First Exodus theory revised

Gerry Quinn · 11 Feb 2011, 12:38 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:38:13 -0000
Subject: (urth) First Exodus theory revised
References: <mailman.117560.1297369011.2737.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
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Message-ID: <C82B286351034105968C4EE1C1350E5C@jill>

[Timing of Pas's plan]

The problem is the plan couldn't really have involved a long scouting period, because of the disintegrating state of the Whorl.  The Whorl seems to be at or close to the end of its design life as it approaches the Blue/Green system.  Certainly we know that just a few decades later it will be in a dangerously dilapidated state. Even if Pas had originally intended an extended scouting phase, he would certainly have switched to an accelerated program in view of the state of the Whorl. That means any embryos intended to be colonisation leaders would have been implanted a decade or so before the Whorl reached the system, at the very latest.  [Even if the disembarkation plans were not set in stone, embryos would have been implanted, it's not like there weren't spares available.]

In BotSS, it's pretty clear that there are no other Silks on Blue.  So if they were implanted, something must have happened to them.  The obvious thing is that Echidna had them killed.  But this doesn't make sense, because Echidna met Silk and conversed reasonably amiably with him (at least compared to the guy she was simultaneously burning alive and the child she was summoning snakes to kill).

Conclusion: Silk's embryo cannot be an specific and central part of Pas's plan.  Engineered embryos with generalised leadership abilities are not a problem, because their abilities would work just as well on the Whorl.  Indeed, as things have gone, such abilities are sadly lacking on Blue.  It's very plausible that such engineered embryos were put on board 

[Note: an extended scouting phase also doesn't really fit with Pas's rather Darwinian 'throw them on the planets and see what sticks' approach, as exemplified in BotSS.]

[Status of chems]

I don't mean to say that everyone thought of chems as equivalent to people.  Maytera Rose admits she didn't really believe it despite all the propaganda until she found herself in one.  Black mechanics are illegal, but they do exist.  So there is certainly a good deal of anti-chem prejudice on the Whorl.  But Silk, as you say, clearly accepts them as people - and Pas, as Antonio points out, is their god.

- Gerry Quinn

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ashley Crill 
  To: urth at lists.urth.net 
  Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 4:07 AM
  Subject: Re: (urth) First Exodus theory revised

I think that Pas does consider chems to be real people. Silk certainly does.As far as the timing of Pas's plan and the birth of Silk, its quite possible that the Plan was an extended process of scouting and colonizing that was intended to take decades. Silk was intended to lead the city of Viron on an exodus which may have been scheduled to coincide with Silk's adulthood.There could easily have been other 'Silks' for other cities, with original exoduses scheduled at different times.
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