Gravity's Pull

He wanted cultural details? She probably was one of the worst to report on those, but she could give it an effort. Her nephew would have been better for this part. "I will go the notes route. I am prone to forgetting certain social cues on which many people from my home rely." She paused. "There are a few things that are simple enough, however, if you would like me to teach those to you now."

It would be better than nothing, and give Máté something, rather than leaving him with nothing at all.

(( UGGGGGH. Super short cuz I can't think of what else to have Jade do/say, and I don't wanna bloat on descriptions that are already established. ))
 
After but a moment of consideration, a few possible interpretations of Jade's words were rejected as unlikely or the products of speaking in an unfamiliar language. Amongst them was the one venue which suggested that for some reason, she was taking notes on her own people's behaviour all the time, which lead to the conclusion that she was basically stating she did not remember every cultural norm of her home.

"We would be very grateful if you noted down some basic facts which would be useful in dealing with your Earth's people. More detailed pointers will be appreciated, however, it would be impossible to you to accurately cover every single possible social situation that we might encounter during out negotiations. Therefore, we only ask that you give us guidance. We hope that the willingness to understand each other's cultures along with your people being the same species as us will help along negotiations. If you would like to recieve some pointers about Civitatem Lucis in return, we will gladly provide your people with some basic information."

Naturally, Máté had in his possession quite an extensive database about the cultural norms of Civitatem Lucis, the very same system which Jade had been allowed to use when she had travelled to see him. However, he knew that it would be too much for any human to take in at once, just like Jade's culture. There was only so much information that the human mind could learn at a time and while Jade was practically good at it based on the official record, there was no need to overload her. She already seemed to be overstimulated by the new concepts Civitatem Lucis was throwing at her.
 
"That would be ideal." Jade agreed to the terms of the cultural exchange. She just had to remember all the things she had a hard time doing... like smiling occasionally, making eye contact, and using tone and inflection to signify punctuation, tone, and whether a word was a verb or a noun, like gooGLE and GOOgle.

Dear lord, she hoped she wouldn't have to teach them English. English was near-impossible... maybe she could teach them German instead? Did they have German dictionaries? Her mother spoke fluent German, as did everyone else on base...

She pulled herself from those thoughts. "If you would like, I could teach you one of the languages from my home—either English or German. Of the two, German is simpler, but it can cause throat pain for those not accustomed to making its sounds. English is easier to pronounce, but very difficult to learn because though there exist rules for pronunciation, those rules are often cast aside."
 
Both of those languages sounded somewhat familiar to the Ruler and the soundmason, English more familiar than German. In fact, Two-Stars-Weeks-Away told Máté that English was the language that Jade was speaking when she first arrived, so that meant it had to be the more important one of the two. In fact, some historians were of the opinion that English was the most widespread language on Earth before it had been evacuated. In other words, that was clearly the choice to make.

"We already have dictionaries of English as most of our surviving data from the twenty-second century A.D. is in English. We therefore believe that with a minimal amount of coaching, we would be able to communicate in that language with the inhabitants of your reality," he said casually as he called up an English dictionary along with the grammatical rules for it to see what it was like, only to encounter an absolute mess of a clusterfuck. Worst of all, that was one of the nicest ways he could put it as he parsed the language with the help of Two-Stars-Weeks-Away, but even with a superhuman intelligence that paved the way, it was confusing. There were no straightforward constructions that relied on logic unlike in the tongue of ónic, no sir. There was only the absence of thereof, which left a severe void.

Still, there were songweavers along with students of history who studied the old archives in their original language.
"We also have people who study our archives of history in English," added Máté after the horror had finally lifted from his face. "Therefore, it is much easier for our representatives to be coached in that language." Not to mention all the songweavers who immersed themselves in history. Though their pronounciation was likely off a little, they could be trusted with the future of Civitatem Lucis.
 
Jade bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at his horror. She had warned him German would be easier, but if he insisted upon English, she could assist in tutoring. She did pride herself on her mastery of several language, though... perhaps she was not the best teacher. She still recalled Ríváné's relief when Jade asserted she would learn the native language. Diving right into it after falling asleep studying had left her with gaps, but thankfully nothing that couldn't be overcome.

"It is a difficult language, I know. I was questionably fortunate to grow up around English-speakers, so did not have to learn it, but through learning other languages, I have come to understand many of its rules and quirks. One thing you must remember is that to study English, you are studying a language that is a mixture of all others. Knowing that, it may be easier to proceed in learning."

The poor unfortunate souls.
 
A language made out of other languages was quite an alien concept for any citizen of Civitatem Lucis, as for most of them, ónic was THE language. There were no others to artificially mash them together, or if there were, most people could not speak said language, which rendered the point completely moot. The news were so surprising in fact that Máté let his mask slip for a second time within the span of a few moments before he regained control of his facial muscles and held a short conversation with Two-Stars-Weeks-Away to see if Jade's relevation did make the language easier to understand. Surprisingly, it did. Now that it was looked upon as a compiled construct rather than an original creation, the nonsensical pronounciation along with some of the paradoxical rules could be organised and a loose structure could be established even within a short span of time.

It was impressive to say the least. They had not been talking for too long, but there was a major exchange of information between them already.

"We thank you for your assistance," said Máté as he returned to the real world after a mere second or two. The pause within the conversation could be easily interpreted as him mulling over the new piece of information that he got. "And we have an interesting observation. According to the hypothesis of multiple universes that 'World' has proposed, it is extremely unlikely that we find another universe that is even remotely similar to ours. If you permit a slight transgression on my part, then while you are not a hundred per cent human, the shared characteristics between the people of Civitatem Lucis and yourself are quite numerous. There is also the fact that within your universe, you also have a planet called Earth that seems to be remarkably similar to our own."

Indeed. The likelyhood of something like this happening was astronomically low, especially in a first contact scenario. Though Civitatem Lucis had not met too many sapient alien species during its history, the rahn'fehr where not humanoid at all. Granted, they had not seen them face-to-face, but everything about their creations screamed inhuman thought and that was without considering their insanity. Therefore, meeting another humanoid from a different universe, not to mention a humanoid that happened to be human and share the very same history or a large part of their history, was extremely unlikely.

Máté let the silence speak for itself and waited for Jade to come to the same realisation as Two-Stars-Weeks-Away and he did. "Therefore, we propose that this meeting was not an accident." Indeed. This had to be a part of a plan. A plan that Civitatem Lucis could not even start to guess at, but a plan nevertheless.
 
Jade nodded at the thanks. "You are welcome." She paused as he began to explain an observation made by, she assumed, both he and Two-Stars-Weeks-Away. For most of it, she simply listened and did not ponder his meaning, until he came to the proposition that it was not an accident.

Not an accident? She paused, then slowly reddened. It was entirely likely that Beryl had a hand in her arrival here, since she'd only told a portal to 'go away from here' with the parameters that it not take her somewhere she might encounter loved ones and she be able to survive being on the world. For Civitatem Lucis, it surely looked like perhaps divine providence or some greater will at work, but to Jade... it looked only like chance, and the result of her own bad choices. Visibly, the stoic girl's blush slowly darkened.

"I... know exactly why it was I arrived, I believe." Her voice was softer than the norm, composure cracked.

How could she tell them she had sex, vomited, and ran away from her home universe a sobbing mess just because she couldn't keep herself in her pants!?
 
That was definitely not the reaction Máté had expected from Jade and as he had absolutely no context as to what could have caused this change, he assumed that it was cultural circumstances in which case there was only one course of action he could take.

"I apologise if I have caused any inconvenience or embarrassment, Jade Mortimer-Senate. It was not my intention to take the conversation to grounds that cause shame or embarrassment and I will not press you further on this matter for the time being. However, please consider sharing your hypothesis with us when you feel comfortable with the topic, as it could be important for the future of Civitatem Lucis." Hopefully, that would be more than enough to reassure Jade that he did not intend to accidentally insult her or embarrass her, though the situation was genuinely puzzling, even when analysed with the help of a soundmason. It was inconsistent with the interactions so far, unless perhaps the situation was similar to the one with Jade's mother who was named an eccentric individual.

"We will understand if you would like to take a short break to center yourself before we move onto other matters. Please inform us if you would like a drink of some nature." A little breather would do wonders for the atmosphere in case Máté really had done something incredibly offensive or embarrassing to the woman and naturally, he could not just ask about it. That would have been horribly impolite of him, not to mention that it was better to let things settle before hurt feelings or confusion got the better of anyone.
 
Jade shook her head. "Thank you, but I am fine. The only embarrassment comes from my own actions and how they reflect on my position." She looked away, cheeks flaming before she took the opportunity to take a deep breath, then let it out as she forced her expression back to neutrality.

"Though I am happy to be here, the circumstances around my arrival are embarrassing, and I can say with confidence that there is no higher power at work, nor any grand plan. My arrival followed an intimate encounter with one of my employees during a moment of weakness, and I ran away to escape the shame." She looked down. "My actions were selfish, but until recently, I have not been able to return home." There it was, the truth behind her arrival.

It felt like a great weight rested in her stomach. She fought the urge to make excuses for herself, to try to convince her hosts that she wasn't a shameful excuse of a human being, but a part of her told her to keep her mouth shut, and she listened to it.
 
There was a moment of silence after that announcement as the fact sunk into Máté's brain, which was followed by the understanding of Two-Stars-Weeks-Away, which in turn caused a subtle change within the feeling of áratidéfíl that made itself apparent by a series of little pops within Jade's spine. They were more mental than physical and they did not cause any pain to her, in fact, they were rather pleasant as her brain interpreted them. Before she could contemplate their meaning too much, Máté had moved one of his arms to cover his mouth in what appeared to be a thoughtful gesture. In reality, he used it to conceal the smirk on his face along with his slight laughter at the sheer absurdity of the whole situation. He could scarceley believe that once again, one of the greatest discoveries within Civitatem Lucis was ultimately fueled by fornication.

"We thank you for sharing this information with us," said Máté after he had finally regained his composure and withdrew his hand from his face. He made it look as if he had not been sure what to do about Jade's confession while in reality, he had been too busy laughing his ass off at the seemingly eternal curse of the human species. "We appreciate your honesty in these matters and we feel like we have to remind you that no human being is without their faults. Humans are not artificial intelligences after all." Though he was light-hearted jus a moment before, in light of the information about Jade's mother, this too, was a minor headache for Máté. While it was not a great sin to sleep with one's employees in a moment of emotional vulnerability, the small woman's blush along with her running away from her mistake hinted at the fact that it was not looked upon favourably by her own society.

Honestly, the running away was the most bothersome fact to the Ruler. Sex, he had more than enough tolerance for, but not facing the consequences of one's own actions was problematic to say the least. So he made a note to investigate Jade's method of control along with her mother's method of ruling to see if they had to stage an intervention. He was extremely appreciative of the knowledge he had gained so far, of course, but if a part of humanity was suffering under incompetent rulership... Civitatem Lucis could not let that be.
 
Jade was, in truth, more embarrassed by the fact she fled than by enjoying the company of an employee, as she had hundreds of times before. Certainly, there were cultures that frowned on sleeping with coworkers and superiors, but she did not come from one of those.

She cleared her throat, blush obvious. "I plan to return and apologize to my employee as soon as I am rested enough to form a portal large enough, but in the mean time, I am at your disposal." She absently scratched her cheek with one finger as she looked away from Máté.

The tiny woman didn't realize just how funny her hosts found the idea of sex being the cause of her presence—had she realized, she likely would have made an attempt at a joke, but Máté's straight face and the tiny woman's inability to decipher Two-Stars-Weeks-Away made her believe that the 'everyone had their faults' comment was a subtle scolding over her cowardice.
 
Jade was partially right in that it was a reprimand, but it was also an acknowledgement of humanity's faults that they could never correct, not that it lessened the error in Máté's eyes. At least the small woman was aware of her own responsibility, which was a positive point and it gave some hope that the intervention would not be necessary, a fact that was further reinforced by Two-Stars-Weeks-Away. Their initial contact did not hold any malice, so at worst it was incompetence or perhaps a genuine moment of extreme vulnerability. This then brought fourth myriads of possible factors which were then quickly analysed, then spread out in the pattern of a spider's web so that each one of them could be explored in turn while the conversation went on.

"We believe that is the right course of action," said Máté after a moment's pause. "While we are at the topic of subordinates and employees, we would appreciate it if we were given a picture as to how your government works. In return, we will be happy to provide you with information about our political structure." That could be important. Not only would it give Máté information about the factors to consider when it came to diplomacy, but it would also drop further hints as to the nature of the system itself. In effect, he was fishing for anything that would reveal the necessity of a Civitatem Lucis intervention and if there were none, he was more than happy to let the planet rule itself while they went through with the various exchanges. Ruling a planet that was so alien would be quite a challenge and no one within Civitatem Lucis was a fan of war between humans.
 
Thankfully, Máté changed the subject. Jade felt some of her tension and embarrassment fade as she pondered the newest topic of discussion.

"I assume you mean for the planet rather than my organization." She thought a moment, and then nodded. "At the very top is my mother, Mother Biocybera. She is the Empress. Below her are the Generals; Brother Psiblast, Brother Obsidian, Sister Morticea, Aunt Morgan, Aunt Lia, Uncle Xenos, Uncle Grace, Uncle Justin, and so on. Below them are the leaders of the countries my mother has overtaken. She allows each to retain its original government, but only if they are responsible enough with the funding she offers and they work to eliminate hunger, unemployment, and homelessness within their borders. Those that fail are given a new government. Mother has her faults, but she believes it is a government's place to care for its people."

She hadn't paid much attention to the details growing up, but he'd asked for what she assumed was a general description. "There are a few countries who retain their independence, in part due to my mother's wish not to be involved due to agreements and her personal history."
 
That sounded somewhat similar to how Civitatem Lucis' original founders conducted their rule in a much smaller country thousands of years ago. Not a perfect system by any means, but then, neither was the current one and at least it seemed benevolent to its subjects unlike what Máté had expected. That is, if what Jade said really was true about it because the Ruler found himself questioning the integrity of a structure that was headed by a woman who was considered to be eccentric by the standards of her own daughter. This little fact then almost snowballed into a conspiracy theory as he had picked up on non-existet patterns that seemed to highlight the issue of an interdimensional traveller landing in this place yet again, but they were quickly brushed aside by Two-Stars-Weeks-Away along with Máté's rationale. He had no reason to doubt Jade's words after all.

"Are we correct in understanding that your mother governs over local governments and that she rules for life as a queen would?" asked the Ruler after a slight pause that he used to construct the picture. Apparently, the words king and queen did survive the sands of time within this universe despite the fact that so much of Earth's history had been lost. "Furthermore, does your mother enforce other standards of government that every country under her rule has to follow?" he asked as he wondered about the more in-depth structure of it all. If Jade's mother did not use standardised systems for elections, lines of succession or various offices, then he could imagine how much of a nightmare it would be to oversee it all.

"We are also curious about the level of interference that your mother operates on and the way governments communicate their progress to her and her generals. We would like to know the process of generals being chosen for their position as well." Those were also important. Perhaps Máté was overreaching, in which case he would apologise, but he was sure that he had managed to leave the specifics which would be government secrets or sensitive information out of his questions.
 
The tiny woman nodded. "Yes. Mother rules for life as a queen would. She is currently sixty-three years old, and I expect 'for life' to last several centuries." On the topic of standards of government, she had to pause for thought. "As far as I am aware of Mother's workings, she has been weaning them towards representative rule. Most countries with a singular ruler who passes down through the generations have already turned their royal families into figureheads, which makes things much more simple, and easier for her to put her own ranks into their ruling parties—not the Generals, but people who hold Captain rank. She has each country submit detailed reports of economic and legal changes, and if they fail to submit a report, a captain is put in place as the country's ruler. Several have done this after being reminded three times, so I can only assume it was on purpose."

How did her mother choose generals...? They would not like this. "On the topic of generals, the generals are hand-selected. The first three: Brother Obsidian, Brother Psiblast, and Sister Morticea were all created by Mother when she was young. They proved themselves faithful, and she gave them the rank of her most trusted soldiers, which eventually became the rank of general. The rest are from the crew of an intergalactic ship that lost its way in time and were unofficially adopted into the family, and swore allegiance to Mother because she was the only power that was not trying to tear apart the ship." She paused a few moments. "The rank is not available to anyone not considered family, either honorary or otherwise, because the position has so much power inherent, and by having or forming the bonds of family, she feels it will lead to greater harmony."

A fancy way of saying that she adopted people to make them generals. "Technically, I hold the rank as well, though I do not use it."

She was probably exaggerating some of it, but there was no lie to her understanding.
 
Monarchs who ruled for life were not a problem for Civitatem Lucis to swallow, however, a monarch who ruled through centuries through implied genetic engineering and perhaps the excessive aid of machinery was an entirely other matter. Granted, if Jade's physiology was any indication, then her mother was not human either but observations so far were inconclusive about life expectancy and what might be considered to be the natural limit for her species. What factors would one have to consider in such a case, however? Rulers may be long-lived, but they did not command the authority of a queen and there were no equivalent political positions that could be held for hundreds of years within the structures that Máté was used to. It would be the most strange to talk to someone who could live through and rule during the establishment of many colonies.

The rest of the explanation was also troublesome, as within this universe, time travel was proven to be physically impossible in the young days of interstellar civilization. To hear that an entire spaceship was somehow able to reverse the entropy in a closed system or to perhaps survive the interior of a vicious black hole was shocking to say the least. Máté did all he could to conceal the surprise on his face as he was very well aware of the sheer impossibility of what has been revealed to him, yet he was forced to concede its truth. Even Two-Stars-Weeks-Away had difficulties conceiving of physical laws which would allow for such a thing.

Fortunately, the bits about adoption and family were not as shocking as these previous relevations. It was a despotic system of course, but as Civitatem Lucis' early history demonstrated, strong leaders who ruled with a tight grip were sometimes necessary to get human civilization in line. To Máté, it seemed that this was happening within Jade's reality right now. People were being reorganised and their traditional structures turned upside-down in a slow process that would eventually bloom into a well-oiled machine.

"We believe we understand the specifics of your government," said Máté after a few seconds of consulting with Two-Stars-Weeks-Away in various matters. "It is not a system that we or Civitatem Lucis completely approves of, however, as long as your mother prevents wars erupting between her various subjects, we believe that there is no reason for us to challenge it." That was not completely true given that if Jade's mother disrespected human rights or various other matters, then they would be challenging it no matter the difficulties involved. Civitatem Lucis' main principle had always been the protection of mankind, whether it be from the insane rahn'fehr or humanity itself.

"We have no more questions about your planet's political structure for the moment. Do you wish to take notes on how Civitatem Lucis operates?" asked the Ruler, knowing that Jade did not have access to the advanced suites he had, so he would give her some time to bring out any recording devices she had on her person. That is, if she took the opportunity.
 
Jade nodded. At least there wasn't any sign the pair took her description the way an American might. Americans were scary, and often disregarded facts. Logically, she should have cast aside the nervousness as soon as it reared its head, of course. Banished either way, she quickly forgot the momentary unease and pulled her small notepad and a pen from her pocket. She flipped past the pages detailing alphabets and any other notes about Civitatem Lucis and found a fresh page. "Yes, if you do not mind." She positioned her pen over the paper, ready to start writing. While she didn't have shorthand, she had good memory when well-rested, and her practice in the records room meant she could write quickly and efficiently.

She waited to hear what the Ruler had to say, attentive and curious.
 
Máté waited until Jade brought out her pen and paper, then he commanded the local AI to project a holographic representation of the Civitatem Lucis government in front of them so that the overarching structure would be easier to explain.

"The basic principle of Civitatem Lucis is democratic vote. Our citizens have the right to vote for individuals to lead them and represent them within the greater hierarchy. This hierarchy is divided into two levels: planetary and interstellar. On the planetary level, people vote for the leaders of cities, districts, continents and finally, the representative body of their planet." As he spoke, a diagram appeared on the hologram between Jade and Máté, representing the planetary system of the Ruler's civilization. Cities were placed on the lowest level. Above them were the districts, then continents, then planets, much as one would expect from a layered sysem like this.

"On the interstellar level, there are the governors of systems, sectors and the Senate of Reason, which is responsible for making decisions that affect the entirety of Civitatem Lucis. At any time, the people may challenge the decisions which affect them via a referendum if they have enough support." Again, the structure of the interstellar level appeared on the hologram and so far, everything was quite simple in its workings. After all, what Máté was describing was nothing more than a representative democracy with more referendums than usual. "Positions on the planetery level are rotated every two years, while positions on the interstellar level are rotated every four years. One may be chosen for a position any number of times provided that they are not the member of any Four-Point Organisations."

Now that was new. Máté used 'Four-Point' in the context of 'Four-Point Star', and it was obvious that whatever these organisations were, they were connected to the Four Philosophies of Civitatem Lucis.

"Though nearly every individual follows at least one of the Four Philosophies, members of the Four-Point Organisations form their own structures that are completely independent of the political government. The laws of Civitatem Lucis still apply to them, but they may invoke exceptional clauses in highly regulated circumstances. At the same time, while they can not directly pass laws, their followers influence political decisions and political decisions influence their followers. Their hierarchy is complicated to explain," especially the hierarchy of Soul, noted Máté as he was not quite sure how to convey that, "but the pair of a Ruler and a soundmason is second only to those at the top of the Four-Point Organisations. Do you have any questions for us?"

That was quite a mouthful. Though there were some small nuances that he had not mentioned about the system itself, they were not necessary in order to understand how it worked. Besides, if he wanted to describe the complex relationships within the politics of his people, they would probably be here all day.
 
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Jade began to sketch a copy of the representation as she paid close attention. At the beginning, it sounded like the American structure, but as he continued, she began to understand there was more to it than simply popular vote. The people seemed to have an actual voice, for one, or at least, Máté seemed to believe it to be so.

She finished her notes before she pondered whether she had questions. He was very thorough, but the comparison to American structure was sort of eerie.

"Do you have something like an electoral college or delegates who are trusted to make the actual votes for the people, or are the votes of the people directly responsible for someone's election?" If there were delegates or superdelegates at all, that was problematic, but in the end, ultimately not her problem, since as far as she had seen in her short peek, the society did seem to take care of its people.
 
"Positions are appointed through direct vote up to the district level. Above that, however, a mixture of representative vote and direct vote is used in order to prevent abuse of popularity and to protect new, fledging communities from the influence of those who have been growing for hundreds of years under the banner of Civitatem Lucis. There are also various other measures in place to make sure that the system makes the best decisions possible for those who have given it the right to rule." That had been a good question in Máté's opinion, which made him think that maybe Jade's Earth was not a hopeless cause. From his perspective and in the opinion of Civitatem Lucis' majority, it was a flawed system, but then again, the Ruler reminded himself that for all the pre-cautions, his civilization's one also had its flaws.

"Is there any other question that you would like of us concerning the government of Civitatem Lucis?" he asked after a slight pause that made sure Jade had enough time to write down any information that she deemed necessary in that paper and ink of hers. Just how advanced was Jade's Earth if they used things like that? Two-Stars-Weeks-Away was not able to say, because it had been quite inconsistent so far and the soundmason could not converge on one path of logic that would lead to a correct conclusion. It was completely incoherent with what was known of Civitatem Lucis' history for sure, however. If Jade was any indication, then their Earth had discovered advanced genetic engineering, yet at the same time, it could not field personal recorders and holographic interfaces.

Naturally, the worst part about this was that such a curiousity could not be indulged. To ask of another's technological discoveries was surely a sign of measuring their strength.
 
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