Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future-1

The Earth is split into two dolphin-centric, high-tech timelines where mankind vanished; one is populated by superstitious former slaves, and the other by the militaristic and xenophobic Clan.

Type: Blossom

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Overview

At the dawn of the thirtieth century, man and dolphin have been living together for centuries in technologically advanced societies. When they turned most of their attention outward to explore the stars, they left Earth behind. Caretakers, mostly dolphins along with a few humans, volunteered to remain and maintain the shielding that protected the planet.

While most of the population was away, the alien Foe invaded. Stymied by the defenses designed by joint dolphin and human engineers, they resolved instead to prevent the two species from ever coming together.

By ripping a hole in the time continuum five hundred years before the present, they split the Earth's past into two alternate forks. One operated on thieving five noble traits from the psyche of dolphinkind; the other functioned on having two of those five traits restored.

The first, Man's Nightmare, is an abandoned and heavily-polluted Earth. Here, dolphinkind had become weak and gullible. Originally enslaved and exploited by humanity to operate underwater mining machinery, they remained behind when mankind destroyed itself on the surface world. Their populations dwindle in pollution-clouded waters, while they superstitiously await the return of a humanity that will never return.

The second, Dolphin's Nightmare, is an Earth where ambition and intelligence had been returned to dolphinkind. This culminated in cetaceans pushing humanity from the oceans, and eventually off-planet. Dolphins split into two species. The orca-like and militaristic Clan sport biotechnical enhancements like spikes and glowing red eyes, living in high-tech underwater structures. The gilled, green Outcasts live on the periphery of Clan waters, bullied and tormented, living "low-tech" in natural structures.

Vines connect the two not only to each other, but to the outside worlds and structure of the World Tree, too. The active area the vines focus on appear to be oceans and oceanic settlements, although there are no human settlements left on either fork.

Man's Nightmare

In this reality, dolphins were made weak and gullible. Mankind enslaved them and exploited them to operate underwater mining machinery. As individuals, the dolphins of Man's Nightmare are slow and stupid by modern comparisons. They can articulate and communicate well, but they have trouble understanding abstracts and causal relationships, and they're easily confused by too much complexity.

Man bred the dolphins into three castes, each suited to their work. The perceptive Cimson with red-dyed flippers would supervise works and troubleshoot problems, keeping production running smoothly. The ghost-pale Circle operated the machinery that poisond the very waters around them, often horribly scarred by the chemicals they were in proximity to. The orange countershaded Movers were the muscle, part-orca and more belligerent than their cousins.

The caste dolphins generally understand that offworld visitors are not "their" mankind, and await the return of their masters with the same patience they'd shown in centuries past, maintaining projects and works for no reason at all, blind and deaf to the possibility that their masters are gone forever.

Dolphin's Nightmare

The cetacean societies in Dolphin's Nightmare are wondrous cities made of coral and shell that has been engineered into specific structures, with doors and locks and facilities made with biotech. It looks pretty, but the society thatbuilt it is rtten.

Those cetacean societies found in Dolphin's Nightmare are smarter, but they don't have anything governing those smarts. The Clan has been twisted into a society made aggressive, xenophobic, and intensely selfish. It's every dolphin for himself. It doesn't help that their leadership is so militaristic and ready to fight, crush, and reject that which they don't understand, viewing compassion and kindness as weaknesses to be purged. What relationships they do have with the outside worlds are cold, calculating, and exploitive.

Societal status is determined by a series of rank marks, located on the sides or flanks. The higher-ranking Clan members also tend to have more drastic modification of their body, usually through cybernetic grafts.

Integration

Both realities inhabit the same metaphysical space, making each equally viable. One can visit each timeline separately from the World Tree, or even cross between the two via the local vine network.

The dolphins of Man's Nightmare are complacent. They have little ambition, and are too passive to explore far beyond their polluted waters. In most cases they aren't too curious about visitors and won't react much unless attacked, in which case, they'll fight back.

More aggressive are the Clan of Dolphin's Nightmare. They have no qualms about exploiting others, and will bully and torment even offworlders when bored. Humanity is an inferior species to them, and they suffer offworlders' presence only grudgingly. They will make alliances of convenience, but only when it benefits them. The small pod of Outcast welcome strangers; they're not truly selfless, but they also aren't aggressive or malicious, either.

Both Earth's populations interact with one another on occasion. The dull and superstitious castes look on the Clan with awestruck horror, willing to either flee or attack them on sight. The Clan are disgusted by their dim-witted cousins, tormenting them if they accidentally stray into Clan waters, and occasionally raiding Man's Nightmare for slaves.