Shades of the Ve'katak

[Carver]

Lore Impact: 
Small

Species: 
Vaurca

Short Description: 
A controversial form of recruitment incentive for the Ve'katak Phalanx, utilizing VR/Neusim 'facsimiles' of the recruit's deceased friends or family recreated from a combination of public record knowledge and any other source the Phalanx may have access to.

How will this be reflected on-station?: 
It would be an optional background addition to help justify creating non-Vaurcae Phalanx characters, hopefully easing the process for anyone interested in such.

Does this addition do anything not achieved by what already exists?: 
Expands upon the background for non-Vaurcae recruitment, by offering a (debatably) meaningful incentive for these recruits that uniquely involves the Neusim and hopefully enabling more character concepts to have a reason to fit in the Phalanx. Additionally, it would provide a very openly controversial layer of manipulation to the Phalanx's recruitment tactics.

Do you understand that the project may change over time in ways you may not foresee once it is handed over to the Lore Team?: 
Yes

Long Description: 
The Shades of the Ve'katak, or alternatively, Neusim Facsimiles

Shades present a deceptive, debatably cruel form of recruitment incentive; wherein after a non-Vaurcaesian recruit has been interviewed, given a background check and psychological assessment it is determined whether it would be effective to produce a facsimile of one (or rarely, more) of the deceased's friends or family, offered as encouragement to go through whatever lengths may be necessary to pass the entrance tests - including invasive physical augmentation liable to improve the greater quality of the recruit in the end.

These facsimiles would be met during the Neusim portion of their training, and may potentially provide significant encouragement for the recruit to stick through their training to the end, whereafter the recruit would still be able to 'visit' their shade during any further training sessions in Neusim - and substantially more rarely, if allowed access for a time to MNeusim. Unfortunately, Shades are not perfect recreations in most cases; typically being produced from a combination of public record of the recruit and the deceased, as well as information gathered during interviews, examinations and background checks. Small details about their form, appearance and personality are often 'off' to an uncanny degree that even the most desperate may need to accept. 

It has been found that despite this, recruits who have shades are more likely to stick through and pass their Neusim training - in addition to often desiring further training past what is required, even further raising the quality of the now-full member of the Phalanx. The possibility of exposure to the imperfect shade mentally breaking the recruit is, of course, considered a negligible risk for all the benefits the method offers. Furthermore, there is the value in utilizing shades to gather deeper information about the recruit and their history - both to refine the facsimile, and to potentially gain sensitive information on any notable individuals or entities (Corporations, Governments, etc.) with which the individual bears a history with.

Ultimately, news may spread of the Ve'katak's members being allowed to 'reunite with the dead', offering a draw to the forlorn who have lost their friends or family in tragedy and war. It is even said that with time, a recruit's memories of the lost and the experiences with their shade often become indistinguishable.

Disorganized thoughts, separated for the sake of ease of reading:

Spoiler

Whose idea was this?:
 It may be a passing idea of Athvur twisted into a contribution to the Phalanx's goals by Zoleth - with the former brood's greater understanding of human empathy taken advantage of. Originally intended for approved (Phoron Star-tier donors, politicians, etc.) humans to visit deceased friends or family through a viewfinder or MNeusim, it was discarded when the idea of these facsimiles was considered to be unhealthily exploiting human grief. Zoleth's brood would have seen instead the potential in which this could be used to bolster recruitment for the Phalanx.

Spoiler

Where else would shades potentially appear?:
 This would be up to writers, especially as to whether it may open up Phalanx members to possessing virtual reality looking-glasses or similar devices tuned to a minuscule sub-realm as a more unnerving equivalent of the 'photo in the locket'.

Spoiler

What happens if the Phalanx doesn't have enough information to produce a shade?:
 If the information cannot be gathered from interviews or any accessible records, then the recruit would be gently informed that it is not currently possible to 'bring their loved one back'. It'd be horribly ineffective to try and produce a shade out of nothing, and more than likely to emotionally break the recruit.

Spoiler

What happens if a recruit's lost friend is a Vaurca?:
 An interesting thought, for if the deceased's consciousness is available then it is more than likely that - if the individual Vaurca was willing to allow a facsimile to be produced, and it was approved by the Phalanx itself - the recruit would meet a perfect facsimile of their lost friend. If the Vaurca was especially caring for their friend, they may instead visit the recruit with their true consciousness.

 

[Carver]

An addendum, beginning with some OOC thoughts:
You may be wondering why I am adding to a near-year old (over a year old, if you account for the myriad of rough drafts on my end) lore application. To be transparent, the core feedback that I had received from the Vaurca lore team was that the application was a bit -too- overtly dark in tone. Of course, there was a reason for that when it was being written that I'll explain below. 

During the conception of the original drafts, Vaurcae as a species suffered dearly from a degree of (wholly external) flanderization in how many players/crew viewed them. They were seen in an unusually positive, almost 'cutesie' light at the time, standing in total contrast to their background and themes. This was at a time before the Ve'katak Phalanx had been expanded upon mechanically with the receivers and other similarly polarizing elements, and so I had seen a need to reshape the outward perception of what had been an obscure, relatively unpopular yet wholly fascinating sub-faction of the Court and the PMCG. Overall, it was an attempt to offer a stepping stone for players to work with when either crafting or reorienting an existing character to fit within the whole.

In many regards, I explicitly cut away the softer edges of the concept as it formed within my head. A multitude of small ideas that, for a mere lore application, were seen to be unnecessary or to stand in undesirable unison with existing misconceptions surrounding the Vaurca. This addition brings up a handful that had been cut, refined into a small array of ideas that I consider potentially complementary to the greater whole. 

Before you read what follows, I ask that you excuse my odd prose in writing these. They're not written to be from a wholly OOC perspective, whilst any OOC notes present within them will have italicization in addition to clear markings (double forward slashes or parentheses) to transparently indicate the difference.

= A couple of plainly simple ideas that angle for a more positive IC reception.
- Facsimile Shift

Spoiler

The improvement of a member is not done with any degree of malevolence, for it can be seen that members bearing a Facsimile who return to the neusim for training are often observed to display a degree of external calm unlike many of their fellow non-Vaurcae companions. It is said that a Shade is a grounding element, keeping their mind focused and easing the immense pressure that their training puts them under as they're allowed a glimpse of personal serenity otherwise wholly unavailable whilst within the Neusim. In giving a warrior a reason to fight, they will hold together through the worst and come out stronger.

//More visibly, within the confines of the game itself, this may be observed as long-term members who have a Facsimile tending toward a degree of stoicism - or at least, they do not tend to bear the more unpleasant symptoms of recurrent Neusim training. No matter what may occur within their duties, no matter what their own life may yet throw at them, they always have something to return to.

- Projector Lockets

Spoiler

A simpler idea, borne from the thought of marrying lockets and personal holoprojectors. To put it plainly, what if there was an item exclusive to the Phalanx that allowed a member to momentarily project a (mindless) copy of their facsimile? A projection within a locket that can smile, wave or something similarly comforting for the warrior-away-from-home? On the ship it would have no access to any realm of virtual reality, being no more than a recording by itself. 

//Perhaps it could offer more on Caprice, or with the aid of a Ta, but that is beyond the scope of anything mechanically relevant to the game itself.

= The radical ideas. These were ones that I'd considered later and had found fun enough to include for the sake of posterity.
- The Terracotta Army

Spoiler

What if shades were not merely those held dear by the alien warriors of the Ve'katak, but also a means of creating a mold from those warriors? When a warrior falls in battle, what if their memory were to be honoured by a facsimile being created from this very mold? A means of improving the Neusim's greater capacity to train the aliens amongst the Ve'katak Phalanx, and a form of funerary art that may be displayed by the Queens that oversee the Phalanx - an army of loyal facsimiles, to parade as seen fit within their own sub-realms. An army that otherwise exists solely within the Neusim, to guide the lost amongst the newer members into potential greatness. For those who have lost their comrades in battle, these new facsimiles may also help them find their own peace.

- Facsimile Imprinting

Spoiler

It would certainly be a curious development if the personality of the Facsimile should begin to affect the alien's own. In trying to hold onto the dear memories of the lost, one may take those elements upon oneself to grant these memories a real life once more. Observers may notice unexpected changes within the alien's mannerisms, from tastes to interests to occasionally whole personality traits. This phenomena is considered to be unusual, a mutation upon the more desirable facsimile-derived shifts that may affect the Ve'katak's alien members. It has been theorized that in the most extreme cases (i.e. antagonist roles), it may even appear that the member's personality has been overwritten entirely.