Song of the Void

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”So how did the Dhar think about the other races that served them?” Miyo asked Selendil, ready to take notes. She was also recording the conversation for future reference.

Nox was still analyzing the remains of the destroyed galaxy, so those that were not actively taking part in the scientific endeavors with Nochehuatl had some time on their hands. Miyo took the opportunity to conduct her first interview with Selendil. Instead of asking the obvious questions about something like Selendil’s role as a Keeper, Miyo had decided to try and understand the Dhar society first. And how a society treated others said a lot about them. Her question was also affected by her desire to find out how Selendil might think about the Illum.

The odd first question got a slightly surprised look from Selendil as well, but she obliged, just to see where this was going. “That depended a lot on the race in question and who you asked. Some Dhar considered many of the races little more than glorified pets, but they were in the minority. Still, the Dhar in general didn’t actually expect a lot from the subordinate races. We didn’t need servants, we already had the AIs for that, we didn’t really need labor and truth be told, we didn’t really put much stock in their intellectual contributions. Art and music were appreciated, but in general they were considered something akin to a curiosity. Some considered the subordinate races a bit like unruly children, some thought of them as charity cases, while more often than not most Dhar didn't think about them at all."

“Sounds like the Dhar didn’t have a lot of respect for them.” Miyo pointed out.

“Respect requires a certain level of equality. Respect wasn’t something that was just freely given, even towards other Dhar. You had to earn it. Now that’s a different thing from disrespecting others, but I think you can understand the difference. Now whatever you might think of the other races that served us, they were not equal to us. A big part of that was the fact that they were so much younger and less developed. Some of the oldest servant races did earn a position of as close to equality as possible. They could never be full equals without access to the universal consciousness, but they were the next best thing.” Selendil speculated.

“Was there hate towards these races you considered lesser?” Miyo asked next.

“No. Not really. Even those that considered them little more than pets just mostly ignored them instead. They considered any efforts to help them a waste of time, but such efforts didn’t really affect them, and that time was not something they had to contribute, so why would they really care? We had access to almost infinite resources, so helping another race elevate to a space-faring status was hardly an issue. It’s hard to really hate something you almost never see or have interactions with. There’s no reason for hate. Now, there were a few pests that got a bit bothersome, like the time we dealt with the Shinzen, but those were rather rare. In general the worst they faced was apathy.” Selendil explained.

“So no grudges for the lives lost due to crime or these punishment expeditions?” Miyo specified.

Selendil’s tails indicated amusement. “If a Dhar managed to lose their life in a battle against such a weak foe, then that was squarely blamed on the incompetence of that Dhar, not the ones that killed him or her. There were a few Dhar that didn’t take it well if they lost a mate they’d had for a long time, but even then they rarely took it out on the killer’s entire race. If they did, they were usually punished as we didn’t encourage that sort of behavior.”

“How did you deal with such people? How did you deal with criminals in general?” Miyo asked.

“Rather harshly. We did not have much crime. It’s a bit difficult to be a criminal when your mind is joined with others of your kind. That's not to say there weren't any criminals, but they were rather rare and any that were found were dealt with harshly as they were seen as traitors that undermined the Dhar as a whole. Now there were extenuating circumstances of course, and those were taken into consideration. We didn’t really have the sort of organized crime that other races suffered from though, partially thanks to the fact that we weren’t lacking in resources or riches. Most crime was something that happened in the heat of the moment. We did have feuds and blood debts and the like. Issues between clans and groups. Any such conflicts didn’t fall under the heading of crime though, and most of those were dealt with by the means of sanctioned duels.” Selendil reminisced.

“So the Dhar had clans?” Miyo asked, noting the fact down with a large exclamation point.

“In a way. It wasn’t always called a clan though. Most Dhar belonged to one kind of association or another. It could’ve been a clan, a family, a warband, a brotherhood, or one of a myriad of other such shared connections. We were a very social race, and we were often brought into such groups by shared interests. Or family ties. Even as the most solitary of our people, we Keepers had the connection of our shared position. The specifics of what kind of group you belonged to often varied according to the galaxy you were in, as local customs often took precedence. Those closer to the home galaxy often valued family ties over other associations, while those on the fringes focused more on shared interests.” Selendil’s voice got a nostalgic tinge.

“So the Dhar culture wasn’t entirely uniform? I mean it makes sense it wasn’t, no culture really is, but I’m just wondering how much it varied according to location.” Miyo expanded on her question a bit.

“Yes and no. There were many things that were constant. The most important things. But there were local customs and peculiarities. How could there not be considering the size of our empire? But the shared consciousness did maintain a certain amount of uniformity at all times. As did the free movement thanks to warping. The differences weren’t major. Not in the way you might be imagining it. I’d call it local flavor more than anything. The game was fundamentally the same, the players were simply different.” Selendil speculated.

“Why do you think the central areas were more focused on family as opposed to those on the fringes?” Miyo was really getting to the interesting details now.

"I would assume for the same reason as when it happened to other races. The closer you got to the heart of the empire, the more important family ties became. I'd like to think we were mostly a merit-based society, but that's not entirely true. Connections always play a role. In the heart of the empire, ancient families held vast holdings and ruled over what could be called their private kingdoms. Those on the fringes often shared the desire to get away from that. That’s why they were on the fringe. Despite what I said, it should be noted that the favoritism wasn't rampant. We didn't allow it to develop to a level where it would negatively impact society. That said, there were always people who felt slighted. They felt they deserved better. So they left in the search of that better. Some succeeded. Many succeeded if they kept at it long enough. But you don’t build something equal to the ancient families in one or two generations.” Selendil shrugged.

“Did this affect the Keepers? I’m under the impression that the Keepers were a rather influential position in the empire.” Miyo asked.

“No. Becoming a Keeper required a particular talent from birth. Those that had the talent became Keepers. You couldn’t learn the ability and no amount of influence or wealth could change that. There were some Dhar with the potential that fell through the cracks and were missed, but they were never stopped from becoming a Keeper. It was always their choice to hide the talent. I almost became one of them myself, but…” Selendil gestured to her surroundings.

“You’ve mentioned that the Keepers were consulted for their wisdom. How did that usually happen?” Miyo asked.

“Three main ways. Either there was a problem that required a very specific solution that only a dead Dhar could provide, or there was a more general problem and the people involved wanted to consult the wisdom of those that had experience with such decisions. Would such a person make a different choice now that they had their whole lives to reconsider, you know? Or they just wanted the opinion of someone that had access to the wisdom of the ages, in which case they were asking for the advice of the Keeper and not those who had passed. In any case, they would either contact the central database to connect with the correct Keeper, or the higher-ups had a particular Keeper whose judgment they trusted." Selendil replied, remembering all the times she had been contacted.

“And if the decision ended up being wrong?” Miyo posed the question.

“Then it would be wrong. They were the ones to seek our advice and had to choose whether to follow that advice or not. Keepers were not infallible and that wasn’t a secret. We just had more perspective and experience than others. We wouldn't have been consulted if the situation was simple, and in complex situations, a lot can happen to alter the result. It’s also the duty of the person asking the question to apply our advice properly.” Selendil waved the concern away.

“Alright. Let’s take this into another direction. How did-“ Miyo’s question was interrupted by Nox’s voice.

“Master, I think we found it.” The AI stated knowing this was a good time to interrupt things.

“Excuse me. We’ll have to continue this later.” Selendil looked towards Miyo.

“That’s alright. This was a good start.” Miyo replied, barely in time before Selendil simply vanished. Miyo gave a small pout. She had heard that the Dhar Keeper could teleport around freely over short distances, but this was the first time she got to experience it. It could become very annoying if abused.

Selendil appeared on the bridge at the same time as several of the officers walked through the doors and took their stations. “Well?” Selendil prompted when they were in place. She noted that Nochehuatl was still missing. Likely sleeping due to working for several days straight. The science officer had been excited to study the conditions of such an extreme situation. It was rare to have the opportunity to study the after effects of a power that could destroy black holes.

The image of the galaxy appeared once again, though this was the image of the galaxy as it had been before the devastating event. The galaxy was a fairly standard looking elliptical galaxy of moderate size and no spiral arms. “This is the situation in our records, except I calculated the changes that would’ve happened between the time Dhar disappeared and the explosion hit. Nochehuatl managed to determine that the catastrophe hit approximately 1,4 million years ago. At that time, the world we are looking for would’ve been located here.” Nox explained and a star suddenly shined brighter than the others.

The star in question was around the midpoint between the core and the edge of the galaxy. “At a quick estimate, the distance could allow it to survive the explosion." Amaterasu speculated. "Though, I don't think it would be in good condition."

“That was my initial estimation as well.” Nox gave her agreement. “However, then I started to reconstruct and simulate the way the accident had to go down to result in what we see now. Keep your eye on the spot as I play things forward.”

The image started to move as a time-lapse of the accident was added. A bright flash of light seemed to swallow everything at the heart of the galaxy in the first moments, and anything caught in the way of the explosion just vanished. Not everything went quietly though as the collapse of the central black hole for example spread waves of gravititational anomalies and smaller black holes into the surroundings. Finally most of the energies involved seemed to implode inward, drawing some of what remained into the mess that existed at the sight of the explosion, as gravity once again took its toll on what remained of the galaxy.

"Oh," Amaterasu commented. They had all seen the world in question take the worst of the central black hole collapsing. It had been straight on the path of the worst after effects, and anything that could’ve remained had been sucked in by the implosion. There was no chance for anything of the world to survive.

“Yes. Oh.” Nox stated wryly. “Incidentally, I calculated that anything below the Dhar technological level in this galaxy would’ve been wiped out by the energy and gravitational waves released. There isn’t a single habitable world left in this galaxy. Even if some of the worlds could’ve survived without turning to completely inhospitable proto-worlds, the radiation would’ve wiped out anything living and the gravity would’ve crushed anything mechanical. I don’t think we’ll even find ruins on any worlds. Most of the worlds would’ve at best turned into molten balls of slag and more likely were blown to pieces. We are basically looking at a galaxy barely starting to reform. Nearly all of the surviving planets are proto-worlds in the formation stages, assuming the stars had enough matter still orbiting them to reform planets. Much of the heavier elements are now scattered around the empty space between star systems. I don’t know what will happen now that the galaxy can’t follow the normal life-cycle of star systems.”

“That must have been the most epic fireworks show in the history of the universe.” Xiaoli blurted, eliciting both groans and stifled giggles from the others on the bridge. “Ooh, both groans and giggles. That was a great success.” She commented with a grin.

“Regardless, I don’t think we’ll find anything useful in this galaxy anymore.” Nox finished her analysis, though now her voice sounded like she was smiling.

“I agree.” Selendil had to start making some decisions. “Have Nochehuatl perform the tests he still wants to do. We’ll be leaving as soon as we can.”

“So what’s the plan?” Moonshadow asked.

“We’ll check the neighboring galaxies for any signs of similar activity, or anyone from this galaxy arriving as refugees. If we find out something, we can proceed from there. If not…well then we’ll need a new plan.” Selendil was not pleased with this result. The world that was now gone had been the best lead she’d had. She didn’t exactly like the options that left her. “Nox, calculate the closest galaxies at that time and compile a list of galaxies they could’ve reached on ships that lack warp.”

“You mentioned earlier that whoever used the power core to cause this explosion should’ve been unable to even access the core. What if they could access the warp network as well?” Moonshadow asked.

Selendil silently considered the possibilities. “I can’t rule the possibility out entirely, but accessing the warp network is significantly more difficult. I can somewhat imagine that whoever did this found a being capable of activating the core. Temporal abilities are not something that other races could not develop, although unlikely. A void wraith that had taken over a Dhar before and ended up cooperating with others could’ve provided them with the necessary knowledge on how to actually use their powers. To get access to the warp network, you not only need to be able to psionically connect with the warp network through the universal consciousness, but it would require them to gain the network’s approval and then construct functional warp engines. Still, I can try to access the warp network’s records just in case. Our jump should be the only one since the fall of the empire, so it should not take long.”

“Most Dhar didn’t have the necessary knowledge, so even if a void wraith had worked with them, the odds of them having the technical knowledge to build the engines are rather small. Besides, they would need the tools and materials.” Nox pointed out. Both Nox and Selendil realized though that access to the tools and materials would’ve been simple if they had found a core. Both had been left to Selendil as supplies after all. The thought of someone misusing those gifts sickened Selendil.

“I’m just going to float this idea just in case, but what are the odds of some race developing warp on their own? Especially if they had some help from the old races that had seen and felt the warp in action. Perhaps if they found some of your old systems and tried to reverse engineer them? Then they would not be dependent on the network, which I would assume is the hardest part to access from the outside.” Amaterasu questioned.

"It's not impossible," Selendil admitted. “It’s not very likely, but it is possible. That said, if they had developed it on their own, they would not be able to use the reach of our network. They would have to expand their own network just like we did. One galaxy at a time.”

"Regardless, I think we should keep the possibility in mind," Amaterasu suggested.

“Agreed. It won’t be much help in the current situation though.” Moonshadow pointed out.

“Nox, have you calculated the most likely galaxy for our next destination?” Selendil asked.

“I have an initial target.” Nox replied and brought up a map of the local galaxy cluster with one of the galaxies highlighted.

Selendil reached towards the warp network with her mind, just to check if the target galaxy had any beacons for her to aim for. They would still give Nochehuatl some time after all. To her surprise, the target galaxy had hundreds of functioning warp beacons. “We may have a problem.” She said carefully.