Intergalactic Summit

Empyreans.

I come to you as a very different person than the one you may have met just about a year ago. I was naive, wondering at the vastness of a cluster that was suddenly mine to explore. Well, turns out things are much simpler than I'd imagined, people, baseline human beings cannot be trusted, they will hate you, they will fear you and if possible they will kill you, all because of the gift random chance gave you, Empyreans. We all know this to be true on some level. So, I'm asking you all, those who still pledge loyalty to the four nations, why do you bother? What difference can you make?

Just a short rant I guess, but I'm interested to

I am not loyal to any of the Four, but I still spend time with baseliners. Some of them can definitely party.

Its been a while since I've posted much on this forum, but I saw your name so I thought I should say something. First, you are a good person Ms. Zandraki, at least in my estimation. It seems that you've experience something that has hurt your faith in at least one segment of humanity.

You helped me to learn to discern the fine line between idealism and naiveté. Along that same line is cynicism. Two need to be avoided and one needs to be embraced. I have become more and more of a humanist over time, partly due to your influence, Ms. Zandraki. Loyalty to the Empires means less to me and loyalty to humanity means more. Not all baseliners are out to get you. There is a generalism that has helped me understand how this practically works. Those who have the power to pat you on the back are the ones who will stab you in the back. But, there are millions and millions who will never be able to repay you for the good you do for them. Those are the baseliners that make it worth the bother. Find a way to serve them and don't be afraid to walk the line between idealism and naiveté. Better to risk being a little naïve than to become cynical.

Please, keep being a good person.

People fear and, eventually, hate what they do not understand.

My people understand what I and other capsuleers are. My crew do not fear nor hate me.

The workers, scientists, engineers and colonists in my employ may fear me to a point, but any hate they feel fades with time. They labor in the manufacturing and research facilities to line my pockets, but they know that they labor in safety and security. That accidents are rare because the machines are well maintained and kept within code. That should something befall them, they have access to free healthcare, and should they die under my employ, that their families are well take care of. They fear what I am, but they do not fear me as a person. To them, I am the exception to the rule.

But that doesn't extend only to those under my employ. The baselines I work with and around on a daily basis know me as a person first, an immortal second. A lot of my old Navy shipmates and coworkers thought that I'd go through some type of radical change in personality when I was uploaded into my first clone. In short order, they learned that I was still the same person as before. A simple lesson you may believe, but within it lies a profound truth to many baselines: that Capsuleers are still human, and not unreachable demigods.

During my time in the State Protectorate, I've seen this realization spread, slowly but surely. I "bother" not only because it's my duty to the State, but also because it helps bridge the gap between baseliners and Capsuleers.

​I suppose on a fundamental level I don't buy the whole "demigod" bit.

We are due to a genetic proclivity able to benefit from technology, that when used correctly allows us to "move" from one body to the next.

Now that "move" and what it entails is worthy of more notice that I will give it here.

So why do I still "cling" to the Federation?

Its a simple and perhaps naive answer, I sincerely believe The Federation for all its flaws is latest and best hope for humanity.

If the empires do nothing else, they do provide the "people" some protection from the capricious beings "we" as capsuleers have become.​

They saved me.

While it's true that most people likely hold Capsuleers in some degree of contempt (That is, unless they're ignorant of the specifics, which is probably the case for more individuals then one might think) I would personally say that the notion that this warrants rejection of anyone outside of the "class" is a bit of an overreaction. Not because it's incorrectly founded, but rather because the conclusion is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I mean... Let's be upfront, for a moment.

In truth, the majority of individuals have facts about themselves that, if they openly revealed, would probably earn them the disgust of many people they encounter. Granted, most of these won't be anywhere near as grand as being a Capsuleer, but the fact remains that our ability to tolerate eachother is based on a certain degree of deception, not to mention self-deception. Be it perversion, masked feelings or sentiments, or even past misdeeds, we all have aspects of ourselves that would serve to decisively alienate ourselves from our peers.

So, of course, we conceal said aspects when we're not directly engaging in them. I'd dare say everyone does this to some extent or another. It's only common sense.

Yet, people seem to regard being a pod pilot differently - Something core to ones identity, to be presented very freely and publically, leading to feelings like this when it comes to the obvious result.

This puzzles me, to be frank. The average person I encounter has no need to know about the fact that I am a Capsuleer, just as they have no need to know how much ISK I have saved, or my age, or where I went to school. It's none of their business. It isn't something that defines me, or atleast, not any more then I am willing to let it. I'm more then content to seperate my life as a Capsuleer completely from my life as a normal person, and more recently, my persona, as well.

This is cognitive dissonance to a degree, of course. But cognitive dissonance is an extremely vital part of the human condition. It's what enables us to have functioning socities at all; To regard soldiers differently then murderers, to trade peacefully with groups with practices we consider abominable, even to tell white lies to our friends so we do not offend them, and so on.

If, even knowing all that, you still ask, "Why bother", well... Fundementally, society exists to bring comfort and security to individuals. It is the context within which lies everything that made us who we are. Our families, friends, homes...

Parting with it completely seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

People do tend to fear what they do not understand.

We can either give up on them for having an entirely normal reaction to a frightening situation...

... or we can dispell the fear, bring comprehension to those without our gift, and bring them a greater understanding of our kind.

Only one of these options will actually solve the situation. The other is merely ignoring it.

Why do I pledge loyalty to the ones that understand us best ?

The difference between a baseliner and a capsuleer is a handful of metal sockets in the spine. The difference between either of those and a DUST trooper is about a half-kilogram of sophisticated cybernetics in the brain.

We're all humans in the end. And the line dividing an empyrean from a baseliner is just as arbitrary and porous as any other line that has divided humanity into its component tribes, probably for as long as we have existed. You can slice it down as fine as you like.

I come from a culture from this world as opposed to that world. My ancestors lived in Region A as opposed to Region B. I was born in space as opposed to planetside. My parents were employed by Ishukone, as opposed to, say, Hyasyoda. I went down the security career track as opposed to industrial. I went Watch groundside as opposed to Watch Fleet. I was part of a SWAT unit as opposed to a police, facility security or VIP escort unit. I was part of a "Tanto" unit as opposed to a "Yumi" squadron. I was an officer as opposed to a non-com. And so on.

Me against my family, my family and I against the division, our division against the corporation, our corporation against the State, the State against the rest of humanity, all of humanity against life, and life against an indifferent universe.

Really, your "tribe" is wherever you feel like you belong. And I feel like I belong Caldari. I don't know how to be anything else.