A pure fractal made in Apophysis 2.09, overlaid upon itself
“Listen, I don't even know why you bothered to call here, except that maybe I can help your next fleet man out – for 60 years the silly ones that are your type just keep rolling up on my husband like Beowolfian Muscle Ticks when he is a human version of a Descartian Royal – big brains take big muscles every time!”
In my mind I just started remembering how to spell that as it should be in case – Dheskharrateeanh – but it had come to human language the way it had because the philosopher Descartes had presumably said, “I think, therefore I am.”
Dheskharrateeanh life is strange to the human mind and hard to explain because our brain is snugly protected inside our heads, and indeed, they are close enough to humanoid to have an internal brain. But also, their brains can outlive their bodies by centuries, and so, at the end of their bodies' lives, their brains and nervous systems can be interwoven. The brightest minds of centuries are there, therefore, for centuries more.
The kings of the Dheskharrateeanh, as part of their royal duties, have their minds linked into selected portions of this weaving so that they can rule with all the available information on the subjects they must manage for their people. Given the size of the king, and the actual brain in his head –
The little king the overlaying of the fractal revealed
– that gives you the sense of just how much brainpower the royals of Dheskharrateeanh feel is necessary to be a good ruler. Other than natural disasters that planetary life in an imperfect universe provides, they have as a collective been steering their people around disaster through the thousands of years of history that we know about, with their collective wisdom growing every century.
Captain Almira Banneker-Jackson loved and revered her second husband, Admiral Benjamin Banneker-Jackson, a lot – just how much I did not know until she compared him with a Descartian Royal in human parlance. That was sweet. It also explained why she was devastatingly protective of him: you simply were not going to bother him on her watch.
“Listen: he's a whole admiral, I'm a whole captain, and you're just the side chick because his wife knows already that she can't call here and bother us – so now you know before I have to tell your other three dudes what you've been up to!”
Aunt Almira's stance was warranted just five minutes as Uncle Benjamin came out of the house.
“Wife Captain and Captain Niece, I gotta go – I've just figured out what those meteor showers are on Bhtitgo 3 and we have to evacuate that whole planet now – I gotta get over to headquarters and talk to the head of that regional group.”
He beamed out a moment later, and we would wait until he got back to hear that story … but the point of the day was, people without the sense to know not to interrupt got to learn from Aunt Almira that her Descartian Royal was not to be bothered.
“Keep this in mind, Khadijah,” she said to me about it. “Nephew Rufus is a mellow fellow and running a mature company, and you may never be at the stage of needing to know this, but in case you do, who is the most important piece on the chessboard, and who is the most powerful in terms of moves?”
“The king is the most important, but the queen has all the moves,” I said.
“Your uncle is 82, and does not need any distractions – it's only another fifty million people his brain is working to save today – so Action Jackson stays in motion like the queen she is,” Aunt Almira said.
“Were you like this in your first marriage?” I said.
“Khadijah, I'm me every day. Bring me nonsense, and I boomerang it. Bring me peace and goodness, and I boomerang it. This is me.”
“I'm glad we are on the peace and goodness vibe,” I said.
“So am I, Khadijah. You're a really good commander, and you spent ten years in a really rough situation. I imagine you have your own ways of dealing with foolery.”
“Well, the Aqiiuibim are a calm group of beings – they didn't feel the the need to try me as we were doing the best we could for their planet. Humans, though … but then again, I was raised right by my parents and finished by Uncle Benjamin, so, although my style is different than yours, I manage.”
“I know you do,” she said. “Well, this here popcorn isn't going to eat itself, so … .”