Intergalactic Summit

Stop thinking about a purple slaver hound.

The chances that you were thinking about a drooling purple beast prior to the above statement was as likely as you are now to suddenly remove it from your mind. Nevertheless, the idea has been imprinted in your psyche, which may in itself trigger related memory responses with the color purple or even about slaver hounds. Perhaps your significant other wore a particularly stylish or attractive purple dress, or you spent your childhood fearing or loving one of these slobbering animals. The memory and thought process is as complex and intricate as the vast cosmos we live in, with a near infinite array of possibilities that define us as individuals, yet there are many factors that we share in common.

As living organisms with basic sensory and perceptive attributes, humans learn and adapt based on their experiences and the consequences of their behavior. A child learns to pick up their feet when learning to walk, just as a young adult learns successful courting techniques when engaging a potential mate. These activities are not without their failures, some more or less final than others, and the progress of humanity is built upon these to culminate into what we see today. In fact, the process continues as we speak; we are an ever-evolving species of organism, constantly adapting to an ever-changing universe around us. It’s what has made us the dominant species in our known universe, and hopefully continue for the foreseeable future.

Infomorphs, specifically capsule pilots, are an anomaly to the evolutionary developmental process of our species. With an almost indefinite lifespan and access to near limitless resources, the capsule pilot has the potential to be both an instrument for progress and peril for the baseline population. CONCORD, the bureaucracy intended to regulate their activities and funded by the regimes of the four empires, has proven itself time and again not to be a benevolent institution for the betterment of humanity, but a willing instrument in the social engineering of imperial dominance over its people and a bane to any who oppose it.

Capsule pilots are charmed and dazzled with enormous sums of money and promise of access and influence amongst the highest echelons of government and military institutions in exchange for their services as mercenaries. CONCORD is complicit in this activity, placing bounties on those who are deemed lawless by the imperial authorities, and those who do not comply with their rules. Many of us simply do their bidding without ever considering the ramifications of this behavior, or whether the individuals slaughtered are really deserving of such a death warrant. A disconnect occurs when we cease to utilize our own intelligence and simply accept that a bounty equals bad person.

Nowhere is this more apparent than with the recent invasions by Nation forces against the imperial regimes and CONCORD’s complicity in funding the war against them. With local navies unable to resist Sansha Kuvakei’s forces, they have resorted to paying mercenaries in the capsule pilot community to resolve their war for them with promises of access to hardware and vast sums of money. Many of our peers have earned their fortunes on such endeavors, without personal stake in the war beyond their own profit.

But I’m not going to tell you to stop. I’m not addressing my peers today with pleas for understanding nor threats of violence. Consider this an informational message for your benefit.

NeuroGEN has completed its final testing and analysis of our latest project, known simply as Metamorphosis, and you my fellow infomorphs, have been the unwitting accomplice in our endeavor. If you’ve purchased any skill training packages within the last six months, you may have been fortunate enough to have purchased one of our modified products and not realized it. In addition to their intended training, these custom packages have a variety of neurological effects, generally involving the rerouting of memory pathways or insertion/replacement of existing memory centers. The intended consequence is a subtle, internal adjustment of behavior without the unnecessary resistance to external influence. You see, I do not have the benefit of time and generational or societal influence that your empires do, especially in the formative period of your development, but I will make due with the resources available and adapt when necessary. I’ve learned from the best.

As CEO and director of research and development for NeuroGEN, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support throughout the capsule community, and look forward to your assistance in the future.

-ND17

Are you certain of this?

Likewise, I'm sure.

I couldn't begin to think of a purple slaver hound, so I just went with a goldfish in a bowl.

Does this mean something's flawed in your plan? Because at this rate you'll probably be planning to have people hail Nation, and instead they just feel like they could eat an egg and cheese sandwich.

Perhaps next time implant this wall of text directly into your altered skill books.

At least that way we'd be spared having to read through this drivel.

It is easy to see that the findings of science are important for the development of the society and for the solution of problems not only in the intergalactic scale but also on a more personal, human level. Science is the common root for engineering, technology, medicine and industry.

As Dr. Doyle's outstanding article demonstrates, it takes a long time to master scientific concepts. The problems that are studied nowadays are very complicated and difficult to explain in layman's terms. Nevertheless, one can only appreciate the individuals who have the energy and capacity to tackle these questions. These investigations can take a long time, and it is easy to imagine that this kind of effort requires considerable patience.

More children should be encouraged to follow Dr. Doyle's example. The applications of science are good for the economy - where would we be without all the new battlecruisers and advances in the hybrid technology? I wish to thank Dr. Doyle for this fascinating but illuminating introduction to a difficult topic and hope all the best for her future research endeavours.

Wat.

No, they shouldn't.


They really shouldn't.

How dreadful.

A mobius loop implant? Fascinating. And thank you for the compliment.