Inception Ch 7 [Spoilers]

[Lochar]

You know, I nodded along with simsense because it was augmenting natural senses.

However, I thought the jacks were supposed to not be able to control people? Being able to, nearly at will, strike someone blind, deaf, and insensate is a very good control mechanism for anyone without talent. The only thing protecting someone is the jack isn't accessible remotely, but all that takes is one hardware (or even possibly software) modification. And with nano-spiders on broadcast power, things such as that could be done without even needing people to come back in.

Jason may never, Rann likely never will, but three generations down the road?

[Taliesin]

Hi Fel,

I have a few background questions regarding the status of Terran telepaths that I have been wondering about over the last several books and hope that you will be able to answer at least some of the questions I have.

In Chapter 7 it is mentioned that the new CMS enabled stealth frigate has one Terran telepath assigned to the crew whose name is Ensign Randy Morris. My curiosity was piqued first by his name and second that he was a Terran telepath. Are all Terran telepaths that are currently part of Karrine society descendants from the original Karinne crew that stayed on Earth when Jason's ancestor Baroness Zera Karinne was forced into the self exile? If so, did Ensign Randy Morris decide to continue to use his Morris surname like some of the other Terran telepaths in the house who have chosen not to use the Karinne surname, but are still officially part of the historical Karinne family tree and the associated minor titles?

To expand on this general question. Were there any original Terran telepath Karinne descendants on Earth that chose not to become members of the House of Karinne after going through the mandatory telepath training that was mentioned in Book 2? If there were any that chose not to join, are their children still entitled to join House Karinne at the age of majority and still be considered official members of the House itself or are they limited to Karinne citizenship like other applicants wishing to join?

How will future Terran telepaths born of Terran and Faey partnerships be handled by the Earth, Karrine and Imperium governments? Is Jason concerned these future non-Karrine terran telepaths may be subject to governmental pressures and abuse similar to the what you have described taking place in some of the other governments where telepaths are a very low percentage of the population?

The whole general idea of the splinter line of the Terran Karinne telepaths and how you are brought them into the house is quite interesting.

Thank you in advance for what you feel comfortable in answering.

~P

[Fel]

All the Terran telepaths are indeed descended from the original Karinne crew of the Scimitar, but you have to remember that there are two types of Karinne telepaths...regular telepaths and Generations.

Morris is descended from the "commoner" Karinnes that were the crew of the scout ship. Jason and Rahne are descended from the Generation that was on the ship.

As to why he uses his original surname, it's because he's not a noble in the house. Only the nobles may use the surname Karinne. Everyone you see in the story with the last name Karinne holds a noble title, though the vast majority of them are purely ceremonial. Jason awards nobility to members of the KMS that achieve certain milestones in service, as well as many government workers that similarly reach certain service milestones. Noble titles are also handed out as awards for exceptional service.

It is noteworthy that not ALL Karinne nobles use the surname Karinne. It's not mandatory to take the name. Some prefer to keep their original surnames, particularly among the Terrans. Most Terrans won't give up their original names...would you?

As to the telepaths joining the house, yes, all of them did, mainly out of self-preservation. In the House of Karinne, they were protected from the Imperium. And since the house is led by a fellow Terran, well, best to go with the evil you know than the evil you don't.

[SYED]

We know that Cybi sometimes acts very independantly concerning things like the generation project. WOuld she create a way to alter the rest ohouse karrine so are generational capable? We know the kimdori can tailor make their viruses for many purposes, so using the knowledge of how this occured in nature to replicate it as a medical technique. Even if existing telepaths can not be altered, there might be a way to ensure that every new member of the house is born a generation.
I wonder if a jack could reinterpret sense input, able to see smells or sound.
I just had an idea about one of the mind powers, telepresence allow you to see with out being there. What if it allow you see on a different level, instead of distance, on a very small scale. If you can percieve something, it is infinitly easier to use telekinesis on it.

[Fel]

Jason absolutely forbade the continuation of the Program, and introducing a second retrovirus to mutate existing Karinnes into Genertaions would definitely be part of the Program.

But Cybi does work on her own, and she DOES do things she doesn't want Jason to know about. As what she did to him with Kereth's help proves, she obeys him, at least until his orders countermand her own goals.

Aaaaaaand, that does come to light much later in the overall plot arc, as in not in Inception.

[TLGG]

Hmm, it would probably be the new CBIM that discovers what Cybi has been up to, let's give her a kick in the rear!

[Rakkel]

For some reason the 2nd in line for the throne being a generation is raising all kinds of red flags for possible plot potential. An unexpected/untimely death of Dahnai's first female child would put a Generation on the throne of the Imperium, leading to all sorts of fun potential trouble with the Houses. Also, with this, its getting harder to "control" the generations, as now there is little to no possibility of all generations remaining in house Karinne. This leads to either further involvement of the house Karinne with the Meranne, with Karinne seeming more and more (to some eyes) as becoming the evil adviser controlling the throne, or the loss of the ability to isolate the Generations from the spy abilities of outsiders through isolation. (granted, it is the imperial line, so its still got heavy protection, but not a controlled as on Karis).

[Catawk]

So when the Jack reads artificial sensory data it overrides the natural sensory data, so they added the limiter to prevent this. But now in hyperspace the artifical data completely overrides all other sensory data. This doesnt work for Generations because artifical sensory data for them is an extension of their natural senses?

[Lochar]

So when the Jack reads artificial sensory data it overrides the natural sensory data, so they added the limiter to prevent this. But now in hyperspace the artifical data completely overrides all other sensory data. This doesnt work for Generations because artifical sensory data for them is an extension of their natural senses?

No, the Generations aren't jacked, which is what allows the gestalt to override the person's senses.

[Catawk]

No, the Generations aren't jacked, which is what allows the gestalt to override the person's senses.

I understand that, im wondering why the gestalt cant do what the Jack can. Im trying to figure out if its because the generations experiences the sensory data differently or just because the gestalt sends its information over telepathy.

[Lochar]

Correct. The gestalt is communed with, while the jacks can physically stop the overloaded nerve signals from hitting the right parts of the brain.

Which is a big portion of why I think the jacks could become a control mechanism, even if they aren't now.

[SYED]

By every law in the imperium, merrane and karrine, Jason has no claim over the merrane generation. He has command over all the other generations, as they are part of the karrine bloodlines. So only the empress can command her, to caim he she must marry into house karrine.

[Catawk]

Correct. The gestalt is communed with, while the jacks can physically stop the overloaded nerve signals from hitting the right parts of the brain.

Which is a big portion of why I think the jacks could become a control mechanism, even if they aren't now.

The only problem with that is the jack itself does nothing. The interface is what causes the blocking of senses. When in hyperspace the interface forces a Jacked individual to merge with the interface, then it blocks the person natural senses. A normal merge has a limiter which pervent the total block of natural senseory information. The jack itself couldnt cut off the sense, so to be used as a control you would need to plug in to someones jack and force a merge then cut off there senses. And even today you could kidnap someone and deprive them of there senses, it would be harder but its possible.

[Lochar]

The interface forces the merge, yes, but the jack is what is cutting off the physical sensations.

The limiter is not to prevent the block of natural senses. The limiter is designed to mute the 'simsense' information to where it doesn't overwhelm the natural senses. What the sailor did was disable the limiter so her interface could scream loud enough to overcome her own natural senses.

What they're doing with the jack is cutting off all natural senses. The interface is just providing 'simsense' of actual data instead, read through a machine instead of natural senses. The hyperspace interface likely has a camera right over the wearers eye so the fed in sight doesn't seem too off.

[Catawk]

Yes i understand that what I'm saying is that the jack itself cant cut of the senses. Not that is doest have the ability, but that with out the interfaces or a jack wire it couldn't be used to block the senses.