opnet [OpNet] The down side.

[Loge]

There's always a down side even to being a nova. I don't mean the instant fame or the invasion of privacy although that can be pretty messed up. When we erupt its not just hyrdrokinesis like Splash or being a kinetopath like Caestus Pax. Those are just words . People use these words to describe the fact water is somehow part of Splash even when its not touching her. Or that Pax somehow senses kinetic energy and can redirect it just by wanting to. Its all very neat and clean when you say words like hydrokinetic or kinetopath. But that's not really describing them. Its just a way of describing something they can do. Its a way of putting into words something nobody understands and making it seem like its understood because there's a word to describe something like what a nova can do.

Do anyone of you ever feel like there's something else going on. A downside to it like you can't ever be just one of the guys or gals anymore because it just doesn't fit anymore? And if you do feel like that, what do you do about it? I hear people talk teras and how feeling like this is just a hold over from being human. That in time it will fade and we'll all be something else but I don't see it.

Does anyone else feel that? That you're not part of anything anymore. You're not part of it and everything... the brighter tomorrow or teras... is all just a game? That none of it has anything to do with making it through the day today?

[Timeslip]

If there is a downside to being of the One Race, it is this: the excuses of a lesser race no longer apply.

Our failings are not those of finding ourselves in the wrong political or social demographic; they are not those of being overmatched or outclassed by competitors within the masses; they are not the fickle workings of a distant executive, or government, or god.

We are of the One Race, and our failings are ours and ours alone, and when we are so recently risen above a race that is mired in a culture of victimhood, that can be a difficult cross to bear. Dealing with that fact is one of the reasons that the philosophy of Teras was developed - while it is far from an easy road, it does help one to accept the responsibility that permeates our genome, both in the long term and on that day to day basis of which you remark, Loge.

[Emily Williamson]

I know perfectly well what you mean, Loge, and seriously, all the Nietzsche-inspired Terat babble in the world doesn't fill that particular emptiness. Or at least it didn't for me, I'd like to think that at least some of those guys actually believe what they preach, although it's probably a product of the last strands of my naivety talking.

Point is, if you're lucky you either find something to believe in and fight for or kill yourself (because that's the only way out you have now, all the human ones like the OpNet, music, drugs or just taking refuge in society don't make much of a dent anymore). If you're less lucky, or less brave, I dunno, my guess is you end up a lot like me, facing a hundred-plus-year-long life of not fucking caring.

[Mithril]

Alienation from humanity and inability to empathize? You have no idea.

I don't think Teras is the answer, though-- at least not until they do something about the bomb-throwing anarchists in their ranks. I enjoy philosophy as much as the next nova, but it's hard to talk philosophy with a nihilist who thinks that killing is wicked keen.

(Obviously I'm not talking about you, Timeslip. *hugs*)

[z-Silvestru]

Girl Made of Titanium: I wonder: do you think that the "answer" (and we're assuming that there is one) is individual to each person? Teras seems to suggest that each find their own path, but even they force you into a paradigm that may ultimately be artifical even to novas.

[Leliel]

How do you mean artificial? Without getting into details the core of Teras is embracing our evolution, guiding our path to transcendance, and taking responsibility for one's actions.

Albeit I will have to admit that some of these "bomb-throwing anarchists" as you refer to them are often lacking on the last part, but what you must realize is that for every actual Terat, there are a number of "wannabes" who associate with us just because they think it is "kewl".

The two Terats that I have the highest respect for here are Timeslip and Procyon. Noone ever said Teras was without pain or conflict, but I am certain that the two of them will rise above it. My heart especially grieves for Timeslip. And I wish her the best.

[z-Silvestru]

Leliel, you talk as if Teras is the only thing in the world that offers advice on how to improve yourself and taking responsibility for your actions. And it's not. I will grant you that it's the only thing geared solely toward novas, but we are young, and there will be other movements and philosophies that are born, if you insist on a nova-centric view.

And if you don't restrict yourself to the nova-only view, there are many, many philosophies that offer the same as you say Teras does, but without the self-serving overtones that ruin Teras as a practical philosophy.

[Mithril]

Originally Posted By: Sylvan

Girl Made of Titanium: I wonder: do you think that the "answer" (and we're assuming that there is one) is individual to each person? Teras seems to suggest that each find their own path, but even they force you into a paradigm that may ultimately be artifical even to novas.

I think that you're on the right track. While I think it is up to each individual to come to terms with their own personal philosophy, I think that there are a number of key elements that every responsible member of society needs to include:

1) Respect for the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This should be a no-brainer. It sets the standard for fair treatment of baselines.

2) That novas are beings whose basic abilities so radically exceed those of Homo sapiens as to no longer be human. Historically speaking, the whole thrust of human civilization has been to increase the dominion of Humanity over all other species of life, and that there is no reason to believe that Humanity will treat novas any differently than any other species. Therefore no human law can apply to a nova. This includes the so-called Zurich Accord.

3) All novas have the right to life, liberty, and security of their own person.

4) Every nova has the freedom of movement and residence within the limits of reality.

5) No nova shall interfere with the rights of any other nova.

6) Novas shall, where practical, cooperate with the society of all sentient beings for the betterment of novakind and humanity.

7) No nova shall waste or destroy any scarce resource.

I'm sure it's not yet perfect, but I think it's a start.

[z-Silvestru]

Girl Made of Titanium: I agree on many of your points, but I have to say that #2 troubles me, though #6 allivates that somewhat. By "human laws" do you mean those laws designed to control the movements and freedoms of individuals? Or do you mean those laws that protect baselines (and by extension of the Zurich Accord, novas, theortically)?

#5 probably needs to be narrowed a bit; a nova has no right to violate the tenats of the GMoT Accord ().

And maybe have #7 be not waste any resource. I mean, really, why waste at all?

I like it for the most part; other than some refining, I think it is a much more practical guideline for those novas who reject any baseline influence.

[Loge]

Interesting. Its funny things always seem to come back to Teras but maybe understandable. Project Utopia set things up and if anything its the essence of making the perfect world for humanity. So if anyone sees things differently they're probably going to look at Teras instead of trying to change what that "perfect world" is suppose to be.

Okay.

So what about the ones, the novas, that don't fit well into the assumptions and perceptions of the world around us. You can take a corpse-looking nova playing trench coat kewl and stuff him into a tux but do you really think he's getting invited to the White House? In most ways he gives the appearance associated with being dead. In other ways he gives the appearance of being something from humanities nightmares; the walking dead. Its not that he ca't be a nice guy, don't judge everyone by Revenants arrested maturity, but this is something that sneaks out of the human subconscious and isn't rational.

How about the novas that are going to look like they're still pre-teen and teenagers until the day they die? I'm not talking about how they're going to have to deal with never quite making it to the next step of maturity as we understand it. I'm talking aobut the fact that people react to them as if they're kids. That's got to be enough to really piss someone off. Its like being black and told you're equal but the taxi always stops for the white guy not you. After a while you just want to break something.

The problem is there is no "One Race". If we're a race its a race of individuals. You don't have to deal with my problems, I don't have to deal with Meghan's, she doesn't have to deal with Sylvan's, etc. I think its great someone, another nova, thinks its worth listening to me because I'm a nova and they actually listen but we all have a unique problems. So Meghan thinks something the United Nations said in 1948 is important. Another nova thinks its without value because its dogs agreeing on what their rights are. Since we're not a group there's no consensus. We either hunker down and be part of one of the humancentric groups or we go off on our own and hope we can hold our own against a legion of others.

Or we can sell our soul to the Teragen and go the Teras route. But then I have to say its okay for someone to talk about murdering kids because their evolution is suppose to be more important than silly human rules. Oh right. Like that's going to happen.

[Loge]

Originally Posted By: Sylvan

And maybe have #7 be not waste any resource. I mean, really, why waste at all?

Think about it. The old president of the Congo could create diamonds. Not find diamonds or turn something into diamond, he could actually create diamonds.

The difference between you kids and those of us that grew up in the last century is you talk about resources as a generic idea. You make it sound like its irresponsible to squander a resource or misuse it. And yeah I suppose it is. But for us older folks we have a different view. We grew up in a world where there was only so much and when it was gone it was just gone. Talk to anyone on the street today and they'll probably tell you something about resources like Meghan but when you press them for specifics they can't give an answer. Because deep down they don't feel anything is limited when you have novas and Project Utopia hanging around.

[Leliel]

I agree with you that Teras is not the only philosophy that acts as a guide to both self-advancement and personal responsibility. Since it is the philosophy I follow however, I express myself in terms of my personal philosophy. I don't deny any other person, nova or baseline, the right to follow their own philosophy of life.

As far as Teras being an impractical philosophy, what must be considered is impractical to whom? If you are talking about baselines, then I fully agree. Teras is quite frankly not meant for, and irrelevant to, baselines.

If you mean detrimental to novas, due to the actions of those "bomb-throwing anarchists"... Well, for every Terat like myself or Timeslip, there are probably 10-20 "wannabes" as I refer to them, which use Teras as an excuse to act however they want, and not care about responsibility.

Of course in doing so, they go against one of the prime principles of Teras.

Loge: Sell your soul?? Isn't that a bit well, extreme? Or would you consider following any philosophy or religion to be selling your soul. We are hardly the devil, despite the best efforts of Utopian propaganda I am interested (in a philosophical sense) in your use of this phraseology.

[Sam 'The Crusader' Hill]

Hmmm... the down-side...

Well, my friends, if there is a down side to being a superhero, it is the responsibility that comes with it. Yes, the fork-lift of fate bears a particularly large stack of responsibility pallets when it rolls over to those such as ourselves, and it wastes no time at all in lowering that heavy load onto our shoulders... and when it backs those prongs of assistance away, it is left to us to bear this incredible burden.

Ah, but that is where the honored and respected institution of the superhero team comes to the rescue. Gathered together, both my fellow Utopian and Knights and I can lean on one another with our rafters-high stacks, and even though it takes none of the weight from our mighty legs or backs, it does help us to keep our balance of righteousness, so that we do not spill our responsibility to the floor in a moment of moral vertigo.

So lean, my friends! Lean on me, and I'll lean on you, and together, we'll keep this tower of trust standing straight and tall, as a mighty pillar of justice!

[Loge]

Originally Posted By: Leliel

Sell your soul?? Isn't that a bit well, extreme?

That depends. How do the cool kids in the Teragen react to someone like me making sure, in whatever way it takes, that someone like White Rat doesn't harm a child while chasing after his personal evolution? What's the reaction when someone like me says that even though the idea may have started with a baseline caveman fifty thousand years ago, growing tentacles or wearing your brain in a glass instead of a skull is a little creepy. I understand the idea of inbetween states. It would be like Timeslip's furry catepillar trying to function while changing into a butterfly without the coccoon and chrysalis thing going on. But so far no one's proved these kinds of changes are part of an in between state and not just random mutations.

So yeah. If I have to stand aside and smile while someone like White Rat gets his freak on by killing children not living up to his expectations then it would be selling my soul. Those ends aren't worth that means.