A Cautionary Tale

(“Network Orientation” revision 5600109c, intelligence Tier 1.8-2.5, F-type metaphors)

Welcome to choice!

Many species have noted, when pondering Citizenship, that Network Law appears to be relatively inflexible. For example, some have already developed or even depend on technologies that are illegal for Network Citizen species to possess. This is as good a reason as any to wonder: is Network Citizenship mandatory?

By no means!

If your species would like to continue its development in isolation, it is free to do so. If that is the case, you will simply need to agree to a few simple requirements and your solar system will be marked off-limits to the rest of the galaxy. You may even change your mind in the future; all you need to do is let the Network know.

What about the rumors?

Even with perfect mental communication and instant access to facts, rumors have a way of spreading. Thus, you may have heard tales of species who have refused Citizenship. Since such stories are almost always exaggerated, this document will attempt to clarify this scenario.

The Network is the only possible way for millions of species to coexist in a single galaxy. It is designed to be self-correcting, tending toward equilibrium, and the only reason this is possible is that every Citizen species desires equilibrium. The galaxy must want to work. If species were forced to join or forced to remain, this system would fall apart. This is why any Citizen species is permitted to renounce its Network Citizenship at any time, or to refuse Citizenship in the first place. However, in both cases, the following must occur:

All Network registrations must be revoked (and thus, freedom of faster-than-light travel and communication).

All Network technology must be returned.

The species in question must return to its own solar system.

The species must agree that it will not develop anything on the list of illegal technologies (FTL, nanotech, weaponry, artificial intelligence, etc.).

To ensure that these requirements are kept, the species must submit to a Network sentinel intelligence in its home solar system.

What if the species doesn’t submit?

Many new species look out upon a peaceful galaxy and assume that it has always been so. This could not be further from the truth. The Network whose invitation your species now considers was formed in a crucible, in millions of years of war and famine and genocide. The Network was created because the galaxy decided: no more. Eons later, there is no war because the Network leaves no room for war. There is no genocide because the Network leaves no opportunity for genocide. These and a thousand other species-wide crimes have been wiped out. If a species decides to reject half a billion years of work toward this end, that is its own choice. If, however, it decides to undermine said work, then the Citizens of the Network are themselves left with no choice. They must assume that the species in question wishes to introduce that which others have spent eons eradicating.

And thus, the species itself must be eradicated.

We hope to hear from you soon.