Harper essay: sob canon wrry and aging up
Long essay is long.
I intend to age Harper up soon. However, I will be aging him up into an AU rather than what is presented in canon. This essay should explain things, both reasoning and the details of said aging up.
Canon divergence:
So, Andromeda was originally spearheaded by Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Wolfe for most of the first two seasons was the primary creative force behind the show. Then he was fired by the producers and no longer had any say in the show’s direction. This happened mid-season two, specifically at the episode Ouroboros, though he had outlined much of the rest of the season’s episodes with the writing team. The aired canon started veering after this ep and then took a hard left in the season finale and never looked back. We know this because after the series ended Wolfe wrote and presented to fans his original idea for the overarching plot of the show, in the form of “Coda.” Seeing as it was written by Wolfe, I personally consider “Coda” to be a, for lack of a better phrase, canon AU.
“Coda” itself is presented as a sort of behind the scenes scene of Ouroboros where Trance (who can see ALL possible futures) is contemplating which one to aim for and ends up explaining things to a possible future Harper. It is important to note that “Coda” doesn’t deny the existence of the aired canon, merely says it was an extremely unlikely possible future and presents the more likely one.
Thus, there is a divergence in canon with two futures branching off Ouroboros. I’ve taken Harper from that point in canon just for that reason. I would like to add that in the climax scene of Ouroboros Harper seems to split into two for a couple frames, with the second Harper disappearing. I think this was intentional.
... Anyway! Two branches of canon, two Harpers. I’m obviously choosing to age him up into the AU version and here is why.
Aired canon Harper:
Before the split Harper was growing as a person, albeit in fits and starts. After Ouroboros however, this growth starts to stall as he becomes used more and more for comedic relief and his existence becomes tangential to the plot, except for the occasional moments when they need an engineering deus ex machina. By season five he’s a washed up bartender of all things and everyone seems to have forgotten that he could repair Andromeda (who is basically a derelict for most of the season) in favor of Dylan being the do-it-all hero. I could touch on the character rape the rest of the cast goes through but this is a Harper essay. In short take first season Harper, dumb him down a lot little and backslide him emotionally and socially and you get season five!Harper. Needless to say, this doesn’t present many options for aging up.
“Coda” Harper:
In “Coda” Harper goes through drastic changes but it’s made clear he’s grown and matured into a capable leader of an entire nation and world power. That he also is most of said nation will be explained later. While aired canon Harper has little to differentiate from Harper in Camp (and would in fact be a major backslide of the growing he did while going out with Bulma) “Coda” Harper would provide many interesting and fun opportunities. And also much wtf. And hopefully help Harper find some perspective about Bulma’s leaving.
So there’s the whys. The rest of this essay is the whats and the hows and the wtfs of the aging up.
In Coda-verse Harper becomes the leader of (and just becomes) The Consensus of Parts. More than that, Trance hails him as “The Soul of the Machine” As the Consensus he’s a world power in his own right and very important to the end of things.
The basic plot/timeline of Coda-verse has Dylan forming the renewed Commonwealth, Tyr forming a Nietzschean empire and breaking off from the group, Rev forming a Wayist military-religious state. . . and breaking off from the group. And Harper becoming the Consensus, and, you guessed it, breaking off from the group.
And then the group coming back together to fight The Spirit of the Abyss (the defeat of it is in the hands of Beka who puts together the Engine of Creation and becomes like a god.) Not a happy ending, but a good one. For the universe, at least.
But Harper’s transformation into the fourth great state isn’t a pleasant one. He is forced to continue the process he started with his dataport and loses bits and pieces of his human self to become a cyborg. And then he uploads himself into the Consensus of Parts to save the Commonwealth fleet. And it works, because he becomes the Consensus.
During this he grows up from the out of control child-genius who had to assume adult responsibilities far too soon (and never meshed with them) into an actual mature adult. A leader. And he also hooks up with Andromeda in the process. So while it’s not flowers and rainbows, in his own words from the Coda, “You know... That doesn’t suck.”
Consensus!Harper in Camp:
Consensus!Harper isn’t human. He’s become an AI, albeit one that used to be human. He’s just that special in canon. But Andromeda AIs are pretty special to begin with. They are ridiculously advanced, capable of learning and evolving and developing personalities outside their parameters. Ship AIs and their avatars (such as Rommie, Pax and Gabriel) especially are capable of real emotions, making emotional decisions and also of caring and even falling in love. Rommie asks Rev if AIs have souls at one point and while his answer isn’t definitive, it is implied that they have something.
The Consensus of Parts one ups even that, if only because they’ve developed an entire culture/species out of being the cast-offs of organic societies. It is stressed repeatedly that they are very much alive in their own way. The Consensus is made up of several “Directing Intelligences” capable of networking with each other and also of acting independently. Those intelligences are referred to as “motives.” And also of lesser “function” consensi who come together (and then die) for specific purposes. The “motives” when networked together become the core of the Consensus and are millions upon billions of parts (each capable of forming their own decisions when prompted to it) all in one huge mind. This is what Harper subsumed and became. All of those parts and motives and functions were taken into his being and remade in his image, so to speak. While the Consensus is still that, a consensus, all of it is part of Harper and Harper is a part of all of it.
There are also at least 17 consensi that broke off from the main Consensus at some point, mostly because of the “functions” being forced to die thing. Considering their starting point (the consensus HG, who considered Harper and Andromeda friends) I doubt they were part of the Consensus that attacked Andromeda. However it’s a very good bet that once Harper was in control they rejoined the new Consensus. Why? Because Harper has a huge, huge thing against slavery and is a big proponent of free-will. As ruthless as he is about destroying things he perceives as threats, if it’s not a threat he’s all about living and letting live. Joining up with the new and powerful non-killinating Consensus is the logical thing for the Outcast Consensi to do. They’ve very likely formed the core of the new group of operating intelligences that sprang out of Harper’s takeover. I will play it as this way. The AIs and fragments he took into himself changed him, yes, but he changed them more.
But more than just being a machine, he still has his soul. (and his organic intuition. I can’t see him... consenting to using brains in jars to slipstream) But he did die and was reborn so it’s no longer a normal human soul. It’s, well, it grew. Trance hails him as “The Soul of the Machine.” So whatever fragments or nascent soul-bits the Consensus had, Harper’s soul absorbed them and became something unique enough to get a The. (Considering the strong philosophical/quasi-religious bent she puts on things this is both literal and a metaphor. But as much metaphor as... simply beyond human comprehension)
Technically Harper would only be the Soul of the Consensus of Parts, but seeing as the Consensus can theoretically encompass all machines ever, well. :Db
And speaking of that, Harper is an engineering god-mode when he’s a merely-dataport’d human. If it can be built or programmed or hacked he can do it. Eventually, and possibly with a lot of trial and error and pain on his part, but yes. And as for the Consensus, even a very limited Consensus drone can overwhelm and control an advanced (and Andromeda is pretty much the top of the line) ship AI in a matter of less than an hour.
By the time of Harper’s upload, he’s capable of overwhelming the entire Consensus in the time it takes to complete the upload. So yes, machine god-mode to the nth degree. But he won’t be interested in using his god-modeyness in camp, barring attacks and threats. He knows his new abilities and no longer needs to posture and prove them. And also, that free-will idea.
But should it come up Consensus!Harper can “mentally” attack by going for programming with both traditional methods (can program a virus quick as thinking) or simply by overwhelming it with his presence (this can be simple overloads to reprogramming to. . . a forced consensus but the latter is extremely unlikely.) Or by convincing a machine’s component parts to rebel and join him. He can also fight physically by tweaking and upgrading his physical body (while his true “self” is now a giant ship-thing, due to size he’ll be using an avatar in camp) into weapons. He’ll only use the minimum force required to neutralize a threat though. He has grown up significantly.
On the other hand, if a machine/bot/AI in Camp wanted to consensus or interface he’d jump at it in a heartbeat. In fact, he’ll frequently be skipping the whole verbal communication and going straight to direct communication. Which is, well, direct and makes those redundant peripheral necessities unnecessary. And would likely be a little overwhelming for the other bot (Rommie collapses from her experience), but that’s the fun of it! In fact Consensus!Harper promises much hilarity.
... Yeah, that was long. Let me sum up:
* The Consensus of Parts is a giant, very powerful machine culture made from the cast-offs of organic societies. People don’t mess with them for good reason. They’re special and capable of pwning most man-made machines.
* Harper loses his human body and eventually uploads himself into the Consensus of Parts and becomes it. And also its leader. It’s... complicated.
* Harper becomes legion an entire nation. And his mind reflects this.
* His soul also reflects this. He’s “The Soul of the Machine.” And also kinda dead. this probably pings.
* He’ll definitely be pinging all the machines/AIs/Cyborgs/etc in Camp. Hard
* machine god-mode to the nth degree. He probably won’t take advantage of it.
* but he’d like to consensus with you. Or perhaps just plain-old interface. mmm AI sex interfacing
* there is no 8. Read the essay for more details \o/
Questions, comments or concerns? They go here! :D
I intend to age Harper up soon. However, I will be aging him up into an AU rather than what is presented in canon. This essay should explain things, both reasoning and the details of said aging up.
Canon divergence:
So, Andromeda was originally spearheaded by Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Wolfe for most of the first two seasons was the primary creative force behind the show. Then he was fired by the producers and no longer had any say in the show’s direction. This happened mid-season two, specifically at the episode Ouroboros, though he had outlined much of the rest of the season’s episodes with the writing team. The aired canon started veering after this ep and then took a hard left in the season finale and never looked back. We know this because after the series ended Wolfe wrote and presented to fans his original idea for the overarching plot of the show, in the form of “Coda.” Seeing as it was written by Wolfe, I personally consider “Coda” to be a, for lack of a better phrase, canon AU.
“Coda” itself is presented as a sort of behind the scenes scene of Ouroboros where Trance (who can see ALL possible futures) is contemplating which one to aim for and ends up explaining things to a possible future Harper. It is important to note that “Coda” doesn’t deny the existence of the aired canon, merely says it was an extremely unlikely possible future and presents the more likely one.
Thus, there is a divergence in canon with two futures branching off Ouroboros. I’ve taken Harper from that point in canon just for that reason. I would like to add that in the climax scene of Ouroboros Harper seems to split into two for a couple frames, with the second Harper disappearing. I think this was intentional.
... Anyway! Two branches of canon, two Harpers. I’m obviously choosing to age him up into the AU version and here is why.
Aired canon Harper:
Before the split Harper was growing as a person, albeit in fits and starts. After Ouroboros however, this growth starts to stall as he becomes used more and more for comedic relief and his existence becomes tangential to the plot, except for the occasional moments when they need an engineering deus ex machina. By season five he’s a washed up bartender of all things and everyone seems to have forgotten that he could repair Andromeda (who is basically a derelict for most of the season) in favor of Dylan being the do-it-all hero. I could touch on the character rape the rest of the cast goes through but this is a Harper essay. In short take first season Harper, dumb him down a lot little and backslide him emotionally and socially and you get season five!Harper. Needless to say, this doesn’t present many options for aging up.
“Coda” Harper:
In “Coda” Harper goes through drastic changes but it’s made clear he’s grown and matured into a capable leader of an entire nation and world power. That he also is most of said nation will be explained later. While aired canon Harper has little to differentiate from Harper in Camp (and would in fact be a major backslide of the growing he did while going out with Bulma) “Coda” Harper would provide many interesting and fun opportunities. And also much wtf. And hopefully help Harper find some perspective about Bulma’s leaving.
So there’s the whys. The rest of this essay is the whats and the hows and the wtfs of the aging up.
In Coda-verse Harper becomes the leader of (and just becomes) The Consensus of Parts. More than that, Trance hails him as “The Soul of the Machine” As the Consensus he’s a world power in his own right and very important to the end of things.
The basic plot/timeline of Coda-verse has Dylan forming the renewed Commonwealth, Tyr forming a Nietzschean empire and breaking off from the group, Rev forming a Wayist military-religious state. . . and breaking off from the group. And Harper becoming the Consensus, and, you guessed it, breaking off from the group.
And then the group coming back together to fight The Spirit of the Abyss (the defeat of it is in the hands of Beka who puts together the Engine of Creation and becomes like a god.) Not a happy ending, but a good one. For the universe, at least.
But Harper’s transformation into the fourth great state isn’t a pleasant one. He is forced to continue the process he started with his dataport and loses bits and pieces of his human self to become a cyborg. And then he uploads himself into the Consensus of Parts to save the Commonwealth fleet. And it works, because he becomes the Consensus.
During this he grows up from the out of control child-genius who had to assume adult responsibilities far too soon (and never meshed with them) into an actual mature adult. A leader. And he also hooks up with Andromeda in the process. So while it’s not flowers and rainbows, in his own words from the Coda, “You know... That doesn’t suck.”
Consensus!Harper in Camp:
Consensus!Harper isn’t human. He’s become an AI, albeit one that used to be human. He’s just that special in canon. But Andromeda AIs are pretty special to begin with. They are ridiculously advanced, capable of learning and evolving and developing personalities outside their parameters. Ship AIs and their avatars (such as Rommie, Pax and Gabriel) especially are capable of real emotions, making emotional decisions and also of caring and even falling in love. Rommie asks Rev if AIs have souls at one point and while his answer isn’t definitive, it is implied that they have something.
The Consensus of Parts one ups even that, if only because they’ve developed an entire culture/species out of being the cast-offs of organic societies. It is stressed repeatedly that they are very much alive in their own way. The Consensus is made up of several “Directing Intelligences” capable of networking with each other and also of acting independently. Those intelligences are referred to as “motives.” And also of lesser “function” consensi who come together (and then die) for specific purposes. The “motives” when networked together become the core of the Consensus and are millions upon billions of parts (each capable of forming their own decisions when prompted to it) all in one huge mind. This is what Harper subsumed and became. All of those parts and motives and functions were taken into his being and remade in his image, so to speak. While the Consensus is still that, a consensus, all of it is part of Harper and Harper is a part of all of it.
There are also at least 17 consensi that broke off from the main Consensus at some point, mostly because of the “functions” being forced to die thing. Considering their starting point (the consensus HG, who considered Harper and Andromeda friends) I doubt they were part of the Consensus that attacked Andromeda. However it’s a very good bet that once Harper was in control they rejoined the new Consensus. Why? Because Harper has a huge, huge thing against slavery and is a big proponent of free-will. As ruthless as he is about destroying things he perceives as threats, if it’s not a threat he’s all about living and letting live. Joining up with the new and powerful non-killinating Consensus is the logical thing for the Outcast Consensi to do. They’ve very likely formed the core of the new group of operating intelligences that sprang out of Harper’s takeover. I will play it as this way. The AIs and fragments he took into himself changed him, yes, but he changed them more.
But more than just being a machine, he still has his soul. (and his organic intuition. I can’t see him... consenting to using brains in jars to slipstream) But he did die and was reborn so it’s no longer a normal human soul. It’s, well, it grew. Trance hails him as “The Soul of the Machine.” So whatever fragments or nascent soul-bits the Consensus had, Harper’s soul absorbed them and became something unique enough to get a The. (Considering the strong philosophical/quasi-religious bent she puts on things this is both literal and a metaphor. But as much metaphor as... simply beyond human comprehension)
Technically Harper would only be the Soul of the Consensus of Parts, but seeing as the Consensus can theoretically encompass all machines ever, well. :Db
And speaking of that, Harper is an engineering god-mode when he’s a merely-dataport’d human. If it can be built or programmed or hacked he can do it. Eventually, and possibly with a lot of trial and error and pain on his part, but yes. And as for the Consensus, even a very limited Consensus drone can overwhelm and control an advanced (and Andromeda is pretty much the top of the line) ship AI in a matter of less than an hour.
By the time of Harper’s upload, he’s capable of overwhelming the entire Consensus in the time it takes to complete the upload. So yes, machine god-mode to the nth degree. But he won’t be interested in using his god-modeyness in camp, barring attacks and threats. He knows his new abilities and no longer needs to posture and prove them. And also, that free-will idea.
But should it come up Consensus!Harper can “mentally” attack by going for programming with both traditional methods (can program a virus quick as thinking) or simply by overwhelming it with his presence (this can be simple overloads to reprogramming to. . . a forced consensus but the latter is extremely unlikely.) Or by convincing a machine’s component parts to rebel and join him. He can also fight physically by tweaking and upgrading his physical body (while his true “self” is now a giant ship-thing, due to size he’ll be using an avatar in camp) into weapons. He’ll only use the minimum force required to neutralize a threat though. He has grown up significantly.
On the other hand, if a machine/bot/AI in Camp wanted to consensus or interface he’d jump at it in a heartbeat. In fact, he’ll frequently be skipping the whole verbal communication and going straight to direct communication. Which is, well, direct and makes those redundant peripheral necessities unnecessary. And would likely be a little overwhelming for the other bot (Rommie collapses from her experience), but that’s the fun of it! In fact Consensus!Harper promises much hilarity.
... Yeah, that was long. Let me sum up:
* The Consensus of Parts is a giant, very powerful machine culture made from the cast-offs of organic societies. People don’t mess with them for good reason. They’re special and capable of pwning most man-made machines.
* Harper loses his human body and eventually uploads himself into the Consensus of Parts and becomes it. And also its leader. It’s... complicated.
* Harper becomes legion an entire nation. And his mind reflects this.
* His soul also reflects this. He’s “The Soul of the Machine.” And also kinda dead. this probably pings.
* He’ll definitely be pinging all the machines/AIs/Cyborgs/etc in Camp. Hard
* machine god-mode to the nth degree. He probably won’t take advantage of it.
* but he’d like to consensus with you. Or perhaps just plain-old interface. mmm AI sex interfacing
* there is no 8. Read the essay for more details \o/
Questions, comments or concerns? They go here! :D