Spoils Of War Collection

Chapter 1-2

“All it took was the bottomless greed and limitless imagination of humans to realize that this magic was a road to dominance and power … if it could be reliably harvested. They had to find a more convenient way to carry the lifeforms, so they invented frames. It was then discovered that these frames increased the quantity of energy each lifeform produced and they channelled it more efficiently … and also killed lifeforms a lot faster. This is when commercial farming of the lifeforms began—factories that twisted, broke, and carved lifeforms to fit into frames, which killed them even faster when they forced power at a greater rate. These relics date from before the Shoshone developments.”

Carefully ignoring my shadow, I moved my tour group over to a large display, cut in half to show various layers and interactions. A marvel of precision and detail, it delivered an astonishing amount of complex information at a glance. The model was one of the early pre-Shoshone super-farms. There were 15 levels on display—from breeding bottles on the bottom to final saturation and production stations at the top. To the far left, you could see recycling chutes where depleted product was directed to the furnaces as high-grade fuel.

I waited as three group members ambled around to peer at the model from various angles. They seemed quite intrigued. “This is a scale model of the largest of the pre-Shoshone super-farms that we had here on Thiegler. Frames were linked together to create greater levels of power output. These frames became bigger and bigger, producing more power and requiring a greater supply of lifeforms to fill them. The farming process had developed very quickly as innovations lead to greater production, and finally the development of bottle breeding which vastly increased the supply of power rich lifeforms. It was bottle breeding that lead to the development of super farms and allowed for the production of power on scale sufficient to alter the lives of everyone in Thiegler. Power was distributed across a grid which drove industrial development and expansion. Thiegler quickly became the manufacturing hub for the systems. The power from the farms allowed for production processes that could not be achieved anywhere else. To support increasing demand for power, depleted product from the bottle breeding process was used as fuel to provide for the requirements of the farm. This provided for nearly 70% of the power requirement and enabled the economics of the super farms to be profitable. Still the whole process was reaching the limit of development when the Shoshone process was established, and we moved into the modern era of production.”

I waited for questions, there were none, so I escorted them to the next stage of the tour.

My shadow waved at the model of the bottle farm and spoke his script to his crowd as I did to mine.

“Depleted product—the words burn my tongue with acid hate—is the name for the bodies of the lifeforms that had been bred in bottles below, drained of energy and thrown into a furnace to enable more lifeforms to suffer the same fate … reduced to product, denied any independence in the great web! Look at yourselves with your vacant stares eyeing this slaughterhouse without seeing it; you’re the depleted products and I’d gladly recycle all of you right now.” My shadow burned with all he impotent rage and hatred that I carried, stoked to a furious heat by the sight of the atrocities enshrined in the model. History could only be acknowledged not undone.

Showing the group through a door into a large room dominated by an enormous display of all the systems, not to scale, but a strategic political map that gave greater space to the more important locations, regardless of their actual physical scope. This had become the standard way to show the systems, so it proved a shock to view an actual scale display. The version in the room was simply another piece of the winner’s history, nudging out reality and reinforcing necessary messages.

We stopped before a highly polished oval conference table in the middle of the room; every place has a nameplate and on the centre of the table was a solid state-of-the-art comms block. In its day, it was the most advanced piece of technology in the systems, often cited as the hinge of the conflict, the vital edge that cut to victory. The group spread so that every person stood before a nameplate and I took the position at the head of the table.

I straightened my shoulders and took an authoritative pose. “This is not a replica, but the actual strategic command centre for the Quill Alliance. It was in this room that the strategy that lead to the final victory in the War of Empires. The configuration of the table and the whole exhibit is the same as it was when the decision was taken to close the Archen Corridor. It was this action that proved to be the turning point in the War of Empires —and this action was only possible because that block there allowed for the simultaneous co-ordination of over 16-million separate spaceships, spread across 5,000 separate Quill Alliance fleet forces, all of whom had to act in exact sequence. The scale of the operation was what had made it so unlikely; it was never considered a viable possibility and thus never planned against. The entire process took 10 seconds to complete, done with no resistance. No action of this scale has ever been repeated and may never be. Now that the possibility has been established, it’s part of defensive planning everywhere across the systems The Mengchi Centre for the Promotion of Historical Knowledge was chosen as the display location after considerable negotiation. We’re very proud to have this extraordinary exhibit.”

The group gazed at the antiques on display with a casual lack of interest, exactly the response that the Mengchi Centre for the Promotion of Historical Knowledge hoped to achieve. The less interest inspired by the events, in particular the part played by the Thiegler hierarchy, the better. If amnesia wasn’t an option, then bored lack of interest was a perfectly acceptable alternative.

My shadow, still following after me, had a desire to shake up the crowd, to force a realization on them that history gripped them as tightly as it did him.

“This exhibit is the reason for the existence of the Mengchi Centre for the Promotion of Historical Knowledge, just as the blade that loped off Ingea’s head would be the centrepiece display in a museum housed in her palace. There have been a huge number of re-developments of the site over the centuries since; this has never changed and is always the physical centre for the place. Closing the Archean Corridor was a death sentence for twenty-two billion inhabitants in the trapped systems. They died trying to escape as the noose closed around them. This noose was the only thing that kept the inhabitants of the Sickle Quadrant contained, and if it ever fails, the future will be one long drawn-out scream of blood-soaked terror for everyone

Ingea was a one-off, willing to dream, plan and act on a scale that others simply couldn’t comprehend, believe or accept. She rode that weakness for all it was worth and nearly came to victory. She lost because other wolves in the systems were willing to take big steps. The sheer numbers working together proved that a pack will beat a lone wolf no matter how powerful. One of the great absences in history is a common understanding of what Ingea was planning when she launched the conflict. That she had a clear aim isn’t in doubt; the question is what it was. At least part of it’s obvious, to me at least, and is never spoken of. Superimpose a map of her attack points on the display here and join them up, and what do you see?” My shadow gestured dramatically. “You’ve seen it recently before, no? She was shaping the systems into a frame just like the one that the lifeforms were forced into to allow their energy to be used by humans.

“Ingea was going to create the biggest power source in time and space. I’ve no idea what she was going to use it for. My imagination fails when I consider what possible use that power was required for. I’m positive that it was a means, not an end … that there is unfinished business here … and that we all hope will remain that way.”

The tour group had moved to the final exhibit of my short tour, the real reason they were here: the glittering treasure of the Centre. I could sense the group’s attention awakening as we walked. The entrance couldn’t have been plainer—a solid stone wall, whitewashed with a narrow-arched doorway in the middle, no signs or notices. The wooden door stood open and we entered single file. The walls of the circular room were made of the same whitewashed stone; the floor was plain hardwood. There was nothing in the room except a small table, slightly bigger than the domed glass case sitting on it. The plain setting was all that was needed to display the most extraordinary item in the combined systems: the Shoshone Circlet.

The group gathered around and stared at the blank model of a human head. On it sat a very plain band of twisted gold with a large blood-red stone that rested on the middle of the model forehead, above and between the eyes. It deliberately suggested a third eye, one that held gleaming, shifting light within. Before speaking, I left space for everyone to be drawn into the spell cast by the artefact.

“This is one of the most profound mysteries in the combined systems. There’s no information regarding who, when, or how the Shoshone Circlet was made. It’s not clear if it was found or discovered, or by whom. The first mention of it is found in the laboratory notes of the Shoshone farm and it’s clear that they didn’t create it themselves but were trying to understand how it had been created. Unfortunately, the entire farm was obliterated in an explosion linked to their efforts to replicate the Circlet. The Circlet itself had been sent to a lab at a super-farm situated here in Mengchi just prior to the destruction at the farm.

“The Circlet was the first charm, the first artefact that contained energy taken from an energy-rich lifeform. Before that the energy was always in the lifeform, it was channelled through the frame. In the Circlet the energy had been removed from the lifeform and stored to be used at will. It was at the central lab that the Circlet was first replicated … where energy transfers from lifeforms into separate containers were performed. The energy could be stored and directed with precision. Charms meant that the power could be exported to other systems and thus the fundamental reorganization of the economies and societies of the systems started. Without a continuing supply of charms life in the combined systems would effectively stop.

“It’s been stated that the existence of the Circlet was the necessary requirement for the breakthrough of harvesting and storing the energy of the lifeforms. Until it was demonstrated that it could be done, no one was willing to try it. Once done, however, the forces required to achieve it were again harnessed. No one knows if the second process developed by the central laboratory is the same one used to create the Shoshone Circlet. To discover this, the Circlet would have to be subjected to destructive testing and that’s never been allowed. To this day the mystery and importance of the Circlet remain.

could“This is the conclusion of the tour.” I bowed my head to the group. “Thank you for taking the time to visit the Mengchi Centre for the Promotion of Historical Knowledge. When you exit this room, to your right is the gift shop and restaurant. Please stay as long as you wish and feel free to explore more of the exhibits not included on the tour. There’s a particularly fine collection of Darkham crystals on the 15th floor and full-scale replica of the Far Deep Space Explorer craft launched 100 years ago to scout beyond the combined systems, still relaying scientific information today. The exhibit contains a live feed of the transmissions and commentary. Thank you.”