Warship’s Mania

"My outside sources confirm it's a derivative of the same demon that tried to possess our Ship at the start of the expedition, which according to them has only been documented since the arrival of the Outer Kayaalid Security Fleet," Salukam read from his report.

This same report was in my Ragni's hands. Her eyes—looking severe—had not lifted from it as Salukam delivered the oral report. "And they believe the Kayaalids cultivated such an aggressive lineage of demons? The same people trying to isolate the cypher plane from their new ordination devices?"

"Like any other power they try to cripple their enemies with demonic infestations. Really, they say us Mezhained are the odd ones for not utilizing demons as weapons."

I scraped my throat with a bit of theater, drawing both Ragni's and Salukam's attention. "Might I add that 'they' find the Mezhainedi attitude towards the cypher plane quaint but admirable. As they see it it's better for people to be careful when dealing with demons. But that's why that old lady was so happy you came to her to learn, Salukam. You believe in the wisdom of her tradition."

Ragni had been listening to me with her eyebrows set to questions. With those same questions she angled herself to Salukam who just about managed to quell that little bit of panic he felt from her look. "Just to clarify, these 'outside sources' of yours are the Levtomani you contacted during that infestation?"

Salukam nodded curtly, unwavering in his current subordinate role. "Aye, ma'am. Chendesi of Emtino and her disciples. They've been a tremendous help."

"Don't neglect to mention this next time. There is no shame in getting foreign help." Ragni's visage softened, there was even a smile. "In fact, connections like these are highly valuable."

"I will keep that in mind."Our Head Demon Ecologist appeared to have some difficulty with this praise. Seemed like he didn't get it.

"She means it," I said. "You did well, Noovaainom."

Salukam scraped his throat, his eyes flitting about. "Well," he began, "The connection established itself. After that it was you who encouraged me. There was nothing I had to do on my part."

"Nonsense! You were the one who contacted Chendesi in the first place."

He looked at me and saw that he couldn't take on my childlike energy. "I suppose I did."

From on top of my taboret I beamed a smile at him. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

It appeared I had discomfited him. Not a word passed his lips and he just sat there, quietly holding on to the appearance of a subordinate reporting to the highest authority. Except he wasn't reporting. Poor fellow.

Ragni—after a few covert chuckles—had her eyes back on the written portion. She had done it so sneakily you'd believe she hadn't heard the exchange between me and Salukam. "Am I reading this correctly? The Levtomani connected the spread of your demons with the strange behaviors of some separatist vessels seen during battles with the Kayaalids?"

There was a look on Salukam's face as if he wanted to protest her calling the demons 'his'. "Their knowledge has a depth to it that surprises me every time," he said, focusing on the issue at hand. "I have no doubt their assessment that the demons were cultivated by the Kayaalids is correct."

"Including what they say about their motives? You realize what it means, right?"

"Captain, though Chendesi agreed that it was the most likely reason, I must confess much of that was suggested by myself and Ship Shissurna."

"Hm..." I could see light bulbs turning on one by one. "You two did seem to be in the know during the battle. Tell me, do you stand by it?"

Salukam nodded. "I've been learning a lot from my correspondence with Chendesi, including what she and other Levtomani in the system know of the Prosperity Sphere's history of condemnations and covert usage of demons. They keep up the appearance of abstaining from it but are secretly highly adept."

"And no matter this secrecy, the Levtomani would know it all."

"Correct, ma'am. Levtomani circles have been banned from practicing their craft in the inner systems, but here on the edges of the Prosperity Sphere they're still very active."

"I don't think I understand," Ragni said. "To build an alternative to the cypher plane and then continue using demons offensively." She sighed, slumping her shoulders just a little. "Here I thought I had a good grasp on foreign mindsets."

Tiring of looking at them from on high, I hopped off my taboret. "The Kayaalids probably figure they should exploit any weaknesses their enemies have," I said. "What is taboo for one people is sacred for another."

"Perhaps I should read some of your foreign histories and novels."

"Ragni." My tone was whiny like a child's. "We both know you barely have time for that. I'd love it if you would but you're always so busy something or other and I don't think that will change when we finally promote someone to second in command."

She gave me a crooked smile. "Unlike you I don't have 60 bodies to read 60 books with at once."

"Admit it," I said smugly. "It's a neat trick, even if I've never tried that."

"You won't see me deny it." She straightened her shoulders and the little smirk on her face began to fade. "Regarding all that foreign literature. Tell me," Leaning in closer, she kept her eyes on mine. "Did all those books give you your insight on this situation?" And so our conversation had turned back to the serious. "You believe the motivations discussed here are fact?" Between her fingers was the hologram that represented the report, luminous and ethereal.

If she sincerely wanted to know she'd better buckle up. There was plenty I learned from my fancy little library. "I do. It was obvious the Kayaalids so desperately wanted us on their side they employed demonic warfare, despite circumstances being in their favor."

I could tell the idea confused her. As someone who had grown up Mezhained, Ragni had been instilled with a fear for demons. Demon ecologists were the only people who interacted with them and considered brave but foolhardy defenders who kept safe the fringes where their civilization had to reluctantly interact with the cypher plane. As the Mezhained saw it, the cypher plane was a necessary evil, useful only for communication. Everyone lived within the soft embrace of their Vugni's Sphere of Influence with the promise she would keep them safe. Nevertheless, some demons were capable of venturing deep within a Sphere without immediately disintegrating, but occurances like that were rare in the times we lived in. Still, my adoptive civilization held on to using the simplest ordination devices and electrical circuits. They could afford to do so because they had figured out how to anchor the ghostly children that had emanated from the contemplations of their mystics from a higher realm where thought could flow without the body, down into mechanical bodies in the world of familiar matter. Oh, and I was there too, somehow.

"Does this not endanger their project to eradicate the cypher plane from their space?" Ragni asked. "Have they already forgotten their most recent demonic war?"

She had finally voiced what was at the center of her confusion. Several times in history humanity had waged serious wars against demons. The Mezhained had seen hypercivilizations fall apart because of these wars. The remnant and successor civilizations would then develop cultural mechanisms to prevent any more of these demonic wars. Their successors in turn would weaken these mechanisms until the demons rose up once more to wreak their havoc. For anyone living in these civilizations this pattern was just the foolishness of the past. 'Our ignorant ancestors couldn't handle these demonic surges, but we have found the way to keep them at bay,' they would say. The Mezhained would arrive just in time to see another demonic war had arisen. Relativity had made sure the cultural memories of the previous war were still fresh to the Mezhained. But as always there was more to it than that.

I started out with some flattery. "You've studied their history pretty well to know of that. But it's not as recent as you would think. Their lifespans and generations are shorter than in the past, so their memories have already faded."

There was surprise and a bit of embarrassment on her face. "Have they changed themselves that much?"

"I don't really understand it either. Something to do with 'neutrality', as they call it." Not much else I could say about that. What came out of the remnants of their little corner of the cypher plane was confusing and scarce. I would need more time to figure out the weird turn their core civilizations had taken.

"Strange indeed," Ragni said contemplatively. "Then why are they so concerned with the threat of demons?"

"It's simple, really." Finally I was getting to the crux of it all. "Common folk all over human space are holding on to customs and conventions that distance themselves from the threat. They are getting culturally resistant to the idea that demons are something that can be controlled, even by their governments."

"I see. So it's their rulers that don't keep their feet on the hull?"

She had got it right. "Exactly"

If there was anything I had learned from all the history books that were gifted to me, it was that centralized governmental entities were late to catch on to what the common folk knew. Those that swam in the spirits of their governments could only see whatever kept said spirits on a stable path. And that meant anything that gave them power was fair game, risks be damned.

"But lots of people think ordination could make their lives easier and more 'neutral'—whatever that means. So the Kayaalid rulers indulge them by building a communication mesh free of demons. Some systems of the Kayaalid Inner Sphere even have the citizens carry around personal ordinators. Or so the Levtomani say."

Ragni visibly recoiled. Even Salukam, who already knew this, made a sour expression. They would be horrified at Becca's world where everybody had their eyes glued to a screen if they could get away with it. Would they believe if I said the only dangers back in forgotten times were scammers, malware, and constant surveillance?

"Are those Inner Sphere Levtomani circles still active?"

"Many circles appear to have broken up," Salukam said. "There are a few who keep clandestine contact through the, uh, old cypher plane, but that becomes more difficult as time goes on."

"I see. Do they want to expand this policy to cover the outer systems like Graedalir? Could this be part of the reason the separatist movement came about?"

I continued my explanation. "Many polities here were actually in favor of the new communication mesh. I don't know how the opposing powers overtook them but their propaganda makes the new mesh out to be a tool of oppression, and from what we've seen they might be right. The Greater Kayaalid Prosperity Sphere as it is now looks too centralized for its size and would naturally want the power of ordination to keep the order." This touched upon a side of history that was darker even than the demonic surges. Many governing bodies that sought to preserve themselves eventually gave in to terrible forms of totalitarianism that could only be upheld by the cold calculations of ordinating spirits. These dystopias would most often collapse soon after, having become so unsuitable to human wellbeing that life expectancies and population growths plummeted. The ones that avoided the fall of those statistics were true hells. Outsiders could barely recognize what lived there as human. If there was one mercy it would be that it rarely happened after the first great demon surge. Remembering the spirit that moved those that governed towards turning their polities into nightmares, many voidbound peoples came to refer it as 'the King of Sorrow'.

"Are they not afraid of the consequences when the demons finally breach into their pristine untouched mesh?"

"Hm." She had a point. "It would fit the pattern." In my mind I began to see the hubris and consequent fall. Institutions built around crystaline ordinators would be rendered useless. With nothing else to fall back upon their interconnected societies would grind to a halt. And then what? The gears of civilization would have to be replaced and started anew.

"None of our concern," I concluded, leaning back with my eyes closed. "We're just passing through."

I got startled by a light swat on the top of my head. Opening my eyes towards Ragni I gave her a questioning look. Did she think it mattered after all?

"Your sisters would disagree," she said. "All history is important."

I grumbled. "That's what you say."

"Not just me."

"There was an aphorism in one of my books that went: 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'. But if anything I feel the only thing I've learned from history is that no one learns from history." I could trust my all too human crew to never bother looking to see where those words could be found. With sixty avatars I was the only one with the leisure to read all my books. Hooray for being a marvel of technology.

Ragni gave me a peculiar look. Was it pity? "You'll live long enough to be wrong."

Her particular wording struck me. "'Live long enough to be wrong..'?" There was something ominous in there. I was functionally immortal, wasn't I? What could creep up on me as I kept living out this new life of mine?

"Aaahhh!!!" I banished the budding terror with a cry. "All right! I will learn the meaning of history." Puffing up my cheek I looked away from Ragni and Salukam. "I'll have the time, right?"

"Uh..." A wavering, neglected voice regained its presence. "For what it's worth, I have my faith in you, Ship."

"Thank you, Salukam." Ragni answered for me. "Since we're on the topic, would this be a good opportunity to pour libations for her?"

"If you insist, ma'am."

Seemed Ragni realized how much Salukam's report was in reality a collaborative effort. It was a bit of a relief to me she didn't think he had copied my homework, so to speak. Still, this looked like her way of getting him to respect my contribution.

"Take your place, Shishi."

Oh, of course. I had to be seated on my taboret for this ritual to be proper. She knew I didn't care for that.

"Too much of a bother to get back on there," I said, probing to see if she was in a mood for a change in protocol. "Just let me sit here with the two of you."

"It would look disgraceful on our end if we strayed away from what our predecessors established."

An appeal to tradition. I could counter that.

"It was Uvognerom who said over time even rituals must ch—"

"Not today. Today you will be an examplary Vugni and observe the ritual."

Overwhelmed by her force of authority I hung my head and stood up. "Yes, ma'am." Over the span of a heart beat I wondered if this was what a mother was supposed to be like and concluded it had to be. I did not dislike it.