AEA7
E, Eris, Erim [He, His, Him; She, Hers, Her respectively]
The Encyclopedia of the Known Universe Vol 1 (excerpt 6 – sampling of “M” entries) cont
Moniker
Many believe that everything in the known universe has been given a moniker, or name, by a sentient population, even though not all sentient populations are aware of everything in the universe. Almost all beings in the known universe have a moniker. Notable exception would include, I suppose, orphans who are abandoned away from a sentient population, beings who refuse a name, and beings who do not possess language skills. It is interesting to note that beings use monikers to distinguish themselves from one another, but the librarians of the Bromeris Ultimate Library on Bromeran claim that no being in the known universe has a moniker unique to themselves.
…
On Druont, every Drunite is known by just one moniker that is assigned to most at birth. The iteration number that follows the name of most Druintes refers to the number of times that a Druinte has died and passed their name along to their first iteration (or child) that they conceived themselves. The first child conceived by a single Druinte is legally able to retain the name and position of their previous iteration (or parent), but their names are required to contain their iteration number. Druinte names are created as a sonic representation of the being that is named. Druintes who don’t retain the name of their previous iteration do not usually acquire names until they are about 20 years old, a period of time sufficient for older Druintes with whom they interact to decide on the sonic representation. The majority of Druintes born on the planet Druont already have names at birth, which is the name of their previous iteration, and the number of new names created is very low among the general population, but high among social Druintes who raise their children and often have 3 to 5 times as many children. The population of social Druintes is rising for this reason and new names created on the planet are likely to be influenced by names from other planetary cultures, even if Druintes claim otherwise.
– Issue 3 – God Typifies the Problem
For all of Falstraq’s social skills, e is unprepared to deal with the fallout of the MDDS Delegation decree. Falstraq knows how to soothe an orphan who is moved to tears for reasons they cannot articulate, and e can help diffuse tensions between scientists during government meetings. E is a veritable expert in Druinte social science, but the occurrence in Choice is very unique. In the entire history of Druinte Society, no group of Druintes have ever been forcibly relocated by decree of the government. And moving families of social Druintes into the Hall of Orphans is a major shift. The Hall currently has a population of about a million, and the social Druintes will add an additional ten thousand.
It seemed that Falstraq was forced to address the concerns of each of the social Druintes in the wake of the decree, and e stood until the star D’ot set, listening to concerns and reassuring everyone that things would work out in the end.
“But they hate us,” one of the social Druintes lamented. “I can’t stand to hold my partners hand in Triusia, which is painful in itself. I will never deny erim.”
“Don’t,” Falsratq said. “Don’t compromise yourselves for anyone. This feels like a tragedy, I know, but it only becomes tragic when we allow ourselves to be victims. Think about the opportunity we have, to influence the next generation…”
Falstraq’s speech was stirring and many of the social Druintes were heartened by eris devotion to the smooth transition of social Druintes into the Hall of Orphans. But e was not nearly as optimistic as e sounded.
Falsraq’s main concern is the volatility that can exist amongst the orphans of the Hall. The orphans are prone to outbursts because of the general suppression of emotions that the society expects. Of course this problem has gotten worse as the population at the Hall grows, but it has always existed as an issue. There have been brutal fights and even murder among the orphans who never learned to process their frustrations, anger, sadness, etc. By the time they reach adulthood, those frustrations seem to melt away as they blend into productive society; though the suicide rate among Druinte adults is alarming. Falstraq deals with acts of violence on a daily basis and it has gotten so bad because of the growing population that it is starting to spill out of the Hall. Recently, an orphan named God who is close to the age when e will be considered an adult, managed to escape supervision and sabotage the pod travellers parked in the vicinity of the Hall. This led to the tragic deaths of ten Druintes. Falstraq pleaded for mercy for God, e had obviously shown a vast intellect and was outperforming eris peers on all examinations administered to the orphans. There is no death penalty on Druont, but there is a life sentence of hard labor for Druinte criminals who are forced to do farming and mining duties. God avoided that fate despite eris disregard for Druinte life and seeming disinterest in reform. Falstraq personally supervises God now and e is a handful.
Falstraq named God. E had been abandoned without identification at the Hall when e was still an infant and e went without a name until Falstraq started working more closely with orphans following the death of Belfrat. It was the sound that God’s actions elicited most from Falsratq who was most often frustrated with or apologizing on behalf of God. It was a sound that e had very little familiarity with, but heard on Earthling videos that Belfrat had explained was used to express frustration.
God is like Falstraq’s child, e even shared some of the facial features of Falstraq’s children when they were younger; all of Falstraq’s children are adults now with families of their own that are among the numbers relocated.
As the social Druintes left Choice behind, they congregated on the vast mall in the center of Triusia. Falstraq and his staff met them there to assign housing and official duties in the hall. The work assignments of the social Druintes at the Hall were determined by the MDDS, and Falstraq became even more nervous when e saw the assignments. The couple Suun and Seel were designated to take part in the orphan athletic period. Falstraq knew Suun and Seel well; they were mild mannered and enjoyed quiet time to read with their children. Physical activity periods at the Hall are among the most chaotic periods of the day for orphans. It is easy for someone to hit someone else too hard and cause a fight and overseers of the period are forced to put themselves in harm’s way. Suun and Seel are unfamiliar with physical conflict, neither had ever seen it in Choice. Falstraq can’t imagine that things will go well for anyone.
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