SCP Draft: Sic Semper Tyrannis?
Here it is. Brutal honesty welcome once more.
SCP Draft: Sic Semper Tyrannis?
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» SCP Draft: Sic Semper Tyrannis?
Summary:
Critique desired, please.
Okay… my POV of this is as follows:
Pros:
- Aliens who want to kill God… That could be interesting, although there was a GOC case file that revolves around a killed "God".
Cons:
- How is the Foundation able to identify this alien species or their stations? Did they do anything that struck as anomalous, which led to its classification?
- The cover story of "abandoned space stations that are actually inhabited by an advanced alien race" is somewhat predictable. The twist does not fuel my interest in the SCP.
- Elaborate on this "Great Tyrant". You mention it, but nothing beyond that. Does it actually exist or just a figment of the aliens' imagination? What is it about this entity that the Foundation think that killing it is not worth it?
Also, from Google…
4,892 light years
VY Canis Majoris, Distance to Earth
Canis Majoris is over 4000 light years away from Earth. You may want to take note of that when doing an SCP based there. Is the communications conducted in real-time (which is not-so-likely since signals need over 4000 years to reach to its recipient, although the psychic handwave can be a bit harder to swallow)? Can the Foundation even realistically stop it, given that it is too distant from humanity's reach?
…yeah, the distance to VY Canis Majoris does put a bit of a wrench in the operation.
Question though. If I work out the technical issues - maybe get a different star to work with, or have the Naa Republic donate some of their tech as a peace offering for first contact - could I find a way to make this concept work, or should I scrap it altogether?
The nearest star (excluding our Sun, for obvious reasons)is Alpha Centauri (about 4 light years away). However, that's still very far away. If the aliens are doing something, the Foundation can't realistically take any meaningful action against them. The best the article can show would be communications between them (either is not having direct contact with the other side).
As for your second point, why would an advanced alien civilisation donate their technology? What is their rationale behind it? Your article already described this species to have a low opinion of Earth in general, so what is the intention behind the act. Is it their culture to hand out freebies? To show off their superiority? Using Earth as a test subject? And it feels somewhat cliche… like the Vulcans meeting humanity…
That said, on an ideological level, I do not believe in "ideas that cannot be worked out". They're just not utilised to its fullest potential.
Think about the core of your concept, about aliens wanting to slay a God. And then, this concept should have something anomalous and observable that would warrant the Foundation's attention (and lead the drafting of the article in-universe). Maybe you could have the aliens broadcast signals declaring the end of tyranny? Maybe they could be using Earth (or a solar system planetoid) as a test subject before going for the Boss Battle with God?
Also, consider the ramifications of an assassination against God or a dead God for the matter? What's gonna happen to the universe? Is the story set before the assassination or after?
The greatest challenge would be that the Foundation cannot realistically do anything against such an anomaly. They're just too far away for humanity to take any meaningful action. What the Foundation would do is to suppress knowledge on the anomaly. But quite a number of articles have used this sense of futility to their advantage and pulled it off.
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page revision: 3, last edited: 22 Sep 2018 03:57
