Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

At the forum

The assembly was about to begin. Still half-asleep, Sen sat lumped in her chair with her feet up as she wiped sleep from her eyes and yawned.

Life on the Atripliceae Family Platform revolved around the idea that every individual should be given the best opportunity to develop to their full potential. It was a maxim that had been revered over the generations and had lead to the fostering of some of the Galaxy's greatest minds, bodies and spirits. Propagating such a tradition required a routine of discipline and learning that was established at the earliest age. For the Atripliceae, this was not a harsh system as was promoted by some of the commercial or military focused tribes, but a system aimed at developing pride and belonging. One significant part of the routine was the morning forum, where, at the start of each working day before breakfast, it was customary for all of the platform's residents to meet and discuss current affairs including local issues relating to the platform; wider issues from around the Kingdom; and news and events from around the galaxy.

The actual forum room was a large marble-lined theater located at the center of the platform. Here participants would sit in tiers of bench seats that were lined around an airy oval-shaped stage. On the stage, a speaker would take the floor (the adult residents would take the position on rotation).

The children would also participate in the activities of the forum and would take up the first row in the theater. At each forum there was a special item on the agenda where a child was able to submit a topic for discussion. As much as she complained and tried to avoid the daily assembly, Sen inwardly didn't mind the activity, she was conducting a competition with herself trying to choose the most disturbing and scandalous topic for discussion. Yesterday there had been a horrific forest fire on the planet Skye over which their platform floated so she was glad she hadn't used her ticket earlier in the week to raise the pirate attacks on Mull. It was the warmest period in the green planet's cycle and, as technology on the planet was forbidden, the emergency response from the platforms above had been condemned as being too slow and, as a result, the casualties in an aged colony were significant. Luckily the fire had been in a community far away from her Grandfather, but the personal connection made the story sting.

Sen activated the SIS interface display in her visual cortex implant, vetex and submitted her ticket, flagging it as anonymous. She would have to wait to see if her topic was selected.

The assembly had just finished an informal discussion on the winning performance of the new Baron Elite speed class frigate released by Skyean Industries and debuted at the latest round of interstellar circuit heats at Ophiuchia Prime. The facilitator for the day, one of her adult sisters, Felis Attica, rolled her eyes as she read Sen's anonymous ticket, the subject of which read, "thousands of aged fried on Skye." She looked over to where Sen was sitting on a second tier seat near the back end of the room, "Okay Salty, I guess this one's from you?"

Sen pretended not to be listening, but Felis had her tagged.

Felis continued, "Well whoever did, I don't like the morbid way you presented the topic, but I am glad that you have brought this to our attention. This event yesterday was a serious tragedy, and I think highlights real failings in our support of the Aged. As we all know the great forest is home to three sectors of the kingdom: the Druidic Order; the Skyean Penal system; and the Aged: those of our number who choose to live out the later years of their eleventh gefresh in a simpler way that is closer to the earth that gave birth to us all. Yesterday a wildfire hit one of the larger Aged communities, Colony ninety-six, killing close to four thousand of our most venerable. I know the fact that Skye, as a technology free planet is core to our way of life, But I ask you, is relying on a platform-based emergency response for this type of event acceptable?" She opened the floor to comment. "Ideas?"