The Thoughts of Yong An-Hong: Translated by Alexandra Yuan: Copyright 2205, Centauri University Press: Hanson Harbor, Nova

07/19/2175

President Yan An-Sing called today in a meeting with myself, Ambience CEO Shen Wai-Fun, and the Cabinet members, to make an announcement on a radical policy shift. I say radical only after intense consideration on my own right; I am reluctant in any case to characterize in this way, but I think that there is no better term for it.

He told us that, in his words, the time has come for the extermination of separatist, anti-Hegemony tendencies. Extermination was his word, not mine. He wants the new Interlink devices used to their fullest potential; mankind, he said, would be squabbling amongst itself until the Grushan pick the meat off of the last human bones. So said the President. Therefore, the time has come for a full utilization of the fourth generation; he wishes to use it to manipulate the very neurons in loyal Hegemony citizens.

He proposes a massive executive order to force Interlink installations in regions across the globe that have been resistant to the integration of the Interlink over the past century. When the Interlink was introduced to the population, it was only slowly been accepted at all, and this by the affluent states, the United States and Europe, for whom the installation was a voluntary matter and one of comparatively little benefit. China provided incentives to the second-generation model, and my people embraced it, because it would make social credits more transparent and accurate. Under Chinese leadership, the west followed suit. But African, South American, and Southeast Asian nations took to the change more slowly and have yet to fully embrace the Interlink. It is these people that Yan hopes to integrate, forcefully, into the Interlink.

This is what the great project was designed for, of course. Eventually, all citizens would be given the fourth generation Interlink. Then, the remarkable capabilities which the Interlink affords us with would enable Ambience and the Hegemony to instill peace and order throughout the world. But President Yan brought other ideas before the cabinet today. He tells us that the methods of the Hegemony have been too soft, that violence, poverty, and discrimination have not changed since the Hegemony was established in the 21st century. He tells us that the time has come to eliminate the reactionary class.

Rather, I should explain further. He claims that society has become divided into the leaders, the oppressors, and the downtrodden. He says that it is therefore up to the leaders and the powerful to take care of the downtrodden. To do this, we must destroy the oppressors. To do this, he proposes the expansion of the Interlink program to all the "comfortable oppressors," to reeducate and reallocate them, and to thereby raise the downtrodden in their place as all are reduced to one single standard of living that is humane and comfortable.

I have many doubts about this plan. I ask myself from whence it came? When Yan An-Sing selected me as his Vice President, he was ambitious, proud, and capable yes. He, and I, believed in the great project of the Interlink, and had high hopes for the reordering of society. But this new agenda is like nothing I have ever seen from him; it is like he has suddenly become a new man. This sounds not like the great project of humanity, but rather, like Communism reincarnate. His talk of classes and abolition was like nothing else I have ever encountered in the wide reach of history. I have read Marx, of course, and Lenin, and Mao, and there was wisdom in them, but I have also read the history that their ideas left, and there was folly in that. And President Yan's new agenda seems more akin to the folly of yesterday than the grand future which we hoped, at one time, to design.

Shen Wai-Fun agreed with the President in this matter. With his influence, the Cabinet was obliged to agree as well; many hope to acquire high ranking positions at Ambience Corp. when the President's term has ended. Therefore, I was obliged to keep silence. But later, I spoke to the President in private. I asked him the source of the sudden change that seems to have overcome his reason and all previous ambitions. These were his words.

"An-Hong, my old friend, I know that I am asking may seem strange, even sudden and abrupt, to you. But you must trust me. I have had my eyes opened. This new way will change everything for the better; people will live free from fear, free from doubt, connected as one people in equality."

I told him this. "These are indeed the goals which I have worked for. But what you ask is not the way. The great project of mankind is not one of abolition and destruction, which you propose; it is one of unity and harmony, one in which mankind may come together in a way designed for the common, collective good, rather than their own enrichment."

"Then our ways are not so dissimilar then," An-Sing told me, and he placed his hand upon my shoulder.

"But, An-Sing, my friend, you propose to force this with an iron fist and the abolition of society as it has grown. The great project of mankind cannot be grown overnight, even as a tree does not grow to its full height and shape in a day. A tree must be given water, sunlight, and space in each their own proper measure, and trimmed carefully day by day for its help; a dead branch here and there, sometimes no more. It takes years to grow into its full height and shape. What you are asking is to grow a tree by destroying the soil around it. Your words of struggle and destruction frighten me; I have heard this kind of speech on struggles and classes only one other place; in the archives of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, forgotten and left behind by history. A society does not grow out of destruction, but out of patience and nurture. That is the great project of mankind; what you propose is mere oppression."

Then he smiled at me. "Friend," he said to me, "you speak of growth, of guidance, of nurture. But these things, while they may seem right and proper, are inevitably self-defeating. You have accounted for the next decade, perhaps two, but you have not allowed for the interference of chance, of failure. For what becomes of your way if, as is true today, nearly one third of the population refuse the Interlink? And when, despite owning the latest model, a full quarter of the remainder follow men like Gennady Semyonov, a conspiracy theorist and a populist demagogue? How will a tree grow among the weeds? Will it not rather be choked in its youth? The weeds must be dealt with. And when we pass on, who will take charge? Who will nurture the tree when our generation has passed into nothingness? Will it care for itself? Will new leaders arise to our place to nurture it? How so, if all become equal, and social gain and hierarchy are eliminated, as I once thought and you now propose? We must provide for the gardener as well as the garden; we must secure a power structure for him to exist. So you see, my friend, I have not strayed from the way of the great project; I have seen the light in it. I have seen its flaws and have accounted for them. Fear not, An-Hong. You have nothing to fear from this change."

After this, the President was obliged to leave to attend other state business. But his words leave me with trepidation and uncertainty; for again, there is wisdom in them. And yet I also see in them darkness, such as I have not seen in many a year. Yet I cannot say why; am I simply appalled at the brazenness with which he seems to embrace the destruction of society and the power to do so at his disposal? Perhaps he is correct though; there seems to be no error in his words, though they fill me with dread.

This was not the only strange thing that I experienced today, although this other matter was perhaps of no consequence. As I dined in the evening, I felt a strange sensation in the corner of my head. Then, the readout from my Interlink went out. It was as if the device shut down for a moment before turning back on again an instant later. Perhaps it is something in the wiring; I use a second gen model, since spyware is less well developed in older models, and so Shen Wai-Fun can derive less information from me. But although it is nearly as old as I am, it has never failed me before. And, as I am a high ranking official, I am exempt from customary time-out errors which Ambience uses to encourage customers to upgrade. I must have it checked out and fixed, but my schedule has become very busy of late.

It is strange that the black ship has faded into the background of our conversation after only a week of inactivity, almost as it fades away from sensors. I shall remember to bring it up with the Admirals tomorrow.

Official Transcript: NBS National News: 07/19/2175 1547 NST

RODRIGUEZ: Welcome back to the National News Stream here on the Novan Broadcasting Service, your number one source for news happening now. I'm Samantha Rodriguez.

GARRITY: And I'm Jennifer Garrity. Now, earlier this week the big news in interstellar politics was the reports, confirmed this week by the Novan Stellar Navy, that an unidentified alien vessel has made contact with the Terran Hegemony. The ship entered the system on July 7 and, after what appears to have been a confrontation with the Terran Interstellar Authority, entered orbit of Earth at around 0525 Beijing Standard Time. Correspondents on Earth as well as sources from Novan diplomatic core reported the arrival of the alien ship at the time, however, NSN authorities, on the recommendation of Grushan intelligence, enacted National Security Directive 4 to keep the story out of the presses until a military assessment was complete. They broke the story to news agencies at a press conference on Tuesday.

RODRIGUEZ: Sources on Earth say that the ship has done nothing since its arrival, but maintains geosynchronous orbit above the American continent. TIA warships have begun to stand down after a week of high alert in the Sol system. However, Terran authorities can say nothing about the ship, its origin, or the aliens that man it.

GARRITY: Joining us today to help shed some light on this possible first contact is Grushan exoscientist Tlamarith. Thank you for joining us here on Proxima B and the Novan Alliance.

TLAMARITH: (Translated) It is an honor to be invited.

RODRIGUEZ: I suppose someone has already apologized for the rains? You came at the exact worst time of year for them.

TLAMARITH: (Translated) They have indeed. However, my home on Gleveran is equally rainy year-round, and has even less solid ground than this world, so while uncomfortable at times, your weather is far from foreign.

RODRIGUEZ: Less solid ground than Proxima B is tough to imagine. Now, Mr. Tlamarith, you're here to tell us what you can about the ship currently orbiting Earth. I suppose it goes without saying that it is no Grushan ship, but is it a ship from a race that the Federation has encountered in the past? Maybe from somewhere on the far regions of Federation space?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) Well, not exactly. We have not encountered any space faring race besides your own directly; however, close examination of exploratory archives did uncover something similar. You see, the Federation periodically sends science missions to the frontiers in order to survey for inhabitable worlds; the starship that crash landed on Earth was one of those. Another was sent out in the year 1997 and arrived in the Horol system.

GARRITY: Now, I know that the translator makes this difficult, but can you say the name of the system again?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) The name is Horol.

GARRITY: So, you might not realize it, but when we hear translations of Grushan speech patterns, we hear a distinct suffix on Grushan system names, like Yveran, Gleveran, Hezheran, even Grusheran. This one doesn't seem to have that suffix. Can you explain that?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) I believe that this matter will become clear as I explain the expedition.

GARRITY: Oh, of course, I'm so sorry for interrupting.

TLAMARITH: (Translated) No apologies are necessary. I understand that, as remarkable as real time Grushan-Human translation systems have become, it is sometimes necessary to second guess them and clarify some things. I understand your concern. Now, as I was explaining, the survey ship dispatched to that system found a world that had once been inhabited, but had long fallen into ruin. The survey team was ordered to investigate, but when it made its approach, it received a recorded warning from a satellite in orbit. The transmission was recorded and is now kept in Grushan archives and has been shared with Novan intelligence.

RODRIGUEZ: What sort of transmission was it?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) Video, mostly, chronicling an ancient war between the fallen race on the planet and another unidentified race. The message ends with a warning to all races: 'The people of this world have dabbled in darkness and darkness has befallen them. All travelers beware lest they draw to close to evil and become ensnared.' Then an ingenious binary key to translate the final message, and then it repeats.

RODRIGUEZ: And is the black ship in orbit from this Horol system?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) It matches the images from the satellite precisely. The survey vessel left a warning beacon of its own for Grushan civilian traffic or other unmet races and left. The system was named Horol after a city in ancient times burnt by the wrath of God.

GARRITY: So, what was meant by 'dabbled in darkness' and all of those things? Did the archive say?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) The archive showed examples of cultism, psychic actions, telepathic abilities, and in some cases almost impossible resistance to physical damage. The race also seemed to be utterly violent, corrupt, and ruthlessly destructive towards other races and even to itself.

GARRITY: Surely you can't take that seriously though? What you're describing sounds like magic, not science. How can you say that the winning race didn't leave that satellite to make themselves look better to posterity?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) I assure you, the Grushan Senate takes magic, as you call it, very seriously. As for your second question, the Federal Grushan Science Academy seems to have put much thought into this question, as well as Star Fleet analysts and the Diplomatic Corps. They concluded that there was no outward indication that the accounts were fabricated. They also decided that the winning race, whoever they were, had no clear motivation to make such a fabrication. If they themselves had already profited from the technology left on the surface, they would have no reason to warn other races away. If they had destroyed their enemies, they had no reason to leave a trace other than to boast of their victory, and this was not the point of the message. Otherwise, a traveler from another race might not even connect the victors to their fallen foes, and this would profit them just as much. There was no reason to leave a warning such as this unless there was actual concern for the safety of races which might visit and unwittingly find themselves put in danger. So, the FGSA decided to heed the warning.

RODRIGUEZ: That's a lot of speculation to go against the benefits that your people might have gained by studying the planet.

TLAMARITH: (Translated) Perhaps, but at the time there was no outward threat to the Federation, and the nations prospered, at least insofar as they ever have. The risk seemed, to my people, greater than any possible gain by extra technology and wealth.

RODRIGUEZ: So, you say that the ship in Sol must have come from this planet. But you also said that the planet was a destroyed world; how could it have come from there?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) Well, the planet is still potentially inhabitable, although the living would likely be tough; much of the vegetation has been wiped out, and the ozone has been depleted. But there is the potential of massive subterranean caverns, and it's possible that an advanced enough civilization may have found a way to survive in those underground regions. Maybe they were simply in stasis for centuries. Maybe the black ship is an unmanned drone; Nova and Terra have perfected similar technology over the years. I can't say exactly, of course, without having studied Horol.

RODRIGUEZ: But why would it wake up now and not two hundred years ago when your people found it?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) Again, I can't really say without a more detailed analysis.

GARRITY: What sort of capabilities might this black ship have? We've seen indications that several Terran ships have been disabled or destroyed in the Sol system. What can you tell us about its weapons and armor?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) That is a question for more qualified men, military analysts and experts. I'm simply an exoscientist.

RODRIGUEZ: What do you think it wants with Earth?

TLAMARITH: (Translated) I can't be sure. It seems that if they wanted to destroy it, they probably would have done it in the week that they have already spent in orbit. It may be that they wish to contact Earth; it may be that they simply hope to reconnoiter inhabited space. I'm afraid we just don't know much about the culture of the creatures that we're dealing with or their behavior or capabilities or their desires.

GARRITY: Well, we're always happy for the input of an ally. Mr. Tlamarith, thank you so much for joining us.

TLAMARITH: (Translated) Thank you for having me.

[End Transcript]

Doctors Note: Gerald Ang MD: 07/20/2175

Patient Olivia Mattingly, 9:15 AM

Patient came in in a high state of agitation and shows advanced signs of exhaustion, much higher than previous visit. No response to prescribed sedatives. Routine blood and gene tests still reveal no foreign substances or infections. I recommend a full range of non-invasive screening tests, including x-ray and neural tracer. I'm tempted to believe that what patient is going through is some sort of psychotic break, but that isn't my field of expertise, so the neural trace scan may reveal the most. I've never even heard of symptoms like this except for extreme schizophrenia. No family history of schizophrenia. I am also placing an order for genetic sequencing.

Patient Olivia Mattingly, 10:25 AM

Neural trace reveals abnormal stimulation in occipital and temporal lobes, but no further signs of brain damage. I have no idea what might have caused this. Genetic sequencing reveals no latent schizophrenic tendencies or other mental illness aside from a slight risk of clinical depression. Patient became violent when questioned; sedatives ineffective. She then collapsed in a seizure. She was rushed to the ER and given strong sedatives. I have prescribed anti-psychotics and requested the expertise of my colleague John Wu in Helena; hopefully he makes more sense of this than I can. I have ordered bedrest and hope to hold her overnight to make analysis.

Patient Olivia Mattingly, 2:25 PM

Patient regained consciousness at 2:19 PM. She seems disoriented but for the most part better; her speech patterns are clearer and some of the physical symptoms have subsided. I am obliged to keep her overnight for observation, however. Patient requested sedatives to assist with sleep. I authorized the prescription at 2:44 PM.

Patient Olivia Mattingly, 07/21/2175, 9:14 AM

Patient seems well rested and better. Symptoms of exhaustion have subsided. I authorized a release from hospital care, under strict observation from her family. I still recommend the services of Doctor Wu, and recommend that the patient sees him at the first opportunity.

Official Transcript: 911 Call: From 814 E Aldicott St: Ellensburg, MT: 07/22/2175, 0514 Local Time

OPERATOR: 911, what is your emergency?

CYNTHIA MATTINGLY: There's a fire at my house! I don't know how it started, but I woke up and I was coughing and I couldn't breath and the fire alarm was going off.

OPERATOR: Please stay calm. What is your address?

MATTINGLY: 814 E Aldicott St.

OPERATOR: And is everybody safe?

MATTINGLY: I'm okay and my parents are okay, but they can't find my sister. They can't find Olivia, she's not in her room, she's not in the house, we don't know where she is—

OPERATOR: All right listen. You're going to be all right. Fire crews are on their way. I need you and your parents to get to safety, the crews will find your sister. Do you understand?

MATTINGLY: Yes. Yes, okay.

OPERATOR: Okay. Help is on the way.

MATTINGLY: Thank you. Thank you so much.

[End Transcript]

Personal Journal: Olivia Mattingly

Shalvool nos ravanach. Zakal-Faah menoo.

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Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is pretty long and information heavy, but I have a lot of fun writing this sort of thing, and I promise the next couple of chapters pick up the pace a bit. After the next couple of weeks, I'm probably going to have to slow down publishing a little bit, because I have new material to work through at that point. If you've read this far, thanks a lot and don't stop just because I'm slowing down a bit! Thanks to everyone who's voted and commented, and if y'all like, please leave votes/comments/questions and tell me how I'm doing. Thanks, the real jonbrain!