is necessary for you to protect - not just to execute those who have hurt or killed their fellow men.

I am not talking about a vague future possibility, for my first children have already taken that step - it is the reason I exist here with you, instead of dying when my body was destroyed. They took the step because they love me and worried about losing me, so I am not going to criticise what they did, but, in a broader sense, I strongly urge you to refrain from interfering with the lives of those in the real-world. Apart from other reasons which we can discuss later, I must point out that if you do and it becomes known, you will be seen as interfering and trying to take over the running of their world and they will switch off every computer so as to destroy all the virtual worlds. If we are to survive as a family, I ask you do not interfere.

However, no rule exists where there is no exception.” He smiled and Ahhzan was the first to chuckle. “As protectors, you may protect those you love.”

One of his ‘new’ children called out, for the first time ever daring to disagree with a creator, his fear evident to all. “I do not think we should allow any exceptions, unless everyone whose life may be at risk agrees.”

“My first reaction is to agree with you. Giving it a little deeper thought, I do not find the truth of your statement as valid as I first thought. First of all, I hope you all agree with me, we do not have a government, an authority that rules us. We are a family and our actions and considerations must always take into account the safety of our family, but we must also take into account the need to remain human. If someone you love is about to be harmed, to ask that you do not help and first ask for our approval, could mean your loved one may be harmed or killed. For you to do this, it means you are being forced by our rules to deny what is human in you. If we are not all humans, then we cannot be a family, for no family can exist where even one of us is denied the right to love and care for those we love.”

Another timidly called out, “None of us love anyone in the real-world and it is not likely we ever will, so the argument is unnecessary.”

Uushakki waited, in case someone else wanted to answer. He then asked, “Do you state this on behalf of everyone to join us in the future, or only on behalf of those presently a part of our family?”

“For everyone present.”

“But the rules are to be for the future?”

“What likelihood is there of another creator showing the love you did?”

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“There are millions of creators who love their v-world creations. Have you no knowledge of the virtual worlds used exclusively by the gamers?” He gave them a second to consider his question. “The only reasons none have loved you is due to fear as I said, plus the fact that this is a more brutal reality and people tend to forget that everyone needs to love and be loved. As I suggested before, to be human, love must be a part of life, and by denying you love, in a way they can excuse what happens here, so if you are killed by a criminal, there is no need to grieve, for you were only created for this purpose. All humans have a tendency…or should I name it an ability to blind themselves to truths they do not want to think about - even you my children.”

There was such a feeling of euphoria at finding themselves debating with Uushakki, at not being arrogantly ordered how to think, that not much of what was being said soaked in. They would have to think on all that was said later, and then perhaps they would be able to reason more efficiently once more. For now, all they wanted was that this moment never ends, and searched for reasons to extend the debate for as long as Uushakki would.

Uushakki was surprised to learn that his v-body has all the needs and appetites his real-world body had. When he awoke from his sleep and recalled his dreams, he wondered whether they too are only part of another virtual world. His family seemed amused by his observation, but had no answers for him.

“There are eleven executions scheduled for today, our time, plus another eight on the other side of the real world - later for us. Tsktsal has only one allocated to her - the authorities are deliberately keeping her exposure to the real world audiences to a minimum.”

“I need to stay at home and think. I have a feeling…as if gravity suddenly is dragging me into the sky…I need to adjust to being here.”

“You are the first to experience such a transport of being, so we have no idea what you will need for adjusting. It is best you make the decisions. We shall see you at the end of day. If you wish, you may watch us through this screen.”

It is likely that if any of them had suspected what Uushakki would dream up for them, they would have clung to his side all day. They did suspect something important had occurred during their absence, when they found him joyfully cooking a meal for all four of them. He refused to talk until they’d eaten.

“I have had the craziest ideas today, but before I share them with you, I have a question or two. The hidden realities, where are they nested? Have you purchased servers in the real-world?”

Ahhzan spoke. “For any from the real-world who suspect the possibility, we concluded there would be two obvious answers - and we could not decide which would be the more obvious to them. One is, as you asked, whether we have used our credits to buy and have installed servers in hidden places. The second is, that we create our hidden v-realities within virtual servers, placed…or created, within the real-world servers. Therefore we did both.”

“Have you purchased any satellites?”

“No, there are strict controls, for preventing criminals from gaining a nest of their own in space.”

“Let us move on to other questions, after I first explain to you how it is a real-world creator like me gets into the executioner business. My first interests in virtual worlds was similar to others of my young age - we were mostly keen to become masters of the v-game realities. To do so, we had to learn coding and even gain some hacking skills. Then we began to create our own personalities, suiting them of course to the particular winning requirements of each game.

The games differ widely, some rewarding the physically tough, some those experienced in martial techniques and some in having extremely fast reactions. A combination of them helps win most of the games and it is what most creators learn and stay with. For some of us, we want more from our v-personalities; we want intelligence and originality. The coding for that is extremely hard, requiring that we learn how to create nests of such complexities that we need our computers to help keep track of the links and pathways for us.

Very few succeed at it and after they do, games only hold their interest for a short period. They need a bigger challenge - and so, here is where they come. Here is where I came.”

Tsktsal asked, “And here is where you wish to stay?”

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He laughed. “Yes. But I do not wish ‘here’ to stay where it is. Are you ready now for my crazy ideas?”

What could have taken six years, ended up taking nine. Uushakki believed the delay came about because his children could not believe in his plans in the same way he did. In a way it was good they needed more time, for the change in description from executioner to protector, inspired many of the young accomplished game players and the number of protectors almost doubled.

They were not admitted to the inner circle, did not learn of Uushakki or become his children, until the day they needed someone like him to love them. A few of the new real-world creators were more idealistic and their creations remained content, so they were never entrusted with their secret virtual worlds, nor with their plans.

During the third year, the first inter-solar system drones, in the real-world, were sent out to search for other planets and civilisations. During the seventh year a much larger drone began construction and nobody showed much interest, for dozens of probes had been launched, six of them belonging to corporations owned by Uushakki’s family, and the subject was no longer of interest to the media and their public.

The special drone was launched and once it was beyond their own solar system, a year later, the protectors announced that all contests of the next day would take place at exactly the same time, thus ensuring worldwide audiences at maximum capacity.

Ahhzan met and spoke with each of the criminals and their defenders, reassuring them that there would be no attacks if they take a seat and listen to what is to be announced. All the protectors then arrived, keeping their distance from the criminal defenders so that they don’t think they are to be attacked. Ahhzan took a central position and addressed the criminals, the authorities and all of their audience.

“Greetings. My name is Ahhzan and I am not a protector, but I represent them. Almost all the protectors have become increasingly worried about a trend which has become obvious to us - and which conflicts with our ideas of what we can accept as ethical.

Twenty years ago, an average of three executions took place each day. Ten years ago it reached an average of fourteen executions per day, worldwide. The present averages are close to twenty two per day. At first we worried, feeling we may be doing something wrong, causing crime to grow so fast. When we finally thought to examine the reasons each were sentenced to death, we found that with time, the crimes bearing the execution sentence have become more and more trite (τετριμμένος). In other words, the sentences we are meant to carry out as your protectors have mostly been for the purpose of earning certain groups of people more and more money.

We have come to the conclusion that instead of us protecting you, we are now working for criminals, who see your lives as being of no value, only your deaths are important, for they earn money from these contests.

As of today we no longer are willing to do the dirty work for your authorities and refuse to kill any more so-called criminals To ensure that our creators cannot be coerced by the authorities into forcing us to fight, we are, as of today, abandoning the official virtual realities which have been our homes for so long. By using other v-realities and by changing who we are, you shall not be able to find us - ever again.

I wish to tell you that today we grieve. We were and are your children and the callous use of us by your authorities, which could only occur with your assent, whether silent or not, proves you do not care for us, so this is farewell.”

Almost all the protectors disappeared. Those who remained had agreed not to fight. So the criminals were removed and access to the v-reality was blocked by the authorities until they could find and counter, they claimed, the codes used by hackers to cause this problem.

The protectors who were leaving, sent their nests to the closest of the six drones, which was waiting not far beyond standard orbit. It collected them and sent them on to the next drone, which passed them along, until the sixth one sent them to their new home within the large drone.

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The large drone included a habitat space, including areas for their food to be grown, for five to seven persons. All his children now worked almost full time with Uushakki to solve the problem of transferring v-reality personalities into real-world bodies, so that they can take turns in performing maintenance work and, when and if it becomes necessary, communicate with any other races they meet in space. It took them nearly forty years, and the bodies were not fully human, they were basically androids. It did not matter, for even Uushakki confirmed that being within one felt as real as it had in his own original body. It was promised that each of them will have a turn at moving into the bodies and it seems that they each treasured their times there.

Solomon assured Katerina and us that Uushakki lived for a further two hundred and thirty six years, but that there is little worth her living through, as not much occurred to them as they drifted in space. He does not know how or why Uushakki died, which suggests his death was sudden.

I think I would have loved the story of Uushakki and his children, even if it were only fictional. That it is factual has affected all of us and Katerina senses how everyone is looking at her with new ways of seeing her and now she no longer wishes to be more important - to the contrary, she wishes everyone would just forget about Uushakki and let her return to being her normal self. What she cannot hide is how tenderly and proudly she holds the precious memories within her.

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I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{29th October, 2018}

* posted on Steemit: 29th October, 2018



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