Khamal Jolstien, Pod Pilot of New Eden, is in effect an immortal demi-god. Not a god by usual standards, he is very much a physical being, able to be seen, touched, heard. But when he is immersed in the gelatinous substance that fills his space capsule, he is instantly transformed into master and commander of his vessel.
More importantly, he is invulnerable to death in the traditional sense. Cloning technology has advanced to the point where his entire mind is transported into the new body the moment there is a fracture in the capsule. His old body destroyed, he awakens far away in a cloning bay at an orbiting space station. His ship, crew and all destroyed, yet he will continue.
Pod Pilot's in New Eden are revered, admired, and feared. The nature of their work, the disposability of their crew and the crews of ships they destroy makes them apathetic, completely indifferent to death. It is not of their concern, it can't be in order to maintain sanity. Completely immeresed in the protective goo of their pods, they are at once blind, and all seeing. They're electronically interfaced with their ship, their thoughts driving the vessel, or commanding others to take action on board the vessel.
Completely part of their machine, these gods are cyborgs. Implants allow these people to connect with the Pod, and some of them even use extra cranial implants to enhance their already considerable abilities. Implants can increase mental capacities to speed learning, they can enhance responsiveness to certain aspects of the ship, increasing speed, automated repair, and agility.
In many ways, these gods can determine who lives and who dies on the battlefield. This week, fellow pilot Tango Cainne (a friend, Frank, from work) delved into the complex world that is the covert ops vessel. The Helios class vessel, covert ops frigate from the Gallente Federation's navy, is able to provide information on an area without being seen, and that's precisely what he did.
A lone destroyer, a Catalyst (another Gallente Federation ship), was picking through wreckage off of a stargate into the Osmeden system. Cainne's Helios was nearby, reporting on the target's location. In a few moments I emerged from the stargate in my Cerberus, the LH-S Malevolence.
The target, only 15 kilometers away, didn't stand a chance. My heavy assault cruiser's five heavy missiles destroyed the shields on the first volley, and another two volleys removed the armor. In about thirty seconds, the destroyer was reduced to the wreckage it was investigating only moments before.
Its pilot was safe in her capsule, floating in space while the crew were all killed in the explosion. She, being a pod pilot herself, cared more about the ship's destruction than the unknown crew in her charge.
This is typical of a pod pilot. Pod pilots in the EVE-Online canon, and the adroids of Philip K. Dick, and other popular authors all have the same, lack of empathy and regard for life other than their own. I have wondered what similarities exist between the two.
Both are machine, at least in part. Androids completely so, pod pilot's only partly. Their minds and earlier life are natural, so where does this lack of compassion originate? Perhaps it comes from control. Pod pilots have complete control on whether they live or die. All they need to do is ensure there is a valid clone waiting somewhere. In fact, if they fail at this, they're given a cheaper, less effective clone to ensure they're not lost completely.
Androids know their lifespan almost do the day. Philip K. Dick's androids do anyway. They know they are but machine, of little consequence. They live for four years until they wear out. I believe that in both cases, there is a certainty to the lives of these apathetic beings. Humans, normal people, are in little control of their lifespans. They can suffer and perish due to things outside of their control. It is this subtle difference that creates empathy, I believe, and it is this potential experience that is lacking in the android and the pod pilot.
Showing posts with label Cyberpunk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cyberpunk. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
First!
Well, just opened this thing last week, and I kinda figured it would be beneficial to actually use it (plus I've been bored), so here goes.
I've been active in EVE-Online for almost two years now. I've gotten into some pretty interesting shenanigans; invading enemy territory, patrolling my own, piracy, thievery, defense, entrepreneurship and a few other activities I'm sure I've forgotten.
Lately, I've been involved in Faction Warfare, a feature that demonstrates the newly declared war between the four Empires of New Eden (the galaxy EVE Online takes place in). It's not as brutal as the total war waged out on the fringe systems, but times have been interesting.
I'm an Electronic Warfare pilot these days. I fly in a Falcon, an advanced cruiser with state-of-the-art electronics, jamming equipment, cloaking device and surveillance equipment. My particular ship, which I've named the LH-S Omniscience, fields an impressive 7 Multispectral Jammers, capable of rendering useless several enemy ships at once.
My niche is one of many available to pilots of New Eden. I've flown in an intercepting role, damage dealing, exploration and scouting for a fleet, stealth and espionage, and even flown a stealth bomber. I enjoy the Electronic Warfare portion of the game more than these however, because I am able to effectively remove several enemies from the fight with my jamming, thereby protecting my wingmen.
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I get myself into trouble every now and again in EVE. Wandering into enemy territory with some friends, or alone, usually leads to a fight. Other players are fiercely defensive of their space, and will react with overwhelming force almost every time. Hit and run attacks are the norm these days for such incursions, and my ability to jam targets enhances our survivability in case we're not quite running yet when reinforcements arrive.
On one such occasion, we were attacked shortly after we destroyed an enemy mining vessel. Several cruiser-class ships dropped out of warp almost on top of our small wing. In an instant they were on one of our ships, a hapless cruiser-class vessel known as a Caracal. Fortunately, I was sitting cloaked nearly 100 kilometers away in the Omniscience. I was able to jam the targetting systems of the attackers just in time to let our cruiser get away, and even destroying one of the attackers in the process.
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Unfortunately, I hadn't had much time to play this week, so this is the only real action to post. I let this story sit for a bit, hoping for something else to add, but oh well. Next week I plan to take a small hunter-killer party out to track down industrial ships, mining, and hostile patrols.
I've been active in EVE-Online for almost two years now. I've gotten into some pretty interesting shenanigans; invading enemy territory, patrolling my own, piracy, thievery, defense, entrepreneurship and a few other activities I'm sure I've forgotten.
Lately, I've been involved in Faction Warfare, a feature that demonstrates the newly declared war between the four Empires of New Eden (the galaxy EVE Online takes place in). It's not as brutal as the total war waged out on the fringe systems, but times have been interesting.
I'm an Electronic Warfare pilot these days. I fly in a Falcon, an advanced cruiser with state-of-the-art electronics, jamming equipment, cloaking device and surveillance equipment. My particular ship, which I've named the LH-S Omniscience, fields an impressive 7 Multispectral Jammers, capable of rendering useless several enemy ships at once.
My niche is one of many available to pilots of New Eden. I've flown in an intercepting role, damage dealing, exploration and scouting for a fleet, stealth and espionage, and even flown a stealth bomber. I enjoy the Electronic Warfare portion of the game more than these however, because I am able to effectively remove several enemies from the fight with my jamming, thereby protecting my wingmen.
-----------------------
I get myself into trouble every now and again in EVE. Wandering into enemy territory with some friends, or alone, usually leads to a fight. Other players are fiercely defensive of their space, and will react with overwhelming force almost every time. Hit and run attacks are the norm these days for such incursions, and my ability to jam targets enhances our survivability in case we're not quite running yet when reinforcements arrive.
On one such occasion, we were attacked shortly after we destroyed an enemy mining vessel. Several cruiser-class ships dropped out of warp almost on top of our small wing. In an instant they were on one of our ships, a hapless cruiser-class vessel known as a Caracal. Fortunately, I was sitting cloaked nearly 100 kilometers away in the Omniscience. I was able to jam the targetting systems of the attackers just in time to let our cruiser get away, and even destroying one of the attackers in the process.
-----------------------
Unfortunately, I hadn't had much time to play this week, so this is the only real action to post. I let this story sit for a bit, hoping for something else to add, but oh well. Next week I plan to take a small hunter-killer party out to track down industrial ships, mining, and hostile patrols.
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