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381 lines
36 KiB
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## [BST] r!Animorphs ARG: UN Conference on Peaceful Interspecies Development
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* Author: u/CouteauBleu *We are the Empire.**
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* URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/8xb3cd/bst_ranimorphs_arg_un_conference_on_peaceful/
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* Score: 15
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* Created: 2018-07-09T12:23:32
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### Post:
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This thread is something I'd like to see more of on r/rational: this is an asymetric roleplay scenario, taking place in the _Animorphs: The Reckoning_ universe. Obviously, massive spoilers ahead.
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The basic idea is simple: the Earth is currently being invaded by body-snatching aliens who, for now, are trying to play nice and open diplomatic channels. Posters play the role of journalists who talk to and try to understand these aliens.
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---
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**Background**
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The Yeerk invasion has been revealed 3 months ago, when a meteorite destroyed Ventura city, killing millions of people, and a Yeerk spaceship was hijacked and crashed in Washington DC.
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Since then, the world has plunged in chaos. The US President Tyagi was revealed as a Controller, the peace conference in Japan was interrupted by a nuclear explosion caused by North Korea, and now Yeerks are forcibly removing every single nuclear bomb from Earth "for our own safety".
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When the chaos died down, the UN Security Council agreed to give up their nuclear weapons and start the development of a voluntary infestation program, in exchange for protection from extraterrestrial threats and help setting up advanced tech manufactories around the world.
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Brazil was chosen among the volunteer countries as the one that will host the first Yeerk Integration Program (eg voluntary infestation). Now a new conference is taking place in Rio de Janeiro, to set up accords that will define how the Yeerk Federation will cohabit with the Brazil administration and the rest of the world.
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[A more detailed background can be found on the brainstorming preparation thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/8q6g8c/bst_preparationspoilers_ranimorphs_crowdsourcing/). You shouldn't need to read it to participate.
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---
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**Rules**
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The ARG will last seven days, each day representing a week in-universe.
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The posters play as journalists from all over the world (exact background or lack therein of to your discretion); a select few of them will play as diplomat Controllers.
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The journalists ask questions regarding the current themes, past events, controversies, etc, and the Controller try to answer without revealing strategic secrets; hardball questions and follow-up questions are encouraged.
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Each day, I will post an update, including a theme for discussion, and a series of events that happened since the last "week". Weeks 3, 5 and 7 will be special events: players are encouraged to post proposals for a Human-Yeerk peace accord. At the end of day 7, the most upvoted proposal will be designated as the final proposal of the conference, that will determine Human-Yeerk relations going forward, assuming the Yeerks player accept it. (if they don't, I guess humanity gets exterminated or something)
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The goals of the _United Nations Interstellar Relations Organization_ (UNIRO) during the conference are:
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- To guarantee the safe independence and sovereignty of Earth's nations.
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- To set up safe and healthy supervision for all volunteer Controllers, and make sure their rights and bodily autonomy are respected.
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- To get access to Yeerk technologies.
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- To better understand the motivations, long-term goals and philosophy of Yeerks.
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The Yeerk players will be:
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- u/Rouninscholar
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- u/CopperZirconium
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- u/NatsuDragnee1 (may not be available)
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- u/couteaubleu (me)
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- u/Modularva
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If you're interested in playing as a Yeerk before the end of the ARG, PM me.
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### Comments:
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> **u/CouteauBleu** [+4] *We are the Empire.* (a minute later)
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>
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> **WEEK 1**
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>
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> **Theme of the week**
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>
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> - The Yeerk Federation and its long-term goals.
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>
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> **Events**
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>
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> Nuclear missiles are still being pulled for the US, Russia and China. Soon, there will be no nuclear weapon left on Earth.
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>
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> The _United Nation Conference on Peaceful Interspecies Development_ (UNCPID) is now starting. On the human side, the newly-formed UNIRO will be tasked with guiding negociations with the Yeerk Federation, and drafting a proposal for mutually beneficial cooperation for the years to come.
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>
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> To guarantee transparency, and reduce risks of foul play, the UNIRO's comission will decentralize its decision-making, and partially rely on crowdsourced input: journalists from all over the world are invited to submit questions, proposals and observations for the Yeerk delegations.
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>
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> While the final proposal and agreement won't be decided by vote, the UNIRO hopes that exposing the decision-making process and integrating popular requests will guarantee a certain degree of accountability and fairness in the final treaty.
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>
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> For the duration of the conference, the Brazil government has selected 100 volunteers for Integration. Some of these 100 Controllers will act as diplomats for the Telor coalescion, while the others will be free to act as they please within the confines of Rio de Janeiro.
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>> **u/chaos-engine** [+3] (a day later)
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>>
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>> What happens if a yerk wants a human to do something that the human doesn't want to do?
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>>
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>> How can we verify that humas are never forced to act against their will?
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>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+2] *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
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>>>
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>>> Right now, the government has every delegation member go through a check-up by a psychologist every 24h to safeguard against basic coercion.
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>>>
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>>> This is a temporary setup. The understanding is that permanent measures may be more elaborate, and will be decided during this conference.
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>>>
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>>> Are there specific concerns you're worried about, that you'd want us to address?
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>> **u/chaos-engine** [+2] (a day later)
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>>
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>> [let's get this party started]
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>>
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>> How can we trust that our leaders are actually free humans who are going to be working on humanity's interested, and are not secretly controlled by Yerks?
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>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+1] *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
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>>>
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>>> Your problem, not ours.
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>>>
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>>> Besides, I was under the impression that the crowdsourcing system of this conference was designed to avoid these issues? If it works, it could encourage other decentralization drives elsewhere.
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>>>> **u/eroticas** [+2] (2 days later)
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>>>>
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>>>> Excuse you?
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>>>>
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>>>> Your blue centaur came here with a rather impassioned speech about how extremely apologetic your people were for the invasion, enslavement, and mass murder of our species - that it was an accident. The language he used makes clear that your species and ours share an understanding of what it means to be culpable. The premise of our diplomacy is *entirely* based upon this understanding - that it was an accident, and that you are *sorry* and want to make it right between our species. We assured us that all possible measures would be done to ensure peaceful engagement and inter-species cooperation, and that if we did not agree to these terms, he promised us that you would *all leave and "meet us among the stars as equals"*.
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>>>>
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>>>> And now you have the audacity to call the very real concern that you will continue to secretly engage in further invasion and enslavement as "our problem", and not yours?
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>>>>> **u/Modularva** [+3] *YURK* (2 days later)
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>>>>>
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>>>>> Humans have postulated that their leaders are controlled by alien conspiracies since even before Yeerks showed up. A guarantor against paranoia is not achievable. The best we can do is to gradually move toward mutual trust by a repeated series of positive interactions, gradually increasing in stake.
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>>>>>
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>>>>> Conversations about specific verification protocols can be productive. Blanket ultimatums and challenges to prove ourselves, though, are impossible to satisfy. Having a conversation on such a basis isn't productive. You don't get the option of absolute trust - and if that makes you uncomfortable, then think how we feel. You're the first non-actively hostile sentients we've ever encountered. That we're not currently trying to infest you represents an insane leap of faith for us, and it's immensely frustrating to have it treated as some kind of default minimum standard any humane party would respect, rather than a generous opening concession.
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>>>>>
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>>>>> Productive relations between our species are only going to be possible if we're willing to see things from each others point of view. I understand where you're coming from and agree that your concerns are legitimate. Ventura was a senseless tragedy, and it's unfortunate that we didn't initially grasp your nature as sentient beings. That's a large part of the reason we're now standing down. Ultimately, for this to work, we need you to be willing to extend your trust to us in turn. The best, and only, way for us to get it is to point out how limited your alternatives are. Otherwise, you'll endlessly demand the perfect and make an enemy of the good.
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>>>>>> **u/eroticas** [+2] (2 days later)
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>> Our alternatives are limited? Does that mean you rescind the blue centaur's prior offer to simply leave, if we ask you to?
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>> I would just like to note that according to the blue centaur, we are the first non hostile sentients out of the *one* other species you encountered, who unlike us, made contact with you *first*. You knew other life could be sentient. You had every option to observe to find out before acting. You knew enough about our intelligence to realize that you had to hide your presence from us. You *successfully* hid from us for a long time, indicating that you did not grossly underestimate our intellectual power. You, seem to have successfully acquired enough cultural and linguistic knowledge to have *this* conversation with more skill than the average human, very quickly.
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>> You therefore know enough to understand that it does not sit well with us that your stance has changed so quickly from "heartfelt apology" to "generous concession".
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>> What would you say to those of us who simply do not believe the notion that you did not know what you were doing? What criterion for sentience, or moral relevance, did you use? What sorts of beings *did* you think we are, that explained your observations of us without attributing sentience? How did you acquire your cultural proficiency, despite taking so long to figure out our sentience? What exactly made you change your mind that you consider us morally relevant *now*?
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>>>>>>> **u/Modularva** [+2] *YURK* (2 days later)
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> >
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>>>>>>> What would you say to those of us who simply do not believe the notion that you did not know what you were doing?
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> Honestly, I'd probably believe something similar, if I was your brain. This has obviously been a bad start for interspecies relations, and trusting us fully would be idiotic. We don't want your immediate capitulation in exchange for a bunch of empty promises, though. We only want you to give us a chance at redemption, and we fully expect you to insist on a bunch of caveats and restrictions. A guarantee of our good intentions can't be offered, or else we wouldn't be having this conversation. The only thing we can guarantee, that you'll believe, coming from where your headspace is now, is that if you choose to treat us as hostiles we'll be forced to respond likewise. Let that, if nothing else, be your impetus for grasping the olive branch.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> The problem with your questions, aside from the fact that you've seemingly made up your mind in advance, is that you're making a lot of assumptions that are natural from a human point of view but not from a Yeerkish one. There are things you need to know that I don't know how to say, and I'm worried that you'll take my missteps as evidence of bad faith when really they're the consequence of trying to be as open as possible, even if doing so reveals something unsettling to you. Nothing but time and exposure can give you the assurance you want. If you stop making so many demands so quickly, it's probable you'll end up a lot more satisfied. Try imagining how we might be telling the truth, rather than only ever considering how we might be advancing a deception. Then, once you've thought about it without ideological preconceptions for five minutes, feel free to be as skeptical as you like.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> > What criterion for sentience did you use? What sorts of beings do you think we are? How did you acquire your cultural proficiency so quickly, despite taking so long to figure out our sentience? What exactly made you change your mind?
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> Take sentience, for example. You asked what criterion we used for it, but the truth is that we didn't even think to have one. Unlike humans, Yeerks don't have a rich tradition of science fiction stories and unsettling philosophical thought experiments. For the longest time, we couldn't even see the stars in the sky. We don't have legal institutions or ethics review boards or best practices for interstellar contact - at least, we didn't a few months ago. Maybe soon that will change.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> Fundamentally, we're not culturally or biologically equipped for thinking about sentience in the same way as you, because the default way we relate to others is so different. The concept of sentience is strange to me, at times obvious and at others bizzare, and ultimately I respect your personhood not because I'm entirely convinced you have a soul but because I'm deeply unsettled by the possibility that you might. My decision, and the decision of every other Yeerk I've discussed this with, was not the consequence of some mathematically rigorous proof or lightning-bolt realization. Rather, it was the product of a million dispersed doubts. More and more, I'm coming to be comfortable with this view as I interact with you while trying to keep your status as an independent existence in mind, but it's still very strange and I can't promise that what I mean by sentience is necessarily the same as what you do.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> > seem to have successfully acquired enough cultural and linguistic knowledge to have this conversation with more skill than the average human, very quickly.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> Case in point, I don't understand why you would expect there to be a connection between cultural literacy or vocabulary and empathy. That might be the sort of correlation that makes sense to think about in the context of humans but not in the context of minds in general. Wikipedia knows a million times more of human culture than I do - is it thereby more empathetic? Presumably, I'm misinterpreting your point in some facile and shallow way, but knowing this doesn't actually help me to figure out what it is you do mean in postulating this connection. I'd appreciate getting some clarification so that I can better understand your meaning.
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>>>>>>>> **u/eroticas** [+1] (2 days later)
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>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>> But, even if we accept that you did not recognize our sentience, you have still not explained *how* you've acquired cultural proficiency so quickly.
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>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>> Next question: Why did you come all this way for human hosts? You already have (we can only assume - for all we know, this is not your first mistake) non-sentient hosts, which are presumably *self replicating* life forms. And I suppose you'll say that the human looking form of your centaur is coincidence and not bioengineering specifically made to appeal to us, but surely you've figured out some form of cloning?
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>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>> And now that you are here, why do you still so dearly want human hosts? This planet has many species, more numerous and faster breeding than us - our livestock in particular.
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>>>>>>>>> **u/Modularva** [+2] *YURK* (2 days later)
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>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>> Livestock are inferior to humans, I hope you'll agree. You wouldn't want to be a cow any more than I do. Our senses scale to the capabilities of our hosts, not to mention that opposable thumbs are quite nifty.
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>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>> Acknowledging your sentience, I still don't think that getting there first entitles human minds to a stronger moral claim on the human body than that which Yeerkish minds possess. Ideally, we'll move forward in the future with large scale voluntary cohabitation programs, with Brazil serving as an international model. In the future, it might also be possible that your governments will grant us access to the bodies of those in medical comas or who are suffering from personality destroying ailments like Alzheimer's or lobotomies. Once trust has been established, we could also potentially serve a limited role in the penal system, potentially resulting in billions of dollars of savings.
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>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>> We don't have access to the sort of bioengineering or cloning capabilities you suppose. If we did, you're correct, an interstellar voyage wouldn't have been a practical decision. Yet here we are.
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>>>>>>>>>> **u/eroticas** [+3] (2 days later)
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>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>> Your centaur was a "cow" level sentience, indicating that it is the body that matters, not the mind. Being a cow sounds kinda gross to *us*, but I'm really not sure why a yeerk would have an aesthetic preference for a human.
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>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>> Whereas if it's a question of function, humans dominate this planet primarily due to our minds. There is nothing particularly interesting about human bodies, save for long distance running and thumbs. Vocals sufficiently complex for speech, I suppose, but that's trivially overcome with sign language and so on. It is a moral good to provide you with bodies, but displacing a sentient being just so you can have *thumbs* seems to be placing the scale pretty heavily towards yeerk comfort.
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>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>> Nevertheless, if *thumbs* of all things are what matter to you, humans are *still* not the ideal species to infest. We have plenty of species of primates with shorter generation spans *and* stronger, faster, nimbler bodies. Even if you don't want to be a cow, we already have a huge infrastructure for growing animals for agricultural purposes, which can be modified to suit other species. It would be trivial to provide yeerks with millions of farmed animal bodies of species of their choosing, with senses and physical abilities *superior* to that of humans - and with their shorter generation times, it would not take long for their numbers to exceed the entire human population. You can buy a monkey right now for only 4 thousand dollars, imagine how cheap it would be at mass produced scales. And you know what's neater than thumbs? *Flying*. Birds are dirt cheap, many of them *can* produce speech, and all their senses except smell are better than ours.
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>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>> Look, farming is a simple technology, you do not need bioengineering. I'm not sure why you are not already farming your existing hosts. I'm not sure why infesting humans is even on the table here? Even if you don't want to be a cow, since the brain isn't a factor why would you want to be a human?
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>>>>>>>>>>> **u/Modularva** [+2] *YURK* (2 days later)
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> > Vocals sufficiently complex for speech, I suppose, but that's trivially overcome with sign language and so on.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> Would you say dismiss the concerns of a human with a speaking disability as trivial? If not, why do the same to an alien with multiple disabilities orders of magnitude worse than most humans ever experience? This is chauvinism, pure and simple.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> > It is a moral good to provide you with bodies, but displacing a sentient being just so you can have thumbs seems to be placing the scale pretty heavily towards yeerk comfort.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> You are fundamentally misinformed. Human hosts do not experience any discomfort, nor are they somehow displaced or erased. As it happens, I do value Yeerk comfort above human comfort, but to think that inhabiting humans is desirable I merely need value Yeerk comfort at a value above zero.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> > Even if you don't want to be a cow, we already have a huge infrastructure for growing animals for agricultural purposes, which can be modified to suit other species. It would be trivial to provide yeerks with millions of farmed animal bodies of species of their choosing, with senses and physical abilities superior to that of humans - and with their shorter generation times, it would not take long for their numbers to exceed the entire human population.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> I expect that making such modifications will be more difficult than you expect, but such project should certainly be pursued in parallel to our other efforts.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> > You can buy a monkey right now for only 4 thousand dollars, imagine how cheap it would be at mass produced scales. And you know what's neater than thumbs? Flying. Birds are dirt cheap, many of them can produce speech, and all their senses except smell are better than ours.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> Why is it that when we talk about humans, you're greatly concerned about the pain and suffering of hosts, but not when we talk about animals? Even when we didn't think humans were sentient, we took care of their needs out of simple self-interest. Earlier, you asserted that Yeerks should have known humans were sentient by some criteria. Are you that eager to have us repeat our mistake, so long as it's with a species other than your own? Your callousness is amazing. Given the magnitude of this discovery, that perhaps we are not alone, our entire worldview needs to be re-evaluated for errors. In the meantime, at least we can be confident that when a human announces it wants to participate in a voluntary infestation program, their consent has not been violated. In a sense, humans are probably the least unethical choice of hosts available to us.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> Birds are cool, but I wouldn't want to be a bird full time. Yeerks desire self-actualization too. We have to *do* things and be productive and achieve useful tasks, not just exist and fly around all day. You're very quick to think of us as subhuman, rather than nonhuman, and the sooner you get over that the better for all of us.
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>>>>>>>>>>> **u/NatsuDragnee1** [+2] (6 days later)
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> Yeerk here.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> I have to disagree with you that there is "nothing particularly interesting" about human bodies. My host has something of an interest in biology and nature, and naturally, this fed into my own desire to learn more about the human body and its functions. Both my host and I agree that humans have some of the [best](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6338/eaam7263) [senses](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-015-0456-4) on Earth. (As an aside, I must say Earth's evolutionary history is rather remarkable, and your own in particular).
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> > if thumbs of all things are what matter to you, humans are still not the ideal species to infest.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> Untrue. Humans are unique in the musculature of their forearm and hand - the extensor pollicis brevis and flexor pollicis longus allow modern humans to have [great manipulative skills and strong flexion in the thumb](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22640954). Your precision and power grips are unrivalled among apes.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> >plenty of species of primates with shorter generation spans
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> I can't speak for other Yeerks, perhaps, but I personally wouldn't want to exchange hosts so often. An analogy here would be ... like cars, I suppose. Some humans like trading in their cars every so often, while others prefer to maintain and keep their same car for years.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> While it's true *some* birds can produce speech and some *may* have better eyesight (not all birds see better than us; in fact, this applies mostly to diurnal raptors), and *some* primates can grasp things (though not with the same degree of precision or power as human hands), neither possess the full range of capabilities that humans have to offer.
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>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>> You are versatile, intelligent, exist in large numbers, have the capability to understand and make use of technology, have language and culture, and have good senses (maybe not the best of the best, but certainly ranking high compared with Earth organisms overall). Frankly, I am surprised you would discount your own species so readily.
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>>>>>>> **u/Modularva** [+1] *YURK* (2 days later)
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> > You therefore know enough to understand that it does not sit well with us that your stance has changed so quickly from "heartfelt apology" to "generous concession".
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> These are one and the same. When you question the legitimacy of the apology, it's because you're coming from a frame in which ceasing our activities and announcing our existence to the world is the obvious, morally obligatory action. That frame is not self-evidently correct.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> When a human and Yeerk inhabit the same body, the number of beings experiencing a life worth living is two. When a human tells a Yeerk that they prefer for the Yeerk to go off and moo in a pasture somewhere rather than share such experiences, it's really hard not to interpret that as pointless, vicious selfishness. I'm convinced that it's not malice but ignorance behind what you're saying, but when ignorance is expressed harshly it can be hard to keep the distinction straight.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> Ceasing our activities was supererogatory, not obligatory, because the activities did no damage except in a deontological sense by violating your consent, while the cessation of those activities has come at significant consequence to ourselves and against the natural preferences of many of us. Once we've taken a host, we have just as much right to the body as the host does. The least bad option upon learning of your sentience, in a vacuum, would have been for us to maintain infestations in existing hosts while otherwise going dark. But we decided that such an approach would make a poor basis for future relations, and so bit the cost now in the hopes of achieving greater cooperation in the future.
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> > Our alternatives are limited? Does that mean you rescind the blue centaur's prior offer to simply leave, if we ask you to?
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> Not at all. You've misinterpreted me completely. When I say that the alternatives to trust are limited, I mean that were you to make the choice to turn us away, it would represent a tremendous destruction of the agency you currently possess. You expand your agency by acquiring opportunities, not by throwing them away in fear.
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>> **u/chaos-engine** [+2] (a day later)
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>>
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>> How many volunteers do you want? What if you don't get enough?
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>> **u/None** [+1] (a day later)
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>>
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>> [deleted]
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>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+2] *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
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>>>
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>>> Every relevant party has already confirmed it was a deliberately-targeted meteor. I'm not sure what more you need.
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>>>
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>>> Regarding plans, I'd need more specific questions.
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>>>> **u/None** [+1] (2 days later)
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>>>>
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>>>> [deleted]
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>>>>> **u/Modularva** [+3] *YURK* (2 days later)
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>>>>>
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>>>>> "Can" is a murkier concept than most humans think, especially when it comes to resource expenditure. There are dozens of constraining assumptions lurking in the background of most questions of possibility. When we ask whether it can rain tomorrow, for instance, in one sense the answer is obviously yes - there's no Cosmic Prohibition precluding the possibility, and given uncertainty weather can reasonably be thought of as a dice roll. But in another sense, the answer is determined by variables that are already fixed - such as the current temperature, prevailing wind patterns, and so on. In the same way, while it's in one sense possible that we could go to enormous expense to uproot ourselves and our hosts from all planetary surfaces in order to become risk resilient Space Nomads, given realistic constraints - political, military, economic - it's not an option. There's no sufficiently strong reason NOT to live on the surface of planets to overcome all the forces incentivizing us to do otherwise. It's not like colony ships are a negligible expense. I can't go into detail about our force's military posture for obvious reasons, but a small spacefaring population is sufficient to guard against the worst case scenario of total extinction and ensure retaliatory capabilities. Anything more is excessive investment against one particular risk, when so many others have to be considered.
|
||
>>>>>
|
||
>>>>> We contacted you because you live here. You seem to be thinking as if political and economic isolationism is the default option, against which all deviations must be justified, and it's not clear why. Gains from trade are widely understood as good by human economists. The only reason we could have not to contact you would be if you represented a significant military threat, so that the risk of interaction outweighed the reward. Bluntly, your tech isn't anywhere near that level yet.
|
||
|
||
> **u/None** [+2] (a day later)
|
||
>
|
||
> How long has the yurk extraterrestrial society been aware of earth, and how long have you made active attempts at interaction with our system, openly or otherwise?
|
||
>
|
||
> Are you aware of any awareness or attempts at contact with earth on the part of other extraterrestrial societies?
|
||
>
|
||
> What do you know about the possible veracity of claims by David Icke, Erich von Däniken and others concerning extraterrestrial contact with earth in the recent and distant past?
|
||
>
|
||
> The Bohemian Grove is in California, not inconveniently far from Ventura but easily distant enough to survive the Ventura impact or any likely impact on Ventura which wouldn’t destroy the western USA or more. Is there any connection between the Bohemian Grove and your extraterrestrial society or any extraterrestrial society known to you?
|
||
|
||
>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+3] *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
|
||
>>
|
||
>> * We are not at liberty to divulge military information.
|
||
>>
|
||
>> * We aren't aware of any interplanetary contacts predating, say, the last 20 years.
|
||
>>
|
||
>> * I had to search that on Google. As far as I'm aware, there has been no contact between this society and the Yeerk civilization.
|
||
|
||
>>> **u/None** [+2] (a day later)
|
||
>>>
|
||
>>> Would you consider it unlikely that humanity has been contacted by extraterrestrials in the past, or are you simply unaware of any specific incidents? If you were to gain information about previous encounters, on what basis would you be willing to share it?
|
||
>>>
|
||
>>> Separately, can you describe to us any agreements you may have with other extraterrestrial societies? Do you have any close relationships which do not involve hosts?
|
||
|
||
>>>> **u/Modularva** [+2] *YURK* (2 days later)
|
||
>>>>
|
||
>>>> Good question. The Yeerk Federation is fully committed to promoting the spread of relevant information regarding non-Yeerkish extraterrestrial activities to our human counterparts in the United Nations and other governing bodies.
|
||
|
||
> **u/CouteauBleu** [+2] *We are the Empire.* (2 days later)
|
||
>
|
||
> **WEEK 2**
|
||
>
|
||
> **Theme of the week**
|
||
>
|
||
> - The Andalites and the greater war.
|
||
>
|
||
> **Events**
|
||
>
|
||
> A shocking leak by a US Army whistleblower reveals that US military has contacted the Andalite homeworld, and that the Andalite high command has threatened to blow the Earth up, but hasn't followed up on it for unknown reasons. All communications with Andalites are currently blocked off. Threats of retaliation by the US military have received no response.
|
||
>
|
||
> Multiple world leaders call US military "irresponsible" and "reckless" for hiding that information from the public and other countries. Congressional committee is being formed to address the issue.
|
||
>
|
||
> US military declares they have been intercepting encrypted Yeerk transmissions through unspecified means for weeks. They publish a log of all recorded data for anyone to interpret.
|
||
>
|
||
> BBC releases overview of Yeerk-Andalite war. The overview is collected from interviews with ex-controllers, Brazilian controllers, and US military spokepersons, and covers broad events, with many interrogation marks and no specific strategic information. [What the overview actually says is up to your imagination; Visser 3 is not mentioned]
|
||
|
||
>> **u/gamedori3** [+2] (4 days later)
|
||
>>
|
||
>> If the military is planning for war with the Andalites, what is the current state of the US nuclear stockpile? What can humanity do to prepare for war if the Yeerks are destroying the nuclear stockpiles? When will tech transfers from the Yeerks begin?
|
||
|
||
> **u/CouteauBleu** [+2] *We are the Empire.* (4 days later)
|
||
>
|
||
> Ok, given this thread has had way less attention than the last two, and is losing what little momentum it had, I'm going to call it quits now. It was fun while it lasted, and I'm sorry for everyone who participated, but there just isn't as much interesting discussion happening as I hoped.
|
||
>
|
||
> For those curious, the following events were going to be:
|
||
>
|
||
> ---
|
||
>
|
||
> **WEEK 3 - PROPOSALS Round 1**
|
||
>
|
||
> **Themes of the week**
|
||
>
|
||
> - Terms for alliance between Earth and the Yeerk Federation
|
||
> - Plans for the arrival of the Yeerk fleet.
|
||
>
|
||
> **Events**
|
||
>
|
||
> China declares they have analyzed the communication log from the Yeerk fleet released by US military. They have managed to estimate speed and distance of Yeerk fleet using the Z-space equivalent of the Doppler effect, and confirmed that, if it maintains its current speed, the fleet will arrive within three months.
|
||
>
|
||
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
>
|
||
> **WEEK 4**
|
||
>
|
||
> **Theme of the week**
|
||
>
|
||
> - Balance of power
|
||
>
|
||
> **Events**
|
||
>
|
||
> A joint military raid has been operated by the special forces of Germany and Japan on 28 facilities (14 in each country), which, according to the now-defunct Serenity Z-space tracker, had been regularly visited by space-capable fighters in the past.
|
||
>
|
||
> These facilities turned out to be spaceship manufactories, manned by unindentified bipedal aliens. These aliens have been captured and are currently detained in secret locations by the German and Japanes militaries. Attempts to communicate with them have proven mostly unsuccessful so far. The Yeerks controlling them have been returned to Telor, who in exchange promised not to retaliate for the raid.
|
||
>
|
||
> Engineers from all over the world are examining the factories, and comparing their technology with the documentation released by the US military detailing the spaceships in their possession. Preliminary analysis suggests that it will be impossible to build the core components (Z-space drive, high-power dracon beam) without Yeerk assistance.
|
||
>
|
||
> US announces they have one-off ability to destroy yeerk homeworld as a last
|
||
> resort, using the same method the Andalites threatened Earth with.
|
||
>
|
||
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
>
|
||
> **WEEK 5 - PROPOSALS Round 2**
|
||
>
|
||
> **Themes of the week**
|
||
>
|
||
> - Yeerk personal philosophy
|
||
> - Will Integration be beneficial for humans
|
||
>
|
||
> **Events**
|
||
>
|
||
> The last of the Ventura survivors who were released from Telor's ship has been released from quarantine. Authorities ask journalists and other parties to leave them alone.
|
||
>
|
||
> As part of a recent thread, another Controller has been arrested for drunk driving by the PMERJ. The Controller refused to submit to alcohol and drug tests, and, when threatened with incarceration, insisted that she be repatriated to the Pool ship.
|
||
>
|
||
> PMERJ officer Vasco Torres has declared that, while the Yeerk delegation had to benefit from a degree of diplomatic immunity to ensure proper negociations can take place, that immunity may be loosened for auxilliary members of the delegations. "We don't want to send the wrong message. If we're going to cohabit in the near future, it's important that the Yeerks remember, both as individuals and as a faction, that their actions have consequences".
|
||
>
|
||
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
>
|
||
> **WEEK 6**
|
||
>
|
||
> **Theme of the week**
|
||
>
|
||
> - Yeerk personal philosophy
|
||
>
|
||
> **Events**
|
||
>
|
||
> UN representative demands Visser 3 participates in the Summit, or failing that, clarification by Telor on Visser 3's status.
|
||
>
|
||
> Brazil starts preliminary construction of a giant housing complex on _Restinga da Marambaia_ that will house the upcoming Yeerk Pool.
|
||
>
|
||
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
>
|
||
> **WEEK 7 - PROPOSALS Final Round**
|
||
>
|
||
> No notable events. No theme.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|