Note that Deucalion is not the linchpin for 9000 years of VS history
D: course not
utcs is just part of the story from his perspective
T: well, given that he hadn't been created yet, it'd be hard for him to be much influence on
Icarus Descended
D: hehehe
T: and, unbeknownst to him, he did play some role, though through little fault of his own,
in the timing of some events in utcs
which is to say, the role he played occurs befor utcs proper
and hence can't be screwed up by the player - then again, it'd be pretty hard to do, as the
only required action is (more or less) his existing at all
Deucalion is a remarkable being, in that he's actually an apology
Deucalion is a library's way of apologizing for killing an exploration crew some decades
prior
His role in the timing of things entirely being an issue of getting the AI quorum
pondering what built him, how, and why
and the effect that such ruminations had upon the rollout time for the "grandchildren"
sometimes, it is enough to know something is possible
that alone can make a difference, even if the particulars are beyond reach
a nudge, a narrowing of search, a path otherwise not taken, that leads to a slight speedup
in something else, itself long in the making, long before Deucalion
D: cool