#telman pathologic

mostly related to this post (the news from the Pathologic Fest Day 1, From the Other Side)

Okay, okay. (vibrates a little) So, I have seen Telmans who were legitimate professors. I like the headcanon that he is the de jure head of Thanatica, since Daniil was too young to get any respect or legal authority (obviously, Dankovsky is the de facto leader). I also enjoy the headcanon that Telman is an obstructive bureaucrat - making Dankovsky's life harder every damn time, such as having blackmail material about him being trans, inventing HRT, or performing abortions in secret. A Telman being a liaison between the lab and the authorities/TPTB/Inquisitors is also compelling.

Now, for my 22nd century Thanatica AU, I go to another, and very noncanon direction. I present to you a Telman who is just Elongated Muskrat. Vector Tech (or maybe I might rename it Upward Vector, or a variation on that. I am shaking in excitement here.) is a technological company made to realize the sci-fi dreams of its trillionaire "founder" (who bought it from probably legitimate businesspeople and engineers). It is fitting that in a universe where teleporters are a viable transportation method, deepfaked news is commonplace, physical media is almost dead, old movies have to be pirated because the publishers pulled it out of print, and water coolers have timers to prevent workplace chats and unionization, Telman's dreams would 10000% include an invention that has been tried and failed multiple times: mind-uploading. And Thanatica actually did it!

The excerpt from that post reads like so: (this is a rough draft)

Is this the end for Thanatica Labs? THE CAPITAL, 1 OCTOBER 2165 Daniil Dankovsky, founder of Thanatica Laboratories and lead scientist of the first successful mind-uploading device AVA Project, has once again declined an offer of cooperation from a multinational company. The cooperation deal by Vector Tech, which would have netted Dankovsky a record XXX billion, would have Thanatica Labs give away their exclusive rights to the AVA blueprints and let the company build new AVA units with a tiered subscription program. "We regret that the deal couldn’t be done," Mr. Telman, CEO of Vector Tech, has gone on record to say. "It’s a shame that Thanatica hoards all their progress under Dankovsky’s influence. Our company would have brought your AVA to the whole world! What kind of scientist are you?" When requested for an interview, Dr. Dankovsky responded, “Thanatica has, and will always, stand with ethical practices. We are scientists who would not gate one’s life behind paywalls. The deal would have made a version of AVA with proprietary Vector Tech operating system, which has gone on record to sell people’s data to third parties, including intelligence agencies. Would you want data submitted the AVA, which would contain your most vulnerable memories, to be sold to the highest bidder? Would you want targeted advertisements in your brain? Moreover, the deal also mentioned using the subscription programs to access certain memories or even brain functions, which meant you could randomly forget the most important moments in your life, or even forget how to solve a crossword, just because you are a little short on money.” Vector Tech has not responded to an interview request.

Thanatica and Vector Tech might even have beef dating back a few years. Imagine if the whistleblowing incident of 2163 also involved Telman's company (as in, a whistleblower from there) - although, I imagine it would be a different company, since, if Dankovsky has fucked them up before through the incident, why would he try again to get the rights to the Ad Vitam Aeternam (AVA) Project?

Okay, maybe if he is truly based on Elon Musk, maybe he just... doesn't have the good sense to avoid bothering Thanatica again. But, on the other hand, why wouldn't he? I think multiple companies would bother Thanatica about the AVA, actually. Mind-uploading is just nuts. It is probably one of the most idealistic and difficult-to-realize science fiction tropes. As of Chapter 11, the fact that Dankovsky has moved to a robotic chassis has not been publicized yet... but when it does, it has to be done wisely, and probably slowly.

That's going to be part of the story too, of course - if you are interested, you can hop on the ride and see the public relations mayhem Thanatica will be subjected to (and subjecting itself to). There is no need to be afraid about missing things, for now - imperare sibi maximum imperium est is extremely slow-paced for now, with its chapters clocking less than 3k words each (some even less than 2k), and it is only beginning. Act 1 isn't even halfway done, and if our physical ability and time allows, there should be more Acts to follow.