Transformations - Travelers Ch. 04

Okay, my previous answer was flippant - sorry, I couldn't resist :) Alejandro, your questions were very good and very well thought out and they deserve a better answer than: isn't that what gods do?

Ann and I spend a lot of time discussing characters and why they do the things they do. Morpheus is probably the toughest one but he's also the one we've spent the most time on philosophically.

We were planning on writing a book called 'The Philosophy of Whore Caste' or something like that once the novel saga is complete. Don't know why anybody would want to read it because it will just be a lot of navel contemplation, but, who knows?

Morpheus as we imagined him is a product of his time. He grew up in the 1940s / 1950s and then finds himself a pseudo-hippie in the Summer of Love. The world then was very different than it is now. Death was constant on the nightly news and on the TV shows that came on after it. The times were violent on a macro as well as a micro level.

So Morpheus is a non-violent, free love kind of guy - an artist, and suddenly he becomes a demi-god. He's thrust into a new life where he literally holds the fate of the world in his still very human hands. And he is growing more powerful by the second.

This is a very anti-establishment guy. He doesn't trust the military types around him and the feeling is mutual. After he begins building his 'coven', he decides it is time to leave and, when they try to leave, Melanie is killed.

"You fool! Don't you realize she was the only thing keeping him human?" Dr. Thompson says. At that point, Morpheus is enraged and everything changes. He represses his regard for humanity and adopts a policy of 'the end justifies the means'. He even moulds and reforms his own coven members. From Transformations: De-Mona we know he even dabbles in creating monsters to end the human race outright, hence Demonica and her 'children'.

When Lilith joins Morpheus, things begin to change again. We've always believed in the 'memento humani' concept. Every powerful person needs an Enkidu to their Gilgamesh, a Brittney to their Maria - someone to remind them they are still human even if they have the power of a god. If the world is saved in the end, a great deal of the credit will go to Lilith.

By the late 80s, Morpheus no longer trusts himself. Is he really trying to save the world or is he simply living out his lust for vengeance? Does he love humanity or hate it? Does he want to be the saviour or the destroyer of everything around him?

So, Morpheus decides to hedge his bets. On the one hand he creates the Religious Caste who believe that mankind can only be saved through their submission to the Church’s authority. On the other, he creates Whore Caste who love unconditionally making most of them incapable of killing - even though they think nothing (in the beginning) of trampling human will to save the world. He makes one the servant of the other and then sits back to see what happens. Survival of the fittest, natural selection. It is cold and inhumane but he is no longer very human, is he?

He creates other forces to shape the conflict as well: SlutzNet who has his own ideas and who seems to be deciding which faction to support. Demonica who couldn’t give a damn about humanity itself and only seeks to save the world by taking it for herself and her children. Menser and the NRO are simply trying to stop them all and hold the world together in all its current ‘splendor’.

All of this simply because the ‘god’ cannot trust his own motivations to be pure. There was a wonderful episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation about a god masquerading as a human who, in a fit of rage, annhilates an entire species. He simply wipes them from existence in his fury. Morpheus is afraid he may have good intentions but, in the end, might still destroy the entire human race. There’s still a spark of humanity in him.

Therefore, Morpheus makes mistakes. Lots of them, piled one upon another.

Now as far as who’s correct, Religious Caste or Whore Caste? That’s a question for the reader. Are both of them equally damned? Maybe. Would a world of perfect order be better than a world of free love? It’s up to the individual to decide that - many Star Wars fans root for the Empire over the Rebels :). So, no, we’re not asking you to think Whore Caste is better. We write more from the point of view of Whore Caste, that’s all.

As far as the finery goes in Religious Caste and Maria’s sanctimonious attitude? Well, that sort of goes along with most religions. I’ve been to many cathedrals and I’ve never seen one that wasn’t ornate.

I completely understand your giving up on Transformations. We didn’t set out to create a ‘good guys vs. bad guys’ saga. ‘Bad guys vs. bad guys’ is probably closer to accurate with the hope of redemption somewhere in the future. Maria Marapova isn’t a hero as someone near her will say soon in the stories. But sometimes bad guys can do good things in the end.

…I can’t imagine why a god would create a world in which there were different factions, seemingly at odds with one another, but all believing they were saving that world. Madness… it’s all madness…

All in all though, great, A-grade writing, but the story (and thus the series) just isnt for me .

I've been torn about your work. When you go balls to the walls crazy it fun, but then you add some kinda subplot and inter group faction fighting. I'm sorry but is Morpheus just an idiot? Why the hell would he make two sections with two totally different outlooks. Is he completely ignorant of what's happening. At what point exactly would humanity be saved, and why a the stupid fucking finery. Also, why should we cheer for the whore cast and boo the religious cast, both are rapists but one feels a little bad about the rape? If anything the whore cast is worst, the religious caste is at least honest about what it does. It feels like the only reason you give us to care is to tell us we are suppose to care.

Literotica is showing a publish date of 2/24 for Latigo Key so sometime on Friday. Hard at work on chapter 2.

Expect to see a lot of characters you might remember in Latigo Key and the resolution of some previous threads.