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.
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