Earth Date: 24th July 2241
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
Verius VI is a most infuriating place. Soon after my last dispatch, I discovered that EOR has not broken up. However even before I managed to get myself to one of the meetings, the council announced a ban on the group.
I’m not too surprised at the ban but the council then put 3 leaders of the group on trial for rebellion charges. Broadcast on inter-vision, the council put up evidence that the 3 were planning to raid the weapons storage and stage an armed rebellion.
Despite all the troubles from the riot, no firearms of any sort were ever used by either side. Several women were presented in court testifying that they were present when the plans were discussed. Some of these women were given lighter sentences for testifying while others were agents of the council.
It seems that the council had managed to get their people inside EOR and the testimonies of these agents were very damaging. The plans went deeper than attacks against the ruling council. There were plans to ask for assistance from the Federation (talk about irony), and even plans to attack the Mind-Runners if they tried to help the council.
The last part about plans to attack the Mind-Runners got the public especially riled up. The main ideology of Earth Return is in working with nature and being in harmony with their new world. The people in Earth Return have always believed that the Mind-Runners are the natives of the planet and that humans are guests. To work with the Mind-Runners is of paramount importance to the group as the Mind-Runners are part of the natural world. To formulate a plan against the Mind-Runners went against all Earth Return is about and public opinion swung heavily against EOR during the trial.
The 3 women were sentenced to an average of 8 years hard labor and there was nary a whimper from anyone. With EOR so compromised, it was no surprise when it died a natural death.
The female agents of the council also created a fashion trend in the city. To protect identifies of the female agents, they were veiled when they took the stand. Wearing a bonnet that came with a peak (which led me to wonder if they were members of the Veritas group), there was a white veil which hung down from the top of the bonnet. The veil totally covered the face of the agents with only a grill opening for them to see through.
Once the trial was over, the council used the chance to pass several new laws. One of which is that it’s now mandatory for women to wear long sleeves dresses that covered their arms and they also outlawed the wearing of pants for women. Only skirts that reach their ankles are now allowed. Since a slight majority of the women were already doing this, there wasn’t any complains about it.
However with public opinion so against EOR, most of the women in the city start to wear the peak bonnet as a mark of allegiance to the council. Those women who do not wear the peak bonnet were quietly advised to do so. Women of the Veritas group went a step further and covered their face with a veil like the agents that testified against the leaders of EOR. The veil is attached to the rim of the bonnet and it is hung down and locked in place by a collar around the neck. Yes, the women of the Veritas group are now opening and willingly wearing collars in public!
The Veritas explained this as the women’s way to honor the women who bravely testified against EOR. That’s in public but I have another theory. One of the new findings of the “findings group” is how poor the eyesight of the Mind-Runner truly is. According to them, the Mind-Runners’ eyesight is so bad that they cannot see the features of each other. Among the males, they recognize each other through the shape and volume of their manes but they ignore each other’s faces as they cannot see features of the face clearly anyway.
Their culture has a complex series of mental greeting through their telepathy and among the males; this mental greeting is a very important part of their culture. For females who do not have telepathy, they missed out on this important part of their culture. The males would enter the females’ minds and recognize them through that way. The males ignored the female’s face as they cannot see the features of the female’s face and according to the “findings group”; in the Mind-Runner’s culture, the Mind-Runners literally consider each other to be faceless. I believed this is the main reason why the women of the Veritas veiled their face; another way for them to mimic an aspect of the Mind-Runner culture.
When I walk around Restart nowadays, I feel like I am in some sort of Jane Austen novel with the women all in long sleeve dresses and peak bonnets. Only worse is that some of the women are veiled as well.
Since the trial, there has been a noticeable change in the air. Women are now viewed with suspicion in the city, even by other women. I have no luck in finding out whether anyone in Restart has gained telepathic abilities.
The one lead I have is the Veritas group but it seems that women can’t join Veritas directly; instead women have to be sponsored by a male member of the group. I have put in motion plans to overcome this obstacle by getting Glenn Lively to join the group. I have professed an interest in the group to both Glenn and his wife and both of them had also expressed their interest in the group as well.
Hopefully I have more progress to report in my next dispatch.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Monday, 9 January 2012
Rise of The Veritas (Part 7)
Earth Date: 27th March 2241
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
It’s been 16 months since my last dispatch.
I’m happy to announce that unrest has arisen in Restart but I fear things have not turned out the way I envisioned on Verius VI. As I had believed, the council of Earth Return was very slow in implanting any changes to end discriminations against women in Restart. Their fears of a Federation agent were just too great.
Seeing the lack of progress, EOR staged a series of protests at the Government Capsule. At first everything went well as more and more women joined our protest and the council came under increasing pressure to give in to our demands.
We protested daily for over 3 weeks before things went bad. At the last protest we held, a few of the protestors began throwing missiles at the security forces. It was something unusual as the protests had always been peaceful up to then.
At first I wasn’t displeased. No progress had been achieved, and I believe it was a sign that the frustration of several women had boiled over. Several other members of EOR tried to calm things down but they were unsuccessful.
Small stones and garbage were thrown at security; this made things a little uneasy but it was still peaceful. Then a brick was thrown, and the guards had enough. They stormed the protesters and start beating up protesters with their batons. Many of the protestors were arrested and the council immediately ordered a security sweep of the city for all EOR leaders. I was captured along with several of the leaders.
There was a quick show trial for the public and all leaders of EOR were charged with endangering public safety and sentenced between 6 to 24 months hard labor. I was sentenced to 12 months as I was one of the original leaders of EOR but it was ruled that I wasn’t one of the leaders involved in the riots. It was a vast over-reaction to what had been a series of largely peaceful protests, but the council pushed through the sentences and there wasn’t much anyone can do about it.
Before this, Restart never had a serious problem with crime. This was especially true for female criminals. A new building was hastily constructed to house all the new female prisoners and I could even smell the drying paint as I entered the building.
We were strip-searched as we entered the prison and given prison uniforms. It was a plain calf-length dress which was dark blue in color, a pair of soft leather shoes and a white bonnet to cover our hair.
Despite the sentence of hard labor, the council clearly did not know what to do with us and for the first 3 weeks, there was nothing to do. The food was good and it was comfortable within the prison. It was actually very boring, but everything changed at the end of the first month.
I noticed a change in the guards and all of the prisoners were brought to the courtyard where the new warden announced that there was a new regime in charge at the prison. We were all warned to obey all the guards at all times or heavy punishments would be handled out.
We soon got a taste of the new regime when we returned to our cells. Our soft mattress was gone and was replaced by a straw mat. The next day, we were marched out of the prison to our worksite outside the city. The guards locked a collar on all the women and they chained the prisoners in pairs by a steel chain. We were also given a new form of bonnet that came with a peak. The peak covered the entire front of the bonnet, from one chin over the forehead and down the other side of the face. It immediately reminded me of the bonnet women of the Veritas group were wearing and I later discovered that I was right. The council of Earth Return had allowed the Veritas group to take over the prison.
With the guards looking on to prevent any escape, we were marched from the prison to the worksite with the whole city looking on. I’m sure this was done to embarrass the women and the tactic worked well. As we were marched across the city, more people came to see the prisoners who were in collars and chains, and many of my fellow prisoners kept their head down throughout the journey.
As the population of Restart got bigger, there was always a need to clear the surrounding areas of vegetation. On most other planets, construction companies would bring in heavy machinery and just dig up all the vegetation, cart them away and dump them somewhere else. Not here on Verius VI!
Ever mindful of doing harm to the local ecology, here on Verius VI they would dig up the trees and replant them at a new location. Great care is taken not to destroy the roots of the trees and for this delicate job of clearing soil without hurting the roots; everything had to be done by hand.
Connected collar to collar, we worked in pairs to clear the soil of the trees. It was hard work made worse by the fact that most of the women were unused to manual labor. The guards however were carrying canes made from the wood of the local trees and they were more than willing to use them on any women found ‘lacking in effort’. Most of the guards were young, some were just teenagers, and they were just looking for some excuses to use the canes. I was struck several times across my back. The fact that members of the public were allowed to view us working also added to the humiliation.
However when the work was done, something happened that surprise the hell out of me. All the prisoners were resting when a Mind-Runner showed up. As we were technically outside the boundaries of Restart, seeing a Mind-Runner wasn’t that surprising but what this Mind-Runner did was.
Language had always been a huge problem for humans in our age of space colonization and it is the same here on Verius VI. Mind-Runners and humans are different species from different planets and it has been reported that the Mind-Runners are biologically incapable of producing any human speech. Although they do understand the English language, Mind-Runners can only communicate with humans via the mind-pictures.
You know how sometimes when you see two persons in a distance, and you can just tell they are speaking to each other. This was exactly the case here. The Mind-Runner and the guard were speaking to each other.
Even though the human guard never spoke a word; from their body language, I could clearly tell that they were communicating with each other. Could it be possible that some humans in Earth Restart, like the Veritas group, had gained telepathic abilities?
I have just been release early for good behavior and I am living with a couple I had befriended in Restart. Any woman released early has to be placed under the “care” of a man and Glenn had agreed to be my “overseer” for the time. I had known Glenn Lively and Jennifer Cahill on the trip to Verius VI and I do not believe it will be a problem for me to hide my status as an agent from the two of them.
I have noticed that there are many changes within Restart since my release and will try to find out more about what’s going on in the city. However my main priority will be on the Veritas group and whether some humans in Earth Restart had gained telepathic abilities.
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
It’s been 16 months since my last dispatch.
I’m happy to announce that unrest has arisen in Restart but I fear things have not turned out the way I envisioned on Verius VI. As I had believed, the council of Earth Return was very slow in implanting any changes to end discriminations against women in Restart. Their fears of a Federation agent were just too great.
Seeing the lack of progress, EOR staged a series of protests at the Government Capsule. At first everything went well as more and more women joined our protest and the council came under increasing pressure to give in to our demands.
We protested daily for over 3 weeks before things went bad. At the last protest we held, a few of the protestors began throwing missiles at the security forces. It was something unusual as the protests had always been peaceful up to then.
At first I wasn’t displeased. No progress had been achieved, and I believe it was a sign that the frustration of several women had boiled over. Several other members of EOR tried to calm things down but they were unsuccessful.
Small stones and garbage were thrown at security; this made things a little uneasy but it was still peaceful. Then a brick was thrown, and the guards had enough. They stormed the protesters and start beating up protesters with their batons. Many of the protestors were arrested and the council immediately ordered a security sweep of the city for all EOR leaders. I was captured along with several of the leaders.
There was a quick show trial for the public and all leaders of EOR were charged with endangering public safety and sentenced between 6 to 24 months hard labor. I was sentenced to 12 months as I was one of the original leaders of EOR but it was ruled that I wasn’t one of the leaders involved in the riots. It was a vast over-reaction to what had been a series of largely peaceful protests, but the council pushed through the sentences and there wasn’t much anyone can do about it.
Before this, Restart never had a serious problem with crime. This was especially true for female criminals. A new building was hastily constructed to house all the new female prisoners and I could even smell the drying paint as I entered the building.
We were strip-searched as we entered the prison and given prison uniforms. It was a plain calf-length dress which was dark blue in color, a pair of soft leather shoes and a white bonnet to cover our hair.
Despite the sentence of hard labor, the council clearly did not know what to do with us and for the first 3 weeks, there was nothing to do. The food was good and it was comfortable within the prison. It was actually very boring, but everything changed at the end of the first month.
I noticed a change in the guards and all of the prisoners were brought to the courtyard where the new warden announced that there was a new regime in charge at the prison. We were all warned to obey all the guards at all times or heavy punishments would be handled out.
We soon got a taste of the new regime when we returned to our cells. Our soft mattress was gone and was replaced by a straw mat. The next day, we were marched out of the prison to our worksite outside the city. The guards locked a collar on all the women and they chained the prisoners in pairs by a steel chain. We were also given a new form of bonnet that came with a peak. The peak covered the entire front of the bonnet, from one chin over the forehead and down the other side of the face. It immediately reminded me of the bonnet women of the Veritas group were wearing and I later discovered that I was right. The council of Earth Return had allowed the Veritas group to take over the prison.
With the guards looking on to prevent any escape, we were marched from the prison to the worksite with the whole city looking on. I’m sure this was done to embarrass the women and the tactic worked well. As we were marched across the city, more people came to see the prisoners who were in collars and chains, and many of my fellow prisoners kept their head down throughout the journey.
As the population of Restart got bigger, there was always a need to clear the surrounding areas of vegetation. On most other planets, construction companies would bring in heavy machinery and just dig up all the vegetation, cart them away and dump them somewhere else. Not here on Verius VI!
Ever mindful of doing harm to the local ecology, here on Verius VI they would dig up the trees and replant them at a new location. Great care is taken not to destroy the roots of the trees and for this delicate job of clearing soil without hurting the roots; everything had to be done by hand.
Connected collar to collar, we worked in pairs to clear the soil of the trees. It was hard work made worse by the fact that most of the women were unused to manual labor. The guards however were carrying canes made from the wood of the local trees and they were more than willing to use them on any women found ‘lacking in effort’. Most of the guards were young, some were just teenagers, and they were just looking for some excuses to use the canes. I was struck several times across my back. The fact that members of the public were allowed to view us working also added to the humiliation.
However when the work was done, something happened that surprise the hell out of me. All the prisoners were resting when a Mind-Runner showed up. As we were technically outside the boundaries of Restart, seeing a Mind-Runner wasn’t that surprising but what this Mind-Runner did was.
Language had always been a huge problem for humans in our age of space colonization and it is the same here on Verius VI. Mind-Runners and humans are different species from different planets and it has been reported that the Mind-Runners are biologically incapable of producing any human speech. Although they do understand the English language, Mind-Runners can only communicate with humans via the mind-pictures.
You know how sometimes when you see two persons in a distance, and you can just tell they are speaking to each other. This was exactly the case here. The Mind-Runner and the guard were speaking to each other.
Even though the human guard never spoke a word; from their body language, I could clearly tell that they were communicating with each other. Could it be possible that some humans in Earth Restart, like the Veritas group, had gained telepathic abilities?
I have just been release early for good behavior and I am living with a couple I had befriended in Restart. Any woman released early has to be placed under the “care” of a man and Glenn had agreed to be my “overseer” for the time. I had known Glenn Lively and Jennifer Cahill on the trip to Verius VI and I do not believe it will be a problem for me to hide my status as an agent from the two of them.
I have noticed that there are many changes within Restart since my release and will try to find out more about what’s going on in the city. However my main priority will be on the Veritas group and whether some humans in Earth Restart had gained telepathic abilities.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Rise of The Veritas (Part 6)
Earth Date: 7th Nov 2239
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
I have mentioned earlier in my dispatch that there are certain discriminations against women in Restart. Some of the discriminations are due to fears of a female agent in the city; others are due to cultural interaction with the Mind-Runners.
There have been several small groups in Restart who have complained on many occasions about unfair treatment and I had managed to join them into one group. The group is still pretty fragmented at the moment but they are united in their displeasure against the council and the discrimination faced by women in the city. The women called the group "Equality Is Our Right" (EOR), and while everything is civil at the moment, I believe it’s a matter of time before I get things to come to a head.
Some of the new female colonists had staged the first protest of any sort in the history of Verius VI in front of the Government Capsule. I joined the protest and I am happy to report that not all the protestors are new arrivals. It seems that a lot of women in Restart support the protest. Some of the women have been unable to get high-level jobs in the civil service despite their qualifications and they have had enough.
Andrea De Cruz came out to talk on behalf of the council and although the protest ended peacefully, this could be the start of major unrest in the city. The council is still very suspicious of new female arrivals and their paranoid will make it very hard for them to give in to the protestor’s demands. From what I see, they don’t even trust women who had been on Verius VI for years all that much, so it’s hard to imagine them agreeing to end the discriminations against new arrivals.
I also have another report on the Veritas group. Some women had joined them since they were first set up and while they are still small, the group seems to have growing support in the council. Unlike the men of Veritas who sometimes go around shirtless, the women of the group are fully covered up.
The women of the group are easily identified as they all wear a long sleeves blouse that cover their arms and a skirt that reach all the way to their ankles. They also wear a strange bonnet that has a peak on it. The peak is a brim on the front of the bonnet that covered the entire front of the bonnet, from one chin over the forehead and down the other side of the face. There had been bonnets with brims before in Restart but the women of the Veritas wear bonnets with brims that are at least 20cm long, far longer than that of normal bonnets you see in Restart. If you still have a problem envisioning it, just read a Jane Austen novel and you’ll get the picture.
The women of the group look like idiots and a throwback to a time when women were nothing but doormats. I’m not sure why and how these women are willing to stand the humiliation of their dress but strangely enough the Veritas group is growing in size. To me, this is another disturbing sign that the humans in Earth Return are starting to lose their human heritage.
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
I have mentioned earlier in my dispatch that there are certain discriminations against women in Restart. Some of the discriminations are due to fears of a female agent in the city; others are due to cultural interaction with the Mind-Runners.
There have been several small groups in Restart who have complained on many occasions about unfair treatment and I had managed to join them into one group. The group is still pretty fragmented at the moment but they are united in their displeasure against the council and the discrimination faced by women in the city. The women called the group "Equality Is Our Right" (EOR), and while everything is civil at the moment, I believe it’s a matter of time before I get things to come to a head.
Some of the new female colonists had staged the first protest of any sort in the history of Verius VI in front of the Government Capsule. I joined the protest and I am happy to report that not all the protestors are new arrivals. It seems that a lot of women in Restart support the protest. Some of the women have been unable to get high-level jobs in the civil service despite their qualifications and they have had enough.
Andrea De Cruz came out to talk on behalf of the council and although the protest ended peacefully, this could be the start of major unrest in the city. The council is still very suspicious of new female arrivals and their paranoid will make it very hard for them to give in to the protestor’s demands. From what I see, they don’t even trust women who had been on Verius VI for years all that much, so it’s hard to imagine them agreeing to end the discriminations against new arrivals.
I also have another report on the Veritas group. Some women had joined them since they were first set up and while they are still small, the group seems to have growing support in the council. Unlike the men of Veritas who sometimes go around shirtless, the women of the group are fully covered up.
The women of the group are easily identified as they all wear a long sleeves blouse that cover their arms and a skirt that reach all the way to their ankles. They also wear a strange bonnet that has a peak on it. The peak is a brim on the front of the bonnet that covered the entire front of the bonnet, from one chin over the forehead and down the other side of the face. There had been bonnets with brims before in Restart but the women of the Veritas wear bonnets with brims that are at least 20cm long, far longer than that of normal bonnets you see in Restart. If you still have a problem envisioning it, just read a Jane Austen novel and you’ll get the picture.
The women of the group look like idiots and a throwback to a time when women were nothing but doormats. I’m not sure why and how these women are willing to stand the humiliation of their dress but strangely enough the Veritas group is growing in size. To me, this is another disturbing sign that the humans in Earth Return are starting to lose their human heritage.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Rise of The Veritas (Part 5)
Earth Date: 15th July 2239
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
This dispatch is late because Earth Return has tightened security around the city. Earth Return knows that someone transmitted an unauthorized signal to Federation space and the security wing did a search of the quarters of all the women in the city.
As usual, rumors swirl in the city about a possible female spy and how the Mind-Runners were involved in the discovery of the signal. As I sent the dispatch via a secret military frequency, I wonder if there might be something in the rumor of Mind-Runners’ involvement.
In theory, it is possible that the Mind-Runners’ powers run via some natural ability to tap into electromagnetic spectrum and the ability to notice changes in the spectrum. Of course, this theory only holds up if telepathy and empathy are also part of this spectrum.
However throughout human history, we have been monitoring brainwaves so could it not be possible that emotional waves are similar to brainwaves, only that we humans have not discovered them yet? Could it be possible that the Mind-Runner has a natural ability to tap into this spectrum? Of course all this is speculation without a Mind-Runner to run test on.
The search by Earth Return was done with a light-hand. To our knowledge, Earth Return does not possess high-level communication scanners and I get the feeling that the security personal don’t really know what they were looking for. That’s why I believe there’s some truth on the rumors of Mind-Runner involvement.
Outside the search, the biggest news in Restart was the return of one of the “findings group”. It seems that Isiah Tashime had commissioned a group of researchers to join certain herds of Mind-Runners on their wanderings a few years ago and one of the group has now return to Restart with their findings.
The findings have been released to the general public and it makes for so reading. I have attached a copy of the findings to this dispatch but here is a rundown of information.
“The herds of Mind-Runners are nomads who run a circuit around the continent, stopping at various camps along the way for rest. The various herds all consider themselves to be one big family so when they leave a location, they always make sure everything is prepared for the next herd that will move in to replace them.
These ‘resting spots’ as they are called are not fixed. If the Mind-Runners feel that a spot has been hurt too badly by their continued stay, they will leave the resting spot for a few years and replace it with a new spot. The herds keep in contact via their telepathy and inform each other of their decision this way. Distance between the herds is not a problem via this form of communication as mind-pictures are received almost instantly. It is as if the Mind-Runners are of one hive mind because if one Mind-Runner sends a mind-picture, the other Mind-Runner will receive it immediately no matter how far away he is.”
This could be a scientific breakthrough. If the researchers are correct, we may have stumbled upon a new, better way of communication. Even as I send the signal now, the Federation will only receive this dispatch in 2 weeks. However if distance is truly of no concern for telepathy, it could change the whole way humankind tackle the dangers of space. If these claims are correct, then the Mind-Runners’ communications is much better than humans as it is faster and there’s no danger of equipment breakdown.
With the return of one of the “findings group” however comes a problem. I have mentioned in my last dispatch about a group of humans in Restart that has taken to mimicking the Mind-Runner’s culture and beliefs. These humans have formed a group in Restart and are calling themselves the Veritas.
The Veritas have poured over the researchers’ findings on all aspects of the Mind-Runner’s culture and beliefs and had copied some of them. Men of Veritas have started to grow their hair long, at least shoulder length, while some others have even taken to walking around shirtless in public. I am very uncomfortable with these open displays of allegiance to the Mind-Runners but the people in Restart are tolerating them. Word is that some members of the council are approving, even encouraging, the Veritas.
This group is still small however and almost every member in the group is a male. I do not believe the Veritas will have much long-lasting impact in the city but the forming of the group is another disturbing sign that all is not well in Earth Return and the humans here have started to lose their human heritage.
*Attachment*
* Mind-Runner: Culture and Beliefs*
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
This dispatch is late because Earth Return has tightened security around the city. Earth Return knows that someone transmitted an unauthorized signal to Federation space and the security wing did a search of the quarters of all the women in the city.
As usual, rumors swirl in the city about a possible female spy and how the Mind-Runners were involved in the discovery of the signal. As I sent the dispatch via a secret military frequency, I wonder if there might be something in the rumor of Mind-Runners’ involvement.
In theory, it is possible that the Mind-Runners’ powers run via some natural ability to tap into electromagnetic spectrum and the ability to notice changes in the spectrum. Of course, this theory only holds up if telepathy and empathy are also part of this spectrum.
However throughout human history, we have been monitoring brainwaves so could it not be possible that emotional waves are similar to brainwaves, only that we humans have not discovered them yet? Could it be possible that the Mind-Runner has a natural ability to tap into this spectrum? Of course all this is speculation without a Mind-Runner to run test on.
The search by Earth Return was done with a light-hand. To our knowledge, Earth Return does not possess high-level communication scanners and I get the feeling that the security personal don’t really know what they were looking for. That’s why I believe there’s some truth on the rumors of Mind-Runner involvement.
Outside the search, the biggest news in Restart was the return of one of the “findings group”. It seems that Isiah Tashime had commissioned a group of researchers to join certain herds of Mind-Runners on their wanderings a few years ago and one of the group has now return to Restart with their findings.
The findings have been released to the general public and it makes for so reading. I have attached a copy of the findings to this dispatch but here is a rundown of information.
“The herds of Mind-Runners are nomads who run a circuit around the continent, stopping at various camps along the way for rest. The various herds all consider themselves to be one big family so when they leave a location, they always make sure everything is prepared for the next herd that will move in to replace them.
These ‘resting spots’ as they are called are not fixed. If the Mind-Runners feel that a spot has been hurt too badly by their continued stay, they will leave the resting spot for a few years and replace it with a new spot. The herds keep in contact via their telepathy and inform each other of their decision this way. Distance between the herds is not a problem via this form of communication as mind-pictures are received almost instantly. It is as if the Mind-Runners are of one hive mind because if one Mind-Runner sends a mind-picture, the other Mind-Runner will receive it immediately no matter how far away he is.”
This could be a scientific breakthrough. If the researchers are correct, we may have stumbled upon a new, better way of communication. Even as I send the signal now, the Federation will only receive this dispatch in 2 weeks. However if distance is truly of no concern for telepathy, it could change the whole way humankind tackle the dangers of space. If these claims are correct, then the Mind-Runners’ communications is much better than humans as it is faster and there’s no danger of equipment breakdown.
With the return of one of the “findings group” however comes a problem. I have mentioned in my last dispatch about a group of humans in Restart that has taken to mimicking the Mind-Runner’s culture and beliefs. These humans have formed a group in Restart and are calling themselves the Veritas.
The Veritas have poured over the researchers’ findings on all aspects of the Mind-Runner’s culture and beliefs and had copied some of them. Men of Veritas have started to grow their hair long, at least shoulder length, while some others have even taken to walking around shirtless in public. I am very uncomfortable with these open displays of allegiance to the Mind-Runners but the people in Restart are tolerating them. Word is that some members of the council are approving, even encouraging, the Veritas.
This group is still small however and almost every member in the group is a male. I do not believe the Veritas will have much long-lasting impact in the city but the forming of the group is another disturbing sign that all is not well in Earth Return and the humans here have started to lose their human heritage.
*Attachment*
* Mind-Runner: Culture and Beliefs*
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Rise of The Veritas (Part 4)
Earth Date: 7th Nov 2238
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
I have managed to gather more information on the abilities of the Mind-Runners. From what I heard from some of the men in Earth Return, it seems that Mind-Runners have the power to transmit emotions. According to them, they could sense the emotions of the Mind-Runners and the Mind-Runners can understand their emotions as well. If true, this means that the Mind-Runners not only have telepathy, they have empathy as well.
This could be why Agent Smith was unable to prevent them from discovering the fact that he was a Federation agent despite all the mental training we went through. The Mind-Runners may have scanned his emotions as well as his mind during orientation. We knew that the Mind-Runners could scan the mind of male humans but not the fact that they can scan our emotions as well. This new (to the Federation at least) power of the Mind-Runners leave me to wonder if we could ever risk sending another male agent to Verius VI ever again.
Although I do not have first-hand knowledge of their powers, it seems clear that women are immune to their powers. One propaganda video shown during orientation made it clear to all the women that telepathic contact with Mind-Runners result in extreme pain for the woman. As woman can avoid the Mind-Runners’ powers, I would recommend that only female agents be sent to Verius VI in the future.
However the people of Earth Return are not fools. Although all the men were ‘passed clean’ by the Mind-Runners, they realized that they could have missed a few female agents. For security, no women are allowed to be in the Communication Capsule without a male supervisor present and no women are allowed to have a senior position in the communication department. I am sending this message via the separate Comm. Signal Device I bought for this mission and with security at the Communication Capsule being so tight, I recommend that all future agents sent be equipped with a C.S.D as well.
The last thing I wish to mention is that I noticed some of the younger generation in Restart, especially those born on the planet, have taken to imitating some of the Mind-Runners’ culture and beliefs. This group is small but it is another sign that Earth Return has taken up alien culture and is slowly losing their pure human heritage.
I will try my best to stem this tide.
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
I have managed to gather more information on the abilities of the Mind-Runners. From what I heard from some of the men in Earth Return, it seems that Mind-Runners have the power to transmit emotions. According to them, they could sense the emotions of the Mind-Runners and the Mind-Runners can understand their emotions as well. If true, this means that the Mind-Runners not only have telepathy, they have empathy as well.
This could be why Agent Smith was unable to prevent them from discovering the fact that he was a Federation agent despite all the mental training we went through. The Mind-Runners may have scanned his emotions as well as his mind during orientation. We knew that the Mind-Runners could scan the mind of male humans but not the fact that they can scan our emotions as well. This new (to the Federation at least) power of the Mind-Runners leave me to wonder if we could ever risk sending another male agent to Verius VI ever again.
Although I do not have first-hand knowledge of their powers, it seems clear that women are immune to their powers. One propaganda video shown during orientation made it clear to all the women that telepathic contact with Mind-Runners result in extreme pain for the woman. As woman can avoid the Mind-Runners’ powers, I would recommend that only female agents be sent to Verius VI in the future.
However the people of Earth Return are not fools. Although all the men were ‘passed clean’ by the Mind-Runners, they realized that they could have missed a few female agents. For security, no women are allowed to be in the Communication Capsule without a male supervisor present and no women are allowed to have a senior position in the communication department. I am sending this message via the separate Comm. Signal Device I bought for this mission and with security at the Communication Capsule being so tight, I recommend that all future agents sent be equipped with a C.S.D as well.
The last thing I wish to mention is that I noticed some of the younger generation in Restart, especially those born on the planet, have taken to imitating some of the Mind-Runners’ culture and beliefs. This group is small but it is another sign that Earth Return has taken up alien culture and is slowly losing their pure human heritage.
I will try my best to stem this tide.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Rise of The Veritas (Part 3)
Earth Date: 29th Apr 2238
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
Agent Marcus Smith, Agent Samantha Watson, and Agent Natalie Ortega have all been captured and sent back to the U.F.P Titan. No doubt they have sent in their reports already but here’s my assessment of the situation.
After we landed, all the new colonists were spilt between the men and the women. All the men were brought into a building while all the women were shepherded into another building. Later a few men came and took out Agent Samantha Watson and Agent Natalie Ortega from the women group.
During the journey to Verius VI, I’ve made some friends among the new colonists and I gathered some intel from one of the men later on. It seems that all the men were seated in front of a stage where a Mind-Runner was introduced to them. The men were told that the Mind-Runner was going to do a telepathic ‘exercise’ with all of them. All the men had heard the rumors of alien telepathy and they all look forward to see if it’s real. My friend said that he saw an image of the logo of the United Federation of Planets in his mind and then Agent Marcus Smith was suddenly taken away by some guards.
I do not know what happened to Agent Smith after that, but it wasn’t hard to guess. Earth Return got info out of him that Agent Watson and Agent Ortega were with him on the mission and the fact that they managed to get intel out of Agent Smith so fast leave me to conclude that the Mind-Runners were involved in the extraction of the information.
The only reason that I am safe was because Agent Smith did not know of my presence in the group. The cooperation between Earth Return and the Mind-Runners in this incident leave me to conclude that the Federation’s fears of the settlers and the Mind-Runners becoming close allies are coming true.
After Agent Watson and Agent Ortega were taken away, the rest of the women were shown a propaganda video about the City of Restart. Called an orientation video, this was but the first of many video and lecture classes we took during our one-month ‘orientation’ period.
Although they do show life on Verius VI and the city of Restart, a lot of play was also given to the role of the Federation in the murders of their previous leaders, Dr. Marcs Boecker and Mahmoud Pompano, and the role the Mind-Runners had in solving the murders.
A Mind-Runner was the one who discovered that Agent van Hook was the one who poisoned Pompano, and from there the conspiracy to undermine Earth Return was discovered. I tried to poke holes in their arguments and asked how they knew the Federation was involved in the murders. However any questions anyone had on the matter were quickly answered when they showed taped confessions from all 3 agents.
The new colonists I was with were greatly alarmed at the murders and the propaganda period did cause them to view the Federation with more hostility. Since I believe this was what the orientation period was for, Earth Return can think of the orientation period as a great success.
I wish to note that the women colonists were given a set of rules to follow. Outside the normal rules that are given to both men and women, the women have a few extra rules to follow like covering our hair in public. Earth Return advised that the most practical way was to tie their hair in a bun and then cover it with a bonnet. The wearer can choose what color of the bonnet to wear but certain colors are not allowed. These colors are white, black, yellow, red, and gray because these could be colors of the human hair. Most women in Restart wear either green or blue bonnets as these are the official colors of Earth Return.
Women are also encouraged, though not required, to wear long sleeves shirt or dresses that would cover their arms and to wear pants or skirts that reach below their knees.
More than a few of the women were unhappy at these rules but the organizers of the propaganda period, led by one Andrea De Cruz, were quick to explain that this was to the benefit of the small number of Mind-Runners within the city.
It was explained that due to their poor sight, the Mind-Runners have a hard time spotting the differences between a male and female human and Earth Return has found that the best way to help the Mind-Runners is for men and women to dress as differently as possible.
De Cruz related a story that during one of the first contact between Earth Return and the Mind-Runners, one of the Mind-Runners sent a mind picture to a female human. The female settler immediately gave a great cry of pain and was in the medical capsule for over 2 weeks.
De Cruz emphasized that this incident was an accident. Although only male Mind-Runners have telepathic powers, female Mind-Runners can receive them without pain. However this is not true for human females due to biological differences.
She also said that the men also had rules on clothing. They must wear long pants, no baggy pants allowed, and a short sleeve shirt. Also men who are bald or balding had to undergo hair transplants and surgery to make sure that there is at least something on the head. De Cruz said that considering the required surgery, rules for men are actually tougher than for women on Verius VI. However everything is but a small price to pay in order to live in harmony with their new world.
This played well with Earth Return’s stated goal of living and working alongside nature and being in harmony with the world. The fact that all the women here in Restart had been wearing the bonnet for a few years already also added social pressure for the new arrivals to conform to the culture.
However it was De Cruz’s line about human females being unable to receive the mind-pictures due to biological differences that interest me. Earth Return could be guessing but maybe they know this because they themselves had already conducted experiments on the matter.
I have also completed my initial discovery of the political landscape in Camp Restart. After the death of Pompano, Earth Return had been ruled by a council of eight members led by Isiah Tashime who is the ‘Mane’ of the council. Two things of note in the council; there is surprisingly only one women on the council and Andrea De Cruz seems to be in the council only because she is the “Head of Women’s Affairs”.
The other thing to note is that there is a Mind-Runner advisor to the council. This is alarming as it indicates that the alliance between Earth Return and the Mind-Runner may be far deeper than we thought. I will continue to monitor the situation.
Log: Agent Amanda Forrester
Location: Planet Verius VI
Agent Marcus Smith, Agent Samantha Watson, and Agent Natalie Ortega have all been captured and sent back to the U.F.P Titan. No doubt they have sent in their reports already but here’s my assessment of the situation.
After we landed, all the new colonists were spilt between the men and the women. All the men were brought into a building while all the women were shepherded into another building. Later a few men came and took out Agent Samantha Watson and Agent Natalie Ortega from the women group.
During the journey to Verius VI, I’ve made some friends among the new colonists and I gathered some intel from one of the men later on. It seems that all the men were seated in front of a stage where a Mind-Runner was introduced to them. The men were told that the Mind-Runner was going to do a telepathic ‘exercise’ with all of them. All the men had heard the rumors of alien telepathy and they all look forward to see if it’s real. My friend said that he saw an image of the logo of the United Federation of Planets in his mind and then Agent Marcus Smith was suddenly taken away by some guards.
I do not know what happened to Agent Smith after that, but it wasn’t hard to guess. Earth Return got info out of him that Agent Watson and Agent Ortega were with him on the mission and the fact that they managed to get intel out of Agent Smith so fast leave me to conclude that the Mind-Runners were involved in the extraction of the information.
The only reason that I am safe was because Agent Smith did not know of my presence in the group. The cooperation between Earth Return and the Mind-Runners in this incident leave me to conclude that the Federation’s fears of the settlers and the Mind-Runners becoming close allies are coming true.
After Agent Watson and Agent Ortega were taken away, the rest of the women were shown a propaganda video about the City of Restart. Called an orientation video, this was but the first of many video and lecture classes we took during our one-month ‘orientation’ period.
Although they do show life on Verius VI and the city of Restart, a lot of play was also given to the role of the Federation in the murders of their previous leaders, Dr. Marcs Boecker and Mahmoud Pompano, and the role the Mind-Runners had in solving the murders.
A Mind-Runner was the one who discovered that Agent van Hook was the one who poisoned Pompano, and from there the conspiracy to undermine Earth Return was discovered. I tried to poke holes in their arguments and asked how they knew the Federation was involved in the murders. However any questions anyone had on the matter were quickly answered when they showed taped confessions from all 3 agents.
The new colonists I was with were greatly alarmed at the murders and the propaganda period did cause them to view the Federation with more hostility. Since I believe this was what the orientation period was for, Earth Return can think of the orientation period as a great success.
I wish to note that the women colonists were given a set of rules to follow. Outside the normal rules that are given to both men and women, the women have a few extra rules to follow like covering our hair in public. Earth Return advised that the most practical way was to tie their hair in a bun and then cover it with a bonnet. The wearer can choose what color of the bonnet to wear but certain colors are not allowed. These colors are white, black, yellow, red, and gray because these could be colors of the human hair. Most women in Restart wear either green or blue bonnets as these are the official colors of Earth Return.
Women are also encouraged, though not required, to wear long sleeves shirt or dresses that would cover their arms and to wear pants or skirts that reach below their knees.
More than a few of the women were unhappy at these rules but the organizers of the propaganda period, led by one Andrea De Cruz, were quick to explain that this was to the benefit of the small number of Mind-Runners within the city.
It was explained that due to their poor sight, the Mind-Runners have a hard time spotting the differences between a male and female human and Earth Return has found that the best way to help the Mind-Runners is for men and women to dress as differently as possible.
De Cruz related a story that during one of the first contact between Earth Return and the Mind-Runners, one of the Mind-Runners sent a mind picture to a female human. The female settler immediately gave a great cry of pain and was in the medical capsule for over 2 weeks.
De Cruz emphasized that this incident was an accident. Although only male Mind-Runners have telepathic powers, female Mind-Runners can receive them without pain. However this is not true for human females due to biological differences.
She also said that the men also had rules on clothing. They must wear long pants, no baggy pants allowed, and a short sleeve shirt. Also men who are bald or balding had to undergo hair transplants and surgery to make sure that there is at least something on the head. De Cruz said that considering the required surgery, rules for men are actually tougher than for women on Verius VI. However everything is but a small price to pay in order to live in harmony with their new world.
This played well with Earth Return’s stated goal of living and working alongside nature and being in harmony with the world. The fact that all the women here in Restart had been wearing the bonnet for a few years already also added social pressure for the new arrivals to conform to the culture.
However it was De Cruz’s line about human females being unable to receive the mind-pictures due to biological differences that interest me. Earth Return could be guessing but maybe they know this because they themselves had already conducted experiments on the matter.
I have also completed my initial discovery of the political landscape in Camp Restart. After the death of Pompano, Earth Return had been ruled by a council of eight members led by Isiah Tashime who is the ‘Mane’ of the council. Two things of note in the council; there is surprisingly only one women on the council and Andrea De Cruz seems to be in the council only because she is the “Head of Women’s Affairs”.
The other thing to note is that there is a Mind-Runner advisor to the council. This is alarming as it indicates that the alliance between Earth Return and the Mind-Runner may be far deeper than we thought. I will continue to monitor the situation.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Rise of The Veritas (Parrt 2)
Earth Date: 21st Feb 2238
Log: Commander Philip Goldberg
Transport: U.F.P Titan
Location: Planet Verius VI (orbit)
The run to the planet was successful and supplies were dropped to the planet without incident. Camp Restart probably needs a change of name now as it has grown to a sizable city and it is every bit as beautiful as reported. The streets are clean, the air is good and the scenery is gorgeous. However looks are deceiving.
We were unable to get any info on the fate of the 3 agents when Isiah Tashime requested a meeting with me a few days before we were about to leave. He had taken over the position as leader of Earth Return and he bought me to the morgue where he showed me the bodies of Agent Valerie Lim, Agent Robert Booth and Agent Shane van Hook.
Coldly, he stated that Earth Return had no idea about the real identities of these 3 colonists and requested that the Federation returned the bodies to their families. He also implied that the Federation should have no problems finding out their real identities. When I asked as innocently as I could on how they died, Tashime said that the 3 were criminals involved in 2 murders and were executed for their crimes.
He was clearly referring to the deaths of Dr. Marcs Boecker and Mahmoud Pompano. Gentlemen, I fear I have bad news. Our agents are dead and Earth Return knows the Federation is responsible for the deaths of their leaders.
Small Colony City: Restart
Population: 40,827 (male: 19,607; female: 21,220)
The city of Restart is a fully functioning city with all the necessary facilities available to the people. Agent Valerie Lim’s earlier reports that the Earth-house capsule was sabotaged beyond repair looks to be in error. My crew reported that the Earth-house capsule was in working condition with various corps being harvested.
The city looked beautiful and it was a stunning sight as we broke orbit to land on the planet. However looks are deceiving. Members of my crew reported that the people of the city were cold, and in some cases outright hostile, to them. I have no doubt that Earth Return had my crew watched as they were in the city.
There are 3 things I would like to highlight.
First is that there are a number of Mind-Runners within the city. All previous reports state that the Mind-Runners seldom came to the City of Restart but that seems to have changed. Although not numerous, there are some within the city. Sensors pick up that there were about 6-10 of them within the city at any one time, sticking mostly to the outer fringes of the city.
The second thing I wish to report is that there seems to be a dress code in place for women within Restart. All the women are required to cover their hair in public. All the local female humans we saw were wearing a bonnet that totally covered their hair. My female crewmembers were handled bonnets and hats and were told that they have to cover their hair if they wish to get off the ship.
The last, and most important, thing I have to report is that there is a Mind-Runner camp located not far from the City of Restart. Not only that, the camp looked like a permanent one.
All records we have so far had clearly state that the Mind-Runners are nomads. The fact that there is a permanent Mind-Runner camp located near a human city is something of great concern to me. Isiah Tashime knew of the camp but seems totally unconcern about it. He refused to say anything about the camp except that the Mind-Runners are allies of Earth Return and are always welcome in Restart.
I suspect that there is heavy cultural interaction between Earth Return and the Mind-Runners as that is the only reason for women in Restart to cover their hair. If I am right, I fear for the future of the human race if we allow this to continue.
*Note: Earth Return has found the 3 Federation agents within the new colonists and had returned them to us.*
Log: Commander Philip Goldberg
Transport: U.F.P Titan
Location: Planet Verius VI (orbit)
The run to the planet was successful and supplies were dropped to the planet without incident. Camp Restart probably needs a change of name now as it has grown to a sizable city and it is every bit as beautiful as reported. The streets are clean, the air is good and the scenery is gorgeous. However looks are deceiving.
We were unable to get any info on the fate of the 3 agents when Isiah Tashime requested a meeting with me a few days before we were about to leave. He had taken over the position as leader of Earth Return and he bought me to the morgue where he showed me the bodies of Agent Valerie Lim, Agent Robert Booth and Agent Shane van Hook.
Coldly, he stated that Earth Return had no idea about the real identities of these 3 colonists and requested that the Federation returned the bodies to their families. He also implied that the Federation should have no problems finding out their real identities. When I asked as innocently as I could on how they died, Tashime said that the 3 were criminals involved in 2 murders and were executed for their crimes.
He was clearly referring to the deaths of Dr. Marcs Boecker and Mahmoud Pompano. Gentlemen, I fear I have bad news. Our agents are dead and Earth Return knows the Federation is responsible for the deaths of their leaders.
Small Colony City: Restart
Population: 40,827 (male: 19,607; female: 21,220)
The city of Restart is a fully functioning city with all the necessary facilities available to the people. Agent Valerie Lim’s earlier reports that the Earth-house capsule was sabotaged beyond repair looks to be in error. My crew reported that the Earth-house capsule was in working condition with various corps being harvested.
The city looked beautiful and it was a stunning sight as we broke orbit to land on the planet. However looks are deceiving. Members of my crew reported that the people of the city were cold, and in some cases outright hostile, to them. I have no doubt that Earth Return had my crew watched as they were in the city.
There are 3 things I would like to highlight.
First is that there are a number of Mind-Runners within the city. All previous reports state that the Mind-Runners seldom came to the City of Restart but that seems to have changed. Although not numerous, there are some within the city. Sensors pick up that there were about 6-10 of them within the city at any one time, sticking mostly to the outer fringes of the city.
The second thing I wish to report is that there seems to be a dress code in place for women within Restart. All the women are required to cover their hair in public. All the local female humans we saw were wearing a bonnet that totally covered their hair. My female crewmembers were handled bonnets and hats and were told that they have to cover their hair if they wish to get off the ship.
The last, and most important, thing I have to report is that there is a Mind-Runner camp located not far from the City of Restart. Not only that, the camp looked like a permanent one.
All records we have so far had clearly state that the Mind-Runners are nomads. The fact that there is a permanent Mind-Runner camp located near a human city is something of great concern to me. Isiah Tashime knew of the camp but seems totally unconcern about it. He refused to say anything about the camp except that the Mind-Runners are allies of Earth Return and are always welcome in Restart.
I suspect that there is heavy cultural interaction between Earth Return and the Mind-Runners as that is the only reason for women in Restart to cover their hair. If I am right, I fear for the future of the human race if we allow this to continue.
*Note: Earth Return has found the 3 Federation agents within the new colonists and had returned them to us.*
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