The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (Page 42 of 49)

v4 notes
What about this? A new mental illness, called Archangel Syndrome, regularly appears among the galaxy's ruling elite in which the afflicted hear archangels promising galactic peace. It's believed to be caused by too much inbreeding among ruling families. The real cause is Dr. Jorge B. Francis messing with the past. There is, of course, no known cure. The afflicted are encouraged to resist the archangels. Apollo naturally assumes he has the condition and keeps the archangel a secret since it could get him killed by his family, who subscribe to the motto "Only the mentally fit shall rule!" Joseph first hears an archangel (and his dead grandmother) at age four, before he knows about the syndrome. They encourage him to keep it a secret. When he does finally hear about the syndrome, he decides, based on his Christian background, that it's not really an illness, just God trying to save the galaxy. Apollo will hear the Archangel Gabriel and Joseph will hear the Archangel Michael. Dr. Francis will need technology to pull this off, otherwise he would have to impersonate all of the archangels and dead characters himself, around the clock. That's a better job for a computer. Hence the AI that serves as a galactic news anchor.

Since there is no useful link between Aussie from the prologue and the news anchor AI, I'll probably remove Aussie from the story completely, which eliminates the nonsense from the prologue and some of the excessive violence. Sorry, Janet. I just need a name for the AI. It should either suggest a link to the archangels (e.g., Angel) and/or a link to Dr. Francis (e.g., Francis).

Anyone have a better name?

I don't want to refer to it as simply the News AI. I want it to identify itself at the opening of every broadcast. "This is XXX from GNN reporting to you from..." Also, I want a name that gives a clue that it's behind the voices. It will also drop hints during the broadcasts.

As for Joseph and Apollo, I'm replacing God with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel because many of the things God says in v3 would piss off my target audience. I'm also adding Apollo's dead best friend, Germanus, into his head. Andrew and Germanus will do the humor. The archangels will range from friendly to serious depending on circumstances, and God/Jesus will only appear for major serious events, perhaps once or twice per book.

The syndrome... does it need a name? I hasn't had one in v2 or v3. I was wondering what leverage naming it gives you

My next chapter, The Christian Heresy Revealed, is up. It's a cleaned up version of the same chapter from v2. I incorporated everyone's edits and trimmed quite a bit. This chapter will be heavily rewritten in a future draft to conform Joseph's musings more closely with Anglicanism, which most closely reflects his old life (crown prince of a world with a monarchy that leads the Church).

Quick, go read!
Dirk

Thanks, Amy. Yes, it's a note to myself. The details will be rolled out in chapter one, with the introduction of Joseph & Apollo at various ages.

Archangel Syndrome is a relatively common disease among the ruling class across the galaxy, and it happens to involve hearing archangels instead of God, hence its unique name. Since the advanced biotechnology and instantaneous interstellar communication needed to fake something like this doesn't exist yet in the 4017, no one questions it as anything but a real, bizarre illness. In reality, it's accomplished using tech from AD 7329.

As you saw in v3, there are plenty of places where Joseph and Apollo either act out inappropriately (e.g., Apollo's head jolting) or mumble conversations out loud. God won't appear in the story, except perhaps at one or two extreme moments in each book (TBD).

Seraphim are a higher class of angels than archangels, but they're limited to constantly worshiping God on his throne. Archangels appear on earth to intervene in human events, hence the reason I chose them.

I don't know what to do about revealing the secret cause of this illness, since it's currently meant to remain hidden until the end of book two or three. One possibility is to reveal it at end of book one, then have Joseph and Apollo cooperate with Dr. Francis in future books. Ponder I will.

You did indeed. Thank you. I just received a mountain of regular reviews from Andrew Hixson for the beginning of v3. He loved the two opening chapters, including the one spread over three different time periods that introduces Joseph and Apollo at two ages each, and introduces God and Admiral St. James's ghost. He didn't like the Great Collapse of Civilization at all. Thought it was filler. It's probably because it comes too early in the story (K's complaint), but the Galaxinet articles have to occur in a certain order among the early chapters, and I'm keeping all three until my reviewers beat me to death. Dr. Ess rocks! Nor did he like Apollo's opening chapter in the gym fighting Kobayashi. Not sure what was wrong with that one.

Got one for 403's chapter 1

I watched another episode of Gilligan's Island last night. They were packing, thinking they were sure to be rescued. The Skipper was packing his clothes, including numerous shirts of different colors. I think I even saw a pajama top. What's wrong with that scene?

My retirement account is getting killed by the looming trade war. I bought Boeing the day before Trump announced the first tariffs. Down 12% since then. I console myself with the fact that no one ever went broke buying their stock. Of course that used to be true of GE, too.

It's my IRA. Canada got hammered as well, but not as much.

I use Vanguard high dividend index funds for most of the money, but wanted specific stocks as well to buy and hold long term.