NationStates Jolt Archive

When a civilization becomes advanced enough, the energy output is so high it can’t help but become noticed by Sol. We see no such energy outputs in our telescopes; thus there are none, and no advanced civilizations either.

Such is the mantra of legions of scientists. But they are wrong; they believe that the energy signature of a civilization will grow as the civilization advances. For some civilizations, the reverse is true.

Take the Kyaat for example. Five stars, spread out along merely sixteen light-years of space. Four of those had no inhabitable planets when the Kyaat came, and still don’t. But as the Kyaat expanded to those stars, they became dimmer and dimmer to the observer as legions of solar collectors took off. Eventually, for an observer on Earth, the stars died.

The Kyaat did not. There were less of them now, of course – as a civilization grows in luxury, it’s population growth suffers in return. And so there were five million Kyaat inhabiting stations, artificial planets, and so forth, around the five ‘dead’ stars. They did not care for the world outside, though they knew – their telescopes told them – of the marvelous multiverse out there. They just wanted to satisfy their immediate needs, first.

As the centuries slipped by, the Kyaat achieved untold luxury. They lived forever. Their homes were big enough to dwarf the palaces of Earth’s emperors and kings. They discovered, eventually, that this was so much fun they didn’t really need to go anywhere.

But all things change.

And eventually, Kyarran’ Gargh the 85th, Speaker of the Council, discovered a strange thing.

The population of the Five Worlds of Kyaat was growing again.

But there was no Sixth World. Now, the Kyaat needed a new home.

And so, volunteers were found. In such cases, there always are volunteers – not because there was some form of immediate threat, but because some wanted to see new worlds, new places, and maybe – just maybe – new people.

Sixteen families were sent out.

Of these, fifteen are none of our concern - some were lost in the vast reaches of space, some were raided by pirates, and some, perhaps, are still on their way to unknown stars.

Of interest to us is merely the good ship Myannar Aelestiel. It was crewed by Kelleo and Myannar Aelestiel, and their two children, Lyann and Ryaann Aelestiel.

And it arrived in Sol.
It was a few thousand years of journey that it took them to get there – they spent it all in cryogenic sleep.

But as the ship took them through the Oort Cloud and into the system, they woke up and gathered into the ‘captain’s bridge’ – a room approximately the size of a small dance-hall on Earth, equipped with a vast panoramic screen. It was on this screen that they watched as the solar sail ground the yacht to a slow cruising speed.

The children gasped in awe as the planets of the Solar System came into view.

Woah. They’re so beautiful…

First Law of Extrasolar Operations: Whatever it is, no matter how powerful, something more powerful can be found in the Sol system.

And, well, Solar Sails were just about the hardest form of propulsion to be stealthy with. They tended, by their very nature, to be huge, mirrored, and pointed towards the destination. Out in the Oort cloud, the slow ship was met, courtesy of a small FTL jump, by the Imperial Necrontyr Vessel Meravaid.

Four kilometres in length, the Meravaid was larger than the main body, if not the sail, of the alien vessel. The necron ship shone in the depths of space, and it came to rest a few light seconds from the dorsal portside of the alien vessel.

From: INS Meravaid, Necrontyr Empire.
To: Alien vessel call signed Myannar Aelestiel
Subject: Welcome to the Sol system.

Greetings. You appear to be new here, so we thought we’d drop by and say hello. ‘Hello’ – and welcome to the Sol system. In case you don’t know, this system is by far the most inhabited in the explored universe, with a population of many trillions; if you’re looking for somewhere to colonise, this is probably a bad choice, though we could take you somewhere that’s more useable, if you’re looking for trade, cultural enrichment, or exploration opportunities, you’ve come to the right place.

So, please, do tell us what you’re all about.

<Attached Files: The Sol System; A Newcomer’s Guide, by INS Riissac'a>

“Look Mom! Dad! Ship!” – the sensors of the ship began to swing, focusing on the immense alien vehicle. “How does it move Dad?” – the boy extended his hand towards the large vessel on the screen, that began to turn slowly towards the Myannar. Kelleo shrugged. “I don’t know, Ryann. I think it uses anti-gravity, but it would be anything.”

What really surprised the Kyaat though was not how the necron vessel moved, but how it arrived. They had been able to transport signals through subspace, but not any actual matter. Indeed, it was impossible according to Kyaat physicists – such as for example Myannar, Kelleo’s wife. “Holy… ” – she blinked. “How did it get here? It certainly didn’t teleport!”

“Regardles, Myanna.” – responded Kelleo. “We must respond.”

And as the onboard photography gear took pictures of the tombship in 56 spectra, the response message was sent.

Dear crew of the Meravaid,

We are the Aelestiel family – father Kelleo, mother Myannar, daughter Lyann and son Ryann. We are here partly because we’re looking for new stars for our people – this one obviously is taken – but mostly because we’re curious about other planets, other stars, and other systems. So, if we were on a tour… where should we start?

P.S. Ryann says hi.

Another ship also notices the newcomer, though this one is a newcomer itself.

six kilometers long, and crewed by 30 crew and 50 marines, the Gentec Erinyes class carrier Ultrix Tisiphone is one of Gentecs most formidable ships of the line. It emerges from a wormhole on the edges of the Oort cloud and deploys sensor drones, which fan out and scan the immediate area.

The Kyaat ship's solar sail is not hard to detect, and it arouses the curiosity of the Carriers captain. Since she is unlikely to be able to stay undetected in any case she goes against her initial orders and approaches the ships, preceded by the sensor drones, which gambole around the Kyaat ship like dolphins around a sea vessel.

The Carrier is an irridescent blue elongated spheroid. Its sides are perforated with hundreds of spiracles and it seems to be organic. A living ship.
Its energy levels are quite high, and it moves around using Alcubierre drives, quantum drives which function by distorting space around the ship. These allow FTL travel over interplanetary distances, and do not generate inertia. as such the ship is remarkably agile considering its size.

Most of the interior space is dominated by sets of organs that resemble the egg-laying organ structures in insects, albiet on a far larger scale. The actual crew sections of the ship are small given the ships enormous size.

He opens a channel to the Kyaat ship while the ship itself communicates with the Ctan vessel.

Kyaat:
The voice of the Captain is strong and clear, feminine but still commanding and, in the right context, intimidating.
"Greetings.. are you native to this system? We could not help but notice you used solar sails. there are faster ways to get around the galaxy... Oh, and please dont mind the Orestes, they are playful critters and mostly harmless."
The transmission is set on a band with 2d and 3d visual options. If the family access them it reveals a middle aged woman dressed in a crisp dark blue military uniform. A simple circlet like band that wraps around the back of her head is the only form insignia she wears. She appears to be friendly, but her face is marked by decades of making hard dicisions, and her ramrod straight posture leaves little room for empathy or warmth.
"My name is Átene. Captain of the Gentec Carrier Ultrix Tisiphone."

Meravaid:
By contrast the voice of the ship is a soft purr.. almost sultry. It comes with voice only.
"Greetings. I am Tisiphone, Erinyes class carrier of the Gentec Corporation. We come in peace. I am on my way to rendevous with my charge, who is currently in orbit around jupiter. I hope we are not trespassing?"

Neither transmission is encrypted and so both vessels have access to the transmission intended for the other, and both are transmitted in a variety of languages for ease of translation.

OOC: Just realised how unfriendly sounding that post was lol.. not intentional i assure you.

IC:
Kyaat:
She raises an eyebrow and looks off at somthing outside of the field of view, and then looks back. "Ah.. I apologize if i sound condescending.. I am no diplomat, unfortunately." She smiles wryley. "and im a bit old to be learning new tricks. We are heading to Jupiter, if you would like an escort. Its a gas giant, the fifth planet from the sun."

The Gentec ship remains where it is for a while, waiting for a reply.. however suddenly it begins to pull away and the Orestes withdraw, docking once again with the carrier. A moments pause, and a parting message is sent to both ships.

"Im afraid that orders have just come through.. We are needed elsewhere. Safe travels, Myannar."

And with that, it dissapears.

The Highest Level is a big ship. It is designed as guard not that far of the Home of Many and needs strong sensors, which took most of its room. The Highest level of course did not fail to see the ship, which approached. It was big enough to be seen over quite a distance. The Uploadees noted that for some strange reason the standard language was understood (and realized that they are apparently just another one-level-communication species). However they apprently differed in almost anything else from the Uploadees. The ship is bot only bigger than the Highest Level but about one thousand times bigger. A sip like this could be used to transport one Uploaded civilisation and have spare room Kmemtra, the administrator of this ship (a ship is just another form of a server, for the Uploadees) and the rest of the crew decided to call them. It would surely be enlighting and inspiring for both sides.

From the scene of the virtual reality, Kmemtra likes to be in (a forrest like it used to exist on centersol) he called the Kyaati ship.


Honored residents of this ship,

We would like to exchange information with you and your civilisation. We are the Uploaded Minds ship Highest Level and I am called Kmemtra. We have intercepted the message that you are searching for a new home and wonder why you chose this method. We do not see how you will create the new ships here to more effectively search.

Yours sincerely,
Kmemtra, administrator of the Highest Level

The Kyaat ship replies – albeit slowly, as Myannar crew struggle with the shock of the strange, irregular-sized vessel being so damned small, and then with the need to tone down the signal power, so that they do not fry it altogether.


Honored residents of this ship,

We are pleased by your desire to peacefully trade information. We are the crew of the Kyaat ship Myannar. It has been our mission to explore only this system. Our people's computers have narrowed down six systems as most suited for harboring a Kyaat outpost, and six ships were sent to explore them. As our requirement is merely the presense of a sufficiently-sized star, no additional vessels were sent out, as there was no need seen for such a thing.

We also wonder, how can your ship house any significant amounts of material.

Sincerely yours,

Kelleo Aelestiel and his family,
crew and owners of the Myannar.

Honored family Aelestiel,

The small amount of satisfying solar systems invariably raises the curiosity how the search criteria were defined. and how the search-radius. To your question about material: We have a big database with material in case we need things. Since our civilisation spends most of the time uploaded on servers, this is the most convenient way to have access to what we need. For the few non-virtual things, we require, our payload is sufficient.

Sincerely yours,
Kmemtra, administrator of the Highest Level

Honorable Kmemtra,

As a matter of fact, our demands are rather simple, and are based on the size of the star, and the amount of planets it should have. We have found in fact more then six acceptable stars, but we decided there was no need to check out more then six, as it was likely that one of them would be found acceptable.

Furthermore, do we understand correctly that your nation resides as transcribed consciousnesses on servers and thus does not require construction materials in significant amounts?

P.S. Attached please find information on our measures and scales, and on amounts of material that we normally use for construction.

Sincerely yours,

Kelleo Aelestiel and his family,
crew and owners of the Myannar.

The Uploadees read the list, read it again and could not believe it. Since they could not believe how wasteful and/or gigantic the Kyaat apparently were in their constructions (and since efficiency is something like a national obsession, they did not want to accuse directly of wasteful use of ressources). Therefore the big Uploaded Minds ship sent to the small Kyaat ship (which despite being a small Kyaat ship, was 3200 times the size of the highest Level):


Honored family Aelestiel,

Yes, the Uploaded Community is mainly in the state of being uploaded on servers. This of course means most of the environment, we live in is virtual and runs on the servers as well. This of course means or need for real materials is somewhat below average. However I think the last transmission was slightly errorneous. Can you repeat the transmission with the error correction-algorithm, explained in the attachment?

Yours sincerely,
Kmemtra


As attachment, a very efficient error-correction code is described and how to embed it into the message.

Please receive the renewed transmission. We hope this will help.

Yours,

family Aelestiel

The Uploadees checked the list and sent their version of the Blue Screen of Death to each other meaning: I fail to believe that. The Uploadees calculated from the ressource usage that the Kyaat surely were far bigger than the phsical representations of the uploadees. The Uploaddes estimated them to be between 4 and 8 meters tall - maybe more if they are used to fewer gravity. Why else would a creature need so much space? The Uploadees sent the following transmission:


Honored family Aelestiel,

Deducting from this transmission, we realize that it is extremely difficult to find the right environment in order not the be crushed by the gravity. Can you give us information on how you existed in your home system? Maybe our cascading scouts have collected some information to find a suitable place.

Yours sincerely,
Kmemtra

The Kyaat were equally surprised.

Honorable Kmemtra,


The presence of gravitational fields is a small matters, as we will begin deconstructing the local planets to build our artificial worlds. Please receive grafics and information about the lifestyle of Kyaat and our artificial WorldSpheres attached to this message.

This family is probably going to take up residence on the third planet from the sun as ambassadors from the Kyaat, as it seems this system is already taken up and cannot be colonized – in fact, there’s enough people here to fill up a thousand systems!

We also attach some old family video (from my son’s birthday) for your enjoyment.

Hopefully this will teach you about the daily life of the Kyaat.

Yours, family Aelestiel.

P.S. Ryaan says hi.

OOC: wrong nation, should have been UM.
IC:

The transmission was not exactly bad, however so horribly bloated that the Uploadees felt offended. In the early time of the servers, efficiency was very important and even now, it's something, every Uploadee learned to care about. On the Highest Level, the Uploadees tried very hard not to shout to the Kyaat "What the Anathematic Republic are you thinking (if anything)?" They did however re-encode the three-dimensional video on the fly, using some rather simple algorithms. Later they optimized the video and sent it to the Home of Many - however "accidentally" so that also the Kyaat would receive the transmission. They did some re-calculations and then changed their theories about the Kyaat. They are apparently not very large, just very... unefficient. Not only in the normal ways but rather... that they lacked something to concentrate on and instead, they accumulated more wealth. This did happen in Uploaded Minds as well, but here it seemed to be more common.

The Uploadees transmitted after they finished evaluating the data:


Honored family Aelestiel,

I assume you wanted to remain compatible and did not know about our knowledge of compression-algorithms. It might have been more effective to have propagated the algorithm at first and then send the compressed film, but we assume, you only had the best intentions when using 3d-RLE.

The content is very interesting. We are surprised to see that the ideas we had were prooven wrong. What we saw from your texts showed that it is for a physical presence quite efficient. However we do not understand the basic principles of your civilization. This might sound strange, but there very often exist some basic ideals, which form the entire civilization, like the ideas of uploadedness, efficiency and exchange of code for us.

Sincerely yours,
Kmemtra

The Kyaat replied

Honorable friends!

We do not understand, what is the purpose of compressing a file to be so small? Perhaps we should provide your civilization with samples of our information storage technology. Even a small drive should easily resolve any space problems you may have with our file, and still have space for literally dozens of hours of quality imagery.

Please explain further your intent in sending this file.

Sincerely yours, family Aelestiel

Honored family Aelestiel,

New technology means that new ideas, new requirements emerge, which again means the new technology reaches its limits. Being content in the current technological state normally means a new paradigm shift can and will emerge which again reaches the limits. Therefore saying: "There is a method to use less ressources but we do voluntarily not use it" means either that the new ideas to use the additional storage have not emerged or that your processor capacity is lacking. We are always interested in sharing new technology and if you feel that the system ressources on your end is the issue, we are happy to share with you. Do not understand us wrong, but it never occurred to us - most likely because we live inside of our severs - that the system ressources can be more than "enough for the moment".

Yours sincerely,
Kmemtra

The Kyaat pondered a response – and then, about three hours later, a
small probe drone – say, only a hundred yards or so in length –
detached itself from their craft, making way rapidly towards the
detected origin of the Uploadee transmission. It carries some
'samples' of Kyaat technology to demonstrate to the strange beings –
such things as an old 'infokey' (a device for storage of small amounts
of data on a keyring-sized object), a 'handthinker' – a tiny,
hand-held computer with comparatively limited computational power and
speed, and an extremely limited hard drive – at least in Kyaat terms,
and a small amount of electronic 'toys' of various kinds.

Honored Kmemtra,

We are sending over some aged samples of our computronium technology,
so you could evaluate it's various qualities on your own.

Sincerely yours,
Myannar Aelestiel and her household.

The Uploaded Minds structure was a bit confused what would require a structure of this size. They were obsessed with efficiency and optimization to a point where it became a goal in itself. The sheer size of this probe was something which the Uploadees had difficulties not to consider a personal insult. The devices were examined but the Uploadees on several occasions - even when a a completely new concept was used realized that it was used as if efficiency didn't even matter. The crew of the Highest Level, the Undefined Boundaries and the Freedom of Data Exchange (the later 2 ships helped inspecting the 'tiny' probe)more than often despaired when they saw an ingenious idea implemented sloppily and inexpertly. The Uploadees prepared a probe of themselves, not bigger than a thumb but using manipulation of spacetime to shield itself for the way to the bloated ship of the Kyaat. It did not contain actual devices, it just contained the plans to create a simple server (which for the Uploaded minds has become a synonym for spaceship) with enough performance to host a typical Uploaded family unit and quick enough to put the Kyaatian ship to shame. As well as the nanotechnology to create it



Honored family Aelestiel,

We seem not to share the same concept of the basic unit of computation and so we decided to send you the source code of a a server, ideal for network use or as place to live as well as the means to create it in case you do not understand Assembly language.

The problem earlier seemed not to be our different capacities for storage, but different approaches to aesthetics. Optimization is something like entertainment for you: a source of fun and often competition.

Yours sincerely,
Kmemtra


and with that, the extremely tiny probe departed in the direction of the 'small' Kyaat ship.