Ceremony 4

"I should preface this by saying my knowledge on the subject of evolutionary biology is second hand, but I think I understand the gist of how it works." She didn't want to seem like an idiot if she ended up being wrong.

"That's fine. I'm not exactly an expert on industrial development either. We can run these theories by ARC later to see if they hold water." Don started committing their thoughts to paper by typing an abbreviated list on his tablet.

"Great. Anyways, I think that there might have been a sizable evolutionary divergence in regards to whatever it is that drives innovation and progress. And I think it is on a very basic level."

"How basic are we talking?"

"Food-chain level. If split is as versatile a tool as the Scholar describes it, then it means they probably never went through the same intellectual arms race we had with nature.

Let's say that in the act of, oh I don't know, hunting, they needed to quickly dispatch their prey from range, split seems like something that would be very useful. It would also be a very useful tool against some apex predator that outmatches them physically."

"Wouldn't they have never developed weaponry in that case?" Donovan's counterpoint was something he had been subjected to for a while now, the sword. Split could not have been all-powerful if it meant that they resorted to sharpened metal sticks.

"I don't think learning to smelt metal into weapons is as big a deal as you think it might be. Weapons are used because they make you a more effective and deadly fighter. That seems basic and natural enough to have been something they ended up just doing.

Alternatively, that knowledge could have been introduced by a somewhat more intelligent party. There seem to have been many different species introduced into this galactic community. I don't think it would be strange if there were a few innovations further along the tech tree that spread by random chance."

"Fair point. What does this have to do with evolution."

"I think they never evolved to value innovation, they never had the instinct to improve their technology because they had the crutch of split. If it serves them pretty much everything they could ever need or want, as I think it does, they would become over reliant on it and assume all of their answers can be found in it."

Don sat back and thought on it. It made sense, kind of, but he agreed with her in the belief that this hypothesis was incomplete at best.

"Wouldn't they have at least made some advancement over the ages though? Even if by complete and total accident?"

Diana shrugged. She couldn't say anything about that as she had no idea how such a thing might occur in the first place.

How do you accidentally figure out calculus? To her knowledge the patterns found from calculus could be found naturally, but you couldn't exactly prove it without a relatively deep understanding of mathematics.

Sinusoidal waves, for example. You can see them if you look for them, especially if you know what you're looking for, but it's hard to make sense of them outside of it.

An independent investigation done by Donovan, the mentioning of calculus and other calculus related terms, confirmed that they did not know anything about them.

The Scholar's knowledge of math ran deep (as far as his intellectual circle was concerned). It was part of his job to run the Oberlux's crew payroll, and they were not something he had even seen mentioned in the few textbooks that were available to him.

Don might have found the answer to his own question after recalling one of their previous conversations.

"Do you think they might be suppressing technological findings to maintain control?"

"Who?"

"The nobles, nobility, royalty. They have groomed themselves over generations to be extremely potent when it comes to using split, so wouldn't it make sense for them to want to maintain that power by disincentivizing and destroying innovations that threaten to overthrow them? They certainly have the power to do so."

Diana thought about it. It would make some sense, but there were counterpoints. Some of these would give advantages over neighboring rulers, enemies, like guns or crossbows. Others wouldn't really threaten their power, saws and shovels being an example of tools of industry.

She couldn't really see how higher levels of math could be construed as hostile either.

"It might be a part of it, but we will have to live in this society in order to really find out. We just don't know enough yet."

"True. Mercedes, off the chair." Mercedes thought she could be sneaky and hop up onto one of the padded chairs in the room. Don was unwilling to risk her hair getting all over the plush cushions.

The knock at the door put a temporary end to their conversation and in walked the Captain.

"I apologize if I am interrupting, but we have arrived."

His decor was slightly different than before, the biggest changes being the addition of a cape that extended to his knees and an assortment of expensive looking jewelry scattered around his body.

The earrings were particularly visible as they pierced the tips of his longer ears, weighing them down and changing the way his face looked. The golden loops were embroidered with a variety of what could only be precious jewels, though Diana couldn't remember if any minerals from earth shared similar characteristics.

This was evidently his ceremonial garb, a display of wealth and status for this occasion.

"Do you feel yourselves presentable? If there is any other article of clothing you may need, we will try to provide it." He seemed nervous.

"I think we will be fine as is." Diana was once again kitted in her favorite outfit, though the addition of some hair accessories and a necklace made an appearance. "If anything, might I ask for a comb for my hair? The walk disorganized it somewhat..."

She didn't actually need the comb.

"I feel I'm fine as is." Donovan filled out his dress uniform quite nicely. Unfortunately there was no flair to it, something that the Captain and Scholar alike reacted negatively to.

This uniform was monotone grey, with little embellishment in either pattern or embroidery. The emblem of the navy was absent as well. The only striking objects on his person were the pinky ring on his right hand courtesy of the Scholar and the cowlick on the back of his head that had escaped everyone's notice until now.

Donovan needed the comb.