Explosive collars, or equivelent if they lack heads.
Okay, that’s a good idea. Not mentioned in the book, but I can see a Kif going for it.
In practice, sure, but I got the impression that they valued actually gaining sfik, not merely pretending to have it (like a human valuing actually saving orphans, even though pretending to accrues benefits as well.) Was I mistaken?
They value sfik in more like the way as a human values reputation (which bears a lot of similarity to sfik). If no-one knows about it, it doesn’t count either way (a Kif may try to suppress knowledge of some failure, if this seems possible).
It is also common among Kif to claim to have more sfik than one has; in the process, one may in fact gain the extra sfik (say, by attracting followers with the bluff, and then using them to succeed in some task). Of course, if one bluffs too hard, then one gets a task that one cannot complete; and if one fails, or admits an inability to complete the task, one likely gets killed, so there’s an incentive not to bluff too high. (If one succeeds in the task, then one is assumed to have had sufficient sfik all along; the bluff becomes fact through general agreement).
It’s also worth noting that a Kif does not need to know who pulled the trigger to take revenge. In the absence of that knowledge, Kifish “revenge” might simply mean killing everyone present on the space station or other area in question (so everyone else nearby suddenly has a very strong motive to find out who did it before the Leader gets back, and present said Leader with the assassin’s disembodied head in the hope of turning away any further indiscriminate wrath, and possibly even gaining the Leader’s favour in the process). Whether the Leader would actually do this or not is irrelevant; the assassin’s head will anyhow be removed (if he can be identified), just in case.
Irritatingly, if a Kif does do this and get away with it, then six months later some ambitious underling several solar systems away might claim to be Vikkhtimakt’s killer, and get away with the sfik in any case.
Fair enough, I just assumed it was more of an honour code. I guess there’s no such thing as a low-key Kif that rules from the shadows, then. Chalk one more victory up for the human resistance I postulated earlier.
EDIT: It probably says something about me that just sort of assumed explosive collars were in common use. It might be seen as somehow “cheating”, though; it’s a lot easier to subdue someone with an implant than a stick.
Fair enough, I just assumed it was more of an honour code. I guess there’s no such thing as a low-key Kif that rules from the shadows, then. Chalk one more victory up for the human resistance I postulated earlier.
If there was, he’d still claim responsibility for his actions—possibly in the form of a note left at the scene claiming that “The Crimson Shadow did this!”. He doesn’t ever need to associate the name of the Crimson Shadow with his face; he can just as easily deliver orders to his underlings remotely, with voice-distorting telephones. (Of course, this means that he clearly doesn’t have the sfik to show his face; he fears someone stronger, and a fair majority of his followers will defect to the “someone stronger” instead. So, you’re right, it’s not really practical in the end).
EDIT: It probably says something about me that just sort of assumed explosive collars were in common use. It might be seen as somehow “cheating”, though; it’s a lot easier to subdue someone with an implant than a stick.
Also, an external collar may be removeable; it’s also worth noting that the only way to send a signal faster-than-light in this universe is in a jumpdrive-capable ship (and that has a few other disadvantages, mainly in that it takes some time to dock safely), so if a follower can get to another solar system and knows that his boss won’t be visiting for the next twenty-four hours, then he has twenty-four hours to try to get the thing off.
An internal collar largely evades this problem, as long as the underling isn’t willing to take a bit out of his own neck to escape. (But how much sfik would that sort of dangerous escape be worth?)
That’s true, you can always get far enough away that the boss can’t hurt you, no matter the tech level; radio and such merely extends it (yet another advantage of humanity.) In fact, since presumably the implant would need to be surgically inserted in the first place, so it’s never perfect. Although most fictional explosive collars react adversely to tampering, and once portable brainscans become available treachery is impossible; luckily this destroys narrative in any case.)
EDIT: wait, how does a Kif with a secret identity work?
That’s true, you can always get far enough away that the boss can’t hurt you, no matter the tech level; radio and such merely extends it
I realised after typing that up that I’d managed to miss what would probably be the obvious Kifish solution to the problem—kill the person holding the detonator (a quick draw and an explosive bullet to the brain would do just fine). Tamper-proofing on the collar doesn’t matter in that case, as it is not removed; and the collar can’t stop a long-range sniper.
and once portable brainscans become available treachery is impossible; luckily this destroys narrative in any case.
Portable brainscans are not available in the series (and I don’t see the Kif using them in any case. Sure, I can make more copies of me, but each copy would want to kill the original and take over, so it’s kind of risky...)
EDIT: wait, how does a Kif with a secret identity work?
I’m not entirely sure. They all look fairly similar to each other and usually dress to hide the differences (the protagonist simply cannot tell them apart at all, a significant disadvantage—worse yet, their smell makes her sneeze) so anonymity is simple enough; it would be fairly straightforward for a Kif to claim to be a different Kif, perhaps with the help of some makeup to fool his fellow Kif. (It would be kind of harder to claim to be human).
I realised after typing that up that I’d managed to miss what would probably be the obvious Kifish solution to the problem—kill the person holding the detonator (a quick draw and an explosive bullet to the brain would do just fine). Tamper-proofing on the collar doesn’t matter in that case, as it is not removed; and the collar can’t stop a long-range sniper.
Well, yeah. It’s a weapon; a highly effective weapon. That depends on you having the target at your mercy at some point.
Portable brainscans are not available in the series (and I don’t see the Kif using them in any case. Sure, I can make more copies of me, but each copy would want to kill the original and take over, so it’s kind of risky...)
No, like checking to see if someone’s plotting against you.
EDIT: wait, how does a Kif with a secret identity work?
That is to say, how does it work for a race who’s chief value is reputation if they have two (or more) separate identities?
Well, yeah. It’s a weapon; a highly effective weapon. That depends on you having the target at your mercy at some point.
At all points. Just because he’s wearing an explosive collar now doesn’t mean he won’t shoot you—it just means that he’ll do so very suddenly.
No, like checking to see if someone’s plotting against you.
Oh, right. Yes, I can see that getting a lot of use; just be careful when using the machine (anyone who was thinking about plotting will likely start shooting at about that point).
That is to say, how does it work for a race who’s chief value is reputation if they have two (or more) separate identities?
I do not know. The question did not come up in the series.
At all points. Just because he’s wearing an explosive collar now doesn’t mean he won’t shoot you—it just means that he’ll do so very suddenly.
He has to be at your mercy to get the collar on. After that, you have a powerful weapon against him. Not a perfect weapon, but it should be at least as good as your fists, eh?
Oh, right. Yes, I can see that getting a lot of use; just be careful when using the machine (anyone who was thinking about plotting will likely start shooting at about that point).
Not if it’s attached to their head and contains a bomb, set to go off if they betray you!
But that kind of thing sort of destroys narrative tension, so it’s not going to happen.
I do not know. The question did not come up in the series.
If I had to guess, I would say that the highest-value ID is the “real” one, and the other is merely a cover to throw off suspicion. Otherwise the whole “dressing all alike” thing could cause problems.
He has to be at your mercy to get the collar on. After that, you have a powerful weapon against him. Not a perfect weapon, but it should be at least as good as your fists, eh?
Very true. Even a little better than a gun, because it’s harder to miss and you don’t have to bother to aim. (Just don’t use the wrong detonator, that would be embarrassing).
If I had to guess, I would say that the highest-value ID is the “real” one, and the other is merely a cover to throw off suspicion. Otherwise the whole “dressing all alike” thing could cause problems.
That seems reasonable. One would expect all successes to be claimed by the “real” identity, and all failures to be shunted to the “false” identity; though this may result (if handled poorly) in people asking why Real Identity hasn’t yet had Fake Identity killed as an example to the others?
Okay, that’s a good idea. Not mentioned in the book, but I can see a Kif going for it.
They value sfik in more like the way as a human values reputation (which bears a lot of similarity to sfik). If no-one knows about it, it doesn’t count either way (a Kif may try to suppress knowledge of some failure, if this seems possible).
It is also common among Kif to claim to have more sfik than one has; in the process, one may in fact gain the extra sfik (say, by attracting followers with the bluff, and then using them to succeed in some task). Of course, if one bluffs too hard, then one gets a task that one cannot complete; and if one fails, or admits an inability to complete the task, one likely gets killed, so there’s an incentive not to bluff too high. (If one succeeds in the task, then one is assumed to have had sufficient sfik all along; the bluff becomes fact through general agreement).
It’s also worth noting that a Kif does not need to know who pulled the trigger to take revenge. In the absence of that knowledge, Kifish “revenge” might simply mean killing everyone present on the space station or other area in question (so everyone else nearby suddenly has a very strong motive to find out who did it before the Leader gets back, and present said Leader with the assassin’s disembodied head in the hope of turning away any further indiscriminate wrath, and possibly even gaining the Leader’s favour in the process). Whether the Leader would actually do this or not is irrelevant; the assassin’s head will anyhow be removed (if he can be identified), just in case.
Irritatingly, if a Kif does do this and get away with it, then six months later some ambitious underling several solar systems away might claim to be Vikkhtimakt’s killer, and get away with the sfik in any case.
Fair enough, I just assumed it was more of an honour code. I guess there’s no such thing as a low-key Kif that rules from the shadows, then. Chalk one more victory up for the human resistance I postulated earlier.
EDIT: It probably says something about me that just sort of assumed explosive collars were in common use. It might be seen as somehow “cheating”, though; it’s a lot easier to subdue someone with an implant than a stick.
If there was, he’d still claim responsibility for his actions—possibly in the form of a note left at the scene claiming that “The Crimson Shadow did this!”. He doesn’t ever need to associate the name of the Crimson Shadow with his face; he can just as easily deliver orders to his underlings remotely, with voice-distorting telephones. (Of course, this means that he clearly doesn’t have the sfik to show his face; he fears someone stronger, and a fair majority of his followers will defect to the “someone stronger” instead. So, you’re right, it’s not really practical in the end).
Also, an external collar may be removeable; it’s also worth noting that the only way to send a signal faster-than-light in this universe is in a jumpdrive-capable ship (and that has a few other disadvantages, mainly in that it takes some time to dock safely), so if a follower can get to another solar system and knows that his boss won’t be visiting for the next twenty-four hours, then he has twenty-four hours to try to get the thing off.
An internal collar largely evades this problem, as long as the underling isn’t willing to take a bit out of his own neck to escape. (But how much sfik would that sort of dangerous escape be worth?)
That’s true, you can always get far enough away that the boss can’t hurt you, no matter the tech level; radio and such merely extends it (yet another advantage of humanity.) In fact, since presumably the implant would need to be surgically inserted in the first place, so it’s never perfect. Although most fictional explosive collars react adversely to tampering, and once portable brainscans become available treachery is impossible; luckily this destroys narrative in any case.)
EDIT: wait, how does a Kif with a secret identity work?
I realised after typing that up that I’d managed to miss what would probably be the obvious Kifish solution to the problem—kill the person holding the detonator (a quick draw and an explosive bullet to the brain would do just fine). Tamper-proofing on the collar doesn’t matter in that case, as it is not removed; and the collar can’t stop a long-range sniper.
Portable brainscans are not available in the series (and I don’t see the Kif using them in any case. Sure, I can make more copies of me, but each copy would want to kill the original and take over, so it’s kind of risky...)
I’m not entirely sure. They all look fairly similar to each other and usually dress to hide the differences (the protagonist simply cannot tell them apart at all, a significant disadvantage—worse yet, their smell makes her sneeze) so anonymity is simple enough; it would be fairly straightforward for a Kif to claim to be a different Kif, perhaps with the help of some makeup to fool his fellow Kif. (It would be kind of harder to claim to be human).
Well, yeah. It’s a weapon; a highly effective weapon. That depends on you having the target at your mercy at some point.
No, like checking to see if someone’s plotting against you.
That is to say, how does it work for a race who’s chief value is reputation if they have two (or more) separate identities?
At all points. Just because he’s wearing an explosive collar now doesn’t mean he won’t shoot you—it just means that he’ll do so very suddenly.
Oh, right. Yes, I can see that getting a lot of use; just be careful when using the machine (anyone who was thinking about plotting will likely start shooting at about that point).
I do not know. The question did not come up in the series.
This is why you invent the deadman switch.
Indeed. It’s an arms race.
He has to be at your mercy to get the collar on. After that, you have a powerful weapon against him. Not a perfect weapon, but it should be at least as good as your fists, eh?
Not if it’s attached to their head and contains a bomb, set to go off if they betray you!
But that kind of thing sort of destroys narrative tension, so it’s not going to happen.
If I had to guess, I would say that the highest-value ID is the “real” one, and the other is merely a cover to throw off suspicion. Otherwise the whole “dressing all alike” thing could cause problems.
Very true. Even a little better than a gun, because it’s harder to miss and you don’t have to bother to aim. (Just don’t use the wrong detonator, that would be embarrassing).
That seems reasonable. One would expect all successes to be claimed by the “real” identity, and all failures to be shunted to the “false” identity; though this may result (if handled poorly) in people asking why Real Identity hasn’t yet had Fake Identity killed as an example to the others?