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A comprehensive list of trigger warnings covering the entire season can be found in the show notes. Three days after their return to Dex Island, Varian, Isra and Wren have settled back into the well-worn routine of home. morning lessons followed by afternoons and evenings on the training quad. Already they are beginning to assert authority over the troops as commanders of the DEX military.
Isra and Ren may be returning to normalcy, but there is one person in the palace who considers normalcy to be an illusion, behind which there are cracks to exploit. levers to insert and pressure to be applied. Listening to The Ancestors, the third Dex Legacy interlude, starring Tiffany Clare as Valentina Vardy, Chris Gregory as Nathaniel Dex, Kamara Elliott as Varian Dex, Kelsey Griffin as Isra Dex, Charlie Richards as Ren Dex, and Emily Inkpen as Auto, with music by Dr. Alan Stroud.
What is it? I'm busy. President Dex, Tristan instructed me to give you this. What is it? It's a recording, sir. A recording of what? I've not heard it, sir. I've never been a fan of his cryptic side. He's due back tomorrow. Why couldn't he give this to me then? I don't know, sir. He didn't say. Of course he didn't. Would you like me to leave, sir? Why? If it's private. You're an agent.
It doesn't matter what you hear, because if you repeat anything, Tristan will shoot you through the head. I've seen him do it. As have I, sir. Or worse. And you know all about that as well, don't you? Yes, sir. And you don't want that, do you? No, sir. Stay. If I have a response, I don't want to waste time calling you back in here. Yes, sir. Auto.
Play recording. Ren, what are you reading? History. Ancestor stuff. It happened thousands of years ago on a planet we'll never go to. Why do you care? Because it's interesting, Varian. Explain. Auto, pause. Playback paused. What is this? Surveillance, sir. He's recorded Varian Israel and Wren. I thought I told him... Auto resume. Okay. We were sent here in giant sea chips with more data than any one person could ever get through in a lifetime.
10,000 people and some animals were left with all this knowledge, except the plans for interstellar travel. So, they didn't want us going back. Why? Why send us here? Did they want us to do things differently? Because from what I've read, we're doing everything more or less the same way here as they did there. It's all war and territory and money. Maybe if we'd not had the seed data, we wouldn't know all that and we'd have built society differently. So that...
Just raises more questions. Did they want us to live the same way or learn from the data and be wiser than them? Maybe they didn't think about it that much, Wren. Maybe they just thought the seed data would be useful. But they... didn't want us to go back? If they'd given us the knowledge, it's the first thing we would have done, right? We'd have wanted to send people back, but they wanted us to establish ourselves here on SP714.
So they made sure we wouldn't be able to do it. It's... it's mean! The ship reached orbit, jettisoned all the seed vessels and self-destructed. There was no way for us to replicate the technology. So you're saying the ancestors were mean? Well, from what I've read, it wouldn't be out of character. What I don't understand is why it took us so long to get our tech together.
We knew so much about it when we first arrived. So how come we were just surviving for years? We had the know-how, but none of the materials. We had the seed vessels, but the metal and parts in those didn't stretch far. Until we found raw metal and built mines, we couldn't replicate anything. It took years to explore far enough to discover them. The seed vessels wouldn't fly again once they'd landed another parting gift from the ancestors, so...
We had to build boats. But there weren't many forests around Hearth, so the settlers had to wait for the stored seeds to take hold before they had wood enough to build. Then they made it to Vosnor and Vasnek and stuff picked up. Lots of metal there. Of course, if they'd landed in Chakri, they'd have progressed much faster and been able to line their ships with gold. That was...
That was bad luck. Did they have gold on the ancestor planet? Yes, but they didn't have Platon or Caprin or Rhodon or Gossen. Weird. Everything here is platinum or caprin. Yep. Is anything here better? Uh, yeah. Gossin. Shame there isn't much of it. Gossin comes from space debris.
We pass through a small astrobelt once a year and that's where it comes from. About half a million years ago there was a lot more of it and enough fell to form a thin layer in most parts of the world. We get all the gossip we can from those deposits. Most of what's left will be in the ocean and on our moons. Auto, pause. Playback paused. Auto, make a note. Discuss oceanic gosin extraction with OSA. Note saved.
Discuss oceanic gossin extraction with OSA. Resume. On our moons. Well, we can't get them from the ocean. We could, but it would be difficult. Just like we don't know how to get to our moons yet. Isra? Varian? Do you remember anything from our lessons? More than you might think. Surprise me. There was one bit that always interested me.
The settlers went into the ocean around Hearth and tried harvesting the Goa colonies. Why would they do that? Because on our ancestral planet, all plant-based life was considered food. It didn't even occur to them that the Goa could be sentient. Strange. There's whole areas of ocean we can't touch because it's Goa territory. Yes. And that's a good thing. Once we learned how to communicate with them, we learned a lot about...
the history of this planet and the ocean ecosystems. Like, like what? Why is it I learn more when I'm just talking about this stuff than when I have to sit in that room and just... Pretend like I'm listening. Because nothing sticks unless you're choosing to learn it. Stop pretending to listen and it might sink in. Okay, so what about the ecosystems?
Alright, but I'll be doing a quiz on this tomorrow, so pay attention. The evolutionary progress of this planet are at an earlier stage than they were, or are, on our ancestral planet. But the pattern seems to be the same. Life starts in the oceans, then moves on land. Then life evolves and diversifies until you've got a whole load of different species. On our ancestral planet, there are a lot of different types of...
animal that had already been through a couple of large-scale extinctions. On SP714, evolution was at the amphibian, bug, and reptile phase with... with much more happening underwater. What's an extinction? An event where a natural or unnatural shifting climate or something causes entire species to die out.
I mean, that's a single extinction. A mass extinction is where that shift causes lots of species to die. Have we had one of those in SB 71-4? Not until we arrived and almost caused one by attacking the Goa colonies. When early communications with the Goa were being translated, settlers started digging to find evidence of a mass extinction, but they couldn't find any... Auto-pause. Playback paused.
What's an extinction? Extinctions are ancestral history, sir. Yes. In Shakri, nobody learned ancestral history, sir. Most people learned settler history onwards. Really? Well, Varian, Isra and Ren aren't most people. Auto-resume. But, by landing here, we messed it up, didn't we? We interrupted. Evolution? Yes, we did. Big time. And the Goa weren't happy? No.
They haven't evolved to live above water yet, and their physiology makes it impossible for them to fight us. They realised that pretty quickly and settled on claiming distinct territories. territories we'd probably have moved into if they weren't so good at defending themselves. Which is how exactly? Oh, I know this. They can change the chemical composition of the water around them until it's...
Almost pure acid. And it's the same acid found on aquatic eggs. So all sea creatures are drawn to it and go mad defending it. Correct. Plus... A few more tricks. See, I know things. Fortunately, there's enough planet to keep us busy for now. But if our dear ancestors are anything to go by, one day there won't be. and the Goa colonies will be hit hard. I also know they like the equator. Warm waters. That's why Thos is almost completely surrounded by Goa territory.
And why they were so angry about the Rome bomb. Half of the Rome coastline was a Goa stronghold and it was completely wiped out by that missile. There were heavy losses above and below water that day. Apparently, the Goa know Nathaniel's name.
And they are not a fan of his work. But Ren, it wasn't Nathaniel who launched it. No Varian, but Dex Island did build it. And there's a lot of people who think he knew how destructive it would be and chose not to tell Xenos before they launched it. And the... Goa are among them. It would appear so. I don't understand who cares much about that. Nope. I don't think he cares either, but he should. Why? Because, Faryon, this is...
Their planet. And one day they might decide to take it back. How would they do that? They're a sentient species of aquatic plants that can change the chemical composition of water at will. You think they won't work out how to weaponize that? Or find some other way to do us harm? No. One day the Goans will comfort us. They'll do it in a way we won't expect. And we won't stand a chance. Is that it? Yes, sir. And I'm supposed to be interested in this. Tristan suggested you hear it, sir.
He seems to think there's cause for concern. Oh, there's cause for concern. Where did Tristan place recording devices? I believe this was a test, sir. The device is positioned in their private rec room. Their room here in the palace. Yes, sir. Listen to me very closely. You will go up to those rooms immediately and remove every recording device you know about and...
Conduct a thorough search to ensure none are left behind. Sir? This is a presidential order. Do I make myself clear? Yes, sir, of course. Then why are you still here? May I ask why, sir? What's your name? It's Valentina, sir. Valentina Vardy. Well, Valentina Vardy, I've known your boss for a long time. He doesn't exist in the black and white zones, only the shades of grey. But my privacy is not a grey area. If he starts planting surveillance anywhere in this palace...
It's only a matter of time before he's planting devices in my rooms as well. And I won't have it. Yes, sir. When did he place this? He instructed me to place it yesterday afternoon, sir. Good. Stop this before it starts. If he commands me to place another, I will have to do it, sir. That won't be an issue. I'll talk to him. Yes, sir. May I ask, aren't you interested in what they were saying?
Do you see that door? Yes, sir. That's the point at which I stop caring. You don't care what people do or say. Why would I? As long as they do what I say. What if they were doing or saying things that could harm you? Well, that's what you're for, isn't it? I have a house, a country and a world full of spies and Tristan tells me what's worth knowing.
And what Varian, Isra and Ren say isn't worth knowing. Why would it be? I own them. They're the property of Dex Industries. They have no rights, no freedom. I don't care what they talk about because nothing they say can cause me harm. If one of them malfunctions, I will end them. which I can do at the push of a button thanks to Devek and Osa and their tracking chips. Valentina, why are you still here? Sir.
Are you not worried about the Goa? Am I worried about a species of semi-sentient aquatic plant life the settlers almost massacred by accident? Certainly not. Very good, sir. Of course, if they do start hurling acid at me, I can be assured of your protection. Yes, sir. I live to serve. Good. Now go. Make sure my children don't see you. I don't want them to be under any illusion that I care or give credit to anything they think and say. Yes, sir.
You just heard The Ancestors, interlude 3 of The Dex Legacy. In that episode, you heard Tiffany Clare as Valentina Vardy, Chris Gregory as Nathaniel Dex, Kamara Elliott as Varian Dex. Kelsey Griffin as Isrodex, Charlie Richards as Rendex, and me, Emily Inkpen, as Auto, with music by Dr. Alan Stroud. The Deck's Legacy is written by me, Emily Inkpen, and produced by Alternative Stories. If you enjoyed that interlude, please like, subscribe, and comment. It really does help.
If you would like to support The Dex Legacy, you can at ko-fi.com forward slash The Dex Legacy Audio Drama. At thedexlegacy.com, you will also find scripts for every episode and interlude. So if you like to read while you listen, you can. There's also a page dedicated to the cast and a whole load of bonus materials, including maps, a gallery of character portraits and interviews.
You can also sign up to the Dex Legacy newsletter for a secret link to me reading The Dark, a short story and prequel to the audio drama. As always, we would like to give a huge thank you and shout out to those of you who have liked our episodes, left comments and reviews, and subscribed to the show. All of this boosts our visibility on podcast platforms.
We'd also like to thank those of you who have visited our Ko-fi page and donated to the series so far. Every donation goes straight into bringing you more from the world of DEX. So thank you. Thank you for listening to The DEX Legacy. A proud member of Apollo Plus, a creator-owned platform where every subscriber helps audio drama creators like the Dex Legacy team. You can download the app from the App Store and Google Play by searching for Apollo Podcasts. Or you can visit apollopods.com.
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