Blessings and Castigations:

  A system of excellence recorded, judged, and administered by the primary Machine-Spirit, a neutral arbitrator, on each vessel within the fleet. The goal of the program is to curb officers' soft power and ensure upward social mobility without relying on promotions, which are often dependent on combat losses, fleet expansion, and ennui (a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction usually resulting from boredom).

  The Machine-Spirit on each vessel will evaluate the work of each person over a period of twenty-five years of labour, then a one-year to ten-year sabbatical (temporary retirement), before returning to work for another twenty-five years. So long as a person consistently turns up to work on time and meets reasonable expectations for their labour, the Machine-Spirits will bless them with a long life. Poor behaviour will result in Castigations and the withholding of life extensions until a person has offset their mistakes.

  The long sabbatical is there so that Fleet personnel can focus on their careers, knowing that when they finish their stint, they will have a long period of time afterwards when they can raise children with proper attention, go back to education, work on their private research, or anything else they care to do, with their youth partially restored. We should get between nine and twelve rejuvenation cycles from each person with our current treatments.

  Over time, this will create multi-generational family units that can share the raising of children from childhood to adulthood, as it's likely that at least one member will always be on sabbatical. It will also create close-knit support groups and large families, which should ensure, in the majority of cases, that there's at least one member of each family that even the most socially stunted can tolerate and learn from. The system of Blessings and Castigations would, in theory, reduce the instances that create netpatisum and abuse.

  I also propose that, as part of the twenty-five-year cycle, junior officers be sent to a new post after five, fifteen-month cycles; senior officers, after ten cycles; and command officers, after twenty cycles. That's almost six and a half years, twelve and a half years, or twenty-five years of service, respectively. Fleet officers, like captains, would have a max of three complete twenty-five-year cycles, that's seventy-eight to one hundred and five years at the same post. Such service limits should reduce the suppression of low ranks or other forms of stagnation, such as ennui or poor motivation resulting from excessive job security.

  This new program would require the lifespan of bytes to increase to 10 years to match the period when personnel might not be earning money. Optionally, rather than doubling the lifespan of bytes (currently 5 years), reissue them after deducting their value.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  The program would also extend the practical lifespan of all personnel to at least four hundred years, drastically slowing the loss of knowledge and skills. Dying earlier of old age is a method of a self-correcting solution in cases of people who won't make the effort to continue to improve their lives, but are still not criminal about it.

  The only current viable path for rejuvenation is a careful mix of gene therapies, drug regimes, and implants. It is also possible to transfer old brains into new clones, but such surgery has a significant risk, which you'd only do if all other methods have been exhausted. An entirely cybernetic body would be a safer option. After four hundred years, the point at which our available treatments would start to fail, all surviving crew should have completed their conversion to such a body if they desire to do so. Such a cybernetic body would include specialist life-support implants to maintain the ancient flesh far past the initial four hundred years.

  Would the Blessings require a dedicated garden ship or hive city? Having the necessary facilities on a Macro-Ferry would also enable a form of tourism and become a significant revenue stream if properly managed. For our own use, I suggest a life extension pension scheme that personnel can pay into as a set percentage of their wages, regardless of income. Subtract disciplinary fines from these pension funds first, before income or other sources. Once established, health tourism and mass production should help minimise any shortfalls that could impact operational capabilities by allocating sufficient resources to this project.

  (Initially Proposed: c0137)

  Repairing and refitting Ardent Bane will consume all of Iron Crane's industrial capacity for several years. I don't intend to turn it into a proper warship. Instead, Ardent Bane will be converted into a garden ship. It will serve as a holiday location for the crew. It will grow the medicines needed to launch the Blessings and Castigations system, producing life-extension drugs for personnel who consistently perform well throughout their working lives. A reverse retirement program, if you will.

  Ardent Bane already has production facilities for rejuvenation drugs and the Tech-Priests to operate them. While expanding production will no doubt cause all sorts of issues, there shouldn't be anything that requires my direct intervention.

  The vessel will still be armed and armoured as well as I can manage, but its ostentatious design will be toned down in most interior locations. The extreme luxury will be maintained only in the luxury passenger quarters and along the main thoroughfares.

  The exterior will be repaired to its former, ridiculous glory. Ardent Bane should prove a valid location when I want to impress or intimidate someone. I'll be keeping out of the line of battle whenever possible, though, as the exterior detail work is horribly labour-intensive.

  I might even install multiple race tracks on the outer hull, as driving buggies around a plethora of art will be fantastic fun for both racers and the audience. I could even have crew commendations displayed on the hull, immortalising my crew's achievements for everyone to see when the buggies race past.

  (c0174)

  Source Chapter: “(c9999)”

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  Thank you,

  Brian