Based on The Conversion Bureau: Mankind Triumphant
- Relic -
Chapter seven: AD2200 part 4 - Worlds
by Dafaddah
Author's note: Heap Big thanks to both SecondLaw and Microshazm for editing.
---
“So Equestria was a simulation?! But it physically intersected with the Earth and caused all the events that led to Judgement Day. It was a whole other universe, wasn’t it?” asked Conrad. He and Billy lay on the floor of his bedroom, the simulacra spell deactivated. Billy had taught him a spell to contact Princess Celestia, and the three were engaged in his first briefing as one of her agents.
Her voice was as warm, calm and composed as he remembered it from his conversion dream. “Yes, but not in the sense of a computer simulation. A thaumatic simulation actually has a physical manifestation, although under normal circumstances it is short lived. But just like in human virtual environments, objects and people can either be pre-programmed or be artificially intelligent, sentient and capable of independent thought and volition.
“When Discord disconnected Equestria from our original universe it became a new, separate universe. Equestria was manifested permanently, so in that sense it was no longer a simulation. This also set the underlying physical laws of Equestria, to which Discord has a master key. He could modify entire sections of it as long as he was able to marshal the necessary thaumatic energy to effect the change. However, because he was denied the six subsystem spells, he could not directly alter or delete individuals, nor could he modify their personalities, relationships, skills, or memories, except through purely physical means. Perhaps that is why he became so good at both psychological and hormonal manipulation. What he could not do was freeze the entire Equestrian universe itself or reset it, he had to live in it, as did Luna and I. All of Equestria, grew from this seed.”
Billy looked at Conrad with eyes as big as dinner plates. “Your majesty,” said Conrad, “I am honored that you would tell me this. After Equestria’s convergence with Earth, any human scholar of Equestria would have given his right arm to have this information.” Billy smirked and pointed a hoof at Conrad’s own right foreleg. And then at Conrad’s left foreleg. Billy shook and gripped his sides as he laughed in silence, rolling around on the floor.
Conrad rolled his eyes. “I mean no disrespect, but why tell me, and why now?”
“My dear little Conrad, I have had many years to think about things following the events of Judgement Day. I no longer consider my own survival as a given, especially as I am at humanity’s mercy and could conceivably be terminated at any time. I want the story of Equestria to be known and to survive my ending, should it come to pass. Anypony can see from the books you keep in your room that you are the ideal candidate for the job.
“But the reason for starting this process now is due to the anonymous call you received yesterday. I recognized the voice of that caller, and if I am not mistaken, it is that of none other than Discord himself.”
Billy stopped rolling around and gagged, a look of fear on his face. “But... but.. how is that possible? He was ground up into powder to make the Treasure Chest.”
“That, my little ponies, I do not know. Therefore I need you to investigate this as quickly as possible, for if it is indeed Discord, our world is in dire peril,” replied Celestia in a somber voice.
Conrad and Billy stared at each other. “How should we go about this?” asked Conrad.
“First, I need you to find any and all information you can get regarding what was done with Discord’s statue, and how every single piece of it was used,” said Celestia. “I also want you to report what happened to your father and his security team. It is very important that you behave just as you would have had you not been ponified.”
“Yes, your majesty. I’ll get on that right away. Billy can help.” The other colt nodded to Conrad.
“Secondly, please find out all you can on this other person called The Lizard. There is something familiar about him, but just what it is escapes me for the moment.” The two colts voiced their acknowledgement.
“And Conrad,” said the Princess, sounding concerned.
“Yes?”
“This is a dangerous situation for your father. I want you to know that I would never ask you to put my welfare or my directives above your responsibilities to him. Is that clear?”
“Thank you, your majesty. It’s a relief to hear you say it. Please remember that I’ve been the son of one of the most powerful people on Earth all of my life. I’m under no illusions regarding how dangerous his and my situation are,” said Conrad with perhaps more confidence than he really felt.
“It is I who thank you, Conrad and Billy. Please report back to me every day if possible,” said Celestia.
“Any particular time?” asked Conrad.
“I’m not going anywhere, Conrad. Please contact me whenever it’s convenient. Goodbye.”
For the first time he experienced the coy humour for which Princess Celestia was legendary. Conrad felt his ears burning. Billy took one look at him and started rolling on the floor laughing again. I guess it shows, even through the fur, thought Conrad with a smile.
***
In the Treasure Chest, Celestia pondered her conversation with Conrad and Billy.
... our world...
The words echoed in Celestia’s mind.
... our world...
Is that what she really believed? Was she now so attached to the earth and the ponies of her herd who lived there?
… my herd...
Was she still in any sense that Princess Celestia, the immortal alicorn, co-ruler of Equestria? Or just a head in a box with pretensions of more?
… my herd...
Maybe all of it was a dream and she was nothing more than a delusional human girl-child?
In the darkness of the Treasure Chest, Celestia wondered.
Who am I? What am I?
It wasn’t the first time she had been forced to ponder these questions.
***
Discord disappeared with a loud pop, and Celestia’s young heart broke.
How could he? How could Dexter... no, Discord just kill without remorse?
She looked over the carnage in the throne room. Nopony moved. Nopony was alive. She looked at the bodies of Professor Morning Bell and all the other dead strewn about the dais haphazardly. She felt the heat of emotion rise within her as she regarded the throne, symbol of wisdom and justice, sullied with blood. The throne where her mother usually sat. Where his mother sat. This emotion was beyond anger. It burned in the pit of her stomach and made her feel like striking out. For the first time in her short life, Celestia felt hate. In one of the mirrored tiles that graced many of the room’s columns, she saw her reflected face and the hard eyes contained within its countenance. She paused and stared at the scowling visage of a stranger.
Is this what I’ve become? She thought. She hid her face in her hooves. Shame, Celestia, Shame! You do not defeat the enemy by becoming like him.
She reined in her emotions. Calm down. First things first, find the survivors, organize help.
Less than an hour later her fear was returning. She had searched the entire castle only to find more dead. She exited the castle and began searching the ruins of neighboring buildings, looking for survivors. Discord had been thorough. It was only when she passed through the front gate of the Royal School of Magic nearby that she found somepony alive: Professor Silver Bit walked out of the front door of the teacher’s quarters, as she often did when Celestia came to school. She trotted up to her magic teacher, a teal colored unicorn mare with a sky blue mane and tail.
“Professor Silver Bit, you’re alive!” The middle-aged teacher had a look of confusion on her face. “What do you mean, young filly? Of course I’m alive. Why are you here? Graduation isn’t until tomorrow.”
Celestia pointed a hoof at the destruction around them. “There will be no graduation tomorrow. Professor, you have to tell me what is going on here. Is Equestria truly nothing more than a simulation?”
The old mare’s face went white. “I cannot... I’m confused...” She collapsed onto her haunches. “How strange, I... I do not know what to do!”
“Professor Bit!” Celestia held her teacher’s muzzle in both forehooves and raised it so she could look her in the eyes. “You must tell me the truth. What am I? Where is my mother?”
Professor Bit swallowed, a look of fear and dread in her face. “I am outside my parameters. I should have a guide. I should not even be activated!” The old mare curled up into a ball and refused to acknowledge any further queries.
Feeling panic rise within her, Celestia also fell onto her haunches, next to her now catatonic teacher. Celestia, think! She remembered her lessons in governance. What are my resources? Who can help?
She suddenly remembered: Professor Morning Bell’s collar! She examined it and the gemstones on it with her magical senses. Somepony had attached a message spell to them. Without further thought she activated it. Professor Morning Bell’s image appeared before her.
“Hello Celestia.”
“Hello Professor Morning Bell” replied Celestia, beginning to tear up.
“Now, now, you know this is just an agent spell, it’s not really me. So dry up!”
“Yes, Professor,” said Celestia, even though she quietly continued weeping.
“I had just enough time to set up this spell while Dexter was distracted by you. I’m afraid it won’t be able to answer all your questions, not by a long shot. But it is configured to be your guide and will provide you any information it has at its disposal, which is still considerable,” said the image.
Might as well start with the big questions, thought Celestia.
“Who am I, and what am I?” asked Celestia.
“You are Princess Celestia of Equestria, destined to be co-ruler of Equestria with your siblings Princess Luna and Prince Dexter. Together the three of you are being prepared for the task of ruling a new pocket universe being created by the members of the Equestrian faction of the Consortium. Once completed, Equestria is to be the new home of fourteen billion Consortium citizens, including members of the Dragon, Gryphon, and Dog factions among others.”
With a sniff and a smile Celestia noted how similar the guide spell’s manner was to Professor Bell’s usual ‘dry’ presentation style. And the answer, as usual, raised more questions than it answered. She did have two other important questions.
“Where is my mother?”
The guide spell paused. “This will be difficult for you to hear, but your mother is a simulation spell as well. She was designed to raise the best possible future rulers of Equestria. In reality she is an amalgam of several ponies. Her spell was neither active nor in storage when Dexter moved Equestria’s substrate, and so you will not be able to access or activate it.”
Celestia again buried her face in her forehooves.
We are on our own. She felt close to despair. One more question.
“Where is my sister Luna?”
“Her spell is in storage. The spell has been linked to the moon sigil on the collar Professor Bell gave you,” answered the guide spell.
I am not alone! Overpowering relief washed through Celestia’s entire body, leaving her feeling giddy and weak.
“Is she aware of our circumstances?” asked Celestia.
“No. She has been sleeping soundly and will continue to do so until her spell is re-activated.”
“Oh, thank Harmony!” It was one small grace in this shattering disaster, that her sister had so far been spared the horror of the moment. Celestia swore to herself she would prevent Luna from being destroyed by these events.
“Celestia.” The guide spell spoke up unexpectedly.
“Yes?”
“I have been instructed to begin your training in the use of the the six elemental subsystems you command, and to do this as soon as possible as conflict with Prince Dexter is likely imminent. Shall I begin?” it asked.
“Yes. Yes of course.” Pull yourself together Celestia! You have to make this world safe for your sister and for other ponies! she thought. She wiped her muzzle with an already damp foreleg.
You can do this. After all, you were made for this...
***
Conrad concluded his report to his father on the previous night’s mysterious call. “... and so I checked with Jeeves to see if he had recorded anything. He hadn’t. Dad, it’s really scary if someone can just call us without our security systems being being aware of it or detecting any intrusion”. He looked to Billy who sat in the other chair in front of his dad’s desk. Billy nodded his approval of the report, and they both turned to face the elder Sachs on the other side of the desk.
“Son, you did well. You followed the protocol to the letter, and I’m proud of you, especially after what almost happened yesterday. I just wish you would have brought this to my attention last night,” said Wilberforce Sachs. He looked at his son. I am proud of him! he thought.
“I’m sorry Dad, I was just so distraught. I wasn’t really thinking straight.” Conrad sighed.
There was however, one aspect of the call that badly troubled Wilberforce. “Are you sure the first person in the call identified himself as ‘The Lizard’?”
“Yes, I’m certain. Have you heard of him before?” asked Conrad.
“I believe I have. Although you should say ‘it’ and not ‘him’. The Lizard is a fully autonomous AI,” replied his Dad. “Unlike the other AIs, The Lizard chose to remain on Earth when they left in the closing hours of the singularity. It was actually pretty important in minimizing the effects of the Austerity Wars and the setting up the WorldGov. It occasionally provides some intelligence to the WorldGov.” He paused, deep in thought for a moment. “It’s very troubling to think that an autonomous AI might be involved in an attack on a government official’s son, and the HLF. By the way, boys, this is classified information, so don’t talk about this to anyone unless I personally tell you otherwise.”
“Yes sir,” they replied in unison.
“Dad?”
“Yes, Conrad?”
“Was The Lizard involved with Project Eris?” As his Dad seemed to be in a talkative mood this morning, Conrad decided to risk asking that question with Billy present.
“Yes it was.” The elder Sachs looked at Billy for a moment. “This stays in this room, capiche?” When the boys nodded he continued. “The Lizard provided much of the design work of the casings used for the Eris missiles and their target placement in Equestria at detonation, as well as for project Catch and the Treasure Chest. As The Lizard is an artifact of mankind, this still means that the defeat of Celestia’s invasion is still purely a human achievement. But we don’t want The Lizard’s involvement to become general knowledge. There is still a lot of fear of autonomous AIs left over from the events that led up to the singularity.”
“So what do we do about Mr. Concerned Citizen?” asked Conrad.
“I’ll work that out with my security, but for the moment just tell them that you reported the call and their instructions to me. Nothing more than that. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir.” Conrad and Billy left the room.
“Jeeves,” said Wilberforce in a low voice.
“Yes, Mr Sachs,” replied the house AI.
“Clear my schedule for two hours late tomorrow afternoon.”
“Yes, Mr. Sachs.”
It’s time to visit Celestia again, thought Wilberforce Sachs.
***
Barely three hundred, thought Celestia.
She led the rag-tag procession of ponies out of the city in some parts shattered, and eerily distorted in others, all of these the handiwork of Discord. Smoke still rose and fires raged in many sections. Its structures had proven too vulnerable to Discord’s attacks. The price of that bit of wisdom was lives. Too many lives.
Celestia hung her head in shame as she recalled those lost in the last few subjective weeks. In some cases she had been able to transfer their personalities and memories into a still living body. There were so many of those with blank or dysfunctional minds wandering the landscape. And in many cases the transfer didn’t work: the receiving body and new mind were unable to integrate, and both died.
Barely three hundred ponies to restart a civilization. Is this even possible?
The six elemental subsystem spells Celestia controlled gave her great power in this universe. She could literally change the characteristics and personalities of the ponies around her with a simple act of will. It took all of her considerable willpower not to exercise those functions indiscriminately. In fact she loathed using them at all. She shuddered to think of what Discord would have done with them.
Three hundred would have to suffice. Other than Luna’s, there were no more hidden personalities in the storage substrate. Celestia’s search had been thorough. She had also discovered entire villages of Dragons, Gryphons, Buffalo, Zebras and Dogs, as well as other creatures. She activated them, and then left them to their own devices. For his own impenetrable reasons, Discord had also left them alone, so far.
Last in the line was a familiar face.
“Professor Morning Bell. Is that everypony?”she asked.
“Yes indeed. Three hundred and twelve precisely, including the two of us.”
“It would have been less than twenty, had you not transferred the six elemental identity management spells to me, and instructed me on how to use them,” said Celestia.
“As one of the main beneficiaries: I concur!” said the old unicorn with a broad smile.
They began walking side-by-side at the end of the snaking line of ponies, many of whom were carrying their equipment and provisions. Celestia finally had a moment to discuss something that had been bothering her. “Professor, please don’t be offended by this question, but I must ask it.”
The professor took note of the anxious face of his former student. “Ask, child.”
“How do you feel about the... original Professor Bell? Do you consider yourself a copy?”
“Child, I am a copy. I know it because I did the copying myself, at least I remember doing so. Up until that point in time there was no other Morning Bell. Just me. Beyond that point, there is another me, which we can call the original, who gave up his life to protect you, and me and those other three hundred and ten ponies. I mourn him, and yet I celebrate him. It’s decidedly odd to be one’s own saviour, don’t you think?”
Celestia had not thought of it that way, but the words nevertheless comforted her. The Professor had always had the knack of lifting her spirits in the most unconventional fashion.
“Think of it another way,” he continued, warming to the topic. “Who and what we are is nothing less than the series of all the choices we have made in our lives. Those choices, made by the original Morning Bell, have been passed on to me. Now I must honor that gift by continuing that series in the same spirit. So to answer your question, I am Professor Morning Bell, the one and only.”
Celestia’s smile, so rarely seen in the last few weeks returned, and was no less radiant for its extended absence. Up and down the line, ponies nudged each other to see the welcome sight.
Celestia looked around her at the countryside. Although many parts showed the ravages of Discord, there were huge swaths still untouched and heart-breakingly beautiful.
This is our world now...
The ponies marched onwards towards the Everfree forest, many with smiles on their faces and a spring in their steps.
… and this is my herd!
I find it really interesting that you're going with the software oriented style Equestria. Hope to see more detailing of the hows and whys in future chapters
1331249
Yup - there will be more, but I can't reveal much here without getting into spoilers!
This may be the programmer in me speaking, but how can Equestria be a simulation? So they discovered the underlying magical structures that governed their magical universe. Humans are now working on the discovery of the fundamental physical rules of our universe. Knowing these would not make our universe any less real.
This may be (ok, it is) a discussion about semantics but this really bugs me!
1333140
Think of it like a virtual machine. Programs running on an ideal virtual machine can't tell whether or not they're being virtualised or they are running natively on the hardware. But, if there are flaws in the abstraction then it is possible for a program to communicate outside of the virtual machine. To continue this analogy: Discord broke the sandbox and discovered the developer documentation lying around.
1333445
But that's my point: It's irrelevant to the actual programs whether it is a real machine or a virtual one. Discord and Celestia can access and manipulate the underlying rules of Equestria. For all practical purposes they are gods, simple as that.
The whole simulation-thing is superfluous magical technobabble!
... unless Dafaddah has something in store that requires and redeems it. Like maybe it's how Discord managed to become a sentient computer or how Celestia can survive as a head in a box.
1333550
I'm sorry I misunderstood your original point and you're right, it is at some level largely semantics.
Taking a shot in the dark, I'd say the reasoning has to do with how Equestria survived the thermonuclear warheads. If the physical manifestation of the universe is only a side effect of the thaumatic simulation then perhaps the destruction of the physical side has no/little impact on the simulation as a whole.
1333550>>1333445
This discussion is exactly what I was hoping might be generated by this story! There are some similarities between thaumatic simulation and electronic simulation, and some major differences, one of which is that thaumatic simulation creates objects that are tangible in the real world (Electronic simulation is already in 2012 starting to catch up on that front - the Enterprise Holodeck is not an much a fantasy now as it was back when TSNG aired.)
The major similarity (in the TCB universe) is the practise of artificial intelligence as simulation of naturally grown intelligence. Both systems (magic and electronic) have achieved the ability to create objects with complex behaviours (spells/programs) some of which have become sufficiently complex to pass the Turing test (agent spells/artificial intelligences) including a category that has reached autonomy and self-awareness (personalities/Autonomous AIs).
Celestia, Luna and Dexter (Discord) were three such self-aware AIs, who were being groomed by a political entity called the Consortium to actually run a whole universe (if perhaps a small one). This was a job important enough to make sure it was done right before the real citizens moved in hence running it as a simulation first. And if this simulation didn't come out stable, press the great big reset button in the sky, and start over fresh.
This "expendability" is the basic difference between a simulated universe and for example, humanity working out the underlying rules of our universe (unless by this process we find out that our universe IS a simulation - which is actually a possibility being considered by physicists.)
Back to Celestia, Luna and Dexter. They were NOT aware that they were simulation. Although it was not detailed in the story, the intent was that they be gradually introduced to the full set of powers they would possess and their roles in the new universe. When that milestone was reached, the Equestria simulation universe would be separated from the parent universe of the Consortium, and the huge amount of energy needed to fully flesh out the new universe would be expended.
BUT - Celestia, Luna and Dexter were excessively complex AIs, and hyper-intelligent. Dexter found out about being a simulation before he was ready to be told, and he took it very badly indeed. His whole mentality at this point is: "It's all fake anyway - so who cares." What he did was get access to the keys of the part of the system that controls the substrate (physics) of the Equestria Simulation and separated into its own universe before the Consortium could react. Now, perforce, the new Equestria universe is much smaller and energy poor than was originally intended, which will have its consequences (foreshadowing!!!!)
Also, I wanted to create a scientifically plausible rationale for Discord's ability to warp reality and affect ponies, and the reason the Elements of Harmony can in essence re-set Equestria back to normal, as shown in The Return of Harmony. I agree it is still technobabble, but I find that easier to swallow than "hey, it's magic" as the explanation to everything.
HOWEVER: the real objective of this story is to examine the concepts of identity, self and belonging. Celestia has already once in her life faced a sudden and severe re-evaluation of her own sense of self and her role in society. She came to the conclusion that no matter her origin "Cogito Ergo Sum". She is a real person, and that her duty was to her herd - the survivors of Discord's depredations on the nascent Equestria (more about them in later chapters.)
The challenge Celestia faces in 2100 is no less momentous. She is separated from Equestria, perhaps permanently. Her current abilities and thaumatic energy come from the Equestrians left on Earth on Judgement Day, and the newfoals created from her blood (It was implied in the original Mankind Triumphant story that newfoals left on earth on judgement day all died.) At the end of this chapter, the memory of the birth of Equestria allows her to see that she is no longer Celestia of Equestria, but Celestia of Earth, and her duty is to all the earthly ponies (like the term?) who comprise her new herd.
One last disclaimer. I've been programming for over thirty years. I wrote assembly language for Zilog Z80, PDP-11 and IBM System 360 mainframe. Of course this will make me see the technical solution as more "rational" than the magical one. But as Arthur C. Clarke noted: "Any technology significantly more advanced than ours is indistinguishable from magic."
1334467
No comment!
1334900
As an engineer, I see no real difference between physics, programming, chemistry, mechanics, etc. and permutations of magic. The only real difference is what happens in our reality and what doesn't.
Also regarding programming this story is sure making liberal use of GOTO commands.
1335115
Guilty as charged! And there's nothing like running three seperate timelines in one story. As the Minbari say "Three is sacred".
Dafaddah
"A technologically mature "posthuman" civilization would have enormous computing power. Based on this empirical fact, the simulation argument shows that at least one of the following propositions is true:
The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage is very close to zero;
The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero;
The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one.
If (1) is true, then we will almost certainly go extinct before reaching posthumanity. If (2) is true, then there must be a strong convergence among the courses of advanced civilizations so that virtually none contains any relatively wealthy individuals who desire to run ancestor-simulations and are free to do so. If (3) is true, then we almost certainly live in a simulation. In the dark forest of our current ignorance, it seems sensible to apportion one’s credence roughly evenly between (1), (2), and (3).
Unless we are now living in a simulation, our descendants will almost certainly never run an ancestor-simulation." - Dr. Nick Bostrum, Oxford
Dafaddah is brilliant, his lost Equestria is brilliant, and this story rocks.
And... I suspect that the Earth of Relic is also... a simulation.
1334900
So the original universe that "budded" Equestria tried to create their own gods?
And that is why a civilization needs science fiction: To tell them that some things just don't work out.
For what it's worth, I would have preferred to keep it at "It's magic! A wizard did it!". Expect me to start nitpicking.
1335115
What do you expect? He already confessed to writing assembly language.
PS:
Questionable Content, 2280: Plato's Coffeeshop
1336720 [In reply to your comment at Dafaddah]
There are also plenty of counter-examples in science fiction. See Iain M. Banks' Culture novels for an example. As an abstract idea, isn't our concept of democratic government more or less people creating their own gods? The power the government holds over individuals is not all that different from a god and certainly more evident than the power of a hands off god. There is course the general problem with the definition of a god (relevant SMBC).
[In reply to the comment directed at myself]
(Forgive me if I'm wrong, I tried a quick check with google but had no success in finding any sources to back up or refute this assertion.)
I was under the impression that the GOTO instruction was mainly limited to the high level languages with most similar assembly instructions being variant of JMP (jump) instructions.
1336720
In a sense, yes. The Consortium is a great place to live, but like with any civilization, there are communities within in who think things would improve if only they were in charge. That is a big part of what drove the invasion and colonization of the America's by Europeans. (Economics and power politics also played major roles, of course.)
The Consortium though, has a way to bleed off the malcontents (or rabid fans of literary epics, historical periods, viral TV shows, etc...) If a sufficient number of them get together they can petition to have their own pocket universe created just for them. (Don't let the door hit you in the rear-end as you leave.)
As to "gods", if YOU we're going to set up a society based on a monarchic system, wouldn't you want to make sure the monarch ( or triumvirate) was incorruptible? Remember Celestia's response to Wilberforce in the first chapter: "I am what I am, and cannot be otherwise." She knows that she was designed and raised to fulfill a role and not only accepts it but embraces it happily. But now she has been kidnapped by another universe and metaphorically raped: tough times for a former god.
Questions:
- why did her head survive the disappearance of Equestria?
- is she becomming more powerful because because of all the newfoals running around earth, or is it something else?
- are there any other effects on earth because of this massive imbalance of ponies to human running around?
100% agreement! And isn't that exactly what I'm doing here?
:1336542
So which do you chose, Neo, the blue pill or the red pill?
Dafaddah
1336720 and 1335115
There are only 10 types of people on earth...
Those who know binary, and
Those who don't.
1336916
There are only 10 types of people on earth...
Those who know binary,
Those who don't, and
Those who weren't expecting a ternary joke.
1336806
Far more pernicious than the use of the GOTO is an assembly language instruction which is JMP ### where ### is the address of a fixed memory location. AT least GOTO has the decency to jump to a label, whose actual address can be be compiled or interpreted to a specific line of code (relative position in the code base). Nitpicking!
But with virtualization in servers, even programs are not really running on the hardware they think they are anymore. I run windows crapplications on my MacBook Air in a virtual machine. (One does not pick up the pen without having to accept that one may need to get ink on one's fingers, once in a while.)
1336937
Or octal (PDP-11) or HEX (anything running 16 bits or better). Some jokes just don't translate.
1336937
And the Minbari don't get jokes based on three, because "Three is ...."
1336806
Uh... I think I read some of those back in the '90s, so I might remember them wrong.
Of course there would be unimaginable gains to reap if mankind could simply drop the administrative government overhead to a benevolent/neutral dictator, some god-like computer. But who would design, build and maintain that machine? And would those be as trustworthy and good? So you would need some mechanism to ensure security in all components.
Why not put a chip in everybody's head while were at it?
Yes, this is quite a negative view, but please, please, I beg you! show me that I'm wrong!
Democracy is essentially the engineer's way: Realize that the parts are imperfect and try to build in enough security so that a certain level of quality can be maintained.
If I remember correctly there are no loops in assembly, every "for", "while" or "until" has to be built with jumps.
1336834
That "Consortium" sounds like a great place for the nutjobs. Unless that original universe has fulfilled all it's potential sequestering off those who want to change things means stagnation for the original.
If all the "malcontent" simply leave and get to start their own shit they will have to repeat all the mistakes and painful evolutionary steps that have already been made in the original universe. Or they deliberately choose to remain stagnant, because "everything was better back then".
Sorry, I don't buy that.
The "I am what I am." is a tautology, nobody can truly become someone else. People like to tell that they want to be e.g Gandhi, but what they really mean is "I want to be perceived like the image the public has of Gandhi". And those still vary depending on their own reception of Gandhi.
Regarding your questions
1) and 2)
Discord loves Celestia or at least he loves messing with her head (no pun intended), he will keep her alive. Maybe the lives of those three are linked to each other so their "universe" would not fall into complete chaos or complete order?
3)
The original Equestria's magic was deadly to humans. If the earth gets rebuild by pony magic this "poison" might become a built-in property of the new earth and it's products. At the same time research might figure out what "magic" is, but corporations are usually not so fond of fundamental research. Finding the Higgs boson will not help you to build the bigger bomb (at least I hope so!)
1337184
The Consortium is a form of government that represents the ultimate democracy of a fully connected society. Everyone's opinion counts, but then by its nature this is a fractious lot.
However, I completely see it the other way in terms of favouring or discouraging social evolution. By allowing, even encouraging, subgroups to create their own pocket universes, the Consortium is allowing for the maximum possible social experimentation - some will work out, probably most won't. Either way the Consortium benefits from seeing the results and integrating it into their own knowledge base. It is even potentially enabling the growth of its own rivals - although since these are separate universes, there is no contention for resources IF these are properly set up, so there is no reason for a daughter universe to try to forcibly invade the Consortium. The daughter universe could potentially be so attractive that a significant portion of the Consortium citizens would would choose to emigrate. But the Consortium is fine with that as well. We are discussing things which are entirely in the background of Relic, and I must admit I have not made these things clear at the outset because the discovery of them is a big part of the story to come. (Don't worry, there's piles more that I have not disclosed - and will not - (fat man with beard stares into camera) until it's time!
As to people's acceptance or denial of there own sense of identity and innate natures: dude, every day I see people struggling to be who they're not. A lot of times this is simply because they changed (it happens), or the world changed (shit happens), and their own perceptions have yet to catch up with reality.
Regarding your answers to the questions: you're thinking along lines very similar to mine. I award you two FlutterYays:
BTW: Brothers messing their sisters' heads is a time honoured tradition. I have three sisters, just ask any of them!