wileama wrote:I think there is one fundamental issue with this. Why bother putting them on a planet for them to evolve on for a couple thousand year, or even the memory of it?
I don't think that's really such a fundamental problem. From a Loroi perspective based on what little information they've had a chance to gain over the course of the three or so conversations they've had with Alex, the Loroi have no real reason to believe
either of those things happened. They only have Alex's say-so that he represents a world and has an independent government behind him; they don't know whether the thinks he's telling the truth or is knowingly and intentionally lying to their faces. After all, their mind-probe was less than a complete success.
All the evidence that he comes from an independent world come from his claims to represent the “Terran” Colonial Authority and “Terran” government;
“Terran” is similar to the Trade word for “rot, decay,” and could easily be part of some sort of easy-to-remember emergency cipher or code-word meaning something like “something bad has happened, all Umiak friendlies please render assistance” intended perhaps to be discreetly slipped into conversation, so a friendly contact who understands the code who catches it will be able to figure out what to do (the Loroi certainly don't seem to trust the Historian construct, and flatly stated that sending Alex with Mozin [which would incidentally have had a good chance of putting him in prolonged direct contact with the construct] was "out of the question" and immediately ordered Mozin [and thus, incidentally, the construct] to leave the system; to me, this really seemed as more of a move to keep him under control and monitored at all times than a matter of concern for his personal safety). The Loroi would first have to verify that “Terran” isn't some elaborate fiction on Alex's part or some sort of some code, but rather, a real actual government before judging the likelihood of the Umiak implanting false memories or constructing a Potemkin world (and, unfortunately, most if not all the real evidence they could have had of Earth's existence is likely drifting through space or utterly disintegrated).
Stillstorm has more or less publicly stated that she believes Alex is lying about everything.
They have no way of actually telling that Alex actually remembers anything; everything and anything he says might be some sort of code or catchphrase meant to be caught by, say, a Historian personality construct. If there's one thing the Umiak do not lack, it's the ability to build different ship designs out of whatever they needed to put together; even his ship's wreckage is hardly solid proof. Even if the Mizol fully understand normal Loroi physical tells for when some Loroi's lying, they wouldn't be able to safely bet on the same rules applying to Alex. Especially since he
hasn't been caught lying, which in turn means there hasn't been a moment where they could tell that he was lying and thus understand that he probably
wasn't lying about anything else.
Betting on Alex's honesty is very much a leap of faith.
The Loroi have every reason in the world to be cautious with him.
Even if it does make them seem like jerks.
wileama wrote:I actually think this idea makes the most sense.
Okay, but I think you're using information that the Loroi do not have to arrive at that decision. It's already a settled matter for you that humanity has been around for thousands of years, instead of, say, since last Tuesday, so you're predisposed to reject
that notion out of hand.
Stillstorm, to all appearances, is not.
wileama wrote:I agree it would be strange as all get out, but still viable. The resistance could be a simple byproduct of the particular brain structure earth life uses.
I'll allow it. Mostly on account of telepathy not actually existing.
The Loroi, though, from an in-universe perspective, they probably ought to have a harder time swallowing it.
No doubt the Loroi opinion on the matter of humanity's origin will change after they learn more about us and they get a decent body of evidence (or even just decent testimony from Alex) that humans are all-natural, organic grown, no artificial colors or flavors. I cannot imagine what sort of cultural backlash this knowledge might have for the Loroi, it really depends on how firmly their Soia myths are entrenched in their society (for example, their Ancestral mythology might be integrated into how they justify their caste system, especially since certain castes [and thus caste divisions] supposedly predate the fall of the Soia; cutting their cultural identity off at the roots might wither the tree and bring the whole thing slowly crashing down).
I honestly have a hard time trying to think of an explanation for the Loroi that I'd be able to accept. I mean, there comes a point when the premises of a work of fiction become so unrealistic that you just lean back and accept them, because explanations only make them worse. Psychic powers and FTL travel are usually pretty far past that point, right next to suspiciously-human nonhumans with no relationship to humanity, swordfights with future tech, and, of course, zombies. You don't question the zombie plague, you just accept it as fact and move on, no matter how interested in the origins and causes and rules of the zombie plague the story's characters are. At some point you realize that you don't need to know the answer to the zombie plague because you've become an old man, and bitter, and you just wanted to watch a damn zombie movie, not hear about cordyceps as if fungi were midichlorians.
Anyways.
My own personal theory at the moment is that the Soia had some technological means of telepathy (probably involving hyperspace in some way because
why not), which they used for all the things the Loroi use it. They ordinarily could detect life anywhere with this advanced technology, but while mapping a route between systems some Soia ship came across Earth, found that it had advanced life with no telepathic signatures, and thought this was odd. So they took some samples and experimented with the brain structures and such of the largest and most advanced brains then on the planet; proto-humans, and, of course,
humpback whales.
The proto-humans were engineered to eventually work as living replacements for certain devices that required a living person as an intermediary, particularly in situations where the use of those psychic powers or technology would have a deleterious effect on the health of the individual; no reason to waste Soia brains on far-seer duty.
The humpback whales, of course, were pushed in an opposite direction, given limited telekinesis as a way of manipulating objects in hazardous ocean environments but left utterly without telepathic abilities, and, more important, without telepathic signatures; each side, proto-human and whale, intended as a check upon the other. Sort of like the Roman and British tradition of pitting two powerful tribes against each other and keeping their rivalry simmering in order to better keep each under their thumb.
Then some idiot gave some Loroi telekinetic abilities or forgot to cull their telekinetics or just spilled some coffee on the Loroi gene sequencer, and all hell broke loose and the once-proud Soia empire was reduced to dust within a few generations.
And that's not just the origin story of the Loroi and the Pol, but also, possibly more importantly, an important moral lesson about whaling. The whales aren't our enemy, and if humanity and whalekind could only have put aside their rivalry they might have avoided so much bloodshed.
But now, after thousands of years, perhaps we and the whales can both finally learn to forgive.
.
You raise a very good point. 
As there was no reason to probe anything.
