A buried secret is never just an archaeological question. Explore discovery, judgement and consequences in Black Tide: Shadow of Leviathan · StartPlaying.
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Warhammer 40,000 · Spooky October · Week IV · What Should Have Remained Buried · Stacy & Caelwyn
Who owns a civilisation that has been asleep for millions of years?
STACY:
“The miners found a door.”
CAELWYN:
“What sort of door?”
“One that wasn’t built by humans. It lies beneath an inhabited mining colony, and the readings suggest there’s a vast complex behind it.”
“Then perhaps they should leave it closed.”
“Without learning what it is?”
Caelwyn studies the image.
CAELWYN:
“Does the colony know that somebody is proposing to open it?”
STACY:
“That might be the first question worth asking.”
Imagine an Imperial settlement above an ancient Necron tomb. Its workers need the minerals beneath their homes. The expedition’s scholars want to investigate a structure older than human civilisation. Nobody has seen a Necron emerge from the doorway.
STACY:
“Archaeology has taught us extraordinary things. Civilisations don’t become unimportant simply because they disappeared.”
CAELWYN:
“But the Necrons may not have disappeared.”
“Exactly. If the inhabitants are dormant rather than dead, can we even call it an abandoned tomb?”
“A person asleep in a house doesn’t surrender ownership of it.”
“Even after millions of years?”
“Would the number of years change whether that person was asleep?”
Stacy considers the human families living above the ruins.
STACY:
“Then who owns the ground? The sleeping civilisation, or the people born there who have never known another home?”
CAELWYN:
“Both might have claims worth recognising.”
“And if recognising one claim threatens the other?”
“Then the answer won’t come from calling one side an obstacle.”
STACY:
“Real archaeology has had to confront the question of who gets to open graves, remove human remains and display sacred objects.”
CAELWYN:
“Because curiosity isn’t permission.”
“And because the descendants of the people being studied may still be alive.”
“Here, the original inhabitants might be alive themselves.”
A silence follows.
STACY:
“That makes the usual language of discovery rather uncomfortable.”
CAELWYN:
“‘We discovered your home’ sounds different when its owner answers the door.”
“But wouldn’t learning about their technology help the colony?”
“Perhaps. A discovery can be useful and still violate somebody else’s rights.”
“So would you prohibit the investigation?”
“I would separate studying the exterior from activating the mechanisms inside.”
Stacy nods.
STACY:
“An image isn’t a key. A survey isn’t a command to open the door.”
CAELWYN:
“And an open door is not the same thing as a safe one.”
STACY:
“What if leaving it buried is also dangerous?”
CAELWYN:
“How?”
“The complex might already be awakening. Mining might disturb its systems. Ignorance could be the greater risk.”
“Then they need evidence of that, and a plan that protects the people above.”
“You’re not against investigation.”
“Of course not. I’m against pretending every question has to be answered by touching whatever we find.”
She smiles.
STACY:
“That’s going to disappoint a few members of the Adeptus Mechanicus.”
CAELWYN:
“They can add my complaint to the archives.”
But the situation offers no convenient promise. A decision to investigate can expose the settlement to danger. A decision not to investigate can leave danger unrecognised. Even evacuation may destroy livelihoods, while refusing to evacuate may risk lives.
STACY:
“Who should make that decision?”
CAELWYN:
“The people bearing the consequences must be heard. So must those who understand the threat.”
“And if the authorities want the technology more than they want a careful answer?”
“Then their interests belong in the investigation too.”
STACY:
“Suppose the door opens and a Necron demands the entire world back.”
CAELWYN:
“Does being first give someone the right to evict everyone who came later?”
“Does being born later erase an earlier claim?”
“No. That’s why this isn’t a simple contest between archaeology and survival.”
A civilisation’s return could be both a miracle of historical discovery and a disaster for people who never knew it existed.
STACY:
“Then perhaps the real danger is the word ‘empty’.”
CAELWYN:
“What do you mean?”
“We call land empty when we can’t see the people who have a relationship with it. We call a structure abandoned when its occupants haven’t answered us.”
“And sometimes we discover that our description was convenient, rather than true.”
Stacy looks towards the sealed threshold.
STACY:
“If you could uncover a civilisation lost for millions of years, what would give you the right to wake it?”
Caelwyn studies the settlement above.
CAELWYN:
“And what responsibility would you have to those who must live with the answer?”
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