FA+
Shop
Spotlight: Palm (Aftermath p6)
4 years ago
General
“Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.”
- Samuel Johnson
- Samuel Johnson
♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ ✐ ♡ ✎ ♡ "You said that his relief had been ill." Palm continued. "Because of his impairment, it would not be unheard of that he would not have yielded the cognitive resources to function well enough to satisfy the duty to locate auxiliary coverage. Who worked prior to him?"
Hesitation swallowed the man before he admitted, "I...I did."
Palm's eyes grew wide with surprise. This was a turn that he had not predicted, but one that only emphasized his impending conclusion.
"In a situation such as this," he said, "why was it that you could not return to your post and relieve him?"
He was a dead man, he knew this. There was no defense that he could offer. Nothing that he could say would be beneficial to his plight. "I had plans." he admitted, quietly. "I was entertaining company." he added, knowing it was undoubtedly going to be the young prince's follow up question.
There was nothing he needed to say. The dereliction of responsibility was blatantly obvious. Yet, it was only so incredibly poignant, because of the tsunami. On a regular day, it would have simply been a person not wanting to return to work, but instead wanting to visit his lover. On a regular day, this would have been a nonissue, or at least, one that was without hazardous. It was regrettable that things turned out the way that they had. It was regrettable that of all the days to strike, the ocean struck when the buffoonery of the watchtower management was at its worst.
Despite the obviousness of whom the ownership of responsibility fell, as he was in the company of a person with an extraordinarily nonsensical, selfish, cowardly disposition, Palm felt it necessary to state the obvious.
"Had you not been so eager to dismiss yourself and denote the blame to an innocent," he began, "I would have disregarded your fault as an irresponsible mistake and moved on. You could not have possibly predicted this was to happen, so there was no malice behind your negligent actions. It was an accident.
"However, that was not the case with your disdainful distribution of obligation. You knowingly shifted responsibility and fault to someone that did not warrant it. That is nothing short of reprehensible.
"...I have only one final query; exactly what is the duration of each watchman's shift?"
He was already a villain in his own eyes, so he had nothing to lose by admitting a truth that made his acts even more reckless. "Each shift,...is 12 hours."
Hesitation swallowed the man before he admitted, "I...I did."
Palm's eyes grew wide with surprise. This was a turn that he had not predicted, but one that only emphasized his impending conclusion.
"In a situation such as this," he said, "why was it that you could not return to your post and relieve him?"
He was a dead man, he knew this. There was no defense that he could offer. Nothing that he could say would be beneficial to his plight. "I had plans." he admitted, quietly. "I was entertaining company." he added, knowing it was undoubtedly going to be the young prince's follow up question.
There was nothing he needed to say. The dereliction of responsibility was blatantly obvious. Yet, it was only so incredibly poignant, because of the tsunami. On a regular day, it would have simply been a person not wanting to return to work, but instead wanting to visit his lover. On a regular day, this would have been a nonissue, or at least, one that was without hazardous. It was regrettable that things turned out the way that they had. It was regrettable that of all the days to strike, the ocean struck when the buffoonery of the watchtower management was at its worst.
Despite the obviousness of whom the ownership of responsibility fell, as he was in the company of a person with an extraordinarily nonsensical, selfish, cowardly disposition, Palm felt it necessary to state the obvious.
"Had you not been so eager to dismiss yourself and denote the blame to an innocent," he began, "I would have disregarded your fault as an irresponsible mistake and moved on. You could not have possibly predicted this was to happen, so there was no malice behind your negligent actions. It was an accident.
"However, that was not the case with your disdainful distribution of obligation. You knowingly shifted responsibility and fault to someone that did not warrant it. That is nothing short of reprehensible.
"...I have only one final query; exactly what is the duration of each watchman's shift?"
He was already a villain in his own eyes, so he had nothing to lose by admitting a truth that made his acts even more reckless. "Each shift,...is 12 hours."
✧ PREVIOUS PAGE ✧ FIRST PAGE ✧NEXT PAGE✧
I have a question about the setting - is there computer technology yet? And do they have things like satellites or such? But largely computer and network things.
Equally, do they possess effective radar and/or sonar technology? This I'm asking because the ability to do basic radio direction finding and ranging, coupled with basic acoustic monitoring, could provide a technological solution to this kind of issue (via radio buoys with analog computers (1930s tech there, all gears, etc)) and audio monitoring of sea-floor events (a simple noise level monitor, again analog, could give some warning).
At any rate, to answer your question, they have doppler radar for the monitoring of weather such as rain, thunderstorms, hurricanes, etc. They do not do oceanic or space explorations. These people live a more simpler life, more closely related to the land instead of codependency on technology. They have cars (which are a rarity, as explained below), boats and trains. There is no air travel, because they don't need it. They can make continental long distance phone calls, but for transcontinental communication, they have to go to specific relay locations to transmit a message. They generally rely on carrier mail to send a long distance message. There is no internet, they do not have satellites (as mentioned above, the do not have space travel) and they do not have pollution, because their energy is mostly from renewable sources like hydroelectric dams, wind turbines and solar panels. They do not use fossil fuels. They also use wood for burning certain things, like non-electric stoves, furnaces and obviously, fireplaces. But, this is done in a sustainable manor. What is taken gets put back. Their medical advances are good, but they don't have the plethora of diseases that we have. Criminal activity is very nearly nonexistent, but law enforcement does exist. There is no military, because there is no war. For emergencies, there are specific units to handle them, like fire rescue and containment, tidal watch, etc. As cats, they have senses and abilities that far outweigh our own, so something that would be impossible for us, (like seeing in the darkness) is very possible for them.
Off the top of my head, that's all that I can think of. But, if there is something you are curious about, feel free to ask, but you should read the reply I made below, first.
This could be a huge opportunity for the Prince. Maybe he could direct their best scientists to do a sort of "moon shot" for better computing technology. The state of the art now (found in Japan) gives advance warning times down to minutes even for a tsunami!
They have simple doppler radar, so they can predict the weather, but other than that, the scientific advances you're suggesting is beyond them. They are not ar a point where such things are needed.
These are cats, so their senses are different than ours. Just like how animals can sense inclement weather and retreat before it arrives, these cat/people hybrids can do the same. As for being able to see a tsunami from afar, somehow (probably due to their advanced sight and additional senses) they can. The watchtower has always been effective. This is the one time that it didn't and that is because of gross negligence. This should never have happened.
Basically, they live a simple life. They are not technologically advanced and I honestly don't want them to be. This is a fantasy, so I want to distance it from reality to some extent. With technology, I want to distance it a lot. Look at our planet and how badly we have abused it, largely due to technological advances. When things were simpler, the earth was healthier. Now, it is struggling to stay alive. My stories will never get anywhere that point.
The most advanced region is Oslan (the dog country). They are the only ones with tech advanced enough for automation. Oslan is where things are manufactured, including electronic housewares, automobiles, trains and other things. Automobiles are rare and are generally only used by royals, wealthy people and medical/emergency establishments and some of the people involved with them. Mostly, people walk, ride a bike, or a riding bird, bird-drawn carriage, rickshaws, etc. For long distance travel, you take a train for land or a boat for transcontinental trips. All of these things have served these people just fine. There is no need for anything else. They are happy and the planet is happy and healthy. Their stories are more interesting, because they have to figure out ways to carry out things that we can do with the flick of a button. Their stories are interesting, because they are so different from our own. Their stories are interesting, because it is not a mirror to the present, but more of a reflection of the past. This is a fictional world that is not bound to the rigidity of scientific mechanics of ours. Things like gravity, water being wet, fire being hot, etc are synonymous with ours. But things like Invitro fertilization, or having senses that are far greater than our own are not. The author has artistic license to take certain liberties with their creations. Walt Disney said it best as, "the plausible impossible". A thing may impossible to undertake in fact, and yet, one could think that it would be something that can be done. That is a thing that writers, artists, etc can utilize to create their worlds, their people, etc. This is not earth and these are not humans and that in itself is not something that can be real, yet we all still enjoy seeing these anthropomorphic creatures walking, talking and living as we do...because, this is a fantasy. It is not real, so it is not constrained by the rules of reality. Heck, a few journals ago, Sweetheart seemingly stopped the flow of the tide by sheer willpower, but no one questioned it, because this is just a work of fiction.
I guess the bottom-line is, don't overthink it. Analytics, analyses, scientific assimilation are not relevant, because NONE of this should exist, anyway. We have cats and dogs, but they walk on four legs and poop in a box, or outside on a leash. If you go and dissect one part of a thing while ignoring the entirety of it all, that's not wholly logical. Either all of it makes sense, or it doesn't. Or, some of it makes sense and some of it does not. That, to me, is interesting. If iv wanted to enjoy a life-based story, I would watch a reality show, but I don't want to do that, here. Reality is not as interesting as fantasy and that's why we enjoy it. World building is something that captures the mind of others, because you know that their world is not our own and it is interesting to see and learn about the differences. In our world gravity cannot be defied, yet how many characters throughout time have been able to fly with just a thought? Mammals cannot live in water without surfacing for air, but how many stories have characters that can do exactly that? Fire burns organic things that it touches, but how many stories have people that can not only withstand the heat of the flame, but also control it? Science cannot explain that and it was never meant to, because the author and the reader understand that this is not real. When you try to force something to conform to the rules of reality, when it is trying to create a story not restrained by it, you take away from the pleasure of being transported to a world outside of our own. Don't overthink it and remember that this is not Earth, these are not humans and that this is a fantasy, so there is no need for everything to be able to be explained by science. If the author says that they can do a thing, then they can do that thing. Sometimes they will be able to explain why and other times, the answer will be, "they just do, thanks to the plausible impossible" and leave it at that. Enjoy the story. Don't tear it down. If you do, then you are missing out.