Entry 1-309: October 30, 2013
Was Rei just attracted to Rome's body?
In Rome's Revolution, our hero, Rei, was attracted to Rome the moment he saw her. As we learned later, there was more to it in that Rome was the many-generations removed descendent of Sally Reynolds, Rei's first love.
But putting that aside, Rei was attracted to Rome for a variety of reasons. First, she was this exotic creature from the future. Second, as Bonnie said in Rome's Evolution, Bonnie told Rome (and I quote):
“It should, honey,” Bonnie said. “If I had your body and face, I’d be running this world.”
So, think of her as a tiny super-model from the future. But I have to give Rei more credit than that. When Rei first saw her, he was not in love with her. His love for Sally was eternal and left a hole in his heart that he thought he would never fill.
However, their encounter with the Espansor Bands changed all of that. Rei had convinced himself that he given up on love forever. He thought that Sally was the only one for him and when he awakened in the 35th century, Sally had been dead for 1300 years. Rome innocently (or maybe not) put those bands on his head and the rest was (future) history. Rei and Rome connected beyond words, beyond anything that could be developed by common experience. They were "Asborodi Cimponeti" which is the Vuduri phrase for kindred spirits or soul mates.
So, while Rome is gorgeous and exotic, it was ultimately her soul that entrapped Rei and brought him forward to live and thrive in the 35th century.
Entry 1-310: October 31, 2013
Love at first sight
Yesterday, I explained that while Rei was attracted to Rome when he first met her, in the original long form of Rome's Revolution, the feeling was actually mutual. As a member of the Vuduri, Rome was theoretically immune to such feelings but during the following encounter, we get a hint that this was not really the case.
Rome was taking Rei on a tour of Skyler Base on the moon of Dara. They entered the antechamber leading to airlock attached to Rome's starship, the Algol. Here is how it went:
“Can I go inside and see?” Rei asked.
“No,” Rome replied. “We cannot go aboard right now. They are busy loading the equipment that is to be returned with us. Perhaps later.”
“Is there somewhere else we can go so I can see it? Somewhere with windows?”
“Not really,” Rome said. “We do not have windows on this station.”
“No windows?” Rei asked, perplexed. “What if you want to look outside?”
Rome shrugged. “There is nothing to see. Just Dara. If we need to observe anything else, we use our instruments.”
Rei sighed. “Don’t you want to…” His voice drifted off as he looked into Rome’s dark eyes. The glow he had noted earlier was particularly prominent in the lighting within the loading dock. Rei found it mesmerizing. For a moment, he forgot how to speak. Rome’s dilated pupils had a most peculiar little dot in the middle. Even though she was just a random girl from the future, for just this one moment, he did not care. He could not draw his eyes from hers. As he stared at her, her head slowly tilted to the side.
Rei shook his head and said, “Rome?” Her expression was completely blank. From his prior experience, he guessed it was the Overmind clamoring for her attention. She wasn’t completely gone, however. She gazed intently into his blue eyes. Rei moved his head from side to side and her eyes followed him but her face was slack.
Rei waved his hand in front of her and that seemed to snap her out of her reverie. She blinked, shook her head and said, “Let us move on and see other parts of the base.”
“OK,” Rei said. He was not sure what to make of the moment. It was very strange.
They exited the dock and Rome closed the doors behind them. She acted like nothing had happened. They continued walking around the outer ring with Rome pointing out the various sections and commenting on their use.
So you can see that Rome was not distracted by the Overmind. Instead, she really was attracted to Rei and this eventually led to her decision to use the Espansor Bands with Rei. And thus a love for the ages was born.
Entry 1-311: November 1, 2013
Disease among the Vuduri
One of the advantages of the 24th chromosome was that the Vuduri were given very hearty immune systems. This is not such a coincidence since we learned at the end of Rome's Evolution that the bulk of mankind was descended from Sally Reynolds who had a freakish immunity which allowed her to survive The Great Dying in 2081 AD.
As a result, most Vuduri are healthy all the time and really don't ever get sick at all. They age, of course, but simple things like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, stroke, kidney disease and so on have been eliminated. As such, the Vuduri really don't have doctors. They have medics. After all, people, even Vuduri, still suffer injuries. But doctors treating disease, no, this is no longer a viable profession.
We got our first hint of this when Rei met Canus on Dara in Rome's Revolution. Rei flat out asked Canus if he was a doctor and Canus told him flat out that no, he was more of a medic. The only other time we met a member of the medical profession was when Rei nearly died in the beginning of Rome's Evolution. Russell Montrell and another Vuduri man were in attendance. Rei knew that Russell was a doctor. When asked directly if he was a doctor, the Vuduri man answered “Yes.” He said that he was trained in the medical arts and on this equipment. But he misunderstood the question. He really was closer to a paramedic that a doctor.
So Russell Montrell and MINIMCOM of all things will help resurrect the practice of medicine. The mandasurte were descended from the same stock as the Vuduri so they are more or less disease-free as well. But here come the Essessoni, interbreeding and it is time for the medical profession to come back to life.
Entry 1-312: November 2, 2013
Curse words in the future
You don't know me but I don't curse. It isn't a phobia or flaw. It is a choice. I choose to control my temper, to use more descriptive words, to balance my speech. But that doesn't mean that I am unaware of the fact that other people curse. I seem to be the exception rather than the rule.
So, even though I tried to keep cursing out of Rome's Revolution as much as possible, there are a few instances of the 7 dirty words that creep into the story. I only put them in when they are absolutely required and not gratuitous. Here is one example:
Rome shook her head but did not answer. She motioned to Rei to follow her and they continued walking around the E-ring past what Rome claimed were some labs and offices. At the northwest corner of the building, they came to a doublewide door.
“This is environmental control and recycling. We scrub the air, we make oxygen, water, protein matrix and so forth,” Rome said.
“Recycling, huh?” Rei observed. “What do you do with your, uh, waste?”
“You mean like sewage?” Rome asked.
“Yes.”
“It is broken down here and then reused for the molecular sequencers, food synthesizers, whatever is required.”
“Food synthesizers?” Rei sputtered. “You use your sewage for your food synthesizers?”
“Yes. Why?” Rome asked.
“No wonder your food tastes like shit,” Rei said with a smirk.
“I do not understand the reference,” Rome said.
“Sorry,” Rei said. “It was a joke. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Oh,” was all Rome said. She tilted her head. “Like the adopted turtle?” she asked.
“Never mind,” Rei said.
Later in the book, there was a scene when Rei had been captured by Estar and was injected with a prosthetic version of the 24th chromosome and forced to join MASAL's version of the Overmind. The quickest way he could think of to get tossed out was to drop the F-bomb. Needless to say, it worked
but it led to a lot of death and destruction.
So, in general, don't expect a lot of cursing in my books. Oh hell, there are few damneds, a few bastards and stuff but that's about it.
Entry 1-313: November 3, 2013
Rei and the Ganzfeld
A ganzfeld is a device used by perceptual scientists to study what happens when the eye receives no visual stimulation. This is different from lack of light. Rather, a ganzfeld is akin to a partial ping-pong ball. A person stares into the ganzfeld and while the visual field is illuminated, it has no structure and no detail. Most people's brains begin to reject the input. As a result, many people describe seeing black essentially developing a case of apparent blindness. Occasionally, it causes hallucinatory percepts or can even induce an altered state of consciousness.