The World We Wanted

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Angle 1:

All we wanted was Heaven on Earth.

Heh, isn't that the goal of every religion? To either uplift or restore suffering humanity to its proper position in the scheme of things? It took us a long time to get it, but we finally got there. We finally managed to create Utopia, where all men and women were equal, and had all of their wants fulfilled. This is a post-scarcity paradise. I don't know how our ancestors even managed to get to this point without going extinct.

Thousands of years of barbaric slaughter, brother against brother, father against son, mother against daughter. No use crying over spilled blood. Didn't matter what our rationales were, it was always over resources. If only we could cooperate, work together, get the world we wanted. Share the resources. Seemed like that just wasn't in our DNA. Seemed like we would always be killing and oppressing each other, just to have a better livelihood for ourselves.

It started off simple enough. A couple of rocks, a couple of sticks. Throw some rocks into the fire, say the magic words, get a better, shinier, deadlier rock to put on the stick. Next thing you knew, we were using fire and no magic words to propel the rocks at each other. Then, it was a matter of time before we took the rocks out of the equation entirely and just focused the fire at each other in a tight beam. Small, but deadly accurate wounds, all the while, the resources for power dwindling rapidly.

Getting off this rock didn't help us much either. Our first steps off world were a monkey pissing match. And once the former Americans showed that they could piss the furthest the quickest, well, no one needed to go to the bathroom anymore. Oh sure, they talked a big game about pissing further, and they eventually did.

Lack of resources pushed us into the asteroid belt. Of course, being the barbarians that we were back then, we sent the expendables. Rocket fuel was expensive. We didn't want to have to pay what we promised the poor saps. We also didn't let them know about the substandard radiation shielding. But no one ever officially died of that, of course. No, there would always be an ill-timed "micrometeoroid" for a tragic death when they got too close to the end of the contract. Hey, they knew what they signed up for. Space is dangerous. We all know this.

Oh sure, there were colonies that rebelled against Earth, and succeeded and then went to war with each other. Soon it was war in the Kuiper Belt.

It seemed like we would always be at war with each other, that we would never have Heaven on Earth. That we would always be fighting each other, oppressing each other, enslaving each other, killing each other.

It all changed when we developed superluminal travel and made first contact with the Rontarans. The Rontarans put everything into perspective. The Rontarans helped us to finally realize that we are one, that we are all equal, and that we could have Heaven on Earth.

As I stand here on my balcony looking past the Rontaran slums towards the crystal blue waters on the beach, drinking my Mai Tai, I can't help but think, "This is the world we wanted."

[Don Coyote]

I do not want that future.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I do not want that future.

If we do develop FTL and make contact with someone, though, it could well go this way.

[Doktor Howl]

Excellent piece, but I think you're being a tad optimistic.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Excellent piece, but I think you're being a tad optimistic.

How so?

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

Nicely written.

As I stand here on my balcony looking past the Rontaran slums towards the crystal blue waters on the beach, drinking my Mai Tai, I can't help but think, "This is the world we wanted."

All we really want is someone to 'legitimately' treat like shit to make ourselves feel better. :P

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Angle 2:

The indigenous life on Rontar is fairly alien in comparison to life that evolved on Earth, making classifications difficult. A prime example is that of Tubularis custodians rontari.

T. custodians is eukaryotic and multicellular, however shows traits could make it classifiable as either plant or animal.

Anatomically, they have seven-fold radial symmetry. They have spherical heads with 7 ocular organs, allowing for 360 degree vision. Below these, they have 7 prehensile appendages that function as apparati for both respiration and ingestion. These appendages are similar to an elephant's trunk. These lead to a central digestive torus, with the equivalent of bowels spiraling counter-clockwise to a central inferior opening for excretion. Along this bowel spiral a several renal type organs that release metabolic waste back into the digestive waste. In between the esophagi are rows of pulmonary sacs, with three sacs to a row. The airways contain an organ similar to a bird's syrinx, giving it a wide range of sound production. The nervous system is similar to that of a vertebrate, with a central spinal column attaching to a skull housing a brain, which is made up, naturally, of seven segments corresponding to our own hemispheres. They have 7 segmented appendages similar to a human's arms terminating in a triangular manipulative organ with three equidistant digits, and seven motile appendages that are more analogous to crab legs.

On a cellular level, T. custodians has organelles that are roughly analogous to Earth life, excepting that it has both mitochondria and chloroplasts, allowing it to derive its energy from both ingestion and photosynthesis, and to switch between using oxygen or carbon dioxide for metabolic processes. The chloroplasts are more efficient at converting sunlight than Earth plants, and give the skin of T. custodians a very dark green color. This may be due to Rontar's sun being dimmer than Sol. T. custodians is thought to switch between ingestion and photosynthesis depending on factors such as food scarcity and atmospheric conditions.

Evidence suggests that T. custodians may have intelligence analogous to that of a primate or a cetacean, and have a rudimentary language and social structure. It is unknown whether they have intelligence comparable to hominids, but they have not been observed using tools, though they have been shown to shelter during their dormant cycles.

T. custodians is hermaphroditic, and an individual may fertilize itself or another. Fertilization results in what can only be describe as something that is both a seed and an embryo. After the embryos are deposited in a well lit area, they take root and grow a stalk, which raises the embryo off the ground. The central stalk eventually sprouts the appendages. When the embryo is fully developed it will destroy the stalk and seek out the adults. It was unknown that the stalks were part of T. custodians life cycle until several embryonic fields had been clear cut for development and the DNA of the byproduct was sequenced.

T. custodians is a highly resilient species, whose adaptations seem to have allowed its ancestors survive a geologically recent mass extinction.

Despite all of these differences, T. custodians biochemical processes are remarkably similar to that of a human.

Considering all of these traits, we recommend that more research be done into the potential applications of T. custodians in the following areas:

Pharmaceutical testing, labor force, manufacturing, terraforming, environmental control on long term interstellar travel, environmental control in insulated habitats, photoelectric research, service sector, genetic engineering.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Not so much this one?

[Doktor Howl]

Haven't had time.  Will read tomorrow at work.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Haven't had time.  Will read tomorrow at work.

Cool cool

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

After the embryos are deposited in a well lit area, they take root and grow a stalk, which raises the embryo off the ground. The central stalk eventually sprouts the appendages. When the embryo is fully developed it will destroy the stalk and seek out the adults. It was unknown that the stalks were part of T. custodians life cycle until several embryonic fields had been clear cut for development and the DNA of the byproduct was sequenced.

This part reminded me of an Anne McCaffrey story . . . Velvet Fields

This piece was very detailed. I love that there's such an in-depth description of this fascinating creature, seven-fold radial symmetry. 360 degree vision. Syrinx-like organs.

And the result is a recommendation for pharmaceutical testing and hard labor.

Leave it to us. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

After the embryos are deposited in a well lit area, they take root and grow a stalk, which raises the embryo off the ground. The central stalk eventually sprouts the appendages. When the embryo is fully developed it will destroy the stalk and seek out the adults. It was unknown that the stalks were part of T. custodians life cycle until several embryonic fields had been clear cut for development and the DNA of the byproduct was sequenced.

This part reminded me of an Anne McCaffrey story . . . Velvet Fields

This piece was very detailed. I love that there's such an in-depth description of this fascinating creature, seven-fold radial symmetry. 360 degree vision. Syrinx-like organs.

And the result is a recommendation for pharmaceutical testing and hard labor.

Leave it to us. 

Ooh, I'm going to have to check that out, thanks.

I felt like creating a picture of what the Rontarans are like before going any further. I also wanted to make them as non-humanoid as possible, while still having something that someone could picture. I also wanted to give them traits that could make them exploitable in a variety of different ways.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Non-humanoid, but something capable of intelligence, culture and recreating human sounds.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Angles three and four tonight. Possibly five and six tomorrow. Not necessarily in chronological order.

[Doktor Howl]

Not so much this one?

Not so much.  I don't get it, to be perfectly honest.  It's probably me being dense.