"Sure went sideways, didn't
it?" replied the General.
“Where is Marie?”
“She got out on the latest ship, she
is still in stasis and will be for another few days. We got the printer working
again. It’s hard to get the right materials in this backwater.”
“How long have I been out?”
“About one local orbit, or ‘year’ as
these locals call it.”
“So what went wrong exactly?” the
patient asked.
“Well, the social scientists are working
on it. Consensus is that local technology development has shifted the ability
of our PsyOps to control the locals. Their ability to get information to wider
audiences has greatly improved these last few centuries.”
“You got that right!” The patient
remembered how his opponents learned the tradecraft his own people had
perfected in order to rule this planet. "Yes, these locals are learning
fast" he added under his breath.
“Well, in this case, these new ideas
being spread around got a little ahead of us. We are still assessing the
consequences.” the General stated.
“Has this been reported to High
Command?” the patient intoned. The patient already knew the answer. His mind drifted a little. When he’d volunteered for this assignment,
they had told him of the dangers. Of
course that was part of the draw. To
have a little adventure in some faraway corner of the galaxy. He came back from his reverie and noted the
General furled his brow at the question.
“Yes, but as you know, the signal
won’t reach them for another hundred years. And then we won’t hear the response
for another hundred after that. That’s why High Command commissioned this study
in the first place a decllenium ago. We
are to learn as we go along and report back findings to High Command. The paradigm was working for quite a while
now, but now there is something interesting happening here. From this experiment, High Command hopes to
learn better ways to administer the Dominion.”
“So what now?” replied the patient.
“No need to worry, PsyOps is coming
up with something. The admiral running that outfit has some clever ideas. She
has a theory that instead of fighting the technological development of the
locals, we should co-opt it and seek to control its development amid other
ways. She thinks we can play one nation off another but on a much more massive
scale. We will control a populace’s critical thought by creating fear of
outsider bogeymen in order to maintain our infiltrated leadership cadres. A
clever fellow under her, an economist, I believe, has a few other ideas to try.
Something about replacing silver coins with paper currency and thereby creating
unwitting debt-serfs. It’s all rather
smoke and mirrors.”
“Is that what happened to me? There
was no outside bogeyman to pin the blame on for the population’s anger?” the
patient inquired.
“More or less. Good thing we got
there in time to recover your remains. Otherwise, you may have wound up pickled
in some quack’s jar somewhere. That information-theoretic death is no joke. We
had to get you into stasis quickly. Finding the right materials took time which
is why we had you in stasis for so long.”
“Sure could use a glass of wine
right about now. I miss that, it was the best down there.” the patient wondered
aloud.
“Soon enough, but you have to wait a
few more days. The medics are still printing out your new body as we speak.
Once we reattach your head, then we can have a drink.”
“Yeah, I hate having to go through
the process. It is so ‘incorporeal’ if you may pardon the pun. Being awake for
these pre-surgery diagnostics is just plain weird.”
“Well, we all go through it. It’s
just part of life.” They could hear the printer in the background weaving back
and forth like an old loom printing out one layer after another of the
patient’s new body. The General had read
a report of a local’s new invention in loom technology using water power to run
the mechanism. He noted to himself to
forward the report to PsyOps.
Controlling their use of this technology could prove useful, he thought
to himself.
"Do I have a new assignment
yet?” the patient intoned as the General took out a pipe to smoke. He had picked this habit up on western half
of this planet a couple centuries before.
“aahh, to be a conquistador again” he thought as he lit the pipe. It was a pity their ships’ drives preferred
gold as a fuel. Not the best planet for
it, but they could get it readily by convincing the locals to use it for
trade. Or just enslave the locals to get
it. He preferred more subtle approaches
than his predecessor.
“Yes, that is all being worked out.
You’ll be good as new in a few days. But rest a bit before we get into details.
You’ll need to get a new language implant, English, I believe. You will test
this admiral’s new theory by ‘fighting’ against our agent already in place. A
good fellow, name is Napoleon” the General said.
“I’ll have the medics call you when
I’m ready for that drink. Thanks for getting me out of there. It was my first
decapitation. I don’t think I want to go through that again.” said the patient.
“Yeah, had a couple of those myself
going back a few centuries. Back in my operator days. Definitely an
unforgettable experience. Lou, by the way, how was Versailles?”
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