When I was in graduate school, I met the first man from Little Arcadia. I will never forget those obsidian eyes and the deep terror that awoke within me. Little did I know at the time that this interaction would become one of the most defining moments of my young life, one that would sculpt my future.
In those days Little Arcadia was not filled with
Lightkeepers like it is today. It was a rough, isolated manufacturing hub in
the outer layers of the void city, very different from how it looks now. The
man I met, Theseus, was the first of his people to habituate what is now
unequivocally a Lightkeeper neighbourhood and stronghold. When they were
brought in from Arcadia system, the Lightkeepers, or Arcadians as they
would refer to themselves as, were kept in a long quarantine in close orbit
with Terra Duomo; monitored for unknown pathogens they could have
carried with them, and to confirm their immune systems would be able to handle
the much wider bubble of humanity waiting to meet them. What was supposed to be
a month-long quarantine ended up lasting nearly a year: the Lightkeepers were a
cautious people, suddenly exposed to, yet hesitant to enter, a version and
history of humanity they barely knew or understood. The Gunslingers of Terra
Duomo respected this caution, similar to the care and tolerance they
practice when exploring new worlds and alien lifeforms.
Though the Lightkeepers are not aliens. Long-lost relatives
of Earth, they descend from the crew of the Democritus, a space station
that disappeared in the early explorer days. The Democritus accidently
triggered Solarsphere travel while in close, steady orbit of the sun,
studying the physics and timing of Solarsphere travel. Along with a
substantial loss of data, the space station housing thousands of crew and
scientists vanished to Arcadia system, eventually evolving into the Lightkeeper
society we know today.
The Lightkeepers have a rich history of their own, developed
in isolation for nearly 450 years, in which Earth was but a legend of an era
lost in time and memory. Like the ancient Polynesian tribes meeting the
European colonialists, the Lightkeepers’ entire worldview changed when Terra
Duomo received those first messages from the Democritus, travelling across
18 generations worth of lightyears. Afterwards, bringing them home to Earth system
did not take too long, although travel along Arcadia’s pulsar Solarsphere
was extremely challenging and nearly ended in disaster. Alas, that is a tale
for another day. The point is these Lightkeepers were pioneers of their race, and
the first to reintegrate with their forebearers. Their caution, however,
delayed that reintegration; except for Theseus.
Despite my initial fear, Theseus showed me kindness. He
taught me about his culture and told stories of his family, history and their
adventures in Arcadia system. I thought him very brave to be the only
pioneer of his people on Terra Duomo, acting as a test subject for their
new lives. He told me it was not courage, but duty. In situations of unexpected
risk, it is the responsibility of the eldest Lightkeeper to face the unknown,
to protect the youth and progress of their people. Theseus was approximately in
his 70s at the time; however, he told me his age was 633 in Lightkeeper years,
counted by the cycles the Democritus made in orbit of the Arcadia sun.
I still remember how he described it, and the wilting, yet deep tone of his
voice:
“My boy I have lived many cycles, tested my body to the
limits of void and radiation, fathered children and grandchildren, and survived
many light cycles without hibernation. I have had the privilege to venture out
from Democritus and mine water in Arcadian asteroids, and the honour of
providing a better life for my kin and all my people. I would never deprive the
younger generation the beauty in hard work and passion that life provides,
especially now at the precipice of such a great age for us Arcadians. I will
gladly meet an early end if our livelihood is not compatible with yours, if it
saves another from doing the same. If not, I will have the honour of ushering us
Arcadians to Terra Duomo.”
***
Over time, as the Lightkeepers built their home in Little
Arcadia, they began to fill a niche in the economics of Earth system.
Lightkeepers are the most radiation-resistant of all humans, with a good
portion of their resistance stemming from genetic modification. When the crew
of the Democritus first arrived in Arcadia system, they realized
how desolate their situation was. They adjusted their orbit to optimize solar
energy input to their hydroponic systems, while minimizing the degree of solar
radiation; a quite substantial amount, especially during the 10-day light
cycles of the pulsar star. Their models predicted a decay in their hull
shielding over time, so they designed a modification to their fibroblast cells,
forming a symbiosis with radiation-resistant bacteria. Generations of
hibernation and reproduction later, the obsidian skin of the Lightkeepers is by
far the strongest of all humanity.
Lightkeeper respiratory and circulatory systems are also
incredibly strong and efficient. They evolved to have large, powerful hearts
and vascular systems because of long periods spent in stasis sleep, in which their
bodies survived on scarce resources. Most Lightkeepers entered stasis sleep for
a 10-day stint during light cycles, spent the following 10 days of dark cycle
awake, then back to stasis, and so on. Hibernation provided a sort of
intermittent fasting to them, greatly improving their cardiovascular health. A
typical Lightkeeper in the prime of their life (a whopping 250 years old by
their count!) can hold their breath for almost 2 hours.
Because of these advantages, Theseus and his people became
an integral cog in the ever-expanding mechanical and aerospace engineering
departments at Terra Duomo, with their ability to spend entire work
shifts in outer space servicing the endless communication arrays, airlocks and
docking clamps that cover the void city. Over time, Lightkeepers specialized in
more than just repair, and developed expertise in research and development in aerospace
engineering.
Unfortunately, their genetic advantages meant they were
reluctant to intermingle and reproduce with none other than their own. This was
quite unfortunate for me. In my frequent visits to Theseus, in which I learned
his culture and developed my anthropology thesis, I began to take a deep
interest in his granddaughter Athena. Of course, with much persistence she fell
for me as well, and Theseus welcomed me into his home with open arms. However,
most Lightkeepers have kept true to their Arcadian roots, and have maintained their
lineage and culture. For this reason, Little Arcadia stands as one of the most
unique neighbourhoods in all of Terra Duomo, a must-visit spot for a taste
of Arcadian potato hash and to pick the minds of some of the great scientists
of our time. Most importantly, when strolling the plaza and streets of Little
Arcadia, nestled in its own little corner of Terra Duomo, the restaurants,
bars and mini-museums allow one to surround themselves with a culture and
history that evolved outside of time.
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