Intergalactic Summit

Oh. So, a dead end?

Well ... I'm a little reluctant to suggest this avenue, as it seems to cause you distress, but ...

The Angel Cartel isn't a small pirate outfit. It's essentially an empire in its own right, and it does business in slaves from all backgrounds. How they come by these people is pretty varied; unlike in the Empire, it's not at all a religious thing. They've just sort of straight-up made the call that people can be property.

As far as I can gather, or remember, they're nothing if not pragmatic.

Having slaves means being prepared to deal with runaways, and that's probably at least part of what that bar code is for-- to help pursuers identify you. And if you were owned by one of the Serpentis (who are Cartel clients), you probably passed through their system at some point. Cartel slave catchers and bounty hunters would probably have access to a database that could identify you by that code, along with any pertinent information they might have.

That's likely to include your former owner, but also might well include ownership and medical history, and might even include your origins and how they acquired you.

Notably, they may very well have kept track of your relations so they'd have a couple places to look if you disappeared. That might not be very comforting, but it seems more likely to produce results than trying to sift through records of disappeared children.

Namas,


There's another possibility.

You and your family might be connected with the Guristas. We have a lot of systems, operate in most of the State, including the border systems with the Federation.

Drop me a line.

I did acknowledge the existence of the Tube Children by mentioning 'inherited from either one or two individuals' and that 'you have at least one parent'. Either way, blood is still blood, no matter how mixed.

Never did mention that having a family is a positive thing. In this day and age we can have just one parent, or a dozen parents, whom we may or may never meet and acknowledge, but matter of fact is we are still family.

But I admit, family trees are getting really complicated these days if we even bother to really draw the thing. My clan does, to keep track of who is whose offspring to ensure that we don't end up having in-bred children somewhere down the line (especially considering that the clan originated from a singular slave enclave where nobody's necessarily related to each other by blood).

There was a philosophical discussion about lives of clones, and was said an idea that it doesn't belong here.

However, in some cases philosophical questions can affect our daily life, they can dictate choices we make, and they can make us and people around us happier... or unhappier. And this is such exact case.

Ask yourself a question, what would you do, after you will find who you were, and would find that your parents are still alive?..

We, Caldari in general are rather utilitarian people. However, when talking about Achura, you should always keep in mind spiritual aspect as well. And in case of rural Achura this aspect might even become dominant.

From utilitarian point of view we, clones, use bodies and memories or our previous clones in order to preserve skills after their deaths. Skills and memories of my previous instances have allowed me to become a tool of efficient destruction of enemies, and their abilities are used in interests of the State even after their death.

From spiritual point of view though it might be very vexing to know that body and memories of your deceased relative are still used by someone to achieve some sort of task. And although these memories make us think that we are 'continuation' of their lives, we are already new lives. Returning to your parents to show them that you use body and memories of their long deceased daughter might be too much for them to bear.

We studied the process of neuro-scan transition and we got really deep in it. To know how puppet works is the only way to cut it's ropes.

There's no need for any kind of "soul" in this case - whatever you would like to call a "soul". Genes, memories, experiences - none of these make your true-self. Choices you make are only what matters. You may inherit this burden from the dead or you may throw it away. 'Cause dead are dead and you're alone before the void of your nonexistent past and undetermined future.

Victoria du Ponte, first of all allow me to express my deepest sympathies over your experiences while captive by Serpentis. I hope you are successful in your quest to reunite with your family and I will gladly pass on any information I might come across.
I do have one question for you that relates to your experiences while captive. I do not expect you to know the answer and will not be disappointed if you don't wish to recall anything from that period of your life.

During your captivity did you ever hear anyone mention or meet an Amarrian woman by the name of Leliel Katz?

Leliel is my wife and she was captured by an unknown party several years ago. She was taken from the SOE station in Sigga during a station blackout. When the Sisters reestablished power to the station, she, her capsuleer record and her clone data where all missing along with several others. If you have heard anything, please let me know. I miss her greatly and want to bring those responsible for her kidnapping to justice.

My children will be so keen to know they have a dead mother. Joys.

To believe that your 'true' personality is really your own is folly. Your 'true' personality does not exist in a vacuum either. Part of that is inherited genetically. Part of it is nurtured by education, environment and experience. Personality is not a constant, it is a changing thing, always affected by outside factors and being forced to adapt to cope.

Your personality is the way it is because that's how it's shaped. You didn't shape your personality, outside factors did. There is no 'true' self, only an anagram of selves. Bits and pieces of all that is around you, be it individuals, societies, media, experiences, even knowledge and information, has come together to shape you into who you are, and you will always be shaped as you continue to live.

I have become like the previous Elmund Egivand, for that is the information I receive from the previous Elmund Egivand. Given time, 'Elmund Egivand' will change. I will experience new things, learn more about the world around me, meet new people, and all of these will mold me and mutate the personality and memories that I inherit from the previous Elmund Egivand version 8.0. And when I die, all of these will then be inherited by Elmund Egivand 9.0, who will then act very much like Elmund Egivand version 7.5 did. And all that while personality and memory data will continue to mutate, shaped by whatever it was exposed to.

Consider the following scenario. Assuming that I, Elmund Egivand 7.5, decides to cease being Elmund Egivand and be somebody else entirely and cut all ties and give away my assets.

Then I, a supposed new person, encounter somebody who needs something and endeavours to help him out. Am I doing this because this is what I, not-Elmund, wants to do it, or is the decision subtly influenced by what Elmund 7.0's data and am doing what he would have done?

Will what I say be really entirely what I decide, without outside influence, to say, or was it something that Elmund 7.0 would have said in that situation?

And if I decide to try to listen to Death Rustcore and find myself repulsed by it, was it because I, new person, am repulsed, or is my reaction subtly influenced by Elmund 7.0's distaste for Death Rustcore? If I force myself to keep listening to Death Rustcore until I like it, who is to say that Elmund 7.0 wouldn't have come to like Death Rustcore if he forces himself to do as I did?

Like it or not, all my actions will be subtly influenced by Elmund 7.0. What I would do in the future is, with great likelihood, what Elmund 8.0 would have done if he wasn't already deceased. Why, because I inherited all of Elmund 7.0's data, the same data that led to Elmund 8.0. His emotional data will subtly shape how I will react to similar things in similar situations, and, if my emotional data changes, who is to say that Elmund 7.0's data wouldn't have changed in a similar way when exposed to the same stimuli?

Ignore as I like it, for as long as Elmund 7.0's data is in my head, it will influence how I behave, and as time passes, any changes that I made is built on top of Elmund 7.0's data. Elmund 7.0's data is my foundation and like all foundations, it is built on no matter how much I will it otherwise. How I behave in the future will be very similar to how Elmund 7.0 would have behaved if put in the same series of events and situation.

There is no second chance, but there IS inheritance, and no matter how you try to be rid of it, traces will remain. To really expunge all data, I mustn't inherit any of Elmund 7.0's data to begin with. I have to be a blank-slate clone.