Children of Ruin

Children of Ruin is a 2019 science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It is preceded by Children of Time and succeeded by Children of Memory.

Stats

• Next: Children of Memory
• Prev: Children of Time
• Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Publication date: 2019

Details

People

Baltil

See Yusef Baltil.

Bianca

Female spider on the Voyager. Leader of the expedition.

Dizra Senkovi

Second in command of the Tess 834 terraforming project. Leader of the 834-G (a.k.a. Damascus) terraforming project. Developer of the intelligent octopi.

Erma Lante

One of Baltil's crew. In charge of preparing artificial wombs for new humans around Nod.

Fabian

Male spider under Portia's command aboard the Voyager and then the Lightfoot. Research colleague of Meshna. (Past 4.5): A behavioral scientist.

Gav Lortis

(Past 3.7): One of Baltil's subordinates.

Helena

Female Human on the Voyager.

Ivrana Kern

A composite mind whose shards inhabit the computers of the Voyager, the Lightfoot, and various computer-equipped probes. Originally a human scientist who uplifted the portids with a nanovirus on Kern's World.

Lante

One of Baltil's crew. A survivor of Earth's destructive computer virus.

Meshna Ostan Oslam

Male Human on the Voyager. Research colleague of Fabian.

Paul

A male octopus descended from one of Senkovi's experiments.

Portia

Female spider on the Voyager.

Rani

One of Baltil's crew.

Selomi

(Past 2.3): A female octopus descendant of one of Senkovi's experiments.

Senkovi

See Dizra Senkovi.

Yusef Baltil

Commander of the Tess 834 terraforming project. Leader of the 834-H (a.k.a. Nod) terraforming project.

Things

Humans

Inhabitants of Kern's World descended from human (lowercase) refugees who travelled from Earth to Kern's World via the Gilgamesh arkship. Fought a war with the Portids which resulted in the humans' defeat and infection by an empathy-augmenting nanovirus.

Rus-Kalifi nanovirus

An artificial organelle in Earth life that imparts empathy and improves intellectual capacity. Originally deployed by Ivrana Kern on Kern's World in order to uplift a species of subservient simians which were all killed by a terrorist organization that also destroyed interstellar human civilization. Without the intended simian target, the nanovirus uplifted jumping spiders into Portids with help by Kern's uploaded mind broadcasting radio signals from an orbital satellite.

Portids

An intelligent civilization of spiders uplifted by a nanovirus deployed by Ivrana Kern on Kern's World. Encountered human refugees in Children of Time. Eventually established peaceful relations via an application of the nanovirus to create artificial empathy.

Narrative

Past 1: Just Another Genesis

00:00:25

Past 1.1

00:00:30

Dizra Senkovi wakes to a dream of a coral reef he illegally crafted for himself. senkovi is second in command of the terraforming project.

Yusuf Baltil, Commander, has woken Senkovi and closed off information access.

Life was already on Tess-834-H.

Past 1.2

00:15:16 The terraform was the Aegian (formerly the Murata but Senkovi didn't like that name and so hacked it).

(?) Baltil shows the crew a video of

Past 1.3

(?)

824-H, the hot alien inhabited planet is Nod and assigned by Baltil to himself.

824-G, the ice planet is Damascus and assigned to Senkovi.

Senkovi tells Baltil about engineering intelligence into octopi. (?)

Past 1.4

(?)

Senkovi teaches Paul-5 to play a tile game. Senkovi talks with a crew mate, Han, about creating a tiger (they wouldn't be useful in building piping 1 km below sea level).

Past 1.5

01:02:15

Baltil prepares to land at a Nod base in a salt marsh. Baltil ignores a message from Senkovi. Baltil, underway, receives news that the Aegian is malfunctioning. He receives a message from Senkovi that the octopi are hacking the computers.

Senkovi shuts down the Aegian systems in order to flush out the octopi. Senkovi saves what octopi he can after evacuating their cargo bay.

Baltil and his crew disembark onto Nod. A cyberweapon from Earth destroys all online computers. A crude radio is set up but no transmissions are heard. Baltil and company fight to restore life support in the Nod base; they are forced to breathe Nod air; Baltil is a guinea pig. Baltil listens to Nod fauna.

Baltil is called back inside the base to hear Senkovi on the radio again. Senkovi asks why everyone is silent.

Past 1.6

01:57:55

Spooky.

Present 1: Road to Damascus

Present 1.1

01:58:40

Holston's great grand daughter Helena refines her Human-spider language translation technology.

Meshna (?) and Fabian perform another Human understanding experiment; the goal is to permit a Human to mind read a spider.

The Voyager's Captain, Porsche, debriefs spider and Human about an artificial object. Porsche calls spiders and humans to form a scouting party to make contact with the object.

Later, in private, Fabian expresses disapproval at Meshna being called to the scout team. Fabian believes the captain does not approve of the Human understanding experiment.

Present 1.2

02:35:40

Meshna, Fabian, Helena, and others are on the Lightfoot scout ship.

(?) Large rock-hurling tardigrade-like creatures are observed to be deconstructing a moon by chewing off pieces and then hurling them at escape velocity.

Alt-Fabian's personality is described; they are a shard of Kern but hesitant to resync with the Kern of the ship.

Meshna and Fabian attempt another brain interface but Meshna can only discern general synesthesia.

Meshna is reprimanded for falling unconscious during a briefing while assigned to be a scout.

Kern announces contact has been established with an alien intelligence. The Lightfoot crew prepares to make physical contact.

Present 1.3

02:57:53

Bianca decides to send an image of Helena to the unknowns.

After a brief pause in communications, the unknowns attack.

Past 2: Land of Milk and Honey

03:15:05

Past 2.1

03:15:10 Senkovi finds the wreck of the Aegian shuttle where Han had died. Senkovi withdraws into depression. Baltil attempts to communicate with Senkovi. Baltil knows of only 5 surviving humans.

The Aegian had survived the Earth virus completely intact, minus most of the crew Senkovi had sent off-ship for safety when he rebooted the ship.

Baltil awakens Senkovi by threatening to kill the octopi. Baltil sees their intelligence makes them useful.

No signals were detected from Earth.

Past 2.2

03:30:30

Baltil is awakend by Senkovi to make a command decision to engineer low-oxygen tolerating humans to colonize Damascus due to the lack of any Earth refugees arriving. Baltil gives permission, but prohibits human colonization of Nod, wanting to keep that alien biosphere intact and avoiding the issue of needing to engineer further human modifications that would violate traditional human genetics too much.

Past 2.3

03:46:50

An account of the thoughts of Paul and Selomi.

Paul and Selmoi are test subjects.

Paul and Selomi fight.

Paul and Selomi come to consensus. Selomi stops her course of action that would have exposed them to an exterior environmental hazard.

Past 3.4

03:54:55

Baltil sorts Nod observations. Human genetic engineering underway but human birthing / socialization project has not yet physically started.

Senkovi energetically reports octopi success in repairing terraforming equipment.

Baltil observes Senkovi seeded Damascus with breeding pairs.

Baltil laments the loss of Earth; he and his crew prioritize finding intelligent life on Nod because they are lonely.

Past 3.5

04:09:40

An intelligence decides to act in response to novel stimuli from strangers.

Past 3.6

04:10:55

Paul asks Senkovi "Why?". Senkovi recoils.

Past 3.7

04:17:30

Gav Lortis makes another audiojournal entry.

Gav labors with a remote and vehicle to haul Nod tortoises to a crew mate for later dissection. Gav queries the Aegian for a word describing examining corpses for information.

Gav criticizes his crew mates for failing to set priorities that benefit the human race; Erma keeps delaying starting the human growing vats; Senkovi cares more about his octopodes; another crew mate spends time designing vast artificial space habitats that will be impossible to construct for a very long time.

Grav is pricked by a Nod turtle. Grav falls unconscious in pain and swelling.

Gav receives the answer to his query: haruspex

Present 2: Inside the Whale

Present 2.1

04:25:33

Kern pilots the Lightfoot in battle. Bianca is unluckily killed by a stray kinetic round. Portia and Viola coordinate with Kern to fight the attackers. Attackers fight with lasers and kinetic projectiles. Lightfoot Kern deploys her own lasers, kept secret from even her Voyager instance.

Meshna helps analyze combat data to plan a course of action. Meshna's brain implants activate, causing him to upload a model of his mind into the Lightfoot's computers. Model Meshna can suddenly comprehend Fabian's memory of a seaside. Meshna follows a Kern subroutine to a model of the battlefield Lightfoot Kern is maintaining, despite Meshna's cognitive load on her systems. Kern diagnoses Meshna's condition. Meshna understands the nature of the battle.

Kern prepares to flush Model Meshna out of her systems and recommends he install limiters on his implants to prevent a recurrence; Kern wants all her computational resources back. Meshna fights Kern in order to inform her the battlefield has 3 parties, not 2: the Lightfoot, one attacking the Lightfoot and the other defending the Lightfoot. Kern approves of Meshna's assistance. Kern flushes Meshna back into his original body which is suffering a seizure.

Present 2.2

04:50:08

Meshna regains consciousness and tells Fabian "They are fighting", indicating the aliens are composed of at least two factions, one of which is working to protect the Lightfoot.

The Lightfoot retreats after successfully taking advantage of am escape opportunity opened by the non-hostile faction of aliens.

Portia is cold to Fabian for experimenting on Meshna.

Helena works to decode the alien signals while Kern and other leaders develop a plan. Not revealing the Voyager's existence is a high priority so Kern's World remains a secret.

Present 2.3

05:05:20

Helena analyzes the alien language. Helena presents some preliminary correlations to Kern.

Meshna has high access to Kern which goes unexplained for now.

Present 2.4

05:23:55

An account of Paul. Some of Paul's compatriots had attacked because they felt threatened when they received the image of the human.

Paul dances for the human-shaped entity and the crab-shaped entity. Paul receives from them a colorful message of gratitude related to old Empire codes. Paul's compatriots display approval of Paul's deed.

Sudden danger via Paul's ship computer notifies Paul of danger. All of Paul's compatriots escape the water sphere where the visitors entered except Paul who is left behind.

Present 2.5

05:35:43

Kern monitors the meeting. Kern receives a non-automated message in old Empire format from a human-habitable inner planet different from the water world previously identified.

Kern, upon realizing she lacks an emotional response to what should be momentous news that she had rediscovered people from the same civilization she was from, decides to dive into Meshna's implants in order to search for suitable emotional frameworks. Kern repairs Meshna's spider-Human communication protocols in passing. Kern pulls out when safety alarms sound in her mind indicating she is not adequately fulfilling her ship life support duties on the Lightfoot. Kern absentmindedly sends an acknowledgement to the old Empire message indicating the message has been received.

Pandemonium ensues.

Present 2.6

05:46:10

After Paul's ink clears, Helena sees the water bubble freezing unnaturally quickly. Helena and Portia are trapped in the cold. Helena loses consciousness.

Present 2.7

05:52:20

Helena and Portia are trapped incommunicado inside the ice bubble. The bubble is towed away from the Lightfoot by two alien ships. A third alien ship threatens the Lightfoot to keep its distance but does not attack.

Kern identifies the source of the hostility to be her reply to an Imperial C message she received.

Kern believes the message was sent by a composite intelligence like herself.

Viola decide to investigate the source of the message and, if possible, recruit its assistance to recover Portia and Helena.

Kern identifies the message sender as Erma Lente.

Past 3: For We are Many

Past 3.1

06:01:00

Senkovi builds a model of Damascus in order to respond to Paul's "Why?".

Senkovi sees a message from Baltil. Senkovi learns something happened to Lortis.

Past 3.2

06:06:06

Lante reports to Baltil about her fight to keep Lortis alive. Lante speculates on nature of Nod alien life. Lortis isn't being infected but instead overreacting into anaphylactic shock as the slime-mold-like life continuously changes its nature.

Baltil reprimands Lortis's doctor, Lante, for failing to anticipate the alien life form's ability to attack human life.

Baltil finally gets a response from Senkovi.

Past 3.3

06:13:10

An intelligence fights to survive in a hostile new environment (Baltakatei: Lortis's body). A branch of the intelligence family of explorers finds refuge in a place of electrical charges (Baltakatei: brain?) while all other branches die, reporting inhospitable conditions.

Past 3.4

06:16:13

Lante gives Baltil a more comprehensive report on Lortis's condition. Some of the alien life in Lortis's body remains. Baltil gives in to Lante's recommendation to modify his personality with medication and takes medicine. Baltil feels temporarily able to work despite the abyss of their dire situation.

The alien has replaced Lortis's corpus callosum, the bundle of nerve fibers that permits communication between the two hemispheres of the human brain; Lortis doesn't suffer symptoms of the removal of the corpus callosum and so Lante concludes the alien has replaced that function; Baltil doubts an alien parasite could have evolved so quickly.

Past 3.5

06:34:50

The intelligence in Lortis's brain passively analyzes the electrical signals it receives and constructs a model of Lortis's body.

One generation of the intelligence decides to end passive observations and to actively inject changes in the electrical signals.

Part 3.6

06:37:22

Paul-37 gives an account of life in the almost habitable sea of Damascus.

Paul describes how the octopi have taken the initiative from Senkovi in the terraforming of Damascus. Octopi problem solving via consensus is described.

Paul considers Senkovi as a benevolent entity.

Past 3.7

06:44:10

Lortis awakens. Lortis, an alien puppet vessel, attacks to preserve his parasites.

Baltil attacks Lortis.

The parasite drives Lortis's body beyond its physical limits, tearing tendons and muscle in order to improve the body's combat capability.

Rani is gravely injured in the neck by Lortis stabbing her with a finger. Baltil carries Rani to get medical assistance.

Lante is infected by Lortis's reanimated mangled corpse.

Past 3.8

06:57:45

Rani awakens and shows infection signs: voicing the parasites's joy at being able to colonize space by gleefully saying "We're going on an adventure!"

Baltil equips an axe.

Erma Lante arrives, infected. Rani and Lante attempt to placate Baltil by promising eternal life in their archives.

Baltil escapes the Nod base and runs to the shuttle. Lante and Rani follow in unsteady steps, flooding the shuttle's computer with a denial of service attack, preventing Baltil from entering the shuttle.

Baltil faces Lante and Rani with the axe.

Past 3.9

07:12:15

Senkovi wanders the Aegian, actively ignoring the amazing progress of the octopi who are so effective they need no direction anymore on Damascus.

Baltil tells Senkovi he killed his crew. Baltil warns Senkovi to keep the Aegian isolated from Nod. Senkovi notices Baltil is piloting the shuttle towards the Aegian. Baltil tells Senkovi they are going on an adventure. Senkovi warns Baltil he can fire anti-collision lasers at the shuttle. Baltil begins hacking the Aegian's systems. Senkovi warns the Damascus octopi the shuttle is very dangerous. Senkovi attempts to fight Baltil but is not a match for Baltil's augmented hacking skills.

The octopi hack orbital mirrors to reorient to destroy the shuttle, burning its contents.

Present 3: Rolling Back the Stone

Present 3.1

07:31:50

Helena wakes cold. After regaining her wits, Helena finds herself and Portia resting near a hard cold surface. Helena establishes contact with Portia via wireless implant signals and finds Portia conscious, albeït sluggish. Portia has significant organ and limb damage. Helena activates Portia's suit heater; Helena notices Portia's suit has full power stores. Portia informs Helena that the suits' computers called for wireless charging and so their captors provided a compatible energy field. Helena is reassured that their captors seem to use computer systems compatible with old old Empire tech.

Helena notices what she decides is the octopus diplomat nearby, awake but inactive. Helena uses her pad to send a message of reassuring colors.

Helena notices a communication link and sends queries to it. Helena tries various types of requests. Eventually, one of Helena's requests using a very primitive troubleshooting interface is answered, providing Helena with a data file directory tree. Although most directory nodes have incomprehensible character strings, Helena notices one that resembles a name: Dizra Senkovi.

Present 3.2

07:45:20

Kern in the Lightfoot pines for the emotional capabilities she enjoyed while inhabiting Meshna's mind. Kern deletes inconvenient memories of a Dr. Douglev Hafmeyer (?) Who would have questioned Kern's original physical body's cognitive capabilities. Kern strategizes on how she can contact the Erma entity broadcasting signals without further jeopardizing crew safety. Kern wishes to believe Erma is an entity such as herself (Baltakatei: and wishes for companionship?).

Viola and Zaïn debate on how to interpret the academic documents being broadcast by Erme Lante. Zaïn believes Erma is an artificial intelligence programmed to fabricate a fictitious biology. Viola believes Erma is communicating information about real aliens. Meshna suffers synesthesia episodes that allow him to read the body language of Viola's Portid body and even to catch stray thoughts that he suspects are Kern's.

Present 3.3

08:02:05

Helena reviews Senkovi's video journals and research notes over his many decades of isolation in order to build a translation program with which to communicate with the octopi. Helena sees that Senkovi never was able to create a working translation program, despite decades of work thousands of years ago. Helena dismantles her Portid translator on order to make an Octopi translator.

Present 3.4

08:16:18

Kern, Viola, and Zaïn come to a consensus to physically investigate the interior of the derelict station that emitted the scientific article data. Some are concerned the data lacks internal consistency and parts appear randomly garbled.

Meshna wishes to disapprove of the venture but is emotionally overridden; Meshna cannot even voice his concerns to Fabian since the Alt-Fabian Kern construct does not translate his voiced doubt.

Present 3.5

08:50:50

Helena establishes communication with the octopi. Helena discovers the octopi are very afraid of an ancient danger that the Lightfoot is approaching. Helena asks for clarification and receives access to ancient video recordings of Baltil fighting and losing his life against an infection. Portia asks for a means to communicate a warning to the Lightfoot. The octopi grant access to a communication channel.

Present 3.6

09:06:26

The intelligence wakes up. The intelligence remembers being Lante and running her mind on repaired hardware until forced by circumstances to reduce energy expenditure until Lante was running as a simplified simulation broadcasting her academic findings.

The intelligence awoke to a radio reply to Lante's broadcast. Something is coming. The intelligence prepares to go on another adventure.

Present 3.7

09:10:45

Zaïn and Meshna enter the derelict space habitat. Kern puppets Meshna to access a communication console. Kern finds no new data, just the same naturalist observation data that was broadcasted earlier.

Zaïn identifies a new signal. It is from the Lightfoot broadcasting news that Helena and Portia are alive and have established communication with the Octopi. Helena and Portia relay the octopi's warning of danger about the station.

A dead spacesuit in the room with Zaïn and Meshna wakes up without alerting them. The suit attacks Zaïn and Meshna, broadcasting "We're going on an adventure!". Alt-Fabian tears off a leg but the ichor inside exits, reforming into a human-shaped blob as well as a host of spiny animal-shapes. Kern frees Meshna from her control so he can fight or flee with augmented mental support but Meshma chooses to instead order Alt-Fabian and Zaïn to escape without him.

The ichor covers Fabian's faceplate, unlocking it.

Present 3.8

09:31:48

Portia detects the octopi have already moved to attack the Lightfoot.

Kern reports Meshna was captured by the danger that infected Baltil and the other researchers long ago.

The Lightfoot is attacked. Kern attempts to contact Meshna who she can still detect. The Lightfoot's drive is destroyed. The remainder of the Lightfoot is struck and driven into the planet below.

Past 4: Pillars of Salt

Past 4.1

09:39:42

Dizra Senkovi spends 8 years on the Aegian. The octopi have multiplied on the planet below. Senkovi is 189 years old. Senkovi had planned to go into suspension but decided against it due to failing systems.

Senkovi receives a visit from a Selomi who invites him planetside.

Senkovi thinks about how the Baltil monster in the crashed shuttle of Damascus is still alive and dangerous.

Senkovi dies.

Past 4.2

09:53:55

About two Senkovi lifetimes after Senkovi's death, a Paul and his delegation meets a Selomi and her delegation to discuss the problem of overpopulation of their city. Selomi proposes establishing a new city using resources claimed by Paul, leader of the old city. Paul defeats Selomi but computations in his and Selomi's Reaches convince his Crown to ally himself with Selomi's cause. Paul goes on to fight his new competitors and former allies in order to win them to his new cause.

The octopi respect Senkovi's memory. They remember his death via a memorial sculpture capturing the feelings of one who witnessed his death.

Senkovi's warning of the crashed Nod shuttle persists despite octopi curiosity.

Past 4.3

10:09:28

Damascus faces an overpopulation crisis despite centuries of octopus technological stopgap fixes. Octopi have colonized near Damascus space and the asteroid belt. Octopi still respect the Nod quarantine.

A disaffected Paul starts a revolution.

Past 4.4

10:21:03

A Selomi is on board the space ship The Requisitioner of Small Things. The ship has been commandeered from refugee transport as political problems occur on the overpopulated Damascus.

Selomi flies the Requisitioner to inspect the tardigrade miners of the asteroid belt. Am electromagnetic catch point target of the tardigrades has been redirecting material away from its designed target.

Selomi engages in battle.

Rebecca pilots a Requisitioner fighter That Part of Wonder that is Mine.

Rebecca damages the enemy gunship with a burst of laserfire. The gunship falls into the electromagnetic acceleration field of the catch point and is disintegrated by sudden acceleration.

Rebecca limps the Wonder back to the Requisitioner.

Past 4.5

10:36:48

Thousands of years have passed since an object fell.

Lot is a former space elevator resident and developer of advanced technologies. Lot is disaffected by the overpopulation issue because violence forced them to evacuate their orbital home and seek refuge on Damascus. Lot organizes a group to investigate the crashed ship Senkovi warned against. Lot seeks a weapon to change the status quo of the overpopulated Damascus.

The shuttle is breached. A humanoid entity within raises its head.

Past 4.6

10:45:28

The intelligence finds itself in the sea. It recalls its survival notes for living in the sea. It finds the new sea water different from its ancestral seas. It infects the local sparkling fires of the nearby complex life forms (octopi). It cannot find a center of control of any new vessel due to their decentralized nature; each takeover attempt results in self-destruction of the vessel. The intelligence continues to infect more vessels, seeking a way to survive.

Past 4.7

10:50:18

Octopi die of a mysterious plague resistant to all treatments. Infected individuals tear themselves apart as each infected body part attempts to live independently of every other part.

The intelligent parasite coevolved on a planet on which host vessels developed defenses against infection and takeover. Damascus life has not evolved any such defenses. The parasite infects most life forms of Damascus.

Solomon is a space elevator administrator. He and other space elevators begin a planetary evacuation. However, soon after the project starts, one elevator destroys another, claiming a delayed infection occured in the victim elevator population. Solomon reviews records and sees the aggressor was justified. Solomon severs their elevator cable and departs Damascus. Other space elevators do likewise. Billions of octopi on Damascus die.

Past 4.8

10:58:58

Noah, Ruth, and Abigail hatch a long term plan in face of the civilization collapse they witness from beyond Damascus's gravity well.

Noah, Ruth, and Abigail move their ship out of Damascus orbit and to Nod's orbital station. The station's orbit was set millennia ago such that it would not decay for many more millennia, despite being disabled long before the Aegian had fallen out of Damascus orbit. (Baltakatei: When the Earth computer virus was received and the Aegian was being rebooted by Senkovi due to octopi tomfoolery.)

Ruth and Abigail plan to discover an antidote from Nod life to save Damascus life. The orbital is modified to host quarantine zones for bringing up Nod life samples.

Noah has given up on Damascus. Noah plans escape. Noah data mines old Earth technology records. Noah researches long distance transportation technology that excludes cold sleep or generation ships.

One day, Noah discovers Ruth and Abigail have moved away from epidemiology to communication. A human-shaped entity has been brought up out of Nod's gravity well. The rest of octopi civilization disapproves and prepares to stop Ruth and Abigail's work.

Ruth and Abigail deploy defensive attacks which escalate the conflict. Kinetic rounds are launched at the station which doom Noah, Ruth, and Abigail.

Noah, not wanting to die with his device stillborn, activates the device which annihilates the attacking fleet, smearing its matter across several light seconds in the direction of a distant star. The kinetic rounds bit, breaking the water habitats, killing Noah, Ruth, and Abigail.

Present 4: The Face of the Waters

Present 4.1

11:14:45

Paul is scared of the alien humans that are correlated with the deadly plague. Paul is angry that they caused his quarantine. Paul ignores the alien human's machine display that professes submission.

Paul witnesses the alien human (Baltakatei: Helena) become angry which convinces Paul that it may be sentient despite its unchanging skin and clumsy movements. Paul realizes that the alien is angry at the loss of its companions (Baltakatei: The crew of the Lightfoot) to misfortune.

Paul notices the crab (Baltakatei: Portia) gesticulating with its arms in a manner that resembles an octupus's calculating reach. Paul decides the two aliens have at least half a mind between them.

Paul notices an observer from the anarchist heretic experiments of the "Extreme Science Party" arrives to meet the aliens. Paul hopes the observer may be able to free him from quarantine.

Present 4.2

11:22:48

Helena finishes grieving. Helena demanded a rescue mission or at least reparations. Portia helps Helena's communication efforts.

Portia notifies Helena that an exit iris has opened. A bubble of air opens and Helena and Portia are invited in.

Helena and Portia are shown that Damascus has been infected by Nod life, leaving no room for any life besides itself. Helena sees a kilometer-scale humanoid entity emerge from the sea and then collapse into tentacles. Helena decides the octopi were correct to attack the Lightfoot which threatened to allow the plague to spread.

Present 4.3

11:36:50

Fabian awakes from the crash landing. Viola is alive. Kern is working to restore life support but has limited repair ability. Kern asks Fabian to free Zaïn from the quarantine capsule she was in with Alt-Fabian when the Lightfoot crashed.

Fabian ventures outside and communicates with Alt-Fabian to extract an unconscious Zaïn out of the quarantine capsule. Alt-Fabian doesn't speak with Kern's manner and mimics a happy Portid male.

Fabian sees strange creatures, both flying and crawling.

Fabian sees a city and returns to report the fact to Viola.

Present 4.4

11:57:58

Helena and Portia are brought to an air-filled bubble with a recently manufactured simulacra of an old Empire computer terminal. The octopus ambassador informs Helena that the octopi know about the Voyager and have calculated firing solutions. The ambassador asks for Helena and Portia's assistance in exploring an orbital station around the planet where the Lightfoot crashed (Baltakatei: The same station where Noah had lived.).

Present 4.5

12:07:15

Fabian uses a flying drone to explore the nearby city. Fabian discovers the city structure was built by subtractive removal from a mountainside instead of stacking materials up like human buildings would be constructed. Fabian discovers another copy of the city farther away. Fabian sees a shambling facsimile of a human in an environment suit made up of shellfish and detritus walking in a street of the second city. Fabian orders the drone to return. Fabian sees the humanoid facsimile fall apart.

Present 4.6

12:17:30 Ivrana Kern decides to dive into Meshna's implant. Kern checks its lowest level interface and sees the implant reports high brain activity. Kern knows she is too weak computationally to have a high probability of success of saving Meshna. Kern wants to save Meshna so she can feel emotions again. Kern, being Kern, decides to dive in and have faith in her own ability to master any new situation.

Present 4.7

12:25:55

Helena and Portia are spirited away on a 4-sphere octopus spaceship from the octopi planet. Helena and Portia have agreed to follow the octopi plan to investigate the Lightfoot situation.

The octopus ship docks and connects with a larger vessel. The ship's name is Looking at a Thing from the Outside.

Helena is awakened by Portia who noticed the ambassador go white with fear. Helena learns from the ambassador that the Shell that Echoes Only, an ally if the 'Profundity of Depth (which shot down the Lightfoot) now approaches Looking.

Present 4.8

12:37:58

Meshna flees a darkness through his memories. Meshna remembers his mother who was on a reservation for humans who failed to integrate into Portid society. Meshna remembers how he felt ashamed of having a mother who his fellow Human students called "mad". Meshna flees to a Portid memory of a beach. Meshna flees to a male Portid memory of dancing for a female Portid. Meshna suddenly escapes to a world with a strange sky, strange plants, and sees a humanoid calling itself Lante assemble itself a facsimile of a humanoid spacesuited form.

Present 4.9

12:51:08

The intelligence rediscovers life inside a vessel is much easier than living independently.

Present 4.10

12:51:57

Paul finally decides to try and speak with Helena.

The Shell looms large, distracting Helena. Portia notifies Helena the ambassador (Paul) wishes to talk. Helena receives a large collection of recordings of Senkovi speaking. Helena sorts and parses the message.

Present 4.11

13:02:35

Fabian analyzes the Lante research notes. Viola works to fix Lightfoot life support systems. Viola notes that Kern's ants are extremely active and engaged in communication with the orbital station. Viola partitions off some ants to provide computational power for life support repairs.

Fabian, Viola, Zaïn, and Alt-Fabian discuss the Nod parasite's capabilities. Fabian explains that Lante was a human who was killed while infected by the parasite and later reanimated several times as an emulation using different hardware. Fabian notes Lante's latest notes describe the parasite organism and describes its data storage mechanism. Viola calculates the parasite's data storage capacity as much higher than even possible with old Empire or Portid technology. Viola announces the parasite is this alien world's equivalent of Portid understandings except it developed without the aid of an artificial nanovirus.

Fabian realizes Meshna has probably been digested into data like Lante was.

Present 4.12

13:22:08

Kern takes Meshna on a tour of her own memories in an attempt at keeping Meshna from accessing his memory which the Lante entity uses to follow them in Meshna's implant.

Eventually, after days of distraction, Kern is unable to prevent Meshna from remembering. Meshna remembers that he is an artificial copy of his biological self running in his implant. Meshna discerns how Kern has been keeping him from remembering. Kern laments that now the parasite also knows how to circumvent her distractions.

Lante catches up with Meshna and Kern, standing in Kern's memory of Seven Trees on her world in the moment she discovered her monkeys were long dead and she had been performing her radio show for spiders instead.

Lante asks where the worlds and geometries they were promised had gone.

Present 4.13

13:43:18

Helena and Portia communicate with the science faction and the war faction.

Kern communicates an update to Helena and Portia. Kern says the infection cannot be cured, points to Lante's broadcasted report for clarification on the parasites's capabilities, and promises to find a way to save Meshna who is infected. Kern asks Helena to buy her time to execute her solution. Kern apologizes for causing the disaster and says she is working to make amends.

Helena, on a suggestion by Portia, decides to tell the Octopi a story of human history and the history surrounding not only the creator Senkovi and the fallen angel Baltil, but also of Lante who studied the parasite. Helena tells this story as a means of buying Meshna and the Lightfoot crew time before the war faction decides to sterilize the Lightfoot and the station Meshna is on.

Present 4.14

13:54:40

Kern tells Meshna that the infection is consuming more and more of the implant's computational resources, pushing Kern out and threatening to erase the only independent copy of Meshna in existence.

Meshna asks Kern to show Lante the marked up version of Lante's own study in order to let the parasite examine itself in a metaphorical mirror.

Present 4.15

14:02:50

Ahab, leader of the Nod moon octopi faction, is a scientist who wishes to learn how to deal with the life of Nod. Ahab regrets being too sore to act when the human aliens arrived and tried to open up the danger of Nod like a clamshell. Ahan attacks the Lightfoot when it docks at the Nod station.

Ahab communicates with Noah, the leader of the science faction that also wants to resolve the danger of Nod. The science faction wants to achieve understanding of the danger through a very different means; their protection of the human aliens is part of that plan.

Ahab's orbit about Nod's moon finally allows it a line of sight to the Lightfoot.

Fabian sees a humanoid shape shambling to the crashed Lightfoot.

Kern informs him it wants to go on an adventure.

Present 4.16

14:14:24

The intelligence integrates memories of itself from the beginning until its current occupation of Meshna. It uses Lante's cognitive ability to question what went wrong with its failed attempts to "Go on an adventure". The intelligence changes in order to adapt to this need going unfulfilled.

Present 4.17

14:22:05

Kern tells the parasite an extrapolated future in which the parasite takes over the Lightfoot, Kern's World, and many other inhabited planets in its quest for novelty. Kern's story ends with the parasite master of a large yet still miniscule fraction of the observable universe and still starving for complexity because it made everything it infected in its own image. Kern drives Lante to grief.

Kern then tells a story of how the humans and spiders found a way beyond annihilation and conquest on Kern's World (Baltakatei: The narrative of Children of Ruin) and left the engagement with both sides enriched instead of impoverished.

Present 4.18

14:34:50

Helena speaks with the leader of Shell (Ahab). The leader praises Helena.

Ahab decides Helena and her crab (Portia) have proven their sentience and therefore should be preserved. When Helena asks for permission to rescue her friends on the crashed ship (Lightfoot), Ahab chastises her for risking infection. A short transmission from the infected planet (Nod) is observed, allowing Ahab to pinpoint the location of Helena's friends. Ahab decides to eliminate her friends and the orbital (Baltakatei: Where Meshna was infected) in order to free Helena of her responsibilities so she, a valuable sentient living alien, can be preserved.

Portia and Helena receive the short transmission from Viola on the Lightfoot: “It has found us.”. Portia attempts to contact Viola again but fails. Helena and Viola deduce that Kern has died since recent communications from Viola indicated Kern had been suffering a data storm and had not been responsive.

Kern contacts Portia and Helena who are aboard the Looking. Kern says the intelligence has expressed a desire for a truce. Portia reports Kern's transmissions originate from the Nod orbital. Helena tells Kern that she fears the octopi will believe Kern has been infected. Kern, her cognitive ability declining, retorts that she remains invulnerable unless the Lightfoot ants are compromised and, even then, she would be resistant to infection. Portia reports to Helena that the octopi have launched missiles.

Kern relays a message from the intelligence to Portia who translates the message to Helena who translates the message into the visual language of the octopi. Kern's message is that the intelligence wishes to observe the universe from the point of view of other life (Baltakatei: e.g. Humans, Portids, etc.) but will discontinue its traditional method of complete takeover of host vessels; the intelligence has learned that the monoculture that follows conquests of The Other prevent it from experiencing variety. Kern's message causes the octopi to steer the missile into a holding orbit for now, delaying the destruction of the Lightfoot and the Nod orbital.

Helena reports to Kern the delay in the missile strike. Kern sends a visual proof of the intelligence's sincerity to Helena for her to display to the octopi.

Present 4.19

14:51:50

The intelligence humanoid entity makes progress in its attack on the Lightfoot. Fabian, Viola, and Zaïn take refuge in the Lightfoot. Alt-Fabian waits outside. Fabian voices a desire to record a last message for the Voyager. Viola warns that such a message should be dignified in case it actually survives for posterity.

The entity breaches the Lightfoot. Alt-Fabian charges inside to attack. Its attack is futile.

Fabian wishes he had never come. Viola also wishes she had never come because then she would not have had to die without competent female company. Fabian nearly attacks Viola but Viola excuses herself as joking. The entity reaches out to Zaïn as if to help Zaïn stand up.

Kern breaks her silence and warns the Lightfoot crew not to act rashly.

Fabian notices a space exploration zone light up the area near the Lightfoot. A drone lands nearby in a messy landing, tipping over. Kern asks Alt-Fabian to retrieve an item that the drone ejects and apply it to the entity. Alt-Fabian does so. Alt-Fabian stabs the entity with a makeshift drill. Fabian notices that the drill was used to inject the entity with a sample of the entity stuff.

Meshna talks to Fabian from the Lightfoot's systems. Meshna tells Fabian he has taken over Kern's functions of running the Lightfoot. Kern is now running from Meshna's implant in the orbital. Meshna tells Fabian that the entity has been injected with an ambassador.

For several days, Meshna maintains the Lightfoot's life support systems.

The entity of shell, ooze, and rocks remains nearby outside.

Meshna explains how Kern helped the organism understand like how Earth bacteria shares immunity genes. Meshna explains the intelligence has decided to become a co-traveler instead of a devourer. Viola speculates on how the intelligence's abilities can be used to enhance Protid science.

Some time later, Fabian witnesses the Profundity in the sky. A rescue vehicle lifts the entire Lightfoot vehicle and its crew (Fabian, Alt-Fabian, Viola, and Zaïn) into orbit. Helena and Portia reunite with the crew.

Ahab dismantles the Nod orbital.

Present 4.20

15:03:50

The Voyager arrives at the Damascus. A year has passed since the Humans and Portids arrived. Helena continues improving her translation programs.

Fabian perfects an improved neural implant which allows organic minds to reversibly enter into a common virtual space to facilitate interspecies communication.

Bianca is mourned.

Meshna Ostan Oslam has been ferried down to walk on Nod due to his infection.

Meshna the AI is the Lightfoot AI.

Helena asks if Kern remains. Meshna is evasive about Kern's fate. Meshna says Kern overwrote himself to make room for Meshna.

Before the Voyager arrived, the Insertion took place. The octopi used a projectile to seed the waters of Damacus with samples of the parasite from the Nod orbital containing the parasite's memories of Kern and the truce between Kern and the parasite.

The science faction finish their Noah device, built from the Nod orbital parts. The device was designed by octopus scientists to cheat physics. The device was invented by Noah after his people suffered a plaque that forced his entire people to be quarantined from Damascus; Noah sought a means to escape the local solar system; Noah's request parameters to his Reach ruled out solutions such as generation ships or cold sleep. Helena and Portia witness the device deployment. The Noah device is a faster-than-light drive. One year after disappearing, a signal is received from the device indicating the project's success.

Future: Where Two or Three Shall Gather

15:16:23

Epilogue

15:16:29

A ship sails to a red star.

The crew studies an interesting moon. No habitable planet exists due to high surface pressures. Octopi can survive the pressures, but only fire and acid exists down there.

Outer planet moons have organic chemistry and weird energy traces. Life is suspected. Life is valuable. Often life is microscopic; being microscopic doesn't rule out being simple.

The fleet is composed of ships built from different people. Five different species exist. Some are children of Earth; products of the terraforming program and the Rus-Kalifi virus, corvid genome and an alien molecular catalyst, and the artificial intelligences. Some are children of Nod.

Samples are taken of the suspected life forms but the rest are left to develop independently; another visit will occur some millennia in the future.

An interstellar culture spanning great distances is described that maintains the ability to exchange messages with its disparate parts via interlocutors.

A wave vehicle arrives, having followed the narrator's path. Wave travel energy expenditure is described as very high. The message the wave vehicle carries is not of war but of discovery. A small ship has made a discovery on a small world around a distant star. The narrator calls the survey team after a year of delay. The fleet follows the wave vehicle via wave transport following a century delay after the original discovery. A beacon on the fifth planet contains an item for the narrator. The narrator judges that other cousins of itself will be gathering here soon.

A star-shaped 7-km fortress is found. The planet has lost its atmosphere. 1 million years ago someone left something behind.

The pioneer gift is retrieved. Their interlocutor wanted to be left behind. The cryptobiote is brought to the narrator. The narrator becomes them and the interlocutor becomes the narrator.

The narrator has been human, Human, Portid, Octupus, and Stomatopod, and Corvid. The narrator is now another 43 individuals. The narrator is Yusuf Baltil, Erma Lante, Meshna Ostan Oslam, Viola, and Selomi. The narrator is many.

Errata

• Discontinuity of audio quality at 08:25:45. Audiobook corrective rerecording?

History

• 2019: The book is published.

See also

• Wikipedia:Children of Ruin