Ceremony 3

'Lavish' is how Diana might describe the cabin's interior.

In comparison to the gilded halls of the Oberlux, it was actually quite modest, but it was still far above what she considered the norm for fashion and decoration of a house.

And this was a transport craft.

True, it was diplomatic in nature, and operated under what was likely the most influential and rich organization among the stars, but it was still only a transport craft.

A ferry.

How the hell could they compete with something that could afford to make their cheapo transport vehicles bastions of wealth like this?

She once again found it fortunate that these people wanted to help them, not hurt them. Even if that meant they would have to scratch their backs in turn, that was fine.

So long as they retained independence, autonomy, and secrecy, there were things they were willing to give up. Brass-barreled cannons and telegrams were still a long shot from railguns and 'modern' communication systems.

"What's your impression of their tech?" Alone in the room, her question could only have been directed at Donovan.

"To be completely honest, I haven't seen enough to even get a hint." He was looking out the window. The wings were moving, kind of, but it wasn't really the flapping motion of a bird. "I'd like to say they are a millennia behind, but looking at this shit I can't help but feel they aren't so much behind our technology as they are just having taken a separate path."

"So they have more options thanks to split?"

"More like they HAVE options thanks to split." He took a swig of whatever the coffee-like substance waiting for them on the center table was. "We didn't really have another branching path, physics really only works in one way, but you saw how they fought a star right? We can't do that."

"True, but I feel like that might have been something of a unique case. If I remember correctly, being targeted for genocide by our local star was something of a recent problem for humanity, and split being a factor in that equation even newer."

"That was not at all what I was getting at." Don looked at her like she was crazy. "How could I explain it better... an example maybe? Hmmm."

Diana waited for him to formulate his thesis. She was asking a lot from him, being more familiar with the technological development side of humanity rather than its cultural and political side.

Plus, they had plenty of time before they reached their destination.

"... settings. That's it!" He pulled out his tablet and started typing something in. "Yeah, that'll work. Diana, are you familiar with the alternative history timelines in books and movies and stuff?"

"Intimately. The Man in the High Castle sits among my favorites."

"Good, then do you know anything about the 'blank'-punk settings?"

"Like diesel-punk and steam-punk?" She was wondering how those were going to fit in.

"Exactly. Do you understand the premise behind them?"

Diana tried to remember anything about them besides 'oh, there was a focus on steam engines' in an attempt t not seem clueless. "It's like a version of humanity that has become over-reliant on one form of power generation right?"

"Sometimes. ARC and I agree that a more fitting description is an alternate history where humanity never progressed past a certain technological level, be it because other technology was universally deemed to impractical or there was a lack in materials vital for progression to the next stage.

Consequently, human society evolved to become hyper dependent on that tech and push it to the limits."

"Okay, I think I see where you're going with this. Please continue."

"What I think has happened is that we, that is our version of humanity, was placed into an environment where we were forced into the realm of physics because all other paths of progression were cut off.

Split is not a resource we had access to.

As a result of that, we developed things that they might not have even needed, or known they needed. Split seems like something very versatile, and can probably handle many of the more basic needs we developed technologies for. Gunpowder, it seems, is one such innovation.

I think reading and writing might also be a result of this, just to connect it to something you have a better grasp of. If everybody can speak to and understand everybody else perfectly fine without resorting to something like a thesaurus to find a definition, you don't need to resort to reading to figure things out.

Similarly, it seems that because of this, basically everything is done by word of mouth. Teaching, relaying orders, the chronicling of history, all taken care of by the spoken word.

It's not that they are too stupid to develop a writing system, it's that they never needed one."

That was a bold claim. Even if they didn't really NEED one, it had been displayed that they did in fact create one anyway. The Sanctum Script. Besides, "Wouldn't curiosity and innovation drive them to create an alphabet regardless? I know for a fact there were a great many things we developed even if they were otherwise completely useless."

"Maybe, but that's just my theory. Do you have any ideas?"

Don took the time to finish his drink as the two of them brainstormed.

"Don, I think I might have an idea about their behavior. It assumes your theory is correct of course." Diana was no slouch when it came to thinking, at least in a calm and controlled environment.

"I'm all ears." Don reclined in his chair, relinquishing the speaker's podium to her.

"It has to do with the process of their evolution, both genetically and societally. As with your argument, this stresses that the root cause of our difference is attributed to split, and I think that they started when life began.

It has to do with their attitude in regard to innovation and progress."