A proposal

I got news from my lawyer, mr. Van Geneughten. I had almost forgotten about him, were it not for the regular bills that he sends me. I needed his services in my dispute with mr. Boulette, an dealer in illegal Takmahl relics. I confiscated his cargo, and he wanted compensation, claiming that it was space salvage. Since he'd left it in an abandoned station, my counterclaim is that it was once again space salvage. This has been going on in the overburdened courts for nearly half a year.

It seems that I am winning the case, and now mr. Boulette wants to approach me with a proposal, via his lawyer.

Coronation day fleet

Khimi Harar's special fleet for the Empress is a success. It contributed tremendously to the standings I need to access high level agents assigned to restricted archeological sites.

I was somewhat surprised though, to find that there was an assassin hunting for me! I was informed about the hitman by one of the agents that I do distribution missions for. Thank God there were noble paladins coming to my aid: Cassadra Habalu and Hikari Lightrain made short work of the assassin and his henchmen.

I cannot imagine anyone would want to murder me. I would just reclone? And since you don't loose memories upon pod death, this is not a kill to erase some unwanted memory. Perhaps the materials salvaged from the assassin's battleship, handed over to the authorities, will reveal more...

Coronation day

Coronation day is next week. Empress Catiz I was crowned on September 27th, YC 118, and will enter the seventh year of her rule. In one more year, she will have ruled longer than the late Empress Jamyl. 

Despite a rocky start with protests against her Udorian roots, her rule has been righteous and steady. She brought stability and prosperity during the first years of her reign. She continued the Heideranian reforms regarding diplomacy with the outside world, while introducing her own doctrine to reoganise the empire from within.

She faced the storm of the Triglavian invasions, and stemmed the tide of these starthieves like no other ruler of the central powers could. She then had to root out internal enemies, the rot of the Equilibrium of Mankind infiltrators, and oversaw a purge and purification of the empire that hasn't seen its equal since long.

LUMEN will hold special fleet operations to celebrate our beloved Empress and assist the Imperial Family in its various missions of trade, hauling, policing and peacekeeping. I'll try to do my part and will hold special services to pray for her majesty's health and a long reign.

Coffee origins

I'm finishing up the documentary I was tasked to make - I've been working hard on it all week. I am getting sidetracked too often. When I stumble on an interesting book unrelated to my present search, I often cannot stop myself from reading a bit in it. I've found this old book in the library on the uses of coffee and the ways of brewing it throughout the ages.

It appears coffee was discovered by a goat herder who found that his goats became overly energetic when eating the berries of the coffee plant. He reported this to the Abbott of the local monastery, who asked the infirmarer monk to investigate the plant's medicinal properties. They made a drink with the berries, and found that it kept the monks alert through the long hours of evening prayers.

The discovery was shared, first within the other monasteries of the same order, and later outside the walls of the monastery, as knowledge of the energizing effects of the berries spread.

Relics

To do some research on the tale of Zakara and Garum, I went to the blessed cathedral and monastery on Kador Prime III, devoted to Zakara.

On the wall between two beautiful painted glass windows, there stands a peculiar piece of furniture. It is adorned with shells and bronze curls, and sculpted angels are drawing ones attention to the center of the piece, where golden rays emerge from a small glass window containing a vial. This is an ancient reliquary shrine, containing a small remnant of the saint Zakara. A piece of bone. These are the traces of the passage on earth of a person that we consider a saint.

Those faithful to the rite rather than superstition do not believe that such relics of a saint hold supernatural powers. Rather, these mortal remnants of the saints are here to remind us that the saints are not perfect creatures or magical beings who were floating a foot above the ground. They started as ordinary people of flesh and bone, who were born, and lived, and had to make difficult and very brave decisions at one point in their life. They now stand as examples to guide us and also to help us through our own difficult times.

Brotherly love

I've been working on my documentary project about friendship and brotherhood/sisterhood, but the more I'm looking into it, the more I am overcome with a feeling of sadness.

With tensions building up once again in the cluster, we seem to forget that all are part of one large human family. The hope to work together towards justice and peace, kindled by Heideran VII, fades once again. It is, certainly amongst capsuleers, replaced by a complacent cynicism and indifference for others' well-being. The chasm deepens between the obsession for our personal satisfactions and the potential of happiness shared by the entire human family.

The discussions on the InterGalactic Summit are a sobering testimony this entrenchment of national and personal identities...

I should emphasize connectedness and meeting other cultures more in my ministry. Beginning with Heir-Lord Moradian, whom I'll encourage to keep in touch with his Gallente past rather than quench it in favor of a overly traditional Amarrian stance, taken on to compensate what is wrongly percieved as weakness.

Penance assignment

Sadly, there is still no news from the Antiquarian, nor from Library Assistant. Perhaps I should go solo on this first edition of the rare item fair? No, I think I am too eager and should be more patient.

Meanwhile, I've been gathering information about scripture's take on friendship and brotherhood. To do penance for my sin of pure thought, I am to make a documentary on the topic of friendship and corpsmanship. It will be entitled "The Sense of Faith" so that it can eclipse "the scent" more easily. Zakaria and Garum will be my examples, and I will ask the question of what makes a good friend. Perhaps I will get some of Ishta's new protegés to help out with the movie, or her brother Arne...

Nihil Obstat

No answers to my mails by the Antiquarian. So, no progress on the rare items fair.

Similarly, it's been a while since there was any progress on the Syndicate Prayer Book. This is an initiative from ms. Evelyn Arnoux, and although we collected some nice prayers, I think she wants to extend it further. I, on the other hand, am in favor of publishing the first edition as is, and adding any new entries for a next edition. To stimulate further entries for the second edition, we could hold a book launch event in Syndicate. I'm starting to add graphics to the collected prayers and making into something we can submit to the Theology Council for a very quick Imprimi Potest, and a Nihil Obstat. We can get the final Imprematur in time to incorporate additional prayers for an Imprematur Iterum...

Looking for a keynote speaker

I gathered my courage and contacted the most famous collector of ancient relics and artifacts in the cluster. Well, famous in collector circles, anyway. The Antiquarian. He is still around, or maybe back in the pod after a while: he was spotted in Tanoo.

I have hesitated to write him for a while, because compared to him I am but a newbie dilletante. But it would be amazing to get him on board as a special guest or even a keynote speaker in the rare items fair that I am planning.

In order to give the fair a truly international character, I've also contacted a Gallente collector, Librarian Errant, and he has now answered that indeed he is interested to be a co-organiser. This project is slowly taking solid shape.

Back to exploration

I've been doing some more cargo hauling missions for the Empire to slowly increase my standings, using my trucker's license to get good jobs from high-ranking agents. 

But the urge for exploration is starting to itch. I may do another stint in Seclusion, bringing the Indigatrix back there. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, you can't quite after the few handfuls of hay.

In parallel, I've tried to contact the capsuleer called Librarian Errant. It seems worthwhile to explore not only space, but also the market for relics.

Never a dull moment

Never a dull moment at the Lamp. First, plumbers that try to make an extra buck by selling Faith's bathwater. These were also the culprits that hid extra copy of The Scent in the library. Thank God the Reverend Mother and the Little Sisters came in to sort that out.

And then yesterday, there was an attempt on Heir-Lord Jason Moradian's life. His own mistake - taking unchecked neural implants that he bought from the dark web past security and into his quarters. It was rigged! He got badly hurt, but luckily no-one else got injured and security quickly got all over it. He must be much more careful!

Synod

A synod. The order I belong to from time to time calls on all its members to come to some central location and debate on some urgent matters of faith. Maybe the best analogy is a Caldari shareholder meeting being called to vote on a small change in a subrule of an article of the corporate charter. It is mandatory to go. To get to quorum, Caldari would say, but here in Amarr it is simply a moral obligation.

Even though it takes me away from my worldly obligations, this is a good occasion to meet brothers that I have not seen in a long time, and to tell each other about all that happened since we last met. It felt good, even though not all the news from friends and acquaintances has been good.

Tomorrow, it is the last day of the synod and then I will travel back to Nasreri.

Somewhere between business motivation and self-improvement

I thought it was strange: a lot of baseliners hovering around the bookshelf of Business Motivation and Self-Improvement. 

Those have never been popular here. Certainly not with Amarr baseliners. It is different for our Legionaire Caldari friends, they are more interested in that sort of works. But it weren't statesfolk hanging around the Business Motivation shelf...

So, I went to check it out. The customers that were there dispersed really quickly as I approached.

And, what did I find, lodged between "Twelve Habits of Highly Effective People" and "Mastering your Emotions to Grow Rich"?  To my utter dismay there were two copies of "The Scent of Faith." Unlabeled! These were not any of the fifteen copies we acquired and removed.

This is another copy that someone brought in, and hid there to share with their friends! It is not part of our collection, but it is smuggled in and put in between a lesser used part our collection. Only those who know exactly where to look can take these copies and view them.

The nightmare continues. 

I instructed the library assistants and the book shelvers to scour the stacks for more hidden copies, but this will take days given the extent of our collection. And I'll have to talk to Luna about this unpleasant development...

Bibliothecarial Innovation

I had to admit that Mr. Jensen is right: the new and stricter procedures for book acquisition will not work. They are stifling the influx of appropriate books and may not stop works hurtful to our members.

After talking to other librarians on the interlibrary loan network, I think I have found a solution for our book acquisition problem. It's something that is occasionally done in the Federation, but that I have not seen yet in the Empire. Usually, I stongly condemn bringing in any idea that come from the Federation, but this one is worth trying out.

Here in the Empire, it will be a revolutionary innovation.

It is called a "Complaint Box".

It is an elongated pillar-like structure of approximately 1.3 metres high, in mahogany wood or oak, with a slit on top, and a small door in the back that is usually kept locked. People who have a complaint, literally anyone, can formulate this complaint, even about their superiors! They drop it anonymously in the slit. The content of the box is regularly retrieved and reviewed. Here, we can repurpose this technology to have the library customers help screen out inappropriate works.

I had the wood workshop contruct a complaint box and put it up near the book return desk. I had them also make a plaque to put on the box. It is engraved with the following text: "The Library staff promises to engage themselves to screen out works that are personally hurtful and/or spiritually inappropriate. If despite our best efforts you find such a work in our public collection, please report it by dropping a note in this box or talking to a staff member. Reported works will be carefully reviewed and removed if found problematic".

Now that the box has been installed, I can rescind the procedure changes, to great satisfaction of mr. Jensen. The combination of the Index, our own judgment and now also the vigilant eyes of our customers will make the library a safe place to nurture the mind and the soul.

Complaints

Mr. Jensen, the head assistant librarian, has complained to me that the new procedures for book acquisitions are too strict. 

We should not let works in that are slanderous or hurtful to our members. Recently we, no, I let in a work that was particularly hurtful in an obvious way, but as I explained to mr. Jensen, there are more insidious ways that a book can be damaging so we need rely on the Theology Council.

Mr. Jensen told me there have been numerous complaints about delayed orders and reservations. As an example, he mentioned a book that he himself was particularly looking forward too. The book is a culinary work by the famous Gallente chef Fleur Duchous, and it is entitled "The hundred best cauliflower recipes of the cluster". It has been delivered but is waiting in stock, and unlikely to getting the TC's attention soon. He claimed it was completely harmless. 

I proposed that we could both have a look at it together. 

I was soon able to make my point. Recipe #57 is for "Roasted Cauliflower with Walnuts and Parsley". And, a little bit further, #64, innocuously entitled "Cauliflower Glow Bowl", calls for, well cauliflower, of course, but also turmeric, sweet potatoes, red onion, tomatoes, chickpeas and... walnuts!

The pictures in this book are magnificent and will kindle gluttonous desire in its readers. But, for those not aware of walnuts or their inherent danger to the soul, it may lead to disaster. Of course we can put warning stickers on those pages, but it's impossible to check all the cookbooks, let alone all the works that arrive daily at the library.

Grumpy, but sharp as ever, mr. Jensen pointed out that my new procedure has a fatal flaw. What if a work is approved by the Theology Council but nevertheless is hurtful to one of our members?  "No TC committee is screening for that!", he said, as he checked out the cauliflower book for himself anyway.

He's right.

Organizing committee

I noticed a fellow enthusiast of books and ancient artifacts on the "Summit" channel. He - or she - they are masked - goes by the name Librarian Errant, and unfortunately is a member of the Gallente militia. Nevertheless, Errant might be someone I can bring on board to organize a rare item convention in a neutral venue such as Yulai. That's been one of the plans I have been working on but delaying. 

With the return of the Antiquarian and now this new capsuleer, maybe there's a possibility to set up an international organizing committee. Or have them as invited speakers. Or both! Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, first I'll have to see what kind of person Librarian Errant is.

Changed procedures

I've altered the book acquisition procedures for our library. Up till now, it was merely necessary to check that candidate works are not in the Index, even for automated acquisitions. We've changed this rather lax, negative check into a positive check: works must get a positive recommendation first from the Theology Council or the Hedion Book Listings before they are available for loan. This will lead to a little purge for the library as it stands now.

Also, even though The Scent has been removed already, I've closed off the entire bookshelf of the New Eden Writer's Contest Award Winners until further notice, pending thorough review.

Finally, when new works turn out to be very popular and all copies repeatedly get lent out, there will no longer be an automated procedure to buy additional copies, rather the work will be flagged as suspect and up for review.

I hope these measures will keep our library safe in the future.

The ECB

Today again I found no confessor. Archbishop Baracca is away on some secret mission - the Societas' peaceful reclaiming runs in mysterious ways. Father Macauley has to rest after being overworked from taking over 200 confessions already. I don't trust any other baseliner priests to listen objectively to a capsuleer as myself.

So, my need for confession being high, I tried an ECB. The Emergency Confession Booths are cabins with a fully automated, computer-run confessor program, offered for nearly free by the Ministry of Internal Order (only 1 credit token per minute, the confessor beeps when you have to add tokens). They usually line an outside wall of your local MIO station, which has led foul mouths to claim that the Seal of Confession is not guaranteed by these booths.

I sat down, inserted a token, and wanted to start. I was interrupted by a voice that listed a menu, as a keyboard was displayed on the wall next to me. "Press L for sins of lust, B for blasphemy, A for anger, J for jealousy, ...". 

It went on and on and on. I think that it is telling that the list starts with lust, probably they use statistics to see what is most common. After fifty seconds, it had barely started the list, and it beeped already for another token. I inserted five tokens and waited. I was confused as to what category I would have to choose for allowing heretical works sexualizing fellow capsuleers into our library. That's not one of the canonical sins.

After a few minutes, finally the sin of Pure Thought was mentioned, I had to press PT. However, as soon as I pressed the first letter, P, the voice said, "You have selected the sin of [PRIDE]. Please state your confession."  So, I started saying "No, go back. Revert. Escape. Cancel."

The booth answered, "Since when have you started to experience [No, go back. Revert. Escape. Cancel.] ?"

"It's the wrong sin. Menu, please."

The booth answered "Wrong format. Please state a date.", and beeped to signal that I should insert another token.

I inserted another token, and, desperate, mentioned the date on which the automatic purchase of the New Eden Writer's contest books and holoreels was placed. Then I tried, "Restart."

The booth didn't react to my request, but said, "Do you feel contrition for [No, go back. Revert. Escape. Cancel.]? Please indicate your level of contrition between 0 and 9 with 0 being no contrition and 9 being absolute contrition."

This was wholly unsatisfactory. I tried to exit the booth, but found that it was locked. I was locked inside a small confession booth! "Booth in use, do not exit before absolution.", the booth said. I tried "Open door. Emergency."

The booth answered "Wrong format. Please state or type a number between 0 and 9." Defeated, I pressed 9. I do feel very contrite for having hurt ms. Griffiths and exposed our baseliners to heretical pornography.

The booth continued "How strong is your resolve not to perform [No, go back. Revert. Escape. Cancel.] again? Press a number between 0 and 9 with 0 being unresolved and 9 being most strongly resolved." And it beeped for a token again.

I inserted a token and pressed 9. I am very strongly resolved never to make this mistake again. 

The booth beeped again. "For absolution of the sin of [PRIDE], insert [19 TOKENS]." That seems wrong to me, I didn't feel listened to at all, and it just wants money? But, the door was locked, and I wanted out. I'd brought enough tokens with me, thinking that I would have to explain myself in detail. I paid and used up the last few tokens I had on me. From a slot that I hadn't noticed before, a printed ticket appeared. "Absolution granted for the sin of [PRIDE], more specifically [No, go back. Revert. Escape. Cancel.]."

I was glad it was over. Then, the booth asked, "Do you want to confess another sin?"

I answered "No."

The booth said "You selected 'Yes'. Press L for sins of lust, B for blasphemy, A for anger, J for jealousy, ..."

I panicked and started rattling the door. The booth bleeped again. I shouted for help, but no passer-by would stop and talk to me. 

Ten seconds later the booth said, "Insufficient funds." and the door lock clicked open. 

This is the last time I try an ECB.

Soul searching

I did not sleep well. The affair with the "Scent of Faith" holoreel kept bugging me. I tell myself that I should have reviewed its content. I then started to worry about the other contest winners, whether there might be more heresies in them. Aren't there some Electus Matari authors amongst the winners or the honorable mentions? But then, I can't read every book before it goes to the shelves, can I? There's just too many, that is why we have the Index, right?

And yet, as continued to I interrogate myself in the dark of night, I realized that all this discourse about reviewing and about the Index are just excuses I conjure up. 

Had I not heard beforehand that it was hurtful to ms. Griffiths? Yes, I had. Did I not know who Nauplius is? Yes, I knew. Have I not decided to include it anyway just for the sake of completeness of a library collection? Yes, I have.

Pure Thought is the Instigator of Sin.

I have committed the sin of Pure Thought, giving the intellectual primacy over the moral. I need to find a confessor. Why am I the only capsuleer confessor around? I'll try to contact my co-chaplain, Archbishop Constantin Baracca. I haven't seen him around as he is away on Missions but perhaps we can connect virtually.

Awarded and censored

I disapprove of personal censorship. Censorship should be left to the Theology Council, to groups of experts who decide what can be harmful. But individual persons, no, they should not impose their views.

That being said, I might have made a mistake by allowing the award-winning movie produced by the heretic Nauplius into the bookshelf of New Eden Writing Contest award winners. 

I mean, the main sponsor is the Societas - and the thing did get an award. So we have a tradition of automatically ordering the winning works and putting them in the prize winner shelf there. And we do get weird stuff there all the time. What to think about "Geology, Particle Physics, and Cheese in the Neoclassical High Ancient Precursor to Rouvenor Hegemony on Luminaire" ?

However, I neglected to realize that this particular work "The Scent of Faith" was hurtful to one of our own ranks, ms. Griffiths. Apparently, it sexualizes her in an inappropriate way. That is perhaps also why it was such a hit with many baseliners, as they tend to idolize capsuleers and fantasize about them. I am sure an academic discussion and critique of the work would have put it into context and help deconstruct it to reveal it for what it is. But, in this case, the Directix put a stop to it and exerted her powers to excise this work from our library and cancel the debate. 

She was probably right, the thing will be on the next edition of the Index anyway. Also, I need to look at the library from the point of view of the chaplain as well as the librarian...