20-12-2000 15:53									#31
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More, more. Just kidding, take all the time you need. It is well worth the wait. Merry Christmas.

	21-12-2000 09:31									#32
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Yes, thank you for this Christmas treat.

	23-12-2000 02:50									#33
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Okay everybody! I've posted more of the story... but this time, I've got Writer's Nymphomania. (Opposite of Writer's Block.)

Yessiree; head over to the story thread - here - and indulge yourself in the sheer sensual hedonism of not one, not twelve, but two new posts on the story!

It must be Christmas. Allie Cove has written three new episodes in as many days? Forget Christmas... this has got to be the "Judgement Day"!

(Apologies for the awful pun. But if you shoot me now you'll never get to read the end !)

Sensible author notes

1. "Climactic Research Center", the name of a University base, has been changed to "Climatic Research Center". The reasoning behind this should be obvious.

2. The events described in the three postings of Episode Eight vaguely correspond with my first piece of fiction on this site - here. The narrator of that story is the female being tortured by Agent Hu in Part 8a). Her cronies are indeed waiting for him at the magtube station, although Provost Zakharov is no longer at the station to renew a treaty.

3. Mao, the name of Agent Hu's female companion, is not to be mistaken for the Mao of the Chinese Revolutionary leader, Mao ZeDong. Pinyin wise, the fictional character's name is the same as "cat", pronounced in the first tone, whereas Mao ZeDong's "Mao" is pronounced in the second tone, identically to "feather". This character closely resembles the real-world girlfriend of my housemate, HMB, especially in the way she sneezes.
[This message has been edited by Alinestra Covelia (edited December 22, 2000).]

	27-12-2000 01:38									#34
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Anybody looking for an easy spam accusation - look no further.

I posted three very large follow-on episodes to Joe in a very short space of time (for me, anyway) and thought I would post a further update here just in case people missed one or both the previous ones. Plus it makes some space between my story thread last post and the comments thread last post, which is always nice. Sometimes you have to keep the parent thread and the child thread apart just to avoid inbreeding, you know what I mean?

	31-01-2001 03:00									#35
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Does anyone know if she's still alive or anything? I mean, I'm all for keeping your readers in suspense and everything but isn't this going too far?

	31-01-2001 05:45									#36
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Yeah I wondered what happened. I guess the inspiration nees time. May have to go back and read the first part of the story to remember what has happened. All of these stories are beginning to run together. But good things come to those who wait.

	06-02-2001 01:10									#37
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Just cruised on by and saw this thread bumped.

Okay, a bit of explanation - my final year in college sort of snuck up on me without me knowing, and like an H R Giger Alien, neatly scared the life out of me when I realized.

So, I will try to get more of the story done (I'd actually done another chapter but then thought it was bad and am rewriting it), but if I'm really slow then please be understanding. Not only have I got a fair bit of assessed lengthy work to do for my course, but there's also increasing pressure from home for me to become self-supporting in terms of finance. (In more honest terms, to stop sponging off my parents! )

So yeah - sorry for the big wait, and please understand that I am very involved and enthusiastic about this story too... I just don't have a lot of time on my hands.

I'll try my best to update more punctually (since I have ideas and plans) so stay tuned. Thanks for still waiting, by the way. A lot of people I know wouldn't even bother hanging around.

[Alternatively if any of you have any contacts in publishing and/or journalism in US or UK and could give me a reference, then my job problems will be solved and I could update much faster! ]

	27-03-2001 14:15									#38
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Well... AFTER this term right??? (Maybe I'm just being selfish... I dunno.)

	20-05-2001 03:35									#39
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I have finished sitting all my Finals exams, and have now technically completed my Bachelor's degree (with Honors) in English Literature at Durham University.

Hurrah etc.

I have also posted up another episode of the story. Given that I now have about a month of nothing more strenuous to do than maybe learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road, I might do more of the story.

The five-month hiatus has also given me a few ideas as to where the story will go from here.

Hope you like it!

	21-05-2001 06:13									#40
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Glad to see this is still alive and going strong. I always am excited when there are new posts and they always live up to my expectations Keep up the amazing work and thanks for keeping me informed

Your loyal reader,

Argo

	22-05-2001 16:00									#41
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hey Alinestra

i read this story a full year an a half after the last post so excuse me for being a little late not wanting to be any later i havent yet read the previous posts.

i have to say however- so far i'm reaqlly into this story, well done- bravo!

i was late into work this morning becous of a printout (or should i say "Wad" of your work that i find it difficult to put down. i like the way your rendition of the SMAC world is alot more worldly. Every charachter is not a faction leader, cannot remember earth, and you really get a feel for being immersed in the Chiron world. puts me in mind off Iain M.Banks "Against a Dark Background". the factions come across as Nations, i loved the UN beurocracy discussed around that Gaian diplomat- could have been issues discussed straight outta CNN or BBC 24, and thats how i like it. (not a bunch of Dungeons&Dragons-esque personallity cults lining up against eachother- >said in grumbly voice<)

you even managed to make the Hackers come other as a credible faction, i always thought it silly to try an have a nation founded on some hackers who like to hack. Where's the Political Ethos! well... i see it now. kinda. thanks.

haven't seen any front-line action yet- which i'd like to see. (so far i'm at the part after Hu is with the University after the border incident).

this is the kindaa SMAC story i've wanted to write for a while, now i just might, hopefully the SMAX fiction scene is still alive.

anyway- well done. Your number one fan.
>fixated stare of man who luckily does not live in a snow-bound cabin and has no nursing background whatsoever<

	23-05-2001 00:42									#42
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Splendid!

Thanks for coming back to this, and keeping us informed about the latest on Chiron. As usual, fantastic job in capturing the mentality in the societies described in your work.

And congratulations on your graduation.

	27-05-2001 04:39									#43
	Got spare money?

In yet another display of literary projectile vomitting, Alinestra Covelia proudly presents not one, not twelve, but TWO new posts! This is the direct result of extraordinary planning, and to be honest the fact that the new format won't allow posts over a certain size!

Hope you like it! Remember that the newest post begins with the second to last post, not the last post. I would provide a link but I'm not sure how the target/anchor HTML works in this newfangled forum design. If anybody knows give me a shout and I'll post update links to the relevant bits of the fiction story.

Right. Time for bed and dreaming. Goodnight all!

	02-06-2001 09:16									#44
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I just read it and... I am so blown away by the story. I honestly can't believe how good it is. Maybe I'm being too liberal with my comments but your writing is so authentic and so true to the story behind the game... I really REALLY hope you see this story through to the end!

	03-06-2001 01:14									#45
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He's right you know, I agree.

I finnished the last lot you wrote.
I want more.
type faster.

ps. have you had stuff published?

	05-06-2001 05:44									#46
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Woah! Feedback!

Right, I'm halfway through the next episode. It'll be a bit longer in coming but it'll make it, no fears.

No, I haven't had anything published for money yet, although when I was at school quite a lot of my writing found its way into the school publications.

	08-06-2001 22:18									#47
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Yet more Joe.






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	05-07-2001 18:24									#48
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Apologies for the low speed of updates once again. In the past month I have sat exams, graduated, and very quickly left the UK in a big hurry.

Right now I'm juddering around eastern USA and staying with friends and relatives. On the rare occasions I can use PCs, I usually can't linger or they start looking at their watches and tapping toes, etc.

When I find a more stable household I will post again. Should happen roundabout August at the latest. Again, sorry for the inconvenience. If I'm lucky I'll finish the entire story in the upcoming year, now that my studies are officially over.

	05-07-2001 18:41									#49
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Had to suddenly leave the country in a big hurry aye, ah tell me about it buddy i iknow how ya feel, damn Government baya-stids, one a'these days somebodies gonna do something an teach them fedz a lessn.

	05-07-2001 19:43									#50
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:blinks in surprise:

Oh, no. Nothing that bad. I just finished my college education, and my permission to stay in UK ran out.

I'm an American by nationality.

	06-07-2001 13:12									#51
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:absolute astoundment and disbelief:

:considered tolerance- and finnally acceptance:

hey i don't mind! even though your American your a good writer and nothing will ever take that away from you (cept maybe a sudden attack of terminal dyslexia)

as far as i'm concerned- your a Brit! and i eagerly await the next installments.

>warning, this post contains problem_humour <

	07-07-2001 01:15									#52
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I'm shocked, I must say. The wit, the eloquence, the sheer creativity! AND you're American!!!!! Now that's almost too hard to believe Must be the UK education. Don't worry, we'll still be here eagerly waiting for more when it comes. The story's too good not to keep coming back for

	01-08-2001 18:35									#53
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Yo. Mo' Joe, bro.

So tallyho.

	01-08-2001 18:42									#54
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*foot taps impatiently, grumpy expression on my face*

bout bloody time too!

	02-08-2001 00:00									#55
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i'm a fan of your work so i get restless!

in yor chiron, are the Hive basically the chinese?
so far i've tended to view the faction leaders as being not particularly representative of their factions ethnic make-up, althogh the Hive to my mind definately have alot of Yangs oriental-flavoured severity (think dojo's, contemplation, refined-disciplines and old-masters) but the chinese have a long history of capitalism before the communist revolution, i've never seen them as inherintly a teeming mass of communists as some do.

	02-08-2001 02:37									#56
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I am undecided on the issue of race vs ideology. Regarding the Hive, I have definitely included many Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese names, but I have also included one active Hiverian probe character who is emphatically not Chinese - Anhalt Reinhardt (he was the one who rescued Agent Hu from Governor Halls in DataTech).

As for the other factions, the DataTechs definitely have at least two Chinese names amongst them - Li Min (the agent who now possesses Hu's disembodied head) and Huang (the agent who helped kill Agent Hu).

I have noticed that the ingame factions .txt files tend towards slight racial uniformity within factions, and I have to a point replicated this. The two married Gaians, for example, are Prentice and Joely McClelland - both examples of Scottish names. Bear in mind however that Kumar (one of Lady Deirdre's close assistants) is an Indian/Pakistani name, so I've made some attempt at racial diversity.

Again, I think some racial mindsets lend themselves better to certain types of outlooks on life - hence the success (or at least consistency) of authoritarian rule in China since circa 4000 BC. But I haven't got any particular political statement to make, at least not along those lines. I do have certain agendas from time to time, but I usually don't have the strength to carry them through the whole story from start to finish.

Hope this answers some of your questions

	02-08-2001 15:50									#57
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

In that case i think the entire human race has a tendancy towards brutal authoritarian rule, also with
a fondness for good liers with charisma.

Racially inherent politics is an idea that makes me shudder, it means the entirety of the human experience is just so much breeding- so much for things like free will and individuality, they may as well grow us on farms!- oh yeah... we are talking about the Hive here.

please throw in more non-chinese Hivers, for my sake!

	02-08-2001 16:39									#58
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Well, I think that people everywhere have different ways of doing things.

The American nation is undoubtedly a good example of when an experiment in free will and individuality and free market economy succeeds. It has gone from being a handful of low-population British colonies to being the unchallenged military, economic, and scientific global eminence.

However, what led up to this transformation is something that interests me greatly, and right now I'm trying (amongst other literary endeavors) to brush up on my US history. Democracy on its own is no guarantor of success - other nations, especially in the Southeast of Asia and India - have instituted democratic governments which are a far cry from the model provided by the American political system.

Why is this? How could something that led to unbridled growth and prosperity in one state, lead to stagnation and relative inactivity in so many others? Indonesia and Malaysia today both have democracies wracked with infighting and confusion. India's democracy has yet to dispose of the caste system, and frequently reverts to feudal politics thanks to the power of landowners and the illiteracy of voters.

Perhaps democracy is a catalyst for great change, but not the single ingredient for success. The American nation has doubtless profited greatly from democracy, and its agenda (to uphold democracy worldwide) doubtless has a noble aspect of global gain to it.

Some people I've spoken to hold American foreign policy to be that of ruthless nepotism, and they point to the fervor which the country displayed in opposing non-democratic countries. I don't hold this view. I think it is more a product of having a true conviction that democracy and the respect of human rights will inevitably bring about immense prosperity for any country, as it did for America.

I also believe that it comes as a great shock and disappointment for the American political system that this does not always work correctly. Likewise, any non-democratic country that enjoys prosperity is also a problem for this theory. McCarthyist America probably regarded China and Vietnam in utter confusion and bewilderment - here were two countries that actually had a choice between communism and capitalism, and they chose communism. Perhaps some of the Chinese-American tension today results from something similar ("How could they possibly be successful/happy/popular? They're a Communist nation!"), although personally I would say this stems more from simple realpolitik than ideological clashes.

Ultimately, it all depends on viewpoint.

Well, the point of this lengthy post is that to forward the theory that economic and cultural differences count for a lot in the acceptance or rejection of democracy. Remember that democracy as we know it is a very young development in the history of human existence. Before that existed many despotic and nondemocratic regimes, some of which were indeed quite successful.

What's to say that a proposed Hive might not work in future? It's happened before - it might happen again. This could be one of the themes of the story.

	02-08-2001 17:43									#59
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I've noticed your Hive is a very subtle beast, as opposed to shere dictatorship, the feel that comes over is one of a society where people just do things different- and absolutely. Hivean culture would seem to be a total-commitment type society, which is not nessesarily a tyranny.

Your intelligent enough not to just assume the Han-chinese and sprawling totalitarian dictatorships naturally go hand in hand (some do! it distresses me)

Yangs personality, his attitudes, background, experience, training and politics would definately play a large part of the Hivean culture, and how the average Hivean, descended from the random survivors that jumped in his escape-pod (to be subjected to his skilled despotism) during planetfal would develop their point of view.

All in all i suppose its the question of purity in the application of ideology upon the uniformly multi-geneous human populations deposited on this isolated planetary petri-dish called chiron.
Abit like America today really, but ideologicaly purer, there's an American from every background in humanity now, but unlike planet- they weren't all there from the start of the culture, nor equal in contribution to it.

an look into the relationship between normal humans, and talents or transende! a caste/class system we've all had to deal with at some time or other (often using non-lethal methods!)

	03-08-2001 03:37									#60
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*Two* more Joes. It's like buses, see.