George J. Smith wrote:cthia wrote:I still think Darius is a class of planet in a system much too severe for any but malignant genomes. Could all of the Dariusians have received base modifications to exist on Darius -- a system that no other human in their right mind would even consider visiting even if near it?
Everyone might already know where the system is. It is called the Badlands. Nobody ever wants to go there and see it again. LOL
Our very own UFO base is hidden within Mercury's atmosphere or inner Jupiter, where we can't even get a probe in to see. LOL
Remember, you heard it here first.
cthia wrote:Talking with my friends, we came up with some possibilities. First off, the bulk of Dariusians do not leave the system. Of those that do, might be given adjustments on a regular timeframe to counteract, adjust to, whatever the main alteration. Much like the topical aftermarket tuneup given to Anisimovna's MDD (mental deficit disorder LOL) assistant? I don't know. Something MAlign savvy. I think the main concern would be differences in physical appearances as a result of the particular alteration. "Hey, what is that growing out of your neck?" shrug
At any rate, I think it would depend on many factors that can only be answered by the Malign (or the author by proxy) e.g., the particular mod and the particular environment, length being out of environment, possible topical assistants out of environment. Complementary mods allowing dual coverage, or wider tolerances?
My Romanian friends carried that conversation too high in the cloud for a layman like myself. However, it is an interesting proposition that may allow the Malign to almost live right under noses. And it is hard to keep a tail on streak drives to follow them.
My point was that Darius cannot be that different from Mesa -and by extension- Manticore/Haven/Beowulf &etc.
I'm not disagreeing with you George, in fact I think you have an important point. However, they may be alike in the important areas, if there's a notion, and different in others.
For instance, I'd think the most telling difference which shows up in physical appearance would be huge variations in gravity. If Darius's gravity is "normal" but everything else is severe. Extreme temperatures, low, high, or both simultaneously, low oxygen, poisonous gases, insane weather, strong radiations from some undisclosed source (just guessing for sake of argument)... conditions that may not necessarily alter the physical appearance like high or low grav planets. Everything else insanely unlivable, but repairable with mods.
An additional or highly augmented internal organ may allow breathing in atmospheres only dreamed of by non-malignants. Perhaps the ability to see in other frequencies are needed as well.
My Romanian friends, mostly doctors and surgeons, discussed long ago that in the Honorverse, certainly the Malign, may have found out the defunct use of the gall bladder, the appendix and sinuses, all which are commonly removed in humans because they seem to serve no purpose, and put them to use. Reactivated them to serve the purpose they were meant to serve but are currently no longer needed because of whatever reason. We can speculate...
- Man crawled out of the water.
- The earth was once worse than Grayson.
At any rate, the Malign seem to have some auxiliary parts to work with. Already built-in and unseen for what they are.
Wow, internal stealthy organs hiding in plain sight. LOL
