Notes From The Underground

Notes from the Underground

Book III of the Zax Trilogy

Translated into Archaic English by Zeta.

Translators Note

This translation was undertaken as part of a thesis on archaic languages. The archaic period selected is the 21^th century, as measured using pre-modern reckoning. The particular dialect chosen is the American version of English, as spoken and written during the period approximately 50 standard years either side of that millennium. Modern names and terms have been, where possible, translated into their archaic equivalents. Names and terms without equivalents have been assigned archaic expressions that (would have) provided an accurate linguistic description (in the translator's opinion) to individual's of that era. Fortunately, the text contains only minimal usage and discussions of modern devices and methods, greatly simplifying the translator's task in this area. As such, it is the firm belief of the translator that a native speaker of the chosen archaic era would readily understand and grasp, in its entirety, the resulting narrative contained in the text. Furthermore, the physical environment and social customs depicted are essentially timeless and, could, with minor adjustments to the technological instruments employed, have occurred in any era. In short (and using the archaic vernacular) the text is not a work of science fiction.

The translator would like to thank her advisor as well as the tireless work of her editor and the toleration of her friends and companions during the execution of this work. She would also like to thank the few existing readers of archaic languages for keeping the past alive and especially those who may encounter this text and take the time to read it. It is you few whom this text is dedicated, for you are surrogates to what unfortunately must remain a true science fiction fantasy: a reader from the pre-modern archaic era.

Zeta

North American Federation, 2409

"Why did you say this solution is less costly for our minds?"

"Dear Adso, one should not multiply explanations and causes unless it is strictly necessary."

Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

Prologue

Every century in human history has its various associated revolutions and epochs: the Age of Enlightenment in the 18^th century, the Industrial Revolution in the 19^th century, the Information Age in the 20^th century, and Genetic Revolution in the 21^st century. The latter actually started in the 1950s with the discovery of the structure of DNA and accelerated after the mapping of the human genome in 2003. By the end of the 21^st century sufficient advancement had been made so that cures for cancer and other stubbornly persistent diseases had been found along with cures for more mundane afflictions like the common cold and viral infections. In addition it became possible to extend the average life expectancy by 200 years or more as well as prolong health, youthfulness, and vitality. Science was now finally able to engineer the human form eliminating deformities, improving intelligence, and enhancing physical appearance. The only area that was left untouched was human nature itself which remained unaffected, untouched, and most importantly untamed by this newest revolution.

Despite man's ability to create wealth and prosperity and to enjoy the fruits of his labors, crime persisted and wars (although not large or global), still flared up across the planet taking thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of lives at a time. Bad government and poor management still resulted in famines, genocide, and regional conflicts that offset many of the gains made by the latest revolutions in science and technology. In addition, as mankind began its first serious expansion outwards into the solar system, these problems increasingly threatened to interrupt the future prospects for developing the unlimited and untapped material resources that were finally within his grasp. As the 22^nd century dawned the focus of generic research shifted from the physical to the cerebral in an attempt to solve this last remaining problem. It was not sufficient to just improve man's body; his mind must also be enhanced if true progress were to be achieved. Thus began the New Age of Reason with scientists applying their knowledge and skill to improve the very nature of man's mind; genes and proteins responsible for aggressiveness and anti-social behavior we isolated and examined. The human genome was re-engineered to reduce, but not eliminate the worst of these traits. Bioengineers realized that a total solution was not possible. These same genes were also tied to inquisitiveness, curiosity, and intellectual drive. If eliminated, the race would flounder and die. So an acceptable engineering trade-off was sought and found. Or so they thought.

The aggressiveness of the human male was identified as the culprit and as such would be decreased while that of the female was increased. Not significantly, just slightly. The trade-off would be a slight increase in homosexuality in the general population. Rates would increase from approximately 10% to 15% among both males and females. However, the resulting reduction in aggressiveness, (especially among males whose late teen and early twenty age-group were responsible for most of society's antisocial problems), would dramatically reduce crime and war. The slight increase in female assertiveness would also serve to further reduce and check the remaining aggressiveness left in the male population as well as further empower women and their role in society (which had long been recognized as a positive and stabilizing force). Creativity and technological advancement was projected to slow by only 2%, on average. Overall population would decrease by 6% or so.

The risks and trade-offs being acceptable, the Decision to proceed was made. Within a generation, crime and war were dramatically reduced. In some cases, serious crime dropped to zero. Within another generation war became sporadic and many prisons were closed. No perceptible decrease in technological progress was noted, however homosexuality among the general population was slightly higher than projected, especially among females where rates reached 22%. Overall, these trade-offs were found acceptable and the world entered a New Golden Era of peace and prosperity unlike any before it.

But no miracle is perfect. Although disease and plague had long been eliminated, this was not because the cause had been annihilated but, rather because technology could rapidly find and counter new viruses and germs. It thus came as a great surprise in the middle of the 22^nd century when the male population inexplicitly began to die suddenly and in great numbers. At first, the world remained calm believing that a solution would be engineered within a few days, if not hours just as it always had in the past. But this was not to be. Within 24 hours 20% of the male population died and concern began to rise. Within another 24 hours 50% of the male population was dead. Panic set in. All the resources of the world were brought to bear on the problem. By the third day a solution was found and by the fourth day the Great Plague was completely arrested. However 95% of the male population was gone.

To compound the problem, the solution to the Great Plague required re-engineering the human genome yet again. The previous tinkering with the genome had left a vulnerability within the human gene. This vulnerability was minor and could have persisted for centuries or even millennia without incident, waiting for the right combination of random chance to trigger the fault. But fate had spun her wheel of chance early and the defect had instead appeared in decades rather than centuries. The cure was both simple and profound. Genes and proteins were re-engineered to correct the problem. However, in order to keep the gains of the previous century, another trade-off was required. Male assertiveness was further reduced while female aggressiveness increased. The female population became almost exclusively bi-sexual while male became almost asexual.

Normally this would have posed a serious problem. However, within the decade before the Great Plague, science had progressed to the point where reproduction now occurred almost exclusively ex utero. This had many advantages and few, if any, disadvantages. In fact, the need for a large male population had been eliminated from the point of view of reproducing the species. A relatively few males could insure sufficient genetic diversity to maintain the race as long as the female population remained large. Gender selection which had long been a matter of choice therefore became an increasingly female choice. With the vast majority of females choosing to have female offspring the male population eventually began to dwindle even further. Within a few generations the male population decreased to the point of crisis. If left unchecked, this Gender Crisis would soon leave the population virtually devoid of males. In addition, it was also alarmingly apparent that humankind as a whole was completely venerable to another plague which could wipe it out. Potential solutions to this crisis were debated and eventually the Tiresias Compromise was reached. As a result, the remaining male population was scattered to insure its survivability in the event of another plague and its members relegated to the status of breeding slaves kept exclusively for reproduction purposes. The male genome was again modified to restore aggressiveness and virility but males were henceforth kept in isolation and not allowed to contact (or even know about the existence of) other males. Only female offspring were allowed to women desiring children and within half a generation all remaining males had been eliminated from the general population.

The Tiresias Compromise effectively insured the continued survivability of humankind without any possibility of a return to its violent past. After a few generations, the existence of males within society became a transparent and abstract reality. Although most women were aware of the existence of males in special breeding colonies called Duenas, few if any women, ever saw or came into contact with the male member of the species during their lifetime. In effect, males cease to exist resulting in an all female society.

For the female population, this change ushered in a new renaissance in peace, material comfort, and prosperity. Without crime and war, and with the scientific and engineering advances of the last several centuries, even the poorest members of society were considered fabulously wealthy by the standards of previous centuries. However, human nature had not changed completely. Ego, selfishness, and the need for social status remained. These elements of the human id were controlled and kept in check by genetics and law, but nonetheless were still present. With little to distinguish individuals materially, social status became largely a matter of personal achievement or power. Since only a small fraction of any population can rightly be called geniuses, power remained the most common road to gaining status in society. As the 23^rd century began, a New Social Contract was created. Although government remained distributed throughout the world, the World Federation was established as a central authority and given the power to enforce and regulate the conduct of local governments and guarantee the rights of individuals and the prosperity of all. Over the next 70 years or so, new laws were put into effect and a new social elite with the power and status to govern took control. Individual rights and prosperity were established and guaranteed in both principal and fact. With these came the necessary laws and regulations necessary to insure order and fairness. Although violent crime and war were virtually non-existent, the need for social status and power, and the general cravings of the human ego for success and recognition kept crime from being completely eliminated. In particular what in the past was termed white collar crime, still existed and became the predominate form of anti-social behavior. Relatively few actually committed such crimes (or any crime for that matter), still significant numbers were tempted and the very few that acted on their temptations were a sufficient enough threat to require a police force and penal system to maintain order.

By the standards of past centuries the crime-rate in the 23^rd century was so small as to be almost non-existent. Still it was not zero. The large reduction was due to the material prosperity provided to all and the genetic tinkering resulting from the Decision. The latter played a significant role in the types of crimes committed and treatment of crime in general. The genes of modern woman predisposed her to desire social status (just as in the past) but to shy away from overly aggressive behaviors to attain her goals. In the rare cases where unattained goals resulted in a woman resorting to criminal methods these were almost exclusively non-violent white crimes whose sole purpose was to gain greater social status. However the number of women committing such crimes was small: only a fraction of 1% of the population. The obvious solution, prison, was rejected as relatively expensive to establish and maintain, and ineffective in deterring future anti-social behavior. Instead, the solution provided by the World Federation was to re-institute slavery in the form of the Servitude Laws as the punishment for all crime.

What had been expressly frowned upon in past eras was seen in the 23^rd century as the single most effective deterrent to crime. However, this new slavery differed significantly in its application in past instantiations. Gone (for the most part) were the whips and chains, the brandings and physical mistreatments. These were replaced by public humiliation and a period of indentured servitude to the victims (or society). Relatively minor crimes were punished with public humiliation or short periods (anywhere from a day to a year) of personal service to the victim (where applicable) or public service. More serious crimes were punished with longer terms of service and the most severe crimes with a lifetime of service and an (almost) complete loss of rights. In the latter case, the offender effectively became a slave in the traditional sense of the word and was typically sold at public auction to the highest bidder with the proceeds used to compensate the victims and the government.

Indentured servants however were not completely without rights. Physical abuse for the most part was forbidden and under no circumstances could an indentured servant be physically injured or killed by her owner. In fact, the rights guaranteed to indentured servants varied with the severity of the sentence. Women sentenced to terms less than their lifetimes were termed servants while women sentenced to a lifetime of service were called slaves with the rights afforded each varying accordingly. For servants having short periods of servitude, most, if not all, legal and civil rights and personal freedoms were retained; the only obligation being to satisfactorily complete the service within the prescribed period. In general, however as the length of service increased, retained legal rights and freedoms decreased. For sentences lasting several years, the servant effectively lost most of her legal rights as well as her personal freedom. For slaves, all except the most basic rights to life and limb were lost as well as all personal freedom.

Slavery had another more subtle benefit however. Since crime was rare, the number of women serving as slaves was small. Slave ownership was therefore equally rare, and like most rare things, highly valued and coveted. In effect owning slaves conferred significant social status on the owner. Slaves were in effect the Ferrari's, Lear Jets, and 100-foot yachts of the 23^rd century and the completion to own them fierce not to mention expensive. As a result, slaves were almost exclusively owned by the most elite and wealthy members of society bringing the New Social Contract full circle and highlighting its consequences as well as its benefits to all.

The designers of the Servitude Laws and the New Social Contract were not content however with mere external influences such as of social status and punishment to maintain the order. These had too often failed in the past, and despite the prevailing prosperity of the times, wealth and status were always relative things. As such, built-in internal mechanisms were required to reinforce these external controls. Once again, a bit of genetic tinkering provided the solution. Although the Decision had left women with unparallel personal power and confidence, these were checked by the usual cultural and sexual inhibitions euphemistically labeled the contrary virtues. Modesty, chastity, and humility were now hardwired. Although women remained sexually confident and free to choose their partners, marry or divorce at will, and otherwise engage in all forms of sexual behavior, whether singly, in pairs, or even in small groups, these inhibitions were now genetically engineered into their psyches. Sexual activity therefore continued to be exclusively a private matter between consenting adults and conducted behind closed doors. Public nudity or sexual displays as well as pornography remained illegal or barely tolerated. Immodesty and boastfulness were frowned upon.

The purpose of this tinkering (known as the Venkatesan Modification) however was not merely to control the public morals but to leverage these inhibitions as internal controls against discontent whether public or private. As such, this genetic hardwiring was accompanied by a predisposition towards making these taboo activities sexually stimulating. Thus for example, thoughts of appearing nude in public although personally frightening and humiliating were nonetheless accompanied by a small but nevertheless real thrill of sexual excitement that could be felt both physically and emotionally. The result was that a sub-conscious tension was established within the mind of each woman with regards to such anti-social behavior. This tension was then exploited towards the larger purpose of acting as an internal deterrent towards all types of misbehavior, by using public humiliation as part of the punishment proscribed for criminal activity within the Servitude Laws. For each woman was acutely aware that she risked such a public shaming if she committed a crime and that these shamings were inherently sexual in nature. No woman could forget witnessing her first public humiliation. Mandated by law as part of the civics' curriculum, all late-teenage school girls were required to attend at least one public shaming. There they witnessed the terrible spectacle of a convicted criminal being dragged into a public square, stripped naked, and exposed to public ridicule and physical punishment. The latter often consisting of spankings, whippings, and personal violations of both her body and her dignity. The result was that each woman contained within her mind built-in and self-reinforced inhibitions towards misbehavior thereby establishing a mechanism for internal obedience to law and order and most importantly the status quo. This was the price she paid, in essence, for the peace and prosperity that was guaranteed to all.