Insistence of Vision (42 page)

Isolated, this island realm of one hundred billion stars (formerly known as Galaxy Four) will soon develop its own destiny, fostering a bright new age. It has been foreseen that Jijo will provide the starting seed for a glorious culture, unlike any other. The six... and now seven!... sapient species who came sneaking secretly to this world as refugees – skulking in order to hide like criminals on a forbidden shore – will prosper beyond all their wildest imaginings. They will be co-founders of something great and wonderful. Forerunners of all the starfaring races who may follow in this fecund stellar whirlpool.

But what kind of society should it be? One that is a mere copy of the noisy, bickering, violent conglomeration that exists back in “civilized” space? One based on crude so-called sciences? Physics, cybernetics, and biology? We have learned that such obsessions lead to soullessness. A humorless culture, operated by reductionists who measure the cost/benefit ratios of everything and know the value of nothing!

There must be something better.

Indeed, consider how the newest sapient races – fresh from uplift – look upon their world with a childlike sense of wonder! What if that feeling could be made to last?

To those who have just discovered it, the power of speech itself is glorious. A skill with words seems to hold all the potency anyone should ever need! Still heedful of their former animal ways, these infant species often use their new faculty of self-expression to perceive patterns that are invisible to older, “wiser” minds. 
 Humans were especially good at this, during the long ages of their lonely abandonment, on isolated Earth. They had many names for their systems of wondrous cause-and-effect, traditions that arose in a myriad land-bound tribes. But nearly all of these systems shared certain traits in common:

a sense that the world is made of spirits, living in each stone or brook or tree.

an eager willingness to perceive all events, even great storms and the movements of planets, as having a personal relationship with the observer.

a conviction that nature can be swayed by those favored with special powers of sight, voice, or mind, raising those elite ones above other mere mortals.

a profound belief in the power of words to persuade and control the world.

“Magic” was one word that humans used for this way of looking at the universe. We believe it is a better way, offering drama, adventure, vividness, and romance. Yet magic can take many forms. And there is still some dispute over the details....

Alternating Views of Temptation

Tkett found the explanation bizarre and perplexing at first. How did it relate to this strange submersible machine whose gut was filled with crystal fruit, each containing an intelligent being who leaped about and seemed to focus fierce passion on things only he or she could see?

Still, as an archaeologist he had some background studying the tribal human past, so eventually a connection clicked in his mind.

“You... you are using technology to give each individual a private world! B-but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there? Are you saying that every hoon, or human, or traeki inside these crystal c-containers gets to cast magic spells? They don’t just manipulate false objects by hand, and see tailored illusions... they also shout incantations and have the satisfaction of watching them come true?”

Tkett blinked several times, trying to grasp it all.

“Take that woman over there.” He aimed his rostrum at a nearby cube wherein a female human grinned and pointed amid a veritable cloud of resistance threads.

“If she has an enemy, can she mold a clay figure and stick pins in it to cast a spell of pain?”

The little g’Kek spun its wheels before answering emphatically.

“True enough, oh perceptive dolphin! Of course she has to be creative. Talent and a strong will are helpful. And she must adhere to the accepted lore of her simulated tribe.”

“Arbitrary rules, you mean.”

The eye stalks shrugged gracefully. “Arbitrary, but elegant and consistent. And there is another requirement. Above all, our user of magic must intensely believe.”

ᚖ

Peepoe blinked at the diminutive wizard standing on the nearby dock, in the shadow of a fairytale castle.

“You mean people in this place can command the birds and insects and other beasts using words alone?”

She had witnessed it happen dozens of times, but to hear it explained openly like this felt strange.

The gray-cloaked human nodded, speaking rapidly, eagerly. “Special words! The power of secret names. Terms that each user must keep closely guarded.”

“But –”

“Above all, most creatures will only obey those with inborn talent. Individuals who possess great force of will. Otherwise, if they heeded everybody, where would be the awe and envy that lie at the very heart of sorcery? If everyone can do a thing, it soon loses all worth. A miracle palls when it becomes routine.

“It is said that technology used to be like that, back in the Old Civilization. Take what happened soon after Earth-humans discovered how to fly. Soon all people could soar through the sky, and they took the marvel for granted. How tragic! That sort of thing does not happen here. We preserve wonder like a precious resource.”

Peepoe sputtered.

“But all this –” She flicked her jaws, spraying water toward the jungle and the steep, fleshy cliffs beyond. “All of this smacks of technology! That absurd fire-breathing dragon, for instance. Clearly bio-engineered! Somebody set up this whole thing as... as an...”

“As an experiment?” The gray-clad mage conceded with a nod. His beard shook as he continued with eager fire in his piping voice.

“That has never been secret! Ever since our ancestors were selected from among Jijo’s land-bound Six Races, to come dwell below the sea in smaller but mightier bodies, we knew that one purpose would be to help the Buyur fine-tune their master plan.”

ᚖ

Tkett reared back in shock, churning water with his flukes. He stared at the many-eyed creature who had been explaining this weird chamber-of-miniatures.

“The B-Buyur! They left Jijo half a million years ago. How could they even know about human culture, let alone set up this elaborate –”

“Of course the answer to that question is simple,” replied the little g’Kek, peering with several eye stalks from its cracked crystal shell. “Our Buyur lords never left! They have quietly observed and guided this process ever since the first ship of refugees slinked down to Jijo, preparing for the predicted day when natural forces would sever all links between Galaxy Four and the others.”

“But –”

“The great evacuation of starfaring clans from Galaxy Four – half an eon ago – made sure that no other techno-sapients remain in this soon-to-be-isolated starry realm. So it will belong to
our
descendants who inherit! In a culture far different than the dreary one our ancestors belonged to.”

Tkett had heard of the Buyur, of course – among the most powerful members of the Civilization of Five Galaxies, and one of the few elder races known for a sense of humor... albeit a strange one. It was said that they believed in long jokes, that took ages to plan and execute.

Was that because the Buyur found Galactic culture stodgy and stifling? (Most Earthlings would agree.) Apparently they foresaw all of the changes and convulsions that were today wracking the linked starlanes, and began preparing millennia ago for an unparalleled opportunity to put their own stamp on an entirely new branch of destiny.

ᚖ

Peepoe nodded, understanding part of it at last.

“This leviathan... this huge organic beast... isn’t the only experimental container cruising below the waves. There are others! Many?”

“Many,” confirmed the little gray-bearded human wizard. “The floating chambers take a variety of forms, each accommodating its own colony of sapient beings. Each habitat engages its passengers in a life that is rich with magic, though in uniquely different ways.

“Here, for instance, we sapient beings experience physically active lives, in a totally real environment. It is the wild creatures around us who were altered! Surely you have heard that the Buyur were master gene-crafters? In this experimental realm, each insect, fish and flower knows its own unique and secret name. By learning and properly uttering such names, a mage like me can wield great power.”

ᚖ

Tkett listened as the cheerful g’Kek explained the complex experiment taking place in the chamber of crystalline fruits.

“In
our
habitat, each of us gets to live in his or her own world – one that is rich, varied, and physically demanding, even if it is mostly a computer-driven simulation. Within such an ersatz reality every one of us can be the lead magician in a society or tribe of lesser peers. Or the crystal fruits can be linked, allowing shared encounters between equals. Either way, it is a vivid life, filled with more excitement than the old way of so-called engineering.

“A life in which the mere act of believing can have power, and wishing sometimes makes things come true!”

ᚖ

Peepoe watched the gray magician stroke his beard while describing the range of Buyur experiments.

“There are many other styles, modes, and implementations being tried out, in scores of other habitats. Some emphasize gritty ‘reality,’ while others go so far as to eliminate physical form entirely, encoding their subjects as digital personae in wholly computerized worlds.”

Downloading personalities. Peepoe recognized the concept. It was tried back home and never caught on, even though boosters said it ought to, logically.

“There is an ultimate purpose to all of these experiments,” the human standing on the nearby pier explained, like a proselyte eager for a special convert. “We aim to find exactly the right way to implement a new society that will thrive across the starlanes of Galaxy Four, once separation is complete and all the old hyperspatial transit paths are gone. When this island whirlpool of a hundred billion stars is safe at last from interference by the Old Civilization, it will be time to start our own. One that is based on a glorious new principle.

“By analyzing the results of each experimental habitat, the noble Buyur will know exactly how to implement a new realm of magic and wonders. Then the age of true miracles can begin.”

Listening to this, Peepoe shook her head.

“You don’t sound much like a rustic feudal magician. I just bet you’re something else, in disguise.

“Are you a Buyur?”

ᚖ

The g’Kek bowed within its crystal shell. “That’s a very good guess, my dolphin friend. Though of course the real truth is complicated. A real Buyur would weigh more than a metric ton and somewhat resemble an Earthling frog!”

“Nevertheless you –” Tkett prompted.

“I have the honor of serving as a spokesman-intermediary....”

ᚖ

“...to help persuade you dolphins – the newest promising colonists on Jijo – that joining us will be your greatest opportunity for vividness, adventure, and a destiny filled with marvels!”

The little human wizard grinned, and Peepoe realized that the others nearby must not have heard or understood a bit of it. Perhaps they wore earplugs to protect themselves against the power of the mage’s words. Or else Anglic was rarely spoken, here. Perhaps it was a “language of power.”

Peepoe also realized – she was both being tested and offered a choice.

Out there in the world, we few dolphin settlers face an uncertain existence. Makanee has no surety that our little pod of reverts will survive the next winter, even with help from the other colonists ashore. Anyway, the Six Races have troubles of their own, fighting Jophur invaders.

She had to admit that this offer had tempting aspects. After experiencing several recent Jijo storms, Peepoe could see the attraction of bringing all the other
Streaker
exiles aboard some cozy undersea habitat – presumably one with bigger stretches of open water – and letting the Buyur perform whatever techno-magic it took to reduce dolphins in size so they would fit their new lives. How could that be any worse than the three years of cramped hell they had all endured aboard poor
Streaker
?

Presumably someday, when the experiments were over, her descendants would be given back their true size, after they had spent generations learning to weave spells and cast incantations with the best of them.

Oh, we could manage that
, she thought.
We dolphins are good at certain artistic types of verbal expression. After all, what is Trinary but our own special method of using sound to persuade the world? Talking it into assuming vivid sonic echoes and dreamlike shapes? Coaxing it to make sense in our own cetacean way?

The delicious temptation of it all reached out to Peepoe.

What is the alternative? Assuming we ever find a way back to civilization, what would we go home to? A gritty fate that at best offers lots of hard work, where it can take half a lifetime just learning the skills you need to function usefully in a technological society.

Real life isn’t half as nice as the tales we first hear in storybooks. Everybody learns at some point that it’s a disappointing world out there – a universe where good is seldom purely handsome and evil doesn’t obligingly identify itself with red glowing eyes. A complex society filled with tradeoffs and compromises, as well as committees and political opponents who always have much more power than you think they deserve.

Who wouldn’t prefer a place where the cosmos might be talked into giving you what you want? Or where wishing sometimes makes things true?

ᚖ

“We already have two volunteers from your esteemed race,” the g’Kek spokesman explained, causing Tkett to quiver in surprise. With a flailing of eye stalks, the wheeled figure commanded that a hologram appear, just above the water’s surface.