Michael Brachman's Blog: Tales of the Vuduri, page 158

Why Dara? Why a moon at all?

In the world of Rome's Revolution, why did the Vuduri build a star-base on the moon Dara which was in orbit around the gas giant called Skyler's World? In fact, why was it called Skyler's World for any reason?

The "Skyler's World" appellation was taken from a street in Kankakee, IL called Schulyer's Ave. No particular reason and no particular meaning assigned to the name. But why build a starbase on a moon? Why not build an orbital platform? The reason is so simplistic, it gets lost in the furor which is the rest of the story. The purpose of the star-base was to run missions into space and place equipment in orbit until incomprehensibly large instruments were in place. The interferometer they built had an effective diameter of almost 10 light hours across. But why not build the star-base on Skyler's (or Schuyler's) World?

The answer is very simple. The gravity on Skyler's World was over three times that of Earth. So trying to build a base there was impractical. But building a base in orbit was equally impractical since humans work better with some gravity. While Dara was not ideal, it did have gravity and it did have an atmosphere. The Vuduri did not consider the presence of an atmosphere as a problem. They were so used to aero-braking as a method of atmospheric re-entry that this did not even fit into the equation. The fact that the atmosphere was unbreathable was irrelevant because in orbit there would be no atmosphere anyway.

So it all comes down to gravity. Dara offered some, not too much, and Skyler's World offered excessive gravity, untenable. A moon is a moon. It isn't ideal but it's something. So thank you Dara.

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More selected Vuduri phrases, Part 3, Rome's Revolution

By the time I got to Part 3 of the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, I had cut way back on the amount of Vuduri that is spoken. The fact is that once Rei learned to speak fluent Vuduri, I felt it was no longer necessary to burden you, the reader, with having to translate the phrases. If Rei was able to understand what they were saying, you could understand it. So this final piece is much shorter than the previous two just because we knew better:

Garecei Ti Essessoni -- Killer Generation
Som, bir qua rezei? -- Yes, what is the reason?
Onsiras -- Raiders (secret society)
I qua fica vaz? -- What did you do?
I qua a ub? -- What is happening?
Ume mulhar andriu a tavocoandas mau bolidi a au -- A woman came and knocked out my pilot and me
Ale esseldeti am nefas asbecoeos te -- She hijacked one of the spacecraft
Mandasurte -- Mind-deaf
I qua a, mau emir? -- What is bothering you, my love?
Vuduri, bir vefir -- In Vuduri, if you please
Tasancetaeti -- Unleashed (uncontrolled)
Monhe nemirete -- My girlfriend
Am qua mas a qua a? -- What month is it?
Tiomas, darcaore samene -- Tiomas (Second month), third week
Juoz -- Judge/Arbiter
Asdiu Oronus -- I am Oronus
Fica bita veler am Vuduri -- You can speak in Vuduri
Asdiu dei valoz am cinhaca-li -- I am so happy to meet you
Filder ei lergi -- Move back
Quari brofecoteta -- I want privacy
Quenti a qua bissi fa-le? -- How long will it be?
Conci monudis -- Five minutes
Cesa -- Married
Ceoxei -- Coffin
Lulei -- Luau
Aleha -- Aloha
Ormei -- Brother
Silucei Vonel -- The Final Solution
Masdre Andoteta Logice -- Master Logical Entity (MASAL)
Onalu -- Town near former site of Honolulu
Berlis Harbor -- Pearl Harbor
Onclare -- Uncle

More selected Vuduri phrases, Part 2, Rome's Revolution

Yesterday, I gave you selected Vuduri phrases as related to the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, Part 1. Today I will give you selected phrases from Part 2. Once again, in a strange way, these phrases almost give you a synopsis of the middle third of the book:

Fiu veler ebanes am Vuduri -- I will speak only in Vuduri
Qua a ala? -- What is it?
Qua asde onti sipra -- What is going on?
Nei he nanhume croence equo -- We have no children here
I qua sei fica qua vez equo? -- What are you doing here?
A bir qua fica taoxiu ta vuncoiner asse ciose equo? -- And why do you bring this ship here?
Fonti brante-ma -- Hold me
Iprogeti essom muodi dimenti cuoteti tale -- Thank you so much taking care of her
Fica a muodi pam-fonti -- You are very welcome
A ume mulhar pie -- She is a good woman
Essom muodi virda -- So very strong
Au taoxe-li-ao sizonhi bere egire. -- I will leave you alone for now
Dite bere e toraode -- It will be all right
This is the bottle you described -- Asde a e gerreve qua fica tascrafau
Ta-i egire? -- Do you want this now?
I qua a onfilfoti? -- What is involved?
Barogisi bere ancindrer-sa am um cembi ti farmon -- It is dangerous to lie in a field full of vermin
Quam sei fica? -- Who are you?
Au asdiu dandenti cimacer ei anclefa ei nirda -- I am trying to get to the enclave to the north
Sei fica Ibbrassati? -- Do you know the Ibbrassati?
Au fom bere sue croence -- I have come for your child
Ta-ma sue croence -- Give me your child
Mea, au essusdetis -- Mother, I am frightened
Fica taoxe sau sizonhi -- You leave her alone
Ossi da pim, baby -- That was good, baby
Racirte-ma? -- Remember me?
Quam sei asdas bifis? -- Who are your people?
Au driuxa-i meos Erklirte -- I am one of the Arklords
Erklirte raelmanda eldi, raelmanda voni. -- The Arklords are inside, they are fine.
Nis veramis axema ta fica tandri -- You can see for yourself inside
Inta asde Rome? -- How is Rome?
Barmenacau edres bere dar i papa -- She stayed behind to have the baby
Dafa qua dirner e raunor i samanda bere cinsarfer sue fote. -- She had to reconnect to the samanda to save the child.
Amodorem-ma evesdeti -- They took me away
Cebodei Keller quar mercher hija e nioda. -- Captain Keller wants to march tonight.
Cim saus meos malhiras ludetiras. -- With your best fighters.
Asde onti edecer i cesdali ne menhe. -- They are going to attack the castle in the morning.
Cebodei Keller todi nei edaeroe vigi ei bromaori dori -- Captain Keller said he will not fire the first shot
Sa ascuderam e rezei, nei hefare nanhume guarre -- If they listen to reason, there will be no war
He nete qua nis bitamis vezar? -- There is nothing we can do?
Drege bir vefir bere vire tequalas racoboandas cim is losdres emeralis -- Please bring out those containers with the yellow stripes
Drede-sa ta iudre ciose. -- It is something else.
Nei sa drede ta um nefoi ta guarre -- It is not a warship
Drede-sa ta um rapicetir -- It is a tug
Nei oncantoi eonte -- Do not fire yet
Cimi a osdi bissofal? -- How is this possible?
I qua asde onti sipra equo? -- What is going on here?
Cimi a mau vezar ti nadi? -- How is my grandson doing?
Fica sepa qua nis damis qua cimacer e belefre bere dres loger e darre sipra dite e asde -- You know that we have to start building the foundation and send all this to the Earth
Bir qua fica dam qua or bere dres loger e Darre, monhe volhe? -- Why do you have to go back to the Earth, my daughter?
Fica tafa etfardor e Darre -- You should warn the Earth
E pedele ta asdrales je cimaciu. -- The battle for the stars has begun.
Som, qua? -- Yes, what?
Eche qua ala asde mirdi? -- Do you think it is dead?
Sare qua ossi sognovoce qua ala genhiu? -- Does this mean that he has won?
Nei sa drede meos ta -- They are no more
Muodi asdrenhi -- Very strange

More selected Vuduri phrases, Part 1, Rome's Revolution

As explained in my very first post, Vuduri is a made up language stemming from Portuguese followed by a vowel and consonant substitution. In the original long form of Rome's Revolution, there was a lot more Vuduri spoken. Many of my early readers thought there was too much so I had to scale it back. But here is the original Vuduri to English dictionary for Part 1 of Rome's Revolution. In a strange way, it sort of gives a synopsis to the story:

Ala nei bita cimbraantar fica -- He does not understand you
Fica dare qua veler cim e sue fiz -- It would be therapeutic for you to talk with your voice
Fonti cim nis -- Come with us
Halli. Au siu Rome -- Hello. I am Rome.
Ver-ma-e axema ta um shird quenti bere etquoror sue longue -- It will take me a short while to acquire your language.
Nei ma vere axema ta um dambi lingi -- It will not take me a long time
Fertetaori -- True
Voas -- Faith
Bridaone -- Protein
Volma -- Movies (motion pictures)
I Cimaci -- The Beginning, former site of Lisbon
Pindi ponch trensodi -- Pinch point transit (PPT)
IMCOM, axbloqua bir vefir -- OMCOM, please explain
Garecei Ti Essessoni -- Killer Generation (Rei’s generation)
Samanda -- Seed – group of minds forming Overmind
Cesdiud -- Cast out (disconnected)
Asborodi Cimponeti -- Compatible spirits (soul mates)
Inta asde i Ifarmonte? -- Where is the Overmind?
Asde le -- It is there
Au bansi qua fica a nei meos lingi cinacdeti -- I think you are no longer connected
Taoxa-ma sizonhi -- Leave me alone
Licenca -- Go away
Seoe -- Leave (exit)
Taoxa-ma bere dres tandri -- Let me back inside
Saus bansemandis deondat -- Your thoughts are tainted
Fica vio Cesdiud -- You have been cast out
Au nei bissi sar -- It cannot be
Fica tafa taoxer-ma bere dres on -- You must let me back in immediately
Wa nei bita barmodor ossi -- We cannot allow this
Asde toscussei a ifar -- This discussion is over
Sues belefres varorem nisses iralhes -- Your words are hurting my ears
Fica pesderti! -- You bastard!
Estar a icubete ni Algol racubarer tetis ta saus onsdrumandis -- Estar is occupied on the Algol retrieving data from its instruments
Bem ta muito -- In a bit
Fica banse qua i dambi a tovaranda equo? -- You think that time does not flow the same?
Vela i onglas -- Speak in english
Nei cimbraanta Vuduri -- He does not understand Vuduri
Au danhi-i -- I have it
Laodures ti rapiqua? -- Can you read the trail?
Equala a diti le a -- That is the whole of it
Quendi dambi? -- How long?
Dras enis -- Three years
Drensmode onsdrucias bere rapicer um -- Send instructions to ready a tug
Cimbraantoti -- Understood
Au asdiu ni emir -- I am in love
Au asdiu ni emir cim fica -- I am in love with you too
Egeba, estirga, volia, aris and emir -- Love (Vuduri have 5 words for love)
Cimi rebotemanda? -- How quickly?
Cimi tosdenda? -- How far?
Nei bita sar -- It cannot be
Ossi nei a barmodoti -- This is not permitted
Fica sepa equala -- You know that
Nei he nete dachniligocel ombatonti i syndhasozar ti mamrin bere etocoiner am ume pimpe ta Casimir -- There is nothing technological preventing the memron fabricators from adding in a Casimir pump
Fica sepa qua nis nei bitamis vezar equala -- You know that we can not do that
I corcuodi ti cei ta guerte? -- The circuit that stands guard (watchdog)?
Tasancetaeti -- Unleashed (unlimited power)
Au siu darmoneti -- I stop here
IMCOM, menta-is braberer um rapiqua -- OMCOM, please prepare the tug
Lencemandi ei wefavrind -- Launch to the wavefront
Racinhacoti -- Acknowledged
Ume hire -- One hour
Au asdiu brindi -- I am ready
Fe etoenda -- Look below
Nei a bissofal -- It is not possible
Fe bere dres -- Go in reverse
Rome, au quos ebanes tasajer-lha e sirda pie -- Rome, I just wanted to wish you good luck
Iprogeti, I masmis e fica. -- Thank you, the same to you.

Rei's sonar "vision"

As you are well aware, toward the end of Part 1 of Rome's Revolution, Rei Bierak was given a yellow pill to fix his back pain. OMCOM "forgot" to mention to Rei that there were to be other side effects. One of the changes in Rei's body was the creation of an EM-based "cellphone" in his head which allowed Rei to communicate first with MINIMCOM the later with Rome over long distances.

Another effect was that a neural net connected Rei's auditory cortex to his visual cortex and created another mechanism for Rei to "see" even in complete darkness. This is actually superior to the method of echolocation used by bats. Bats have an advanced auditory cortex which produces the findings they need to locate and ingest insects which are their primary source of food.

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OMCOM wired Rei's brain so that this sonar-vision would only kick in when Rei's eyes were closed. In fact, in the cane-tree woods of Deucado, that was when Rei first discovered he had this new power. It allowed him to detect the Deucadons moving through the woods even hidden by their invisibility cloaks. He later use this power to help himself and Rome race down the lava tube within Kilauea in the pitch black. It also allowed Rei to discover the hidden chamber which eventually led to uncovering MASAL's lair.

The one downside of this, of course, is that it would prevent Rei from ever sleeping. As soon as he closed his eyes, his sonar-vision would kick in and he would "see" as well as if his eyes were open. Luckily, OMCOM thought this through and Rei's sonar-vision only kicks in when his head is upright at higher than a 45 degree angle. When he lays down, even when his eyes close, the sonar-vision remains off and he can sleep peacefully.

Analog vs. Digital Computers

In both the long-form and the modern version of Rome's Revolution, OMCOM sets up the final battle with MASAL deep within the bowels of Kilauea. At one point, OMCOM and MASAL have this exchange:

“You!” said MASAL, addressing OMCOM. “You digital dolt. Your VIRUS units. I have seen your design. They cannot operate in an oxygen atmosphere.”
“Well, you analog antique, these are different. We had these special ones made just for you,” said OMCOM’s livetar.

What did MASAL mean by this? Why digital dolt? Why analog antique?

It turns out that the design of MASAL was patterned using the remains of the Erklirte (Ark Lords) computer found within the Ark V. The computer within was analog, not digital. The mission planners did extensive risk analysis of long-term exposure to vacuum, cold and radiation and came to the conclusion that a multiply-redundant analog computer would be more likely to still be functional after several hundred years when compared to a digital computer.

Of course, once MASAL had duped the Vuduri and introduced the 24th chromosome into the human population, it was his analog nature that allowed him to merge with the newly formed Overmind. Ultimately, the two entities had to separate and this led to The Robot War.

After the war was over and MASAL seemingly destroyed, the Vuduri swore they would never allow this to happen again. Research and development led to the re-invention of digital computers. OMCOM was simply the most recent version but even if he ever got access to Casimir Pumps, he still could not merge or attempt a takeover of any Overmind because his makeup was completely incompatible.

Is any of this real? Are there really analog computers in our world? The answer is absolutely. You can read a short article about them. It turns out that while digital computers are completely pervasive in our society, there will always be a place for analog computers simply because they are faster and better suited for certain tasks. Interestingly, many of those applications are simulations of biological processes which is precisely why MASAL attempted his takeover in the first place.

300 and still going strong!

Yesterday's post was my 300th in this series. Wow. The amazing thing is that I feel I have just scratched the surface of the underlying physics and sociology of the Rome's Revolution universe.

Worldbuilding is tough stuff. You have to think everything through. Two simple examples are a) what would it be like to have other people looking inside your head all the time and b) what would the implications be of having free and unlimited power?

You kind of have to put your mind into those spaces and just think about everyday life. Then the revelations start to trickle in and eventually becomes a torrent. Little things like Jack Henry's men not having razors means all the males would have beards. The length of their beard would give you some indication of how old they were. In The Ark Lords, I had to add things about one guy with a peach fuzz beard and another whose beard was so long, he had to wrap it in a ponytail. The fact that he was mostly bald made his head look upside down.

There is so much more to tell. I am trying to follow the pages of the original long-form of Rome's Revolution and sharing with you my thought processes of why things went into certain scenes. Kind of like a director's narrative on a DVD. But as happens all too often, I go off on a tangent and then it ends up being an extra post or an extra week's worth of posts.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this series. I don't have any plans to ease up. At this point, having a full year's worth of blog entries is within reach so I certainly won't put my foot on the brakes until then.
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Thanks for reading these entries. I will keep going.

Mike

Genuine Time Travel

Will time travel ever be invented? I say no. Think about it. If it were invented in 10 years or 50 years or a thousand years, wouldn't there be time travelers wandering about in our time? Could they possibly be so good that none of them have been discovered? I know that absence of proof is not the same of proof of absence but in this case, wouldn't it apply?

For the past year, I have been referring to Legal Time Travel as an important element of the Rome's Revolution universe. It is my belief that you cannot travel into the past and change the timeline. It is the old grandfather paradox. You go into the past and kill your grandfather before your father was conceived. Therefore your father was never born and you were never born so you don't exist, so you cannot travel into the past and kill your grandfather.

Some people have worked their way around this by postulating a "self-correcting" timeline. I think Doctor Who uses this approach. Others say you could just spawn a new timeline. Your old one would cease to exist but you would now be in a new timeline. This is the multiverse theory.

But say that somebody does invent a time machine. You step into it just like Rod Taylor or Guy Pearce did in the movies. Say that it is October 22, 2073 at 11:45:00 AM. You go into the future, tool around for a while and then come back. As long as you don't come back past October 22, 2073 at 11:45:00 AM you should be OK because you haven't altered the past from your perspective. What about the future? Who cares? That was just one possible timeline. Nothing says you couldn't go forward again and find a completely different timeline. Gather up the stock tips, though, just in case.

So if you can't tell, I am now reversing my position. I am now saying time travel is possible. I will stick to my axiom, though, that you cannot go past the "present" whatever that means from your perspective. So that explains why we haven't seen any time travelers from the future running around our time nor will we ever. If they exist, they can never go farther back from when they left.

People in the future must live a precarious existence. Imagine if a person from the past comes forward in time and gathers knowledge then returns to "their" present. By definition, you have changed the timeline and your existence must cease. There may be another copy of you, maybe not, but regardless, you disappear. So Bruce and I decided that people of the future must kill a person from the past instantly so they cannot return to their own time. The rule of the future: All Pastees must die!

Positron Micrography

In the first part of Rome's Revolution, after Rome has received the go-ahead to produce star-probes and later VIRUS units, OMCOM uses positron micrography to visualize the extremely small elements being produced. Why positron micrography? Why not electron micrography? Let's go back a step. What the heck is a positron, anyway?

Everybody knows the nucleus of an atom is composed of neutrons, protons and electrons. However, that is ordinary matter. There is another substance, very exotic, called anti-matter. So an anti-electron is called a positron. Whenever matter comes in contact with anti-matter, both particles are annihilated with a tremendous release of energy.

It is this very property that gives positron microscopes their tremendous focusing power. By aiming positrons at molecules, they come in contact with electrons and obliterate them and give you a detailed image of the molecular structure of an object utilizing the energy release.

Why are these devices higher resolution than electron microscopes? For the very reason stated above. Atoms contain electrons and if you beam electrons at something, they bounce off or dislodge other electrons and the resulting image, while very high resolution, has an inherent probabilistic diffusion. There is no such confusion with positrons as they do not exist in nature. At least in our universe.

These devices really exist. The first working prototype was developed at the University of Michigan (my alma mater) in 1988. Since then other research centers have developed them and possession of such devices no longer raise eyebrows. Positron microscopes are especially useful in the examination of living, biological samples. Cell walls are particularly resistant to other imaging techniques because of the presence of lipids and other complex molecules. Positrons don't care. They get to where they are going, annihilate their sister electrons and signal their place with a burst of energy.

Since memrons straddle the line between living organisms and inert materials, the positron microscope seemed to be an ideal fit as an imaging device. Not to mention it is way cooler sounding than other devices.

Lupe Bierak

Lupe Bierak, conceived during Rome's training session in the novel Rome's Evolution, is the most unusual girl in the world, perhaps the universe. Her mother is a mosdurece (half-blood) Vuduri woman named Rome. She has the normal 23 chromosome set as does all homo sapiens. However, Rome also has an additional chromosome, number 24, which she inherited from her mother. Rome also received an artificial chromosome, number 25, when she ingested a yellow pill created by OMCOM. This chromosome, too, became part of Lupe's genetic structure. Rome was also injected by the Vuduri on Deucado with a second version of the 24th chromosome. Rome was also injected with a third copy on Earth when she was kidnapped by Estar. Thus Lupe was born with three sets of the 24th chromosome.

Lupe has all the advanced characteristics of her mother including complex optics, a second internal iris and has a fully functional PPT resonance. She also inherited her father Rei's Essessoni build, Rei's sonar-vision and the EM-based "cell-phone" in the head shared by both of his parents. Her PPT resonance is so powerful, she was considered mankind's best hope for first contact with aliens using any means available for communication.

However, as unusual and powerful as Lupe appears to be, she grew up in the shadow of her "perfect" brother Aason. The only way that Lupe could carve out the attention she craved was to act naughty. Her mother knew she was going to be a brat, even before she was born. But she was a brat that her parents loved and her brother adored.

Lupe never missed an opportunity to tease her brother or manipulate yet Aason never held it against her. Lupe was Lupe and that's all there is to it.

As the daughter of an Essessoni, Lupe acquired a good measure of her father Rei's height. She towered over her mother at 5 foot 6 inches by age 16. She was destined to reach 5 foot 10 inches before she was kidnapped by the Creatures of Light. Her fate is up in the air. To find out what happens to her, you will have to read the upcoming novel The Milk Run which should be out early in 2014 AD.