Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 155

Happy Vuduri Thanksgiving

As mentioned in a previous post, in the world of Rome's Revolution, the Vuduri do not celebrate holidays like we do. The only holiday officially celebrated is Poor Tamas and that is only observed by the mandasurte.

So what's with that? Can a culture survive without any celebrations, any remembrances of the past? What about the end of The Robot War? What about the victory of Hanry Ta Jihn over The Ark Lords? How about the day that Aason Bierak, along with his mother Rome and his father Rei saved the Earth from the Stareaters? How about the day that Rome and Rei saved all the people of the Earth by destroying Virus Strain 5? How about the day they vaporized MASAL beneath Kilauea? How about the day they conquered the remaining forces of the Onsiras as depicted in Rome's Evolution?

The Bieraks, a blend of chromosomes, cultures and eras, have single-handedly created a series of days worthy of celebration by any people. So today, on Thanksgiving, I would like to thank them for the fantasies they have brought us and the hope for a bright, albeit far too exciting, future.

Since you should be with your family instead of reading this blog, I will keep it short. Happy Thanksgiving to all and thanks for sticking with this thing.

Mike

The Stareaters

Way back when I first wrote VIRUS 5, the encounter with the Stareater was the climax of the entire book. It is still an important part of Rome's Revolution but it is no longer the be all and end all of the series.

For the longest time, I tried to keep it a secret. In fact, even when I decided to write the second book of the VIRUS 5 series, I renamed the first one VIRUS 5: Asdrale Cimatir which is the Vuduri word for Stareater in an attempt to obscure the "villain".

This obfuscation extended in a variety of dimensions. Here is the original logo:

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You can see it is a stylized version of a Stareater getting ready to consume a star. Even my immeasurably talented brother Bruce's first version of the paperback obscured the identity of the Stareater. Here is the original compared side by side to the current version:

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So you can see I am no longer hiding the fact that the Stareater is coming. In fact, the book trailer "stars" the Stareater. If you haven't seen it yet, click on the link and check it out.

Anyway, I am not trying to keep the Stareater's identity a secret. I am not tipping my hand as to their origin or purpose but since it is no longer the critical element of the series, I may as well use its "coolness" as a selling point.

The Samanda

What is a Samanda? The word itself means "seed" in Vuduri but that is only a loose translation. It was first introduced in Rome's Revolution. Rome attempted to explain the word to Rei:

     “When people go to our star colonies, if they are going to live there permanently, they must join the Overmind there, a new samanda. There are a lot of politics…”
     “What’s a samanda?” Rei asked.
     “A seed,” Rome replied. “It is the point of origin of your Overmind. Our samanda is Earth. So even though we are here, when we go back, we will be able to rejoin the Overmind of Earth without reprogramming. We do not have enough people to form a permanent colony. This is not the case on other worlds. They each have their own Overminds. If you go to another world but do not join the samanda, you cannot be part of the Overmind there.”
     “What happens?” Rei asked. “What happens to your connection if you don’t join?”

Rome had no answer. In her experience, this had never happened. The Vuduri crave insertion into the Overmind, any Overmind regardless of how different it is. And they are different. Once a new samanda forms, we have seen the Overmind that develops has its own unique personality. By my count, there are currently three major Overminds: Earth, Helome, Deucado plus MASAL's Sipre seen briefly at the end of Rome's Evolution.

Yesterday, we saw that Rome referred to herself and Rei as their own samanda and she was right. They formed a entity which was more than the sum of the parts. Their final words on the subject:

Rei sighed. “My beautiful, sweet Rome. You’re right. It doesn’t matter where we go. We could never be truly apart.”
“That is why I say we are our own samanda.”

When Aason and Lupe came along, they joined this mini-samanda. It's a beautiful thing. Think of it as the ultimate nuclear family.

How did the Espansor Bands change their brains?

The Espansor Bands have figured prominently in Rome's Revolution since the beginning. They were an important part of the original VIRUS 5, the long-form version of Rome's Revolution and the modern version.

The bands themselves are purely electromagnetic in nature and just extremely sensitive versions of an EEG plus a pulsed magnetic driver. They sense brain waves and stimulate portions of the brain with a positive feedback loop. They are intended to be nothing more than walkie-talkies inside the head. They were helpful to the Vuduri, especially the ones who could not speak, to communicate with the mandasurte. They also allowed the Vuduri to learn to communicate with animals.

However, they were never supposed to be anything more than that. So why did they have such an incredible effect on Rei and Rome and Binoda and Fridone before that? And what did they do to them? Rome tried to explain:

     “What about Aason, though? Is he part of this?” Rei asked.
     “Yes and no,” Rome said, rubbing her tummy lightly. “You were very kind to never ask me, even once, how it was that I let myself get pregnant.”
     “Well, you told me that Vuduri women control when they ovulate. So I just figured it was your decision.”
     “No, it was not my plan,” Rome said. “I have been changed. You have changed me, my physiology.”
     “How?”
     “The bands, they are not…read-only, as you say. They are interactive.”
     “I know that,” Rei said. “I get to live in your memories. I know everything there is to know about you.”
     “It is more than that,” said Rome. “For us, the bands do more. How it happened for us is not their normal function. They have altered our neural pathways. We are…imprinted on each other. We are bound in a way that others never get to experience. It can only be for Asborodi Cimponeti.”

But the effects of the bands go even deeper than Rome realized. Rei's mind became more alert, more active, and reminiscent of the movie Charlie or Phenomenon. It also made Rome more intuitive since many of Rei's cultural ideas were planted deep within her psyche even when she didn't fully realize it.

In the end, their experiences with the bands made Rei and Rome a system which was more capable of solving problems that any person or any couple in the history of mankind.

Death and Cesdiud

Yesterday, we discussed death in space and why they had an apartment available for Rei in the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution. Rome was able to articulate a little bit more to Rei right after that:

     “Were these people that died part of the Overmind?” Rei asked.
     “Of course,” Rome replied.
     “So what happens to their…I don’t know, their thoughts, their soul? When somebody dies, I mean. Are you, the Overmind, listening in?”
     Rome went blank for a moment. She frowned then looked up a Rei.
     “It is not a topic which we like to discuss,” she said quietly.
     “Please. Tell me,” Rei asked plaintively.
     She frowned and shook her head no.
     “No? You won’t tell me?”
     “Oh no, that was not for you. I am in communication with the Overmind. It says this discussion should end.”
     “Why? Why can’t you tell me?” Rei asked.
     “You are…” Rome took a deep breath. “You are Garecei Ti Essessoni, from before the Great Dying. The Overmind thinks we should keep apart from your kind. It does not want you in that arena. It does not want you enmeshed in our culture. And you are mandasurte. The Overmind and most Vuduri find it uncomfortable to be around mandasurte.”

While she did not realize it, Rome was about to join the ranks of mandasurte herself. Rome likened being cast out, called Cesdiud in Vuduri to dying:

     “Sometimes, it happens…it is a birth defect. Sometimes…” She stopped speaking and put her hand up to her forehead, covering one eye and held it there for several seconds. From the way she tightened her shoulders, it was clear to Rei that she was in pain. She took her hand off her head and peered into Rei’s eyes intently. She took a deep breath and said, “Sometimes the Overmind stops the resonance.”
     “Why would it do that?” Rei could feel himself being sucked down the path of confusion again.
     “If someone thinks wrong thoughts, bad thoughts…OMCOM is telling me that your word for this condition would be ‘insane’, the Overmind has to remove them from compromising the whole. They are Cesdiud,” Rome said quietly.
     “What is that? Cest what?” Rei asked.
     “Cesdiud,” Rome replied. “Cast out.”
     “Wow,” Rei said, “like, like cutting out a cancer?”
     “Yes.” Rome said. “And sometimes, if a person is dying and in great pain, they are Cesdiud as well.”
     Rei shook his head. “What happens to the person? When they are cut off from the Overmind?”
     “Oh, my…” Rome said. “We do not think about such things. I have never really considered this from a personal perspective. We live our lives connected. If it were permanent, it would be very bad, very lonely.”
     “So, then that seems kind of harsh,” Rei observed. “You take a person who is dying and cut them off from the very thing that brings them comfort?”
     “That is the way it is,” Rome said. “If a person is connected to the Overmind when they die, they sometimes think very unpleasant things.”
     “Do you know?” Rei asked. “Like when the people died here? Did you hear them?”
     “No,” Rome said. “It was handled.”
     “So they were cut off?”
     Rome did not answer.

It doesn't sound very pleasant to be in the Overmind when people die. In the end, I think we're all better off for Rome's journey toward liberating the living.

Death in space

Everybody knows it is dangerous to go up into space. The astronauts of Apollo 1 died in the capsule and they never even took off. The Challenger disaster happened 73 seconds after takeoff. Everyone aboard the Columbia died upon reentry.

Death is a part of life, or so says Rome in the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution. The mission planners for the Ark program knew that people were going to die during the long journey so they sunk their money into the sarcophagi instead of the Ark II. We got to see some of the dead bodies in Rome's Evolution during Rei and Rome's trip back to The Cathedral.

When Rei got to Tabit, he was given an apartment of his own. This confused him because it made no sense that the Vuduri would build "extra" apartments 26 light years from Earth. Here is Rome's explanation from the original VIRUS 5 novel:

     “How is it that you had a spare apartment for me?" Rei asked. “Surely you weren’t expecting any guests way out here. Why build more than you need?”
     “We did not build more than we needed,” Rome said somberly. “We have had a few, eh, accidents. We have lost three people since we got here. In fact, the apartment you are in belonged to a man who just died less than one day ago.”
     “What!?” Rei said, doing a double-take. “And you put me in there? Isn’t that a little ghoulish?”
     “I am not sure what you mean. Accidents happen,” Rome said. “Death happens. It is all part of life. We cannot stop what we are doing just because a person died.”
     “Oh,” Rei said, the implication sinking in. “Well, still then. I’m sorry.”
     “Do not be,” Rome replied. “It was expected.”
     “Expected? What do you mean expected?” Rei asked. “If you knew people were going to die, why didn’t you prevent it?”
     “We did not know how they were going to die,” Rome explained. “Only that they were going to die. Accidental death is an actuarial hazard of being in space. Of this place.”
     “Oh…” Rei pondered this for a bit. “Still, Rome, that seems kind of cold.”
     “It is unavoidable,” said Rome. “We do our absolute best to prevent accidents, but they still occur. The person that died last evening was crushed by a cargo pallet that tipped over during a tremor. Before that, two others suffocated when one of the airlocks malfunctioned. We have been fortunate that no fatal accidents have occurred other than those.”

Later, I "borrowed" the death by shelving in one of the extra murder attempts on Rei's life. Sheesh, space is dangerous enough without people trying to kill you on purpose!

Who are the Suduri?

Within the world of Rome's Revolution much is made about the Vuduri and the Vuduri culture. The Vuduri are very cold and suppress their emotions, even original thought. This is because the Overmind is always watching and there is no privacy of thought. They have no religion, no culture in the artistic sense and can be likened more to ants than to caring human beings.

We know humans have feelings. We see within Rome this clearly evident and even within Binoda. So there is a desire to experience the right brain but it is suppressed. Has it always been this way? Did the Vuduri go from caring, regular human beings to the cold and insensitive people we meet the moment they acquired the 24th chromosome?

The answer is no. The day after most of the people gained the 24th chromosome, they were pretty much the same as the day before. The Overmind sprung up overnight and when it was first "born" it had no real direction on how it wanted to rule. Most Vuduri allowed the Overmind to gain as much power as it wanted. Some did not. As the Overmind matured and became more invasive, a minority of people objected and wanted to suppress the Overmind altogether.

The populace became more and more polarized. There were the Vuduri who got along and the Suduri who did not. The Suduri were very spiritual, believed in God and Heaven and wanted to live a life enriched by culture and interpersonal relationships which made them enemies of the Overmind. Eventually, the Suduri decided to leave Earth altogether although nobody knows where they went. You may find out two novels from now, tentatively entitled The Last Journey.

My first PhilCon

Last weekend, I attended my first SciFi convention to try and stir up some interest in Rome's Revolution. The convention is called PhilCon because it originated in Philadelphia before migrating to its current home at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, NJ. It is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and takes place in November every year. The first one was held in 1936 so by my calculations, that makes it 77 years and counting.

So what was it like? Did I accomplish my goals? Let's start with what was it like. I had seen science fiction conventions portrayed on TV and in movies as a bunch of costumed people running around acting silly. While there were some costumes, very few people acted silly. I met some members of the PSFS that I knew and some that I did not know. They had an art show, a gaming suite, a Con Suite with some drinks and food and numerous lectures and events.

I met some valuable contacts and have made it my goal to be a participant in some of the panels or workshops next year. I also gained some valuable insights into the psyche of the science fiction Fan. I now realize there is a difference between a fan of science fiction and a science fiction Fan. Fans are similar to tailgaters at a sporting event. The hoopla surrounding the game is sufficient for some people and they aren't even interested in going to see the game. Others enjoy the tailgating but also love the sport itself. There are some people (like me) who never paid attention to tailgating and only cared about the game. I guess this makes me a fan of science fiction and not a Fan.

What about my other goal? Did I garner attention for the Rome's Revolution series? I don't think very much. I think the way to gain attention is to have a vendor booth, selling books and participating in events. Everything else is just noise and my message got lost in the noise.

All in all, I'm glad I went and I will go back next year but I also learned who I am and where I fit in Fandom which isn't much at all.

Why did Aason speak so well, even as a baby?

In the middle part of Rome's Revolution, Rome is reconnected to the Overmind of Deucado and this allows her to speak to Aason, even while he was still in the womb. This part of the book has always been a fan favorite. This is an actual quote from a reviewer on Amazon:

One of the real treasures of the book was "the baby". I fell in love with the baby and his relationship with his mother.

However, not every reader likes this. Here is one reader's comments:

I did have one thing that was difficult to suspend my believe (sic) with. The fact that Rome could talk to Aason and he could communicate back in an adult manor (sic). As a parent myself, communication with a child is difficult at any age. I just would have had a easier time accepting the conversations if the language the baby used was more simplistic and more inquisitive.

Well, the answer is, Aason does not speak at all. He communicates using thoughts. The fact that I translate his thoughts into English uses language controlled by the Overmind.

There is so much I could not put in the book as it was too long to begin with but all Vuduri children are connected to the Overmind from the moment of conception. You will see this again in Rome’s Evolution. Therefore, their mental communication is mediated by the Overmind which has fully developed language skills except it isn’t a language. It is pure thought which I render into English so the reader can experience the dialog. However, if you look closely at the content of the communication, you will see the baby’s thoughts are extremely primitive. This is a rare instance where you must separate the communication channel from the communication itself.

So that's the answer. Go back and look not at how Aason talks but what he actually says. You will see it is very primitive and baby-like. But he does grow up eventually and becomes the hero of The Milk Run which should be ready early in 2014.

Is Winfall real?

I know I made up a lot of stuff for Rome's Revolution including the names of some stars. But what about Winfall? After all, it is this star's disappearance that causes the entire plot of Rome's Revolution to kick into gear.

Well, the name is made up but the star is not. Its actual name is Lambda Aurigae and it is part of the northern constellation of Auriga. It is visible to the naked eye and it is located 41.2 light years from Earth.

I picked this star because it is G1V class, similar to our sun and slightly below the galactic ecliptic. It was just the right distance such that the Vuduri could notice its disappearance but far enough away that whatever caused it to go bye-bye (aka Asdrale Cimatir), there would be enough time to react, observe and take precautions should they be necessary.

Of course the Stareater's mission was to gobble up stars that were going to go nova or supernova and there is certainly no evidence of that happening for Lambda Aurigae. However, its rate of speed through its local region shows it is a visitor from another part of the galaxy and thus makes it somewhat exotic and interesting.

The Kepler mission has not shown any evidence of any planets nor would I want to be because by the time Rome's Revolution takes place, it is gone.

So, the short answer is yes, Winfall is real but by using a fictitious name, I can imbue it with certain properties that make it a player in the drama without having to worry too much about actual facts.