[ WP ] In the future , you are a historian documenting the history of a generation ship

Riwa spent her off days home alone, in her underwear. She would crack up the sliding shoji, welcoming the gentle touch of an ocean breeze, and sit on the tatami - crawling and rolling between the dozen screens and input boards in the room. When she was tired, she put everything in sleepmode and napped. As soon as she was awake, she turned it all back on and returned to her work. No one at the Research center had a clue. They probably imagined that she reconstituted all these old dialects through sheer linguistic genius. The truth was that she had been obsessed for as long as she could remember, and every available hour of the twenty-five years of her live, she had devoted to finding out what happened on the *Humanity*. 
 
 *Kentoc'h mervel eget bezain saotret. * That was one of the first things she could remember reading in Brezhoneg language. It was engraved on the pediment of the Capitol, in bold, red letters. “ It means *Honor over all* ”, her father told her in a smile. Riwa shuddered. He would never be able to utter the words and smile like that again. Not after she was done with her thesis. She had already picked the title. The true meaning behind the words on the pedimen. What her ancestors really meant. *Death, rather than blemish. * 
 
 *My first year of primary school*, she wrote in her introduction, *I was told that I not only lived on a great planet full of great people, but also that I descended from more great people. They were intellectuals, scientists, humanists and artists from all over the planet Earth, who joined in a coalition and boarded the International Lifeship* Humanity, *setting for the stars in an attempt to discover the Universe. After ten years studying the records, I can now say that only one part of this was accurate: there were, indeed, Humans of several nationalities who boarded this ship, including some scientists. Beyond that, the version of events that we have been telling ourselves for the past century is nothing short of a myth. * 
 
 Riwa ran a hand through her red curls, her tired eyes wandering across the screen. They hadn ’ t been published yet, but these words had already gotten her fired. She had no doubt that as soon as they hit the network, they would also hurt her family and their sensibilities. She sighed, and shook her head. If anything, they were to blame. Their romanticism of the History of the *Humanity* ’ s Breton people had shaped her life. Even her name, Riwanon, was a reflection of that heritage. 
 
 **Myth I. Our ancestors were pioneers and explorers. ** 
 
 *The first generation of men and women who joined the *Humanity* were an eclectic bunch. A small vehicule buddhist sect from Japan, three different groups of technophiles, some pardonned criminals and adventurers, and famously, seven Breton families. What they all had in common was not their appeal for space exploration, but rather the fact that there was no place on Earth that would take them in. They were running away, taking refuge, fleeing - had they been presented with others choices, they may never have left Earth. * 
 
 They *made* her want to learn Brezhoneg, they *made* her proud of her ascendance. They gave her inspiration, she gave herself the means. For the past five years, she had used the Research Center ’ s access to go through every crypted log in Brezhoneg that she could. 
 
 **Myth II. While keeping their old heritage, they decided to cooperate and create their own new culture, known as** ***humanitian. *** 
 
 *There is no reference in any record of a* humanitian *culture. For the first three generations, little interbreeding can be observed, and all the different groups keep their own languages and activities. During the fourth generation, following a coup by Dinan Louarn, the Breton militia seizes control of the ship and starts imposing Breton as a compulsory language. He is evicted by a coalition centered around His Holiness Mori Kochi. The death toll on the Lifeship during the twenty years of power struggle is about 30 %, going as high as 50 % on the Breton side. * 
 
 If she had to know, if she had to carry this burden, then so did they. 
 
 **Myth III. Our current situation is the result of thirty generations of cooperation but also mixing of several people into one, which explains our peaceful and homogenous society. *** 
 
 *Until the tenth generation, the amount of mixing of the different groups is negligeable. Logs from all sides, especially the ones from the Breton side, show deeply-rooted despise and hatred, and systematic use of derogatory terms when refering to any non-Breton shipsman. Several cases of suicides in peace-offering arranged weddings can be noted as late as generation 25. Numerous logs make a reference to* yellow-bellies, *in this context, Breton women impregnated by Japanese men, and label them a* blemish. 
 
 *Kentoc'h mervel eget bezain saotret*. The words that had craddled her since childhood now caused her to hurl. “ Honor over all ”. There was no such thing. 
 
 **Myth VI. Despite some struggle in the first years, our ancestors had a fairly peaceful coexistence until they became one people. ** 
 
 *The last recorded massacre, which led to the death of approximately 1 % of the Lifeship population, occurred on generation 24, following a work-repartition dispute. In an effort to blackmail workers, revivalist militia members occupied children ’ s quarters and proceeded to kill one, randomly selected child a day until the workers agreed to resume work. 34 children were murdered in this instance. * 
 
 Riwa scooted away from the screen and lay down, her arms crossed under her head, her red hair electrified on the tatami. The ocean breeze caressed her face. Humanity had not changed. This was merely a period of relief, the calm after hundreds of years of storm, through lands and skies, across space and time. They could hang her for this. In fact, they might. They would probably choose to make her disappear, to claim she killed herself in a fit of madness. Most would buy it. Some wouldn ’ t. That was all that mattered. They would know, even if they chose not to believe. 
 
 *Death, rather than blemish. * 
 
 She had tried to trace the original context, all the way back to the time on Earth, unsuccessfully. Now that she was about to choose truth over the assurance that she would live, the motto was taken a new meaning. Dying rather than participate in a lie. She was ready. 
 
 She would tell this young world the truth about *Humanity*. 

