Well! The good news is that I have landed safely on the planet Thrix!
The bad news is….well, I’ve still got a month to go in my current job. (Lawyer job, not time cop).
CAIN fills me in on the planet Thrix, although there are some who would say that this is the exact sort of subject that should have already been covered at the TIME academy….
Thrix :
- The inhabitants of this planet are some form of ‘living rock’ made of glass-like silica.
- They travel in space by entering hibernation (while in a space-ship, natch) and regaining consciousness when close to a sun.
- They have a life-span of several millennia.
- There are less than 2,000 remaining on the entire planet.
- The information on their decline and their reasons for not being part of the ‘Federation’ are sketchy.
Just as I perform a stoic nod and prepare to leave Falcon’s Wing, CAIN mentions that the timehole here is becoming unstable and will close within one to six hours (!!)
I leave Falcon’s Wing in my environmental suit, but without a holographic disguise. After all, what would I try to look like on this rock?
Since this is fiction, I run in to an inhabitant Thrix five minutes later, even though CAIN had just confirmed there were only 2,000 left across the whole planet (!!)
I can ignore it, run & hide or try to communicate. Since there is nothing among what I’ve been told to say these beings are hostile, I try to communicate.
Aside : Cue the “Me Tarzan, You Living Piece of Silica” jokes.
My universal translator gives the universal greeting…
[If you get this reference, congratulations]
I understand the response of this entity as being concerned that I am a ‘killer’. The obvious answer is ‘hell, yeah’ but I’m not sure if that response is the BEST way of kicking off a meaningful relationship.
The choices here are somewhat interesting : I can ‘tell a harmless joke’, try to control the alien with my Power of Will or risk exposing the whole of my mind to the alien.
Missing is : “Assure the alien I mean no harm and continue to have a constructive dialogue”, but I guess the printer was on strike that day.
Since jokes are so dependent upon cultural environment, that option is dead in the water. I don’t know if ‘Power of Will’ will work against a living rock, so I guess exposing my mind is the least (!) stupid option.
Unsurpringly, the alien and I have some very different perspectives, what with he (it?) being a sentient rock that lives for thousands of years. After some false starts, I gather that the alien’s name is Carborundum and that it (the book confirms that ‘it’ is the correct appellation) is gravely concerned about recent events at a nearby mining complex.
I decide to follow, because, hey, I’m the protagonist.
As Carborundum literally rolls along (!) we pass a corpse of another of his species, and my psyche detects his grief at the end of a friendship that lasted two thousand years.
I remember to point this out when one of my fellow Special Agents complains about how their sporting team hasn’t won the championships for, you know, four years.
*Ahem*
As I am slightly amused by the face that Carbo (my new nickname, since I’m not typing THAT fifty times) finds my ‘bendiness’ and fragility repulsive. I remember that this is WITH my tough environmental suit….
In any event, we reach the entrance to a Polybdenum mine, and see both mining robots and ‘wardroids’ obviously assigned to protect them. It is clear that the corrosive Thrix atmosphere is taking its toll on the robots.
I take out one wardroid with my blaster, while seeing a massive mining ‘droid’ which has a conveyor belt leading into its ‘mouth’. Jumping inside the robot, I see a processing plant along with a central processing unit.
I can destroy the robot’s brain, or continue my exploration.
I don’t think destroying the robot is the prudent course. Not only will it probably alert someone (probably Yelov) to my presence, it might bring the whole darn mine down on my head.
Yeah, I’ve read the story of Samson.
SCREECH OF BRAKES!
I decided not to delete the above, but before looking at either of the pages which set out the results of the two alternatives, I’ve changed my mind. I forgot that I’m actually going to be venturing further INTO the mine, and any co-ordinating robot might be able to sent these ‘wardroids’ after me.
So let’s have a little robot murder!
I dance my blaster ray over the CPU of the mining robot before (for some reason(!)) continuing into the mine. As two wardroids rush towards me, Carbo smashes his twenty ton form (!) into one, taking it to the ground, although it is about to shoot a missile at Carbo. The other droid is aiming its laser cannon at little old me.
I have the choice of blasting the wardroid who is aiming at me, or trying to save Carbo. I almost thought ‘hey – he’s made of rock, what’s the problem?’ before remembering that we passed the corpses of two of his comrades on the way in.
Let’s save the life of the friend I made five minutes ago!
I manage to blast the wardroid that was threatening Carbo, but the one who didn’t like me has a chance to let off a blast. Evasion roll needed!
I dodge the blast, while Carbo allows a torrent of molten slag to engulf both it and the wardroid. The wardroid melts into a puddle of goo, while Carbo is unfazed.
Like an absolute IDIOT, I wonder about whether Carbo is indestructible, in circumstances where I’ve seen two other individuals of the same species reduced to corpses by the side of the road….
And on that morbid note, I leave you.
Endurance : 20, Evasion – +1, Thinkstrike – +1, All other modifiers – 0
Equipment (extra) – Keladi pills
Current paragraph – 168
Pop culture!
Forget Dexter.
The definitive first-person depiction of a sociopatch remains Jim Thompson’s 1952 classic ‘The Killer Inside Me’. Ruthlessly uncompromising, it let’s you know exactly how a person without empathy, compassion or remorse functions. Read at your own risk.
Falcon Gamebooks - Playthrough 
I had understood that the Thrixian just threw themselves in space, hibernated between stars and woke up when reaching another star. But you read the text as implying they hibernated within their spaceships. Which I found a lot less awesome for these silica-based lifeforms.
I have a theory to explain their decline in number : they all threw themselves at stars and will reach inhabitated systems in a few thousands years.
Do we really need a reason for them not being part of the Federation? There are so few of them that they couldn’t bring anything to it… especially since the Time Lords traveled back in time and strip-mined their planet out of Polybdenum long before they could be in position to trader their natural resource for a non-agression treaty. Do you really think Yelov, whom we proved as a complete dimwit, could devise such a cunning plan by himself? His classification level allows him to access the true historical records and he just did what he had learnt about when it came to refueling his variac drive. Frankly, Falcon should send him an email about his plan :
To: Agidy Yelov
From: Agent Falcon
Hey Yelly-baby, that was smart of you to travel back in time to find Polybdenum sources… naaaaah, I know you were just a copycat, I was just PULLING YOUR LEG MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
Frankly, I don’t trust the narrator to open his mind to a random rock. He could be working for Yelov for all we know (who is a confirmed mind controller). And the Thrixian could mail the TIME administration about the truth on the Keladi assassination (you still carry the loot Falcon…) What sinister truth was hidden out of the official memory banks in CAIN? Falcon met Thrixian, Falcon and Thrixian have a mind contact of an unspecified nature, Thrixian suddenly becomes best friend with Falcon and is ready to jump into lava to help him. I think we can just conclude Falcon mind-controlled the Thrixian, as he did with Lynx and Bloodhound, the official version nonwithstanding.
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@Galantor “I have a theory to explain their decline in number : they all threw themselves at stars and will reach inhabitated systems in a few thousands years.”
The text specifically states :”Less than two thousand remain on their home world”. Your theory fits all known facts. Frankly there could be billions of Thrix out in the void between the stars.
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@The bad news is….well, I’ve still got a month to go in my current job.
I’ve been in my current job for 25 years, 1 month and either 22 or 19 days (this of 27th January 2019). I’ve spent more time working in this job that I will spend in any other job (barring world changing circumstances). If I knew I could leave in one month (rather than maybe 16 years) I think I’d be delirious with joy. BTW, how will I be able to stalk you when you’re no longer in Berry Family Law? Will your new job also have a website? Yes, I have been compared by workmates to Joe in You, how did you know?
“My universal translator gives the universal greeting…”
It truly does work every time…. as does Google search.
“jokes are so dependent upon cultural environment,”
Reminds me of an article from 1980 on humour : “a white missionary was addressing an African audience and had occasion to add what he thought was a touch of humor. Dead silence. Later on he made reference to a monkey. His interpreter did not bother to translate the word, but merely lifted his arm and scratched his armpit. What a roar of appreciation!”
Since we’re on the subject I’ll include one of my favorite scottish jokes: ““A Scotchman’s wife was taken ill and, seemingly, died. At her funeral as the coffin was being carried through the churchyard gate, the pall-bearers accidentally bumped it against a gatepost. The shock resuscitated the woman. She was taken from the coffin and survived for many years. Then she was taken ill, and, this time, really died. At the funeral, as the coffin approached the churchyard gates, the bereaved husband said to the pall-bearers, ‘Steady, lads, steady; dinna bump her.”
“SCREECH OF BRAKES!”
All I’ll say is that if you’d taken the Biblical story to heart you wouldn’t have alerted security by frying the CPU. But you’re doing just fine anyway so all’s good. Have a blast in your next installment.
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oh, meant to ask earlier. Saw in the news this weekend about “Invasion Day” protests during Australia day. As someone who has commented on both the good and the bad of your nation and argued for things that should be changed – how do you feel about the whole Abolish Australia Day yourself? Do you have views one way or the other or just stay out of the whole thing?
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I’ll comment when I’m home.
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The ‘Australia Day’ thing has a fair bit of history baked in. Briefly :
– After various European (mainly) explorers made landfall on the landmass now known as Australia, England decided to establish a prison colony in what is now New South Wales.
– England considered the land ‘effectively’ uninhabited, as the Aboriginal inhabitants were seen as uncivilized and of no account.
– Several English ships made initial landfall on January 26, 1788, commanded by Arthur Phillip.
– Phillip (who was an excellent seaman) was the first ‘governor’ of this colony, and was quite explicit about his commands that the Aboriginal inhabitants be hunted and killed if they interfered in any way with those under his command.
– Different states had different holiday to commemorate the state and / or the Commonwealth of Australia.
– There was no national consensus on the date for ‘Australia Day until 1935, and it was not a nationwide public holiday until 1994.
– The High Court decision of Mabo v Queensland overturned the legal fiction that Australia was unoccupied when Phillip arrived and that England was entitled to ‘claim’ the country.
– Unsurprisingly, many people consider that a date that English people claimed an already occupied land for their own and started systematically exterminating the native inhabitants should not be a date of national celebration.
– Many right wing conservatives push back against this opinion, mainly because people they hate are asking for a change.
– It sounds silly, but the obvious date for a national day, the date Australia became a nation, isn’t really practical because the Commonwealth of Australia legally came into existence on 1 January 1901.
– The current extremely socially conservative national government has dug in on this cultural issue.
– The ‘Change the Date’ lobby group(s) will have their cause hampered until they can coalesce around a specific alternate date.
– My suggestion is that Australia Day be designated as January 1, and then January 2 also be a holiday for the New Year’s period. Its inelegant, but can work.
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Ok, I’ve been so busy I didn’t even “Like” your post despite reading it shortly after you posted, sincerest apologies for that.
“Many right wing conservatives push back against this opinion, mainly because people they hate are asking for a change.”
Reminds me of the part in The Two Towers where Frodo is told that because Sauron was beaten by Isildur he has a special hatred for everything to do with him and his heirs (Minas Tirith, Ithilien, etc) and Frodo simply replies, “What doesn’t he hate?” I remember back when I was politically minded we were having a referendum in our country, I was very pro one side, and was glad to know that this had me in opposition to a party I hated, only to be totally disgusted to find that a party I despised was on the same side as me. Years later with another referendum I was slightly mollified to find that I was now in opposition to the party I despised, only to be on the same side as the party I hated. Whats worse than being hated by your political enemies? Their saying they’re on the same side as you.
“The ‘Change the Date’ lobby group(s) will have their cause hampered until they can coalesce around a specific alternate date.”
With others like Meriki Onus of “Warriors for Aboriginal Resistance” declaring “Change the date is not something (our organisation is) fighting for or advocating. We want Australia Day to be abolished altogether.” it sounds like the Invasion Day lobby is completely fractured. That’s partly why they’re not in power. But this stuff goes from side to side and “progressive” is in so I’d say the next few years should be interesting here (from a safe distance).
“My suggestion is that Australia Day be designated as January 1, and then January 2 also be a holiday for the New Year’s period. Its inelegant, but can work.”
Aussiesmurf. As a Jehovah’s Witness I was willing to knock on people’s doors even on Christmas day for an hour or so before people started having their Christmas Lunches. But on New Year’s day there was no way I was going to knock on the door of anyone who might have been up for the New Year celebrations. I seriously can NOT see that idea ever working. On the other hand I thought Trump wouldn’t win, Brexit would be voted against, and Morris and Thompson were wrong by having a Leadership Challenge in “Can You Brexit without Breaking Britain” so don’t go by me.
Thanks again for your non-media skewed view from the ground. Now to catch up on the other posts here.
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I agree with fenrirwolfgagner on the January 2nd compensation holiday not working. You need symbols to make holiday work (though nobody will complain about having a day off, of course). And even January 1st doesn’t sound like a good symbol even if it wasn’t overwhelmingly associated with New Year, because it’s an administrative act, not something people would find values into. Maybe there are other days associated with seminal events for the Aussie national sentiment? I know too little about the history down under to name an event but I am sure you can come up with something better than January the 1st. No “Boston Tea Party” like event to celebrate? I seem to remember that the heavy losses of the ANZAC prompted a national movement in Australia and NZ, maybe something along these lines?
I for one am unfazed when the other side of the political spectrum agrees with me. I find it sound: it may mean that some politicians are not following blindly their party’s direction, and it also means that even the deepest moron can say something right sometimes. I am pretty sure even the shittiest politician would vote like me on some topics regarding basic fundamental rights, for example. Or against somme wtf law proposals we sometimes get…
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April 25, the anniversary of the ANZAC troops landing at Gallipoli is already a public holiday. And I definitely don’t want a day marked for acknowledging the contribution of armed forces to be a national day for our country.
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Aussie, I understand your reluctance toward military events being celebrated as a national holiday. Even if most people think otherwise, our national holiday in France isn’t specifically dedicated to commemorating the taking of the Bastille prison (despite it’s English name), because it was considered too bloody and divisive at the time given the bloodbath that the Revolution caused. So it’s both aknowledging this event and the “day of the federation” on July 14th, 1790 where people from all the country gathered to celebrate national unity. Now that the bloodbath is far behind us in history (despite being just a VARIAC jump away…), most people think of the Bastille only.
Unfortunately, peaceful celebrations are more difficult to identify with and commemorate in a country history than military (and religious) events…
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The thing with celebrating the landing at Sydney is there is a lot going for it:
Prisoners granted legal rights and even been able to take a ship captain to court for robbing them AND WINNING!!!
Slavery was out-lawed from the start. (Even Mutiny on the Bounty Governor Bligh slammed down attempts to impose slavery on the Aboriginals).
Captain Philips did make efforts to make peace with the Aboriginals, even to the extent of demanding his troops stand down when he was speared in the shoulder.
Honestly, how many countries can point to something like this as their nations origins? I’d say it can be counted on a severly mangled hand.
Unfortunately the horrific and undeniable abuses that followed over the next couple of centuries largely drown this out. (In fariness to the Smallpox being brought over, our flu vaccine is largely based on the flu strains that appear in Australia because we know that plane travel etc will bring them from Australia to Ireland, we know this is just an unfortunate result of international travel rather than deliberate policy by the Australian people (it WAS deliberate policy in America which is why its openly written about))
So, to find an event going back some time that the whole country can be proud off. Not easy. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be looked for, just not easy to find.
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I hadn’t read about it. I must say that I didn’t parse the sentence correctly and googled quizzically about the revendications of people marching during an “Abolish Australia” day. What would they replace Australia with? I felt a little silly when I read they just want to abolish “australia day”. I am interested in your thoughts on this protest as well.
At least Aussiesmurf you _know_ you’ll leave. Right now, I have recently applied for a new position (we are required to switch every few years, either in another court or to a more administrative position), and I am waiting for the OK from my current HR department (they can delay my departure for a few month and meanwhile the position will be filled) and the formal approval of the one I am trying to get appointed to. I hope the situation will be clearer in a few weeks but the days are feeling quite long already!
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@Galantor. You’re in Law as well??? Suddenly (well, one week ago but I’m only replying now) your comments make a lot more sense. Hope things are clearer for you where you’re working now. If you find yourself between departments do they still have to pay you? Is it possible to be permanently between posts and pass your time playing gamebooks and browsing the net (Dilbert “I am doomed, I will spend my time looking at naughty pictures on the Internet”)? Would you go absolutely spare if that happened to you? Again, hope you’ve a better idea where you’re working next now.
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I am in Law as well, yes, I am a financial judge, a job that involves both judging people who misuse (or appropriate) public funds and doing reports on the efficient and proper uses of public funds, along the line of what the NAO does in the UK.
I am still working right now (we have a very strong security of tenure) and get the corresponding pay. I am just trying to get a position where I will be assigned cases that will interest me more (or even more than the ones I handle right now, don’t get me wrong I love my job). Sometimes I’d like to have more time to browse the internet and read gamebooks. You did a get job on advertizing for the Brexit gamebook, I strongly consider getting it btw.
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