For the Sake of Clarity

My people do not participate in such controversies often. The general policy among us it to step aside. Listen, read, but guard silence. Wise as that rule may very well be, I believe in the need for exceptions.

Since the nature of this forum prevents censorship. I asked for permission to provide some perspective here. For those who have spoken boldly, about matters they ignore. My Queen has chosen to grant me that favour. So, that is what brings me here.

My Queen is of the Sword. The 53 hexagram: Development. And white silken armour. The arms of Toreador. Those who know our ways can situate her from that information, validate my credentials, and understand the spirit of my words beyond face value. I am the Nocturnal Archduke in her court, and have been for over one hundred thousand years.

My nocturnal name is unnecessary here. My name as a human was Otto Moreira Machado. I was born during the Year of the Fall, in the Seeding Ship Esperança, which means “hope”. In Portuguese. It felt on the planet that would latter be called Gerunda.

I was among the first human-based vampires. Turned by my Queen in her third Ritual of Blessing.

Some among you may know me as “The Butcher of Five Rocks” or “The Second Leviathan”. Titles granted to me by your people, to praise my victories and my talent as a strategist. Also, my cruelty, and my healthy appetite. All remarkable qualities that elevate my spirit when mentioned by your people. Because we are at war against each other.

You call my people “Deshiar”. That is not a bad name, but is not one we gave ourselves.

Our Elders do not talk to each other in words. Their language is somewhat similar to the communication between some telepath races created by human genetic engineers. Those telepaths I am referring to have no vocal cords, and no auditive organs, and use telepathy as their exclusive path for communicate complex concepts.

In their kindness and serenity our Elders have chosen to leave the choice of words for us. We call ourselves vampires.

We call our benefactors “Elder Vampires”.

Those names have been in use since the first contract between the Elders and humanity was written and signed. In the year 75 of the Fall. They are quite sufficient. I will be adhering to our terminology.

We do not declared war against humanity. Neither have we ever ruled humans.

We honour your decision to make war that against us.

By far, most confrontations between our species since the Seal was broken have been initiated by your side. We would be satisfied to expand our presence in this galaxy and beyond, occupying empty systems. Leaving those already claimed by your alone.

Humanity outside Lira System has chosen to make war against us. We know the vocabulary of war well, we can find our way through the grammar of war. We are happy to honour your choice in that matter. And we intend to honour it in full, as long as this conversation lasts, as far as it leads us all.

Many words have been spoken in the present debate. I will address here only the 3 texts that have gotten more attention. “First Quarter Mark”, “Explaining Fractions” and “Bitter Lesson”.

My focus here will be what was said about my people. In order to proper address that I may touch some parallel subject.

Both the authors Explaining Fractions and Bitter Lessons claim to know the anonymous author of that text that initiates this debate personally. They agree about the identity of this person, supposedly Mr Kai Maués. I shall enter the conversation admitting that I do not know any of them in person. Never exchanged correspondence with any one of the three.

Perhaps one day we will have the chance to compare notes face to face. As friends of the True. In conversation mediated by our common friend. The possibility seems remote, but I would enjoy that.

Specially in the case of Mr Theodore Roosevelt, who declares himself a human, according to the Alexandrine definition of human. Therefore, his life must respect the hard limit of 300 year. What is a severe limitation in the possibilities of encounter, in a Universe like ours. Where Faster than Light Travel is almost entirely non-existent. And we are spread through a small but significant portion of out galaxy. He is proud to embrace religious that limitation. Therefore, I would have to be very lucky to catch the author of Explaining Fractions for a conversation in person before his time of **** beats me in that hunt.

Time is a pressing matter for us all, not just for Alexandrine humans. Your people just found an **** way to stress the importance of that category of understanding.

You willingly kill yourselves 300 years after birth. In a Universe where a short trip between 2 stellar systems may take 500, 1.000, 7.000 years. I must admit, there is something commendable in your commitment to pay tribute to time and History.

I was one of you myself, long time ago. Remember debating the subject in class, at school, as a young boy. In the floating Heliopolis where I grew up.

There was no sub human in that class, goes without saying. Most of them in our city lived as domestic slaves, never learning how to read.

As a human adult I realized that an important part of Alexandrine Law is to set humans apart from other living species able to talk rationally. By the time when the Consensus took place, those living species where only the up-lifted.

Latter, came species entirely designed by geneticists. The “conceptuals” some call them. Also, of course, Alexandrine Law itself created the “fallen humans”.

I believe that as a inevitable collateral effect, ratter than part of the intention.

I was 75 years old when humanity met the first intelligent beings who are not a product of human ingenuity. And 20 thousand years would pass before the humanity outside Mystery System find out about that fist contact with alien intelligence.

Only as a vampire was that I finally realized one more piece of that puzzle. Humans, those who are legally so according to your laws, are up-lifted too. As much as any other specie, you are the product of genetic engineering. I was too, when I was one of you.

The fact is very obvious, our education when I was a child just never points to it. Ratter hides it with a linguistic tricky of smoke and mirrors.

See, before Baby Steps, when Genetic Medicine was finding its feet, humans could live up to 120 years. Rarely any person reached that age. 130 was legendary, 200 was fiction.

Those who decided “300!” could have placed the limit in 500. In 120, or 9.000. Really, any number was as good and reasonable as any other. The decision was arbitrary. There is no logic in it.

I do not mention this to say you should leave Alexandrine Law. In a certain measure, I am saying the opposite, actually.

When I understood the things I am mentioning here, I was a nocturne child. Finding my feet, in our society. A society that was, mind you, in process of being build, was in its own “baby steps”, if you indulge my humour. As such child, I tried to persuade my siblings in the court. Spoke with our Queen. Trying to show the need humanity had to be freed from the cruel illusion that (to my eyes of nocturnal child) was the Alexandrine Law.

My people allowed me such inflammatory words.

Until one night.

When a wise vampire invited me to walk through our city.

He guided me that night. Deep in sub-human sectors. Through the poorest human sectors too. To show me how sub-humans treat each other. How little they do for themselves.

I have confirmed it many times ever since. Sub-humans who had access to conditions of life objectively superior to some humans, would still leave their houses fall in degradation. In the rare exceptional cases, where there was some effort to make things a bit better, inside a house. Still, the public corridors and access veins of those sub-humans sectors screamed nothing but indifference and despise. The smell was putrid and full of avoidable inconvenient. While humans in comparatively worse material circumstances, objectively, worked to turn their tiny meager houses into homes. Cleaned and painted their public corridors and access passages as if they were parts of their own bodies. Loved by all among them.

This is the gift of Alexandria to you, and it has nothing to do with your DNA.

The distinction between humans and sub-humans is an illusion, but from that illusion a sense of unity and self-respect is born. Of shared purpose and of personal sacrifice for something that goes beyond any person, family or even nation. This something is “Humanity”, has been since the Consensus of Alexandria.

“Whatever humanity used to be before that, no longer matters” said that wise vampire to me: “this is what humanity is now”. Having seem the contrast, I was **** to admit. Humanity is good!

For humans.

I am not a dissident, as a vampire who admits that. Quite the opposite.

One misconception shared by all 3 authors who preceded me in this conversation is the idea that my people keep “human cattle”. According to that idea humans in what you call “Deshiar” worlds are all “slaves”.

I cannot stress the following point enough. Even realizing that you may not believe me. If you ever travel to our territories, you will see it by yourselves. Otherwise, you can read the Historical Records made by humans in Lira System during the 22 thousand years of isolation.

My people do not rule any human city! Not one.

Only humans living under our Law are those we call “vampire thralls”. I will not deny there as some exceptions, but generally speaking those thralls are voluntaries. Who gave themselves to a vampire by their own initiative, willingly. Enthusiastically. The exceptions, fortunately, are rare.

The lack of political unity inherent to our society makes impossible to eliminate those exceptions completely. As my Queen would do, if it was possible.

Our human partners rule themselves. Always have. The terms we all live by, in covenant, are those of the Tripartite Accord. By those terms, we cannot interfere in human politics.

My kin do not have to like the Alexandrine Consensus. We don’t even need to understand it.

As long as the humans who live in harmony with us choose to keep it, it is their law. We do not follow it, but we would never do anything against it.

When humans choose to, by their own reasons, to abandon Alexandria. We support that decision, every way we can.

It costs humans their relationship with the Seelie courts of Fae. Or, as most people call them outside Lira, the Angels. We do our best to help them find ways to replace that. Same way we help sub-human communities, who never have any help from the Seelie.

To us, as Dra Amanda Mir Maués pointed, there is no difference between humans and sub-humans. Our society is made of both, our Kings and Queen invite non-humans to enter Nocturnal Society as much as they invite humans. Some of them are former sub-humans.

We honour ourselves and you, by honouring those who choose to seek harmony with us.

We honour ourselves and you, by honouring those who choose to make war against us and try to erase us from existence.

In reality, and essence, that is the same.

We do not patronise anyone. We never try to replace your decisions by what we think would be best, according to what in your eyes should be your best interest. My people do not second guesses yours.

Instead, we stay flexible. To make contracts, based in mutual interest, for mutual profit. Or war.

Our flexibility has its limits.

One of those limits is that: we do not rule human communities.

That is something we decline when asked to do.

We only rule ourselves. Only we rule ourselves, according to our ways. Those are sides of a same coin, and both are non-negotiable for us.

Now, the author of “Explaining Fractions”, Mr Theodore Roosevelt, accuses my people of not being at war against humanity. Also, he seems to give us credit for the existence (ratter the freedom, I would say) of Unseelie Courts. Which he calls Demons. Following the prevalent terminology among your folk.

The first accusation is curious.

If my people was in control of humanity all this time. Using your leaders as puppets. We must be very bad administrators. Since we spoil our resources for no gain. All those human fleets, and nations, entire colonies and stellar systems full of people, that I killed. In that “false” war. They were real, I assure you! It that was war is false, as Mr Roosevelt claims, and if we own humans as slaves. Then, those humans belonged to us. That looks to me like a incompetent way to invest resources!

I am used to be called many things. Incompetent is not one of them.

It is somewhat refreshing, in its implicit irony, this accusation. Lika an involuntary joke. Since, often, your people mention my “cold” efficacy in epic colours.

About the second accusation. I ask myself that one, sometimes.

How could our Elders not realize in advance that vulnerability!? How could AIs designed in some sense “by humanity” invade mecha brains designed according to Elder Vampire specifications?

I do not know.

Elder technology is beyond your dreams. What you have seem and felt is the shadow of a drop from that ocean. Even that is, as you all must know by now, beyond your best efforts. I cannot see how human based AIs could have explored a mistake made by Vampire Elders.

I must admit, for the sake of honesty. Maybe Mr Roosevelt is right about that point. Maybe it was done on purpose! Maybe our Elders really broke the Demons chains on purpose. By which purpose, I do not know.

What I know is that we are not allies, much less masters, of Demons. Some members of Unseelie Court have joined our cause, but far too few of them.

In general, they are a serious threat to us.

Way more serious than you. And I mean no insult.

Because they are obsessed with the goal of exterminate all humans who follow Alexandrine Law. That include humans we are bond to protect by Tripartite Accord.

Does not matter if my opinion about Alexandrine Law in itself is similar to what the average Unseelie individual thinks about the subject. I will fight, risk my practical immortality in battle against any Demon, and ultimately die if I must. Because that is my obligation as a vampire, under the Tripartite Accord.

I hope my people’s position is finally clear for those of your who dedicated time and good will to read my words up to this point. As always, was a privilege to share my time with you, humans. In dialogue or in war, always is.