The Vulcan - Character Highlights

[Will The Serious]

Bynars might have very limited use for binary code. When I was programming binary (I briefly majored in computer science before switching to math and eventually to English), I rarely got below the hexadecimal representation. Everything breaks down to binary, but pretty much all the root languages are coded in hex (base 16). I would think that base 128 might be a bit slow for Bynars - but that would require 128 unique symbols to represent, so at some point the efficiency of a higher base would be hampered by having to interpret too many unique symbols to represent it. For us slow-brained humans, hex sits at that corner.

Remember, positronic brain implants. A highly advances data compression algorithm, and hierarchical systematic indexing.

When Bynars reproduce, the child will take the couple's name, minus one bit place. This would allow them to continue to combine with their own coupling or pairing and remain statistically significantly identifiable as belonging to the family. There are probably more than 16 first names, as well.

They would have a quasi-psychic/wifi connection between them, audible communication might be reserved for extra-species interactions.

I love the Bynar characters, so many possibilities. Plus, they're cute. My next episode is planned to feature them and their dreaming. Bynars don't usually do much in their dreams except go over recent events together and organize and file them. Episode 7 will provide them with a whole new dreaming experience no Bynar has ever imagined before. Episode 7 will be very difficult for me to write, I expect.

-Will

 

[Bynar0110]

That would be 4,096 pairings. It might help to think of it in the context of Egyptian and Sudanese names. We all know Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi. Siddig to his friends. He currently works under the name Alexander Siddig.

Bynars might have very limited use for binary code. When I was programming binary (I briefly majored in computer science before switching to math and eventually to English), I rarely got below the hexadecimal representation. Everything breaks down to binary, but pretty much all the root languages are coded in hex (base 16). I would think that base 128 might be a bit slow for Bynars - but that would require 128 unique symbols to represent, so at some point the efficiency of a higher base would be hampered by having to interpret too many unique symbols to represent it. For us slow-brained humans, hex sits at that corner.

Thanks!! rbs

That's a lot of pairings.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

2 to the 12th power.

 

[Will The Serious]

It actually would be a lot less than that because, within a randomized family line of couples, not every combination of ones and zeros would be covered. Supposedly, only one of those sets of pairings would potentially have the value of 0000 0000 0001.

0000 0000 0001 +
0000 0000 0010
0000 0000 0011 +
Some random #
0000 0000 0101 (for instance)
0000 0000 1000 +
0000 0000 0110
0000 0000 1110 +
0000 0000 1001
0000 0001 0111
In only four random four bit pairings, a value above 16 has been reached. As the population gets older and their name combinations express larger values, it could take longer to move to the next digit place, but it could, for some pairings, take much less. Higher value names paired with higher valued names would grow faster and faster. It could potentially exceed the 12 bit limit in 12 generations. If each generation were to produce sets of offspring whose family names had a one in the highest place position for that generation, each pairing between two of such Bynar families would produce a combination that moved into the next place.
0000 0000 1001 +
0000 0000 1011
0000 0001 0100 +
0000 0001 1001
0000 0010 1101 +
0000 0010 1001
0000 0101 0110
See what I mean?
When dealing with a population in the billions (>2^512), they are going to have to come up with a naming scheme that limits and recycles names while maintaining individual identity.

Perhaps some form of random subtraction has to occur.

-Will

 

[Will The Serious]

Damian Apollonias
29 year old Human technician originally working on the emergency backup power systems. He is fascinated with Vulcan philosophy. As an adolescent in secondary school, Damian had joined CORe, a social movement among young intellectuals who admire the Vulcan people enough to try and emulate them. Damian found he was not that good at acting emotionless, but still took a job as an engineer on Vulcan to learn more about them.

He is originally from a Greek island on the Ionian coastline of ancient Anatolia. He is well versed in classic Greek philosophy and history. His habits include a pat of his chest with a shallow bow of his head to give respect, and a penchant for generous aid to strangers. Good hospitality is important to him.

Damian earned his advanced degree in Energy System Engineering from the Istanbul University of Engineering. He took several courses in Radiant Energy from the Vulcan Institute of Technology before passing his Power Systems Certification exam on Vulcan. His primary function aboard Vulcan is the control, maintenance and repair of the dilithium power system, as well as the energy storage and radiant light spectrum generators on board.

In his free time, he likes to play chess with the Vulcan crew, not that he's good at it, but he's found that Vulcans can get more talkative when distracted by mental exercise. he is at least good enough at chess to give the Vulcan engineers on board, a good run, although he's never won a game against a Vulcan.

-Will

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[Robert Bruce Scott]

Good idea to have a separate thread for these so they don't interfere with the narrative (and they're easy to find.)

Thanks!! rbs

 

[Will The Serious]

Thanks rbs. At the moment, I'm trying to pursue the possibility of creating a linked, in-page, ToC to each character, but I think it won't be possible. From now on, each character will get their own post, so I can link to the post URL. A table of contents for the characters should make the thread more usable to those who come to the story later.

-Will

 

[Will The Serious]

Here is a cover drawing for the Vulcan Character Highlights thread.

Of course, not all the characters are here.
From left to right are featured, Naxx, Art, Sam, S'Talla, Skyvik, Ya & Ne in front, Charley behind, and T'Pia on the far right.

-Will

 

[Bynar0110]

Nice drawing Will

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

I remain quite envious of your drawing ability. You did say Skyvik was a big guy. What is Naxx?

Thanks!! rbs

 

[Will The Serious]

What is Naxx?

Coridanite.

Naxx works for Operations, on loan, as a sort of inter-cultural spy exchange program. His commission by the OSS assures the Coridan world that his use by Vulcan will never to be in any counter-Coridanite activities. The exchange program provides for the ability to leverage extra-Vulcan species assets without having to chance the discovery of a physical disguise. If Naxx is caught in Romulan space, his deniable connection to Vulcan will be less embarrassing for Vulcan, and make it easier to negotiate his return to Coridan. Romulans are never going to believe a Vulcan is an independent blackmarket arms smuggler in the Neutral Zone.

That's also why S'Talla made sure Vulcan #V5-B373 did not have a Vulcan owner, and had a mixed species crew aboard. It's easier to believe a few individual Vulcan's might find employment with an Earth owner, aboard an inter-species tramp star-freigher, than an entire ship and crew of Vulcan's would get involved in quasi-illegal activities in and around Romulan space and not be working for the Vulcan government.

-Will

 

[Will The Serious]

Chang Sanfeng (Charlie)
Charley is a 22 year old Human male. At just 22 years old, Charlie is the youngest member of Vulcan's crew.

His position aboard Vulcan: Charlie was hired as an intern right out of the Hong Kong Academy of Physics, where he first got his nick name 'Charlie'. He worked directly under T'Pia on the warp drives. He has a PhD in astro-physics with a focus on curved space/time and warp travel. He is a brilliant computer programmer, but unfamiliar with the Vulcan's analogue architecture. He spends much of his down time, in the first few months since leaving the Vulcan space dock, with Sam learning the analog architecture of the ship.

His personality is young and unreserved. He is outspoken and very confident in his ability to handle himself. This can get him into trouble when his confidence overextends his prudence; largely because he has a lack of confidence in authority. His trust only comes with familiarity. He looks up to T'Pia with the greatest respect. Charlie admires Sam for her computer skills and acknowledges, reluctantly, that she knows more than he does. She is the one other person he learned to trust in the beginning. It took time for S'Talla to earn Charlie's trust, but once Charlie learns to trust someone, he trusts completely. He is developing a friendship with T'Perl, who is the second youngest crew member. He is captivated by her story. And finds her much less stoic and restrained than other Vulcans.

As an orphaned child, Charley was raised and educated in a traditional Shaolin Temple that ran the local orphanage. The temple monks taught Tai Chi Chuan and Kung Fu. Charlie was one of their best students and turned down the opportunity to compete in the Olympics in favor of engineering school. Charlie eventually was invited to teach S’Talla his moving meditation forms. S'Talla and Skyvik start studying his martial arts with him. Some of the other crew members join in on occasion. S’Talla teaches Charlie her Vulcan Temple martial arts.

-Will

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[Will The Serious]

T'Perl
23 year old female Vulcan technician working on the sensor arrays and weapons targeting systems.

T'Perl grew up on the streets of Vulcus, a large capital city of Vulcan. She is the daughter of two homeless Vulcans who had sent their only daughter to Vulcan primary school until they died in the collapse of a condemned building, along with twelve other homeless families, while she was in school. T'Perl is exceptionally smart but has no love of authority. At the age of 12 she found herself alone, making her way among the tiny population of Vulcus's homeless, indigent, and mentally unsound.

Vulcan is socially more advanced than most planets, but they had not yet completely eliminated their jobless and homeless. T'Perl survived on temple handouts, panhandling and scavenging, with the occasional small con, such as taking advantage of free breakfasts or reception snacks offered in hotels or large business lobbies. She made sure to keep her clothes clean and neat to avoid getting thrown out of such places. She particularly spent time at the large central library, but their food and drink offerings were very sparse.

T'Perl wandered into the central office of the Vulcan Astroways Space Construction Company to take advantage of their hospitality station, when she found herself confronted by an imposing looking military person. Thinking quickly, she threw out a job name she had read on the screen of the receptionist's monitor in the hope that it would justify her presence in the waiting area of the company's home office. She had been surprised by the revelation that the project name she spoke was secret. Hiding her reaction, T'Perl played along until she found herself on a shuttle with over a dozen technicians and engineers, headed into space. T'Perl was young, undocumented, smart and trapped into a life of technical study and work, among a group of supportive and welcoming fellow workers.

T'Perl had never had a room of her own, nor a stable source of food, clothing, and community. She worked hard to fit in and quickly became a contributing member of the engineering team for the Yon-Ha'gel project. When the V5-Beta was stolen, she struggled to keep from losing the only stable home she had ever known. Her bonds with the remaining crew grew even stronger.

T'Perl, as a homeless waif on Vulcan, had not completed her education in logic and never finished the Kolinahr ritual. Her emotions are guarded, as per the well established Vulcan culture, but they are not stripped and buried. T'Perl feels her emotions fully and on rare occasions will let them slip out. No one realizes, but she is the only Vulcan on board who still has a regular Pon Farr cycle. At 23 years old, she is several years from her second Pon Farr.

-Will

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[Robert Bruce Scott]

Homeless, indigent vulcans - not something I would have thought of... Very interesting backstory.

Thanks!! rbs

 

[Will The Serious]

Mr. Naxx - Coridanite male, 40 years old.

Naxx was added to the Vulcan crew in S1E2. He is an exchange member of the VDM OSS. Such exchange programs for spy organizations, like the Vulcan Operations of Support Strategies, provides allied governments with close bonds of trust and allow for greater flexibility to field agents to better disguise the species for whom they are operating. Naxx is a veteran spy who worked deep cover in the black market world of military supplies and surplus. He worked providing training, equipment, and weapons to separatist and disavowed groups in support of Federation, Vulcan, and Coridanite interests. He is the spy who reported the discovery of the location to the space lab where the Vaikar-Kau-Bureki was being held by the Romulans for study.

Naxx is very comfortable in his roll, he has a relaxed sense of humor, he sees Vulcans as highly intelligent, but far too full of themselves to take overly seriously, and will poke fun at them good humoredly, even if he thinks the sarcasm or jibe will go over their heads. He is friends with Art Santayana, but he worked for over a year with Art, not knowing his real name. Be sides the cap he lost to Art when they first met over a game of Brazzus, he maintains a small arsenal of spy equipment to help in his work. Some of it is simple, helpful equipment, like a folding scaling ladder and cable with a small folding grappling hook, but others are high-tech Coridanite technology like the personal force field, electronic lockpick, mission recorder, and communication device of the cap that Art now owns.

Naxx lost his parents to a cave-in in the dilithium mines on Coridan and joined the Coridanite Space Force as a way of breaking out of the labor class back on his planet. He is observant, well versed in the technology he uses and generally pleasant. He is difficult to insult or offend, but when he feels abused, he has a long memory and can seek to balance the scale. As a friend he keeps his word, which is why he doesn't just steal the cap back from Art, but he also is highly manipulative and is responsible for directing Art to Halla Station and getting him involved with the crew of the Vulcan. Art thinks it was his idea to travel to Halla Station as a way to throw Chavo Gah off Cialoa's trail, but it was Naxx who provided the reasoning for making that decision.

-Will

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[Will The Serious]

Sadek - 47 year old male Vulcan technician

Spadek was on-board the V5-Beta to run final tests on the V5's shielding systems. He, along with other engineers, got trapped aboard during the Romulan attack and the theft of the V5. He was S'Talla's inside man, working for Operations of Support Strategies (OSS).

His personality is business, classic Vulcan logic. He is not naturally curious and logic tells him to be cautious in new environments. He focuses on the job at hand, will remind others of their goals and responsibilities, but he concerns himself with his values and allows others to make their own choices without judgment. He is very good at his job as an operative for Operations because he maintains his focus, without becoming overly inventive. His powers of quiet observation serve him well in that capacity. Spadek asks very little of others. However, he is a good and committed friend and member of his community/crew/family.

Spadek has a rare congenital disorder called Kerker's Disease. Kerker's Disease is a condition some Vulcan's are born with that prevents them from entering the Pon Farr cycle. It is considered a birth defect, but a few recent researchers are suggesting Kerker's is not a disease at all, but the next step in Vulcan biological evolution. Despite its apparent conflict with the Vulcan compulsive reproduction instinct, there has been a small growth in numbers of cases within the last couple of decades. Vulcans born with Kerker's Disease are still capable of reproduction, but the violent biological imperative is missing from the victim's physiology. The new arguement for the evolutionary advantage is the reduced threat to health from which the Pon Farr can have upon male Vulcans.

Spadek has no mate or family waiting back on Vulcan. His freedom from attachments and technical knowledge of electrical systems was why he made a good recruit to Operations and was selected as a sleeper agent among the engineering team that were working on the Yon Ha'gel Project. His primary mission was to understand the engineering team and maintain access for S'Talla's team to board the V5-Beta, and assist in its operation under S'Talla's captaincy.

He had joined the Vulcan Defense Ministry as a young man out of university and worked for a decade aboard a Vulcan starship as an engineer. His experiences took him across the sector to Earth, and numerous other Federation planets. He had officially taken early retirement from service when he was recruited by Operations.

-Will

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[Bynar0110]

Thanks for sharing Will

 

[Will The Serious]

Arthur (Art) Santayana - 33 year old Earth male of Castilian Spanish heritage. AKA Billy Gruff.

Art is a crusader, an idealist, and a passionate abolitionist. He supported his campaign as an independent agent for the 23rd century underground railroad through gambling, and as a Black Market trader and smuggler. He had worked for years under the pseudonym of Billy Gruff, when he first came aboard Vulcan in season one, episode 3. He is not above cheating, lying, stealing or conning others to affect his goals to save those oppressed by the institution of slavery.

Art befriended Cialoa, the rescued Orion slave girl, when he accidentally caught her trying to escape Chavo Gah, the notorious Orion slave hunter. When he learned of Cia's story, he told her his real name in order to win her trust while he worked on a plan to help her, and others, escape from the sadistic slave hunter. Over the following week of hiding, the two got to know each other very well and became fast friends.

Art is familiar with the NZ black market structure and other elements of the Neutral Zone Underworld. He likes to gamble, but only when he has an edge. He doesn't always judge that well, following his heart as often as his head. He also has an eye for female beauty, though he has fallen prey to too many Orion women to have much trust in them. His negative experiences with them has led to his becoming immune to their pheromones and their wiles. Despite his history and mistrust of Orions, he has never slowed his efforts to help free those who wish it.

Art is exceptionally handsome and charismatic, plus he has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the social protocols and rituals of species smuggling in the NZ. His living has been made, in part, by getting along with other species and learning to barter to his advantage. His ship, the Mean Kid, was lost to the Orion Syndicate after they discovered he had been smuggling escaped slaves onboard. They capture the ship and disassembled it just after Art had finished a freedom run with twelve slaves across the Zone. He escaped with Mr. Naxx's help, never realizing he was being maneuvered by Naxx to join the Vulcan's crew only a month later. Naxx had hired and associated with Art for over two years while conducting his own spy missions for the O.S.S.

Art takes a casual romantic interest in both S'Talla and Sam. This is part of why he agrees to join the Vulcan's crew as the ship's "Foreign Relations Officer" (if they were to actually give such a formal name to the roles each crew member has onboard).

He has little self-control around pretty women. Even though he takes romantic relationships with extreme caution, he has a tendency to act casually and easy, almost flippantly about sexual relationships. This is his strategy for guarding and defending himself against the depths of his own emotional attachments to the opposite sex. He becomes highly susceptible to Cialoa's charms, and even other female members of Vulcan's crew. It is Cia's understanding of Art's emotional drivers that saves him from falling into the very trap that he has spent a lifetime guarding himself against.

Art doesn't think of himself as courageous or cool in the face of danger. He has always cautiously avoided dangerous situations, but he will act without consideration of the consequences when options don't exist. He often responds on instinct, but rarely does he suffer from indecision. He gets particularly anxious when people he cares about are in dangerous situations and has a tendency to fret, brushing it all off with jokes after the threats have passed.

-Will

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[Will The Serious]

Cialoa (Cia) - 31 year old Orion female. Acts as robotics and satellite specialist in engineering, and does relief bridge watch when needed.


Cia joined Vulcan's crew in season 1, episode 3. She was rescued from slave hunters who pursued her, and six other illegally enslaved Orions (4 female and 2 male). Unable to return to her home, with the 'escaped slave' status hanging over her head, Cialoa chose to remain with the Vulcan while helping the other six escapees to reach an underground network of runaway slaves.


Cialoa grew up on Orion, the daughter of free merchants. Her two older siblings were indentured into slavery to help pay for their parent's business and property debts. Cialoa signed an eight year slave contract with Alpha Robotics to pay for her education. Her contract had less than one year to go when she was bought, in defiance of Syndicate regulations that state, "no slave ownership may be transferred to a new principal within one year of their termination date without the consent of both signatories on the active contract," by a private interest, having nothing to do with her skills as a robotics and satellite engineer. Cialoa feared being abducted into permanent slavery, something that was far more common than the Orion Syndicate would ever admit to.


Cia is educated in Robotics, with a specialty in satellite robotics. She was instrumental in capturing, hacking, and installing connection protocol routines to a JNZDN (Joint Neutral Zone Defense Network) satellite. Her help hacking into the NZ sentry satellite succeeded in installing the Vulcan into the NZ network as an unremarkable node with complete access to the data available to the network. This allows the ship to move unchallenged anywhere in the network.


Cialoa is a beautiful singer and her personality is demure until she feels she has the solution to problems that have not been solved by others. She will step forward and take control only when no other leader has come forward. Her intellect and quiet strength then comes out, and is most often more than adequate to push the situation to an effective answer. She is a sleeping tiger that will be underestimated over and over again. Cia is capable of enchanting males with her pheromones, but objects morally to relying upon that common Orion tool for control.


Her relationship with Art Santayana is friendly, appreciative and trusting, but she has not considered the possibilities for romance. She holds conservative values for commitment and knows Arthur does not easily trust Orion women. He is a safe and trusted friend to whom she feels connected. She understands Art's womanizing mannerisms are a defence against fear of betrayal to a heart that is too easily given away and is careful to never put him in a vulnerable position with her.

-Will

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[Robert Bruce Scott]

These personality vignettes are essentially prequels. Each could be open to a chapter-long (or longer) treatment.

Thanks!! rbs