[He pours Tighnari a drink of his own, and then the general seems to settle in. He leans a little further back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, and picks up his cup of wine.]
Few would be particularly enthusiastic about suddenly finding themselves plucked away from their lives, "vacation" like this are not. There will always be some who will find this preferable though.
[The general drains his cup— it's a small, asian style cup, so easy to do —and then goes to pour himself another.]
[ taking his cup back, tighnari enjoys a drink. the flavor is foreign to him, and it's a little bit strong, but not bad, not at all.. ]
Mm, well I suppose there are a few people who find this preferable to their previous lives.. but I can't count myself among them.
[ tighnari loves his work, after all, and he loves his home, his family, his friends - being away from all of it gives him a deep sense of longing, a painful homesickness that refuses to quit. over time it will surely only get worse.. until he grows used to the ache of its loss. ]
As for my plans.. well, to get home as quickly as I can, really, and take as much information back with me as possible. One doesn't learn about foreign worlds so easily every day.
[How he had yearned for adventure, a vacation, to see other places. This was not exactly what he had in mind. It might be karma's way of telling him he has foregone intimacy for way too long, but this was a little too on the extreme end of dealing with it.
The comment prompts the general into giving Tighnari a guilty, but unapologetic smile; all this questioning was him being a little bit of an erudite too.]
I take it then your planet hasn't reached spare travel technology yet.
[He suspected, but this was a good as a confirmation.]
[ though tighnari has suspected the presence of foreign worlds before, truth be told. there's quite a lot of evidence to support it, and besides, there's so much, well.. space out there, it stands to reason that they wouldn't be alone in the vast universe. ]
We haven't yet found solid proof that other worlds exist yet, though I suppose it's proved itself, now. Granted that this all isn't a wild fever dream of mine.
Well. I promise you I'm quite real. You can touch, if you wanted to be sure.
[The general laughs at his own joke, just to punctuate that it's light hearted. He decides to drink to that, having another cup of wine. Conversation always made him want to continue to drink.]
Likely the tracks connecting your planet to the star rail decayed long ago. Most routes through the stars rely upon them.
[Jing Yuan's parents were scholars that specialized in the history and culture of the Xianzhou, as were generations of his family before them. It stuck with him, but he shakes his head.]
It was ruled by the Primeval Imperium. Weaponry was banned and aurumatons and ingenia were the planet's sole security force. I've read that it was quite beautiful— fields of rice, mountains of jade —but I've never seen it. The Luofu is my home.
[ but what if it's just a very detailed fever dream that makes him think he can feel it?? all right no, he's pretty sure that this is all very real, but considering that it might be a hallucination is a nice coping mechanism. nevertheless, tighnari listens closely, both ears leaned toward jing yuan. ]
.. aurumatons and ingenia?
[ not words he is familiar with. nor is he acquainted with this.. star rail, but that, at least, he can sort of put together through context. ]
[It's not polite, but Jing Yuan leans his elbow on the table so he can prop his head in his hand. He finds it likely that Tighnari will forgive him for having less than proper table manners.]
They accompanied the Xianzhou when we set sail for the stars and controlled the ships, though during the Three Sufferings Era they rebelled on their own during a time of upheaval between the course and nobility. Opposing forces of the civil war united to defeat them. In the present day, many ingenia are still in usage, though auromatons are fitted with talismans to suppress consciousness.
[ tighnari, in fact, does not rebuke jing yuan for his table manners. but he does look.. quite surprised. ]
Suppress consciousness.. that sounds - [ a beat, and he shakes his head. ] - cruel.
[ mechanical life forms are still a very sensitive and heated topic at the akademiya, but tighnari has seen with his own eyes, the anguish of the machine, karkata's utter despair when it was unable to repair its master. whether it was simply programming or not is impossible to say, but.. he'll never forget what he saw that day. ]
Wouldn't it be more humane to decommission and destroy them?
[He's used to a variety of attitudes about aurumatons from the Artisanship Commission— many who saw them as tools, others that thought they were too dangerous, others that sympathized. Tighnari's concerns aren't out of place.
Jing Yuan offers a little shrug.]
The uprising was millennia ago, before my birth or the birth of any other citizen on the Luofu. The aurumaton of the Primeval Imperium were war machines— they aren't quite suited to the peacefulness of the modern era. If an aurumaton still exists from such period, they no doubted would be contained in the Shackling Prison.
[Hint, this exact scenario is true, but he isn't going to go about spilling military secrets to a stranger.]
Modern aurumaton are built with the talisman installed as a preventative measure and few have autonomy; when they do they're often used strictly for the apprehension of mara-struck and dangerous criminals.
[ jing yuan's explanation does little to assuage tighnari's concern. it's none of his business, really, how a foreign world conducts their business, but.. he's never been particularly good at keeping his opinions to himself, especially when they concern something ethical in nature. ]
That still sounds cruel, to me.
[ like a human born into servitude, brainwashed to be obedient; why build machines capable of sentience in the first place, if only to suppress them? those left over from previous ages are one thing, but to continue building them and installing talismans, knowing that they may be capable of autonomy.. it feels wrong. but after a moment, tighnari shakes his head. ]
But it's none of my business, I realize. It's not as if I'll ever see your Luofu.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2024-01-21 01:52 am (UTC)[He pours Tighnari a drink of his own, and then the general seems to settle in. He leans a little further back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, and picks up his cup of wine.]
Few would be particularly enthusiastic about suddenly finding themselves plucked away from their lives, "vacation" like this are not. There will always be some who will find this preferable though.
[The general drains his cup— it's a small, asian style cup, so easy to do —and then goes to pour himself another.]
What are your plans?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-21 09:31 pm (UTC)Mm, well I suppose there are a few people who find this preferable to their previous lives.. but I can't count myself among them.
[ tighnari loves his work, after all, and he loves his home, his family, his friends - being away from all of it gives him a deep sense of longing, a painful homesickness that refuses to quit. over time it will surely only get worse.. until he grows used to the ache of its loss. ]
As for my plans.. well, to get home as quickly as I can, really, and take as much information back with me as possible. One doesn't learn about foreign worlds so easily every day.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-23 07:35 am (UTC)The comment prompts the general into giving Tighnari a guilty, but unapologetic smile; all this questioning was him being a little bit of an erudite too.]
I take it then your planet hasn't reached spare travel technology yet.
[He suspected, but this was a good as a confirmation.]
We left our homeworld many millennia ago.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-23 07:46 pm (UTC)[ though tighnari has suspected the presence of foreign worlds before, truth be told. there's quite a lot of evidence to support it, and besides, there's so much, well.. space out there, it stands to reason that they wouldn't be alone in the vast universe. ]
We haven't yet found solid proof that other worlds exist yet, though I suppose it's proved itself, now. Granted that this all isn't a wild fever dream of mine.
[ which is, you know, a possibility. ]
Do you know what it was like? Your homeworld?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-24 05:54 am (UTC)[The general laughs at his own joke, just to punctuate that it's light hearted. He decides to drink to that, having another cup of wine. Conversation always made him want to continue to drink.]
Likely the tracks connecting your planet to the star rail decayed long ago. Most routes through the stars rely upon them.
[Jing Yuan's parents were scholars that specialized in the history and culture of the Xianzhou, as were generations of his family before them. It stuck with him, but he shakes his head.]
It was ruled by the Primeval Imperium. Weaponry was banned and aurumatons and ingenia were the planet's sole security force. I've read that it was quite beautiful— fields of rice, mountains of jade —but I've never seen it. The Luofu is my home.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-24 05:18 pm (UTC)[ but what if it's just a very detailed fever dream that makes him think he can feel it?? all right no, he's pretty sure that this is all very real, but considering that it might be a hallucination is a nice coping mechanism. nevertheless, tighnari listens closely, both ears leaned toward jing yuan. ]
.. aurumatons and ingenia?
[ not words he is familiar with. nor is he acquainted with this.. star rail, but that, at least, he can sort of put together through context. ]
Some sort of.. automated protections?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-28 02:24 am (UTC)[It's not polite, but Jing Yuan leans his elbow on the table so he can prop his head in his hand. He finds it likely that Tighnari will forgive him for having less than proper table manners.]
They accompanied the Xianzhou when we set sail for the stars and controlled the ships, though during the Three Sufferings Era they rebelled on their own during a time of upheaval between the course and nobility. Opposing forces of the civil war united to defeat them. In the present day, many ingenia are still in usage, though auromatons are fitted with talismans to suppress consciousness.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-29 06:38 pm (UTC)Suppress consciousness.. that sounds - [ a beat, and he shakes his head. ] - cruel.
[ mechanical life forms are still a very sensitive and heated topic at the akademiya, but tighnari has seen with his own eyes, the anguish of the machine, karkata's utter despair when it was unable to repair its master. whether it was simply programming or not is impossible to say, but.. he'll never forget what he saw that day. ]
Wouldn't it be more humane to decommission and destroy them?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-29 11:58 pm (UTC)Jing Yuan offers a little shrug.]
The uprising was millennia ago, before my birth or the birth of any other citizen on the Luofu. The aurumaton of the Primeval Imperium were war machines— they aren't quite suited to the peacefulness of the modern era. If an aurumaton still exists from such period, they no doubted would be contained in the Shackling Prison.
[Hint, this exact scenario is true, but he isn't going to go about spilling military secrets to a stranger.]
Modern aurumaton are built with the talisman installed as a preventative measure and few have autonomy; when they do they're often used strictly for the apprehension of mara-struck and dangerous criminals.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-31 12:42 am (UTC)That still sounds cruel, to me.
[ like a human born into servitude, brainwashed to be obedient; why build machines capable of sentience in the first place, if only to suppress them? those left over from previous ages are one thing, but to continue building them and installing talismans, knowing that they may be capable of autonomy.. it feels wrong. but after a moment, tighnari shakes his head. ]
But it's none of my business, I realize. It's not as if I'll ever see your Luofu.