TABLE OF CONTENTS

RHO CASSIOPEIAE INTRODUCTION TO TOMORROW

We had achieved more progress than ever before. With exponentially accelerating technologies, we reforged our
bodies and minds, casting off sickness and death. We achieved immortality through the digitization of our minds.
Hard Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalypse, Conspiracy, Horror
Several themes pervade the setting, some with which the reader may not be intimately familiar. The following helps
We acquired the means to build anything we desired from the molecular level up, so that no one need want again.
define these themes so that as players read further into this guide, they gain a solid understanding of how Rho
Yet our race toward extinction was not slowed and in fact received a machine-assist over the precipice.
builds on such themes to create its setting.
The first expansion came by way of the enigmatic spike drives that granted humans the ability to skip between
Hard science fiction is characterized by an emphasis on scientific accuracy. The heart is the relationship between
stars. The spike drive touched on different worlds. It folded the tissue of space and time and pierced it to emerge at
the science content and the artistic freedom of the narrative, as well as the rigor of the science itself. A story should
distant stars, but the space between touched in turn those who travelled it. Over the course of generations, this
try to be accurate, logical, credible and rigorous in its use of current scientific and technical knowledge. It should
subtle influence started to reshape us. The resulting condition became known as Interspatial Cognition Disorder
aim to include technology, phenomena, scenarios and situations that are practically and/or theoretically possible,
or ICD. At first it was thought to only affect those who were not mentally stable enough for interspace travel. So,
whilst trying to avoid fantastical elements concealed by technobabble. In the Rho setting the ambition is to stay as
the expansion continued, reaching out into the solar neighbourhood and beyond, as humanity slowly transformed
close to real science as possible, but there is a degree of flexibility when it comes to enabling devices that allow
into something else.
the story to take place. As such, the settings scientific "hardness" is less a matter of the absolute accuracy of the
science content and more about the rigor and consistency with which the various ideas and possibilities are
When causes of ICD became clearer, new efforts were made to develop alternatives to the spike drives. Not since
worked out. The hard sci-fi theme means that the game can feel more limiting than what players are used to. The
the first expansion had all of humanity shared such a fervent dedication to a single goal. The jump gates were
rule of cool , i.e. suspending disbelief, lore and/or game rules for the sake of having a cool moment is used
arguably the most ambitious project ever undertaken by our species. These gigantic structures took centuries to
sparingly, if at all. It is important that the players familiarize themselves with the world and its scientific concepts
finish, required enormous amounts of energy, and were each manned by thousands of engineers. They were
as much as they can, so that they can maximize their agency within the boundaries of the lore.
capable of near-instant transportation from system to system and would eventually connect all the core worlds
together in a great web. Spike drives were deemed defunct and became relegated to the frontier; to the distant
Post-apocalyptic is a term used to describe fiction set after a cataclysmic event has ended human civilization as we
systems that could not yet afford to build gates.
know it. The importance of the theme is the human condition. If the world we know is torn away from us and
humans suffer horrors beyond imagining in this transformation to a post-apocalyptic setting, how does humanity
As the yellow hypergiant Rho Cassiopeiae went supernova, an interspatial pulse of unimaginable violence erupted,
cope? Do we survive and thrive and overcome? Do we lose our own humanity in the process? Or ultimately fall to
washing over the whole of known space in seconds. Billions died immediately, as ICD either fried their brains or
extinction? Those are the questions that drive this genre. This theme has a major impact on the tone of the game, as
burnt a pathway through their sanity. The immediate shockwave of heavily irradiated atomic particles showered
there is a pressing sense of loss, yet a fervent wish to start anew.
nearby systems, turning cosmic bodies into spacedust. A little further away from the epicentre, entire ecosystems
soon succumbed to the onslaught of gamma rays
A conspiracy theory attributes the ultimate cause of an event or a chain of events (whether political, social or
and ultraviolet radiation. Finally, as the delicate
historical) to a secret group of individuals with immense power who hide their activities from public view while
infrastructure that supplied the jump gates
manipulating events to achieve their goals, regardless of consequences. Many conspiracy theories contend that a
crumbled, the core worlds found themselves cut
host of the greatest events of history were initiated and ultimately controlled by such secret organizations. Of equal
off. Having become reliant on resources from the
importance is the silent struggle between clandestine groups, waging a secret war behind the scenes to determine
frontier to sustain their enormous populations
who influences the future. This theme has a big influence on the kind of stories, and by extension gameplay, you can
and to fuel their vital technologies, they all
expect in the setting. Murder mysteries, criminal investigation, political scheming and shady deals are all likely to
eventually fell. Those lucky few that managed to
make appearances in your game.
make it out brought with them tales of horror,
starvation, and frantic warfare over shipyards and
Horror takes many forms, but in Rho it is more psychological than gore. It is the uncertainty of survival, the
orbital factories. The decades that followed saw
suspense of finding malevolent things among the stars, and fear of the unknown. It is the dread of facing Things
unnumbered human worlds fighting to survive
That Should Not Be, the revulsion when encountering alien things, the utter panic when confronted with that which
their sudden isolation. Some slid into barbarism
lies beyond the limits of human understanding, and the sickening realization of the ghastly things that humans are
or worse, their planets unable to support a
capable of doing to themselves and each other. Horror also arises from the comprehension that humanity may be
starfaring civilization. Some worlds lacked metals, or fossil fuels, or any one of countless other vital ingredients for
its own worst enemy. Despite all of the technological tools and advances available to future humans, they still face
maintaining their industry.
terrors like losing control of their own identities, their perceptions, and their mental facultiesnot to mention their
future as a species. This theme leads the game to deal with many mature, psychological and philosophical questions, with
Now, a century later, humanity is scattered like dust among the stars. We survived, but only as a patchwork of
perhaps the most central being What does it really mean to exist?
desultory collectives. Human space is a vast canvas of mystery to most. The grand history of humanitys golden age
has been lost and the broken relics of a former day litter the skies around us. Existence seems to most to be
Rho takes all of these themes and weave them together. Hard Sci-Fi is the stage of the play; it is what sets the limits
without direction or meaning. Some say, however, that the end is just a beginning of something new
and boundaries of what is possible and what isnt, it is the source of the suspension of disbelief that will allow the
game to deal with much of its more mature and bleak subject matter. The post-apocalyptic angle covers the software, and the likelihood of ICD. In other words, the more advanced your crafts on-board AI, life-support
understanding of all that humanity has lost, the fight against extinction, and how much of that is a struggle against systems, nav systems etc, the bigger the risk of suffering a critical malfunction.
our own nature. The conspiracy side delves into the nature of the secret organizations that play key roles in
determining humanitys future and how the actions of determined individuals can change the lives of many. The Spike travel isnt the only cause of ICD. With the digitization of the human mind came limitless other possibilities to
horror perspective explores the results of humanitys self-inflicted transformations and how some of these changes disrupt spacetime. When a person resleeves (moves from one body to another), forks (creates a copy of their ego),
effectively make us non-human. Tying it all together is an awareness of the massive indifference and the terrible egocasts (transfers their ego as a data stream over stellar distances) or egomerges (integrates two egos into one,
alien-ness that pervades the universe and how humanity is insignificant against such a backdrop. usually forks), there is an experienced loss of continuity, similar to the experience of someone who has been in an
long-term coma or in extended hibernation. What confounds researchers the most about these soft causes of ICD
Offsetting these themes, however, the setting also asserts that there is hope, that there is something worth fighting is that they seem entirely unrelated to the processes involved when using spike technology. The soft causes all arise
for, and that humanity can and will pave its own path toward the future. from an individuals subjective experience of a loss of spacetime continuity, and not from an actual, physical
disruption. Some more recent theories therefore suggest that our subjective reality and the physical universe might
EGO VS. MORPH be more closely connected than had previously been thought.
The distinction between ego (your mind and personality, including memories, knowledge, and skills) and morph
(your physical body and its capabilities) is one of the core concepts of the setting. A good understanding of the
concept right up front will allow players a glimpse at all the story possibilities out of the gate.
A NEW EXISTENCE
DATING CONVENTION
Your body is disposable. If it gets old, sick, or too heavily damaged, you can digitize your consciousness and BR Before Rho and AR After Rho is how humanity refers to events that happened before or after the catastrophe
download into a new one. The process isnt cheap or easy, but it does guarantee you effective immortalityas long when Rho Cassiopeiae went supernova. BR and AR has also largely come to replace the archaic BCE and CE
as you remember to back yourself up and dont go insane. The term morph is used to describe any type of form convention when it comes to keeping track of galactic years. The galactic calendar itself is a remnant from before
your mind inhabits, whether a vat-grown clone sleeve, a synthetic robotic shell, a part-bio/part-synthetic pod, or Rho and so a year still consists of 365 earth days. Since there no longer is a unified galactic society however, most
even the purely electronic software state of an infomorph. people do not care about galactic time, and so the use of days and years is mostly confined to historians and old-
Earth enthusiasts. An example of a galactic date is AR 240.122 (the 240th day of the 122nd year after Rho)
A characters morph may die, but the characters ego may live on, assuming appropriate backup measures have
been taken. Morphs are expendable, but your characters ego represents the ongoing, continuous life path of your
characters mind and personality. This continuity may be interrupted by an unexpected death (depending on how GALACTIC GEOGRAPHY
recently the backup was made), but it represents the totality of the characters mental state and experiences. Since Rho, human civilization is essentially located in a thin ring around what used to be the Core worlds. This ring,
which BR was called the frontier, is divided into over 60 sectors. These sectors used to be administrative units, but
INTERSPATIAL COGNITION DISORDER are these days more of a geographical unit; human civilization is spread out over more than three thousand parsecs
(roughly ten thousand light years), and the sectors are an easy way of referencing general locations. Furthermore,
Interspatial cognition disorder, ICD, is another important aspect of the Rho setting. It is the ever-present threat that the sectors were created to take into account galactic geography, such as nebulas, asteroid belts and star clusters,
looms in the background. It is what you hear whispers about but few dare speak of openly. Its the stuff of urban and each system in a sector is therefore often more connected to other systems in the same sector than it is to
legends and rumors from far away places. In a world where your mind is the only thing that is still sacred, where systems in other sectors.
the immortality of your ego is the only thing you can rely on, ICD is the other that challenges everything. In
essence, ICD is caused by interruptions in spacetime. When you travel with spikecraft, the universe as we
understand it fades away, and you enter a realm that is far beyond our comprehension. Once you re-emerge, the THE FAR FRONTIER
physical laws that govern existence have been cheated, and you have moved from one point in space to another in a Just as the Coreworlders used to refer to the sectors as the frontier, the sectors now refer to habitats that lie further
time that physics rules impossible. Since the current understanding of spike technology is limited, the root cause of out as the far frontier. AR colonization is practically non-existent however, and the few habitats that lie beyond the
ICD is also limited. What we know all too well, however, are the effects of it. Panic attacks, memory loss, logorrhea, sectors are usually either temporary mining expeditions, or they have been set up by radical groups that wish to
blackouts, hallucinations, impulse control issues, schizophrenia, depression, and depersonalization are all common live in isolation, away from the rest of humanity.
in people who spike regularly and over long distances.
THE ORION SPUR
Brain scans of such individuals reveal missing and damaged synapses, changes in neural pathways and altered
The Orion Spur, or simply Orion, is the name given to the minor arm that contains the entirety of human civilization.
brain chemistry. Once a certain threshold is reached, biobrains will either collapse entirely, or the victim will go
It is flanked to the galactic south by the Perseus Gulf a vast, 1,800 parsecs-across gap of empty space and to
insane.
the north by the Saguttarius Gulf, which is even wider at over 2,400 parsecs. Beyond the gulfs lie the Perseus Arm
and the Sagittarius Arm, respectively, but no effort has been made to colonize there. While Orion covers an
ICD does not only affect biological systems, however. Software will start to encounter gaps in their mnemonic
extremely vast distance, it represents only a small section of the Milky Way. Within Orion lies more than 200,000
processes, causing them to effectively lose memory. For the individual, this means that their cortical stack and
systems, with countless millions of planets, moons, asteroids, and other celestial phenomena. Only a fraction of
cyberbrain isnt safe either. Research also suggests that there is some correlation between the complexity of the
these star systems contain habitats, with roughly three thousand systems currently hosting some form of human
habitat, albeit in many cases nothing more than small research stations or military outposts.
 Even in this vastly changed setting with its vastly changed inhabitants, the central concerns of humanity remain
much the same. People seek both material abundance and social status, and they wrap themselves in various public
and private ceremonies. Like generations of humans before them, humans separate themselves into different
cultures and subcultures, all of which enjoy a wide variety of physical and virtual entertainments. Politics and
economics remain vitally important and, as always, those who are wealthy, powerful, and famous have a large
degree of control over the lives of those who are poor, relatively powerless, and unknown.

Roughly half of people now alive left the Core as infugees and were subsequently resleeved into new morphs.
Bodies are things that can be modified and replaced, much as someone can alter or exchange a suit of clothing.
Identity is centered in the mind, which can exist as a disembodied infomorph living in virtual worlds or dwelling in
a vast array of strange and exotic morphs. While there are bioconservatives who resist these many changes to
identity and physicality, they are very much in the minority. To most people, humanity has also been expanded in
scope to factor in non-human persons such as AGIs, though the rights and status of these sapients is sometimes
contested. As humans continue to absorb the ramifications of this new way of life, they face a new crop of problems
and issues. Two of the largest and most important are the increase in inequality and the splintering and separation
of humanity into many different clades.

INEQUALITY
The technologies first developed in the last few centuries before Rho and refined in the decades after have
transformed humanity. In all but the most backwards, impoverished, and repressive regions of the sectors, the vast
majority of humanity is smarter, healthier, and richer than any humans have ever been. Additionally, individuals
can improve their minds and their bodies in almost any fashion their imaginations can dream up. Those who can
afford the right augmentations can think faster, never forget anything they have ever learned, become
mathematical savants, and heal from injuries many times faster than an unmodified human. When resleeving is
combined with implants, humans can gain even more amazing capabilitiesbut these benefits are far from free.
During the first decade after Rho, most of the surviving population was relatively poor. Many were grateful to have
any morph at all. While the economic situation has improved, significant inequalities remain and seem unlikely to
change. Hundreds of millions of people must make do with very basic splicers, pods, cases or synths, while a few
million are wealthy enough to have custom-designed morphs created for them, complete with all the
augmentations they desire. These same members of the elite live in luxurious villas and mansions, and in a few
cases privately owned asteroids, while most other people must make do with a few hundred cubic meters of
dwelling space.

While inequities of living space are ancient, the issue of economic inequality producing inequities of physical and
mental capacities is both relatively new and considerably more problematic. In regions using the old and mixed
economies, differences between the rich and the poor are expressed in terms of money. In habitats using the new
HUMANITY AFTER RHO economy, wealth is meaningless and status and opportunity are denoted with reputation scores. In all three
Before Rho, humanity consisted of more than two hundred billion people, with all but approximately four hundred economies, some people have more than others, and because of this, technology allows the better off to be better
million living in the Core. The shockwave of the supernova itself swallowed less than ten percent of the Core. The than the people around them. Skillware lets people buy knowledge and expertise, while multitasking and mental
rest, including Earth, fell in the aftermath, as ecosystems collapsed from cosmic radiation, the ICD epidemic left speed implants allow individuals to get more done at once. Someone fortunate enough to acquire large numbers of
populations decimated, and as the galactic trade and supply networks that many habitats relied on fell into ruin. In such augmentations is capable of significantly more than someone who lacks them, and so can do even more to
total, more than ninety-nine percent of humanity was wiped out, and today the population of the sectors is only increase their money or rep, thus serving to further perpetuate inequality. This problem is less serious in the
slightly over one billion. The lifestyles of these people were almost unimaginable a century earlierthe vast reputation-based economies, as it is significantly easier to build reputation through hard work and dedication. In
majority live in sealed habitats on hostile exoplanets or in sealed space colonies, the largest of which hold more rigidly controlled monetary economies, class stratification is institutionalized and upward mobility is largely a
than a million inhabitants and are many kilometers long. While the terraformation of Core worlds had created at myth. As supporters of the status quo are fond of pointing out, even the have-nots are smarter and healthier than
least a dozen Earth-grade planets, in the sectors there are currently no planets that can host human life without any previous generation of humans and possess the same potential immortality as the wealthiest member of the
some sort of habituation. elite. It is equally true, however, that in many ways the divisions between wealthy and impoverished are
significantly greater than they have ever been.
In the past, the members of the elite might be somewhat healthier and better fed than the have-nots, but both rich
and poor still lived in relatively similar and fundamentally human bodies. Now, the very nature of humanity has
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Rho and its aftermath continues to be a major influence on human culture and society. Prior to the start of the
been called into question. The least fortunate can be forced to inhabit bodies designed specifically for the pleasure
evacuation, more than ninety-nine percent of the people who survived Rho had never been off their homeplanet.
of those wealthier than them or even denied any body and forced to live as infomorphs until they can find some
For them, space was a distant realm where other, more daring and adventurous people lived; a place flatlanders
way to acquire a new morphtypically by selling their services to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, the well-off can
only saw on videos. Then, in the course of a few short years, hundreds of millions of people were forced to leave
customize their bodies and their minds, enabling them to accomplish far more and to be considerably more
their homes behind. The fortunate few first evacuees left with no more than a dozen kilograms of possessions,
impressive and charismatic than anyone lacking their advantages. These inequalities may seem insurmountable,
while the vast majority were infomorph refugees who escaped with nothing, not even their bodies. Today,
but some groups and even some entire habitats have dedicated themselves to reducing inequities by producing low
humanity is divided into three groups. The first group contains the true veterans of space life, the less-than-one-
cost (and occasionally highly unreliable) versions of many of the more impressive morphs and augmentations.
percent of humanity that was already living in space before Rho. The second group is the ten percent of the
population that was either born after Rho or is too young to remember it. The remaining eighty-nine percent of the
current population of the sectors lived generally happy and prosperous lives before Rho. Out of these eighty-nine
percent, only four in ten are original residents of the sectors. The rest are Coreworlders that were forced to flee
during Rho. These refugees form a powerful social force, but as time goes on memories grow dim and people adapt
to their new homes and lives.

FEAR AND PARANOIA

Rho left behind a persistent legacy of fear. This has faded over the past decades, but a great many humans still
unconsciously expect the other shoe to drop and another catastrophe at any moment. Spike drives, morphology,
AGIs and nanofabrication have all at one point or another been blamed for the fall of the Core. With a lot of people,
there is a deeply held skepsis, sometimes even aversion, toward technology. Even now, expressing any support for
things such as AGI rights and morphological freedom is illegal in many, if not most, habitats. Anyone who does so
runs the risk of becoming the target of mob violence that the authorities are unlikely to investigate too closely.
Merely being suspected of harbouring such views is enough to get someone shunned or even killed. While such
incidents are now far rarer than they were in the first few years after Rho, people who act too odd and who lack
someone with a sufficiently high rep to defend them or explain their actions are occasionally killed, typically by
being thrown out an airlock. There are also periodic rumors in many habitats, especially small and isolated stations,
that one or more other habitats have been taken over by AGIs, leading to a variety of inter-colony problems. Such
rumors are usually resolved quickly, but the most persistent can seriously harm relations between habitats. Claims
that other stations are infested with, or even controlled by, AGIs are frequently employed by extreme
bioconservatives hoping to demonize radical habitats populated entirely by infomorphs or synthmorphs. As more
people manage to put the fear and horror of Rho behind them, such claims are less likely to be believed.

REAL AND SOCIAL DISTANCE

Communications suffer a significant time lag between asking a question and receiving an answer due to the vast
CLADES AND SEPARATION distances between most habitats. The time lag ranges from hours to several months, and it makes real-time
communications between distant habitats impossible. Communication problems only serve to further isolate
In many habitats, hyper-augmented elites rule a mass of humanity that is stuck using low-end morphs and minimal habitats from one another. As a result, people socialize primarily with members of their own habitat or system (if
augmentations (or even infomorphs living in rented morphs), but this is not the only option found in the sectors. their habitat is part of one of the various groupings of between two and twenty habitats in the same star system).
Humanity has splintered into a wide variety of subcultures, some of which are based upon an individuals choice of Within a habitat or cluster, communication between residents is effectively instantaneous thanks to the
morph. Some of this separation is due to the necessity of inhabiting difficult environments. Many unusual omnipresent wireless grid known as the mesh. Anyone wearing a mid-range ecto or using basic mesh inserts can
environments require those living in them to choose from a very limited range of morphs. There are dozens of communicate with others in ways that go far beyond mere voice contact. Both devices allow AR communications
specialist morphs designed for specific uses and environments. A great number of habitats are inhabited largely or that are in most ways barely distinguishable from in-person communication, so people can effectively spend in-
exclusively by individuals using a single type of morph or a limited number of specialist morphs. In asteroid belts, person time with anyone in their habitat at any moment when both of them are free and interested in
planetary rings and smaller moons, there are habitats that do not rotate. These zero-g habitats are best inhabited communicating. Unless someone deliberately wishes to turn off communication because they are sleeping or
by microgravity-adapted morphs like bouncers or synthetic shells that maneuver easily with gas-thrust jets. Some otherwise busy, people can always get in touch with one another. Many close friends and romantic partners
habitats do away with the necessity of both life support and gravity, with all residents sleeved in synthetic shells. As regularly communicate anytime they have a spare moment, sharing comments and jokes. This communication is
Earth becomes more distant in humanitys collective memory, its traditions and social norms hold less sway and far more awkward and distant if there is a time lag of several minutes between every comment, so inter-system
people feel more free to create and use new bodies and new ways of life to go along with them. communication is never as informal or close.
Though travel can sometimes be as easy, if not as cheap, as communication, a trip to another habitat is considered when gender is abolished or spurring the residents of a particular station to freely switch their morphs based on
to be a significant journey with a range of costs. Traveling individuals will no longer be able to engage in real-time the responsibilities and duties they have on a given day. Such staged experiments are, however, relatively rare
communication or shared real-time entertainments with people back on the habitat they left, so they will have to the vast majority of unique customs and social structures that have come about since Rho naturally evolved from
find a new social environment. The social distance between individuals and the social network they leave behind is groups of like-minded individuals living together in the same habitat and working, consciously or not, to make life
part of the cost of travel. The exodus of humanity from the Core, and with it the collapse of the jump gate system, better fit with their aesthetics or ideology.
means that an individuals social world is often only as large as their habitat. Even a relatively brief communication
lag, such as the thirty to sixty seconds that is the average time lag between any two habitats in an average-sized
star system, greatly hinders the flow of back-and-forth communication. When time-lags are involved, most
THE POLITIES
One would have thought a cataclysmic event such as Rho would bring the surviving elements of humanity closer
exchanges consist of messages rather than any attempt at continuous conversation. In situations where a more in-
together, jointly dedicating themselves to the repopulation of the Core and continued prosperity. Instead, the
depth discussion is necessary and time is limited, someone can send a fork of themselvesa digital copyto hold
remoteness and physical isolation of human colonies and habitats stretched across the sectors, as well as the
the discussion remotely on their behalf and then return for re-integration. Since there is already a large time lag
effects emerging technologies have had on human economies and social lives, have promoted the evolution of a
between sending a message and obtaining any possible response, most people do not hurry to answer messages
wide spectrum of philosophies, agendas, and political models.
from distant habitats except in the most urgent circumstances, further isolating people residing in distant portions
of the sectors.
Political entities, or polities, are the equivalents of the old nation-states of Earth. They are however much more
complex in their structure, as individual habitats can be millions of kilometres apart, and both data transfer and
THE RISE OF CULTURAL REGIONS physical travel between habitats within large polities can take months. The potential for centralized rule is thereby
The only exception to the social distance between different habitats occurs when habitats are located on or in limited, and it is thus more useful to think about how pre-modern societies worked when trying to understand the
relatively close orbit around the same planet or moon. The population of habitats on the same planet can all polities; Neighbouring habitats can vary a great deal in economic model, politics and culture. This is further
communicate with one another instantaneously, as can everyone in orbit around that planet. Individuals from emphasized by the sometimes wildly differing physical environments; the flatlanders that live in the safety of an
habitats on a single cosmic body do socialize, but among the elite social cliques, spending too much time underground megahabitat will have a different sense of security, and thereby a different outlook on life, than their
communicating with members of another habitat is often viewed as somewhat odd and potentially even disloyal. neighbours up in a tin can in orbit, who run the risk of decompression if anyone as much as initializes a wrong
As a result, habitats tend to be relatively isolated even from their close neighbours. Sociologists refer to clusters of executive. The majority of the habitats in the sectors are single-location, independent polities, similar to old-Earth
habitats as cultural regions. Many sectors form cultural regions, but the cohesion and unity of these cultural units city-states. The few larger, interstellar polities that exist in the sectors tend to have arisen from either a hypercorp
vary a great deal. Habitats on the edges of a sector usually have weak links to their cultural regions, and the few that has decided to monopolize a market by dictating the laws of several individual habitats or a BR military
habitats in the far frontier are not part of any cultural region at all since the distance between them and their habitat that, due to a lack of purpose and real threats, has turned its aggressive and domineering nature against its
nearest neighbours are so extreme. Though communications between habitats within the same cultural region is neighbours.
somewhat awkward due to intra-regional cultural differences and timelags, it is usually fast and easy enough for

TECHNOLOGY
people on different habitats to keep in regular contact with one another. In addition, most habitats within the same
cultural region are sufficiently close that egocasting between them is affordable by most people. In contrast,
egocasting between cultural regions is relatively expensive. Many sociologists predict that within one or two
centuries, different cultural regions will be at least as different from one another as distant nations of Earth were LIVING WITH INFOTECH
from one another during the first half of the 20th centuryperhaps even more so due to the physical alterations For anyone with basic mesh inserts or an ecto (meaning about ninety-six percent of the population), life is filled
that cultures introduce as they continue to evolve. with data. For people with the best implants, all information available on the mesh is available at a thought. For
everyone else, it only requires a brief pause to access and understand it. When someone pauses and looks a bit
CULTURAL EXPERIMENTATION distracted in the midst of a conversation, everyone understands they are accessing data and lack the implants to
allow them to do this subconsciously or via multi-tasking. As a result, when a group of people are discussing a topic
While nostalgia for old nations remains a powerful social motivation, the break from the Core led many inhabitants
and no one immediately knows an answer to a question, such as the title of a performers first vid, within a few
of the sectors to experiment with new forms of culture and society. Since Rho destroyed physical links with the seconds everyone has this information. Similarly, when someone walks through a garden, with a glance and
past and the fall of the last Earth governments ended ideological ties with the old political and social forces, many perhaps a brief thought or small finger motion, they can call up detailed data on each and every species of plant
humans saw themselves as living in a new, free era where the past was dead. Even people who always wear
that sits in front of them. Individuals going to remote areas that are out of normal mesh broadcasting range almost
nostalgia jewelry and spend several hours a day in simulspaces set on old Earth are very interested in the
always download massive archives into their implants or ecto so they can continue to access all the information
possibility of social and political experimentation. Many of the most radical social experimenters were drawn to they might need. Since even a basic implant can hold vast amounts of data, lack of storage space is rarely an issue.
the numerous small far frontier habitats created in the decades after Rho, but interest in social and cultural Access to such an immense amount of easily available information has resulted in a variety of cultural responses.
experimentation in the sectors has a history that stretches back to before Rho. In addition to playing with various
Being able to quote from any vid, old movie, book, or historical speech is now trivially easy and can be done with a
interior structure and design ideas, the inhabitants of many stations experiment with all manner of unique social few seconds of thought.
and political rules. A few habitats do so quite deliberately, either because the members are interested in social
innovation or because researchers associated with a hypercorp or university have offered them goods or services While some people interject large amounts of semi-appropriate famous quotes in their speech, they are often
in return for testing one of their latest theories. Such experiments have included establishing stations where all of considered dull and unimaginative, and people who get too lost in casual or conversational meshbrowsing are
the residents are sleeved in hermaphroditic morphs in order to measure the impact on customs and language widely viewed as socially inept. All experienced mesh users learn (typically as children and teens) how to avoid
taking too much time out from conversations to check facts or access information via the mesh. HEALING VATS were the first type of nanotech medicine developed and remain the most powerful medical devices
in common use. With the exception of a few exceptionally deadly nanoplagues, a healing vat can cure any disease
Implants that allow multi-tasking or temporarily speed up thought are in great demand, since they allow and heal any injury. As long as the patient is alive when they are place in the healing vat, they will not only survive,
individuals to do extensive research and rehearse each statement they are going to make without a moments but emerge without a scratch. A healing vat can even take a severed head (as long as it has been stabilized by
pause. People who can afford such accessories tend to seem more suave, charismatic, and intelligent than those medichines or nanotech first aid) and regrow an entire body based on the heads genetics. If the patients body or
who do not. All this means that those who lack all mesh and AR accessindividuals known as zeroespresent a medical records contain information about their implants, bioware, or advanced nanotechnology, all of these
stark contrast to the rest of humanity. To most people, zeroes seem slow, forgetful, and almost unbelievably dense, modifications are also fully restored. Few people suffer injuries serious enough to require a healing vat. Most are
while to zeroes, even people who only possess ectos or basic implants seems brilliant, witty, and able to used as a safe and easy way to perform bodysculpting or to install implants or bioware. Healing vats use specialized
comprehend things with almost inhuman speed. nanomachines to either alter the patients body or integrate implants or bioware. One advantage of using a healing
vat is that no additional healing time is needed, the patient leaves the vat fully recovered from the augmentation
GOING BEYOND THE KNOWN and ready to go. Every hospital, clinic, bodyshop, and augmentation parlor has several healing vats. The time
required by a healing vat varies with the severity of the damage it is healing or the extent of the modification being
One of the oddest experiences for those who explore unusual environments, such as the far frontier or the ruins of
made.
the Core, is the unavailability of data. They look at an object but their search returns various error messages
meaning that there is either no data at all on the subject or that the only data is purely speculative and should be
SWARMS are colonies of nanobots or larger microbots created in a hive, programmed with specific instructions,
regarded as dangerously unreliable. Most people who are less than one hundred years old have never been in an
and then set free to perform a set task. Each swarm is composed of hundreds or thousands of nanobots or
environment where they could not gain basic information about everything around them at a glance. Learning to microbots, ranging in size from a microbe to a small insect. Nanobots are typically invisible to the naked eye,
overcome the shock of not knowing anything at all about something is one of the first and most crucial skills all
though there are ways to detect them. Microbots are more noticeable but still quite small, usually the size of a grain
explorers must learn.
of sand or a dust mote, or occasionally as big as a flea. Individual bots in a swarm are directed by nanocomputers,
with behavioral routines modeled on biological insect and animal swarms. These swarms stick together and work
MUSES as a whole, communicating via radio, laserlink, or chemical cues, and sharing information between each bot in the
Most individuals have a dedicated AI that serves as their media agent. Commonly known as a muse, this AI has swarm. Their tiny sensors are very effective at allowing them to identify materials and objects, and so to target
been a lifelong companion for most people. Muses learn their owners tastes, habits, and preferences, and do their discriminatingly. Swarms generally start to deteriorate in effectiveness after 2 weeks unless they are replenished
best to make life and technology use as easy as possible. Muses act as alarm clocks, data retrieval gophers, by a hive. Nanoswarm usage is common in habitats that allow nanotechnology, and are used in everything from
appointment schedulers, accountants, and many other functions often limited only by their owners imaginations. cleaning and gardening to construction and repairs.
Some of their tasks do not even need to be assignedmuses are skilled at learning their owners preferences and
acting on them. For example, the muses scheduling function may overhear in conversation that its user needs to
be up in the morning and so it will set an alarm without any additional instructions. If a muse is uncertain about its
NANOFABRICATION
owners preferences, it asks, but after working with a user for a few decades muses rarely need to do this. Muses Nanofabrication machines are universal assemblers that perform almost all of the manufacturing in the sectors.
tend to have a bit more personality and psychological programming than standard AIs and over time they build up The user loads in raw materials and electronic plans and it can produce literally any manufactured good, from a
an extensive database of their users preferences. Muses generally have names and reside within the characters weapon to an ultralight plane to a hot and delicious dinner. Many nanofabricators come equipped with a library of
mesh Inserts or ecto, where they can manage the characters personal area network, communications, data queries, common-use blueprints (basic foods, standard clothing, common tools, etc.). Other blueprints must either be
and so on. purchased online, self-programmed, or acquired through some other method. The largest nanofabrication units are
more than 10 meters on a side and are used to produce small consumer goods in bulk as well as building large
Most people keep multiple backups of their muse, because the loss of a muse can be almost as traumatic as the devices like orbital transfer vehicles. The availability and legality of nanofabricators varies widely throughout the
death of a loved one. Using a generic muse who must be informed about all aspects of a users individual system. In Firewall space, cornucopia machines are commonly restricted and sometimes illegal, with licenses only
preferences and fed a constant stream of instructions helps people appreciate the value of their own personal available to hypercorps, military units, and other officials and elites. In these habitats, only more limited fabbers
muse agent. Muses generally learn the basics of a new users preferences in a month or two, but during that are available to the general populace. Additionally, blueprints are licensed and protected by copyright laws, and
learning period the user tends to be irritable and forgetful, since the tasks they generally trust their muse to do many nanofabricators feature pre-programmed restrictions that prevent them from using unlicensed blueprints as
automatically are not being taken care of. well as from manufacturing weapons, explosives, or other restricted items.

CORNUCOPIA MACHINES (CMs) are general-purpose nanofabricators. The smallest CMs are desk-sized cubes
NANOTECH approximately half a meter on a side with a volume of at least 40 liters. They can produce any small object, from
Nanotechnology is the precise manipulation of matter at the atomic level, typically using millions of micro-scale tools to well-folded suits of clothing to handguns or a bowl of cereal. It is sometimes possible to assemble larger
nanomachines. Nanotechnology transformed manufacturing, enabling new techniques and materials. The advent of items, but they must be manufactured in smaller pieces and then assembled (likely requiring an appropriate
nanofabricationbuilding objects from the molecular level uptransformed economies, allowing people to simply Hardware Test). While users can purchase bulk raw materials, CMs also come equipped with a disassembler. The
manufacture whatever they needed from raw materials. Nanotechnology is still a growing field, however, and has user loads garbage and other objects into the disassembler so that they can be turned into raw materials for the
its limitations. CM. All legally available disassemblers only deconstruct non-living material.
FABBERS are specialized nanofabricators, portable and considerably smaller than CMs. There are a wide variety of TRANSPARENT ALUMINA, a harder-than-steel ceramic, also known as sapphire, is used for scratch-resistant
portable fabbers, including ones that can make any hand tool or small piece of personal electronics, ones that can surfacing and transparent armor needs. Zero-g casting techniques enable intriguing transparent construction
turn any organic material into food and drink, and ones that can create any drug or medicine as well as bandages designs, so long as its poor tensile strength is respected.
and specialized dressings. The most common fabbers have a volume of 4 liters. Larger hand tools and devices are
produced as 2 or 3 separate parts that must be fitted together. Like CMs, fabbers also contain miniature disposal
units.
COMMUNICATIONS
RADIO SIGNALS are the oldest and most widespread communications technology still in regular use. Every human
habitat is awash in radio traffic, with both humans and machines all constantly communicating with one another.
MAKERS are specially designed to produce food and drink for the user. Raw materials can be provided by the
The smallest radios are no larger than a speck of dust and have a range of no more than 20 meters, while the
addition of any water-containing liquid and collected biomass like leftover food, grass, dirt, dead animals, or
largest are the size of a truck and have a range of many thousands of kilometers. Radios large and small are
human waste. Some models are built into standard vacsuits. Makers can produce water and various flavored
ubiquitous and almost all devices contain at least short-range radios so they may interact with the mesh. Most
beverages, as well as ration bars or thick pudding-like edible gels. With adequate raw material, a maker can
morphs are equipped with basic mesh inserts that include an implanted radio.
indefinitely provide food and drink for up to three humans. Most units, however, have a very limited range of
flavors and textures that are widely considered to be fairly bad. Models with a wider and better range of flavors
FIBEROPTIC CABLES are used to establish wired connections between two devices. Given the ubiquity of radios
and textures are more expensive, but produce food that is considered adequate or occasionally good.
and the tangled mess wires cause, they are typically only used for privacy (unlike radio communication, fiberoptic
signals may not be intercepted) or in areas with heavy radio interference.
BLUEPRINTS are needed if you want a nanofabricator to make something; you need to instruct the device how to
create an item from the molecular level up. Blueprints are available for almost every conceivable item out there.
LASER/MICROWAVE LINKS are portable devices that are used to establish a tight-beam, line-of-sight
The cost of blueprints typically exceeds the cost of purchasing the item, though factors like legality and quality may
communications channel with another laser or microwave link. The range of these transceivers varies widely with
affect the cost as usual.
environmental factors, but approximates 50 kilometers in atmosphere and 500 kilometers in space (though
horizon limits must be kept in mind, being 5 kilometers at ground level on Earth and less on smaller bodies).
FUTURE MATERIALS Lasers are subject to interference from fog, dirt, smoke, and similar visual chaff, while microwaves may be indered
AEROGEL is a low-density, solid-state Frozen smoke made by carefully foaming various materials, typically by metallic obstructions. These links may only be intercepted by getting directly in between the beams. Security
glasses or ceramics, to an ultra-low density state. Aerogel is semitransparent and lightweight, feels like styrofoam, personnel often carry a micro version of this system, worn on their person, allowing line of sight intra-team
but acts as an incredible insulator against heat and cold. It is commonly used in habitats. communications that cannot be intercepted like radio.

ARTIFICIAL DIAMOND is lightweight and super-strong, has an extremely high melting point, and has near-perfect NEUTRINO TRANSCEIVERS are capable of generating and receiving neutrino signals at a range of at least 100
thermal conductivity. This makes it an ideal substance for hardening coated surfaces (armor) and creating super- astronomical unit, and neutrino particles can pass through any solid matter with ease and are impossible to block.
tough diamond machinery. As a result, they make an ideal medium for communications. Transceivers are at least 8 cubic meters, and must be
connected to a large power plant, such as one found in habitats or large spacecraft, in order to function.
FULLERENES are molecular carbon structures that are extremely strong (vastly stronger by weight than steel), Unfortunately, their signals are also easy to intercept. Even a tight beam of neutrinos sent between two locations
heat-resistant, and can be either insulative or superconductive. This makes them useful in equipment as diverse as can be intercepted simply by placing another receiver behind the location the broadcaster is sending to.
armor, electronics, sensor systems, or the cables of space elevators.

METALLIC FOAM is created by adding foaming agents to liquid metals, resulting in extremely lightweight metallic
SPIKE DRIVES
Spike drives, the faster-than-light engines that lifted humanity to the stars, are a window into a universe far
structureslight enough to float on water. Ideal for habitat construction and floating cities.
stranger than experimenters had thought possible. Through a delicately calculated orbit around a high-gravity body,
usually a star, a spike drive can accelerate a craft to the point where gravitic twisting of the galactic substratum
METALLIC GLASS is a metal alloyed to possess a disordered (rather than crystalline) atomic structure with unique
beneath the craft pushes it upward through the electromagnetic spectrum. In order to release this gravitational
combinations of stiffness and strength, making it a good wear surface and alternative to ceramics in armor. It is
bend, the craft then breaks orbit, and sets a linear course in the direction of its target destination. The craft
also useful for its unusual (for a metal) electrical resistance properties.
subsequently vanishes from mundane, luminal space and is thrust into interspace. The distance, as well as the
speed, of the spike depends on how far up the spectrum the craft allows itself to go before release. The amorphous
METAMATERIALS have unusual physical properties (usually electromagnetic) due to their structure, such as
realm of vast energy currents and formless masses that is interspace is extremely hostile to unprepared craft, but
having a negative refractive index. Metamaterials are used to create invisibility cloaks, superlenses, phased array
its electromagnetic current propels crafts at speeds impossible in the physical universe. In cosmology and
optics, and impressive 2-D holograms.
astrophysics, there are various anti-matter, dark-matter, and quantum theories about what interspace really is, but
so far no conclusive evidence has been put forward for any particular theory.
REFRACTORY METALS are metallic alloys that have extremely high melting points, making them ideal for high-
temperature engine systems, atmospheric entry vehicles, and hypersonic craft.
The spike drives have their limits however. Long distance travel with spike drives inflict severe damage to both
passengers and on-board software. It is theorized that spikes longer than 150 parsecs would leave any current-tech
spacecraft damaged enough that crucial systems, such as nav control and life support, are guaranteed to cease to
function. There are known, albeit rare, incidents where spikes as short as twenty parsecs have caused critical actually worship them. However, AGI supporters have learned to keep their opinions private in mixed company. In
malfunctions and/or deaths. Moreover, with even the most minute calculation error, a craft that is accelerating the more technoprogressive sectors, attitudes towards AGIs are more relaxed and AGIs may even be openly
around a gravitational body will either start to slope down towards the body or slope up and away from it, rather welcomed. Naturally, these places are havens for the AGIs active in human society, who otherwise must disguise
than maintaining its stable orbit. If this happens far enough into the acceleration, when the craft is already their true natures.
experiencing gravitic twisting, releasing will thrust the craft in whatever direction it happens to be pointing,
thereby risking that the craft ends up in dead space, where there are no gravitational bodies to spike back from. ATTITUDES TOWARDS MENTAL ALTERATIONS
Technology can alter peoples minds, and controversy about many of these alterations remains. Few people have
Another danger concerns travelling to previously uncharted areas of space. The exit point of a spike depends on the
trouble with the idea of creating short-term forks using the multitasking augmentation or some similar process
exact gravitational force the craft has gathered when it breaks orbit. Thusly, coordinates cannot be altered once the
that insures the forks will be re-integrated within a few hours. However, the idea of long-term forks, and especially
craft has entered interspace. Unless the accurate positions of celestial bodies at the exit point are known, a
of allowing forks to gain access to their own separate morphs, troubles many people. Since there are not enough
miscalculation can cause a craft to spike inside of a body rather than next to it. It is no wonder that travelling with
morphs to go around in the first place, providing morphs to a fork strikes many people as selfish and wasteful. On
spike craft is not something most people do willingly. Accidents are frequent, and thousands of craft have been lost
the rare occasion that people sleeve one of their forks, they typically provide it with a synthmorph to avoid the
in just the last decade. But without any feasible alternatives, those that wish to travel further than a tenth of a
social stigma associated with using more than one body at a time. Forks that exist for more than a few hours
parsec or so have no choice.
inspire a great deal of discomfort in many people because the forks begin to diverge slightly in personality. Most
people find the idea of two different and distinct versions of themselves to be highly disturbing.
JUMP GATES
With the spike drives having proven their limitations, theorists soon started putting forward ideas about an While there are habitats where forking is a regular part of daily life and forks often exist independently for a day or
alternative FTL source. Utilizing massive structures, dubbed jump gates, the new tech would use a combination of two, most visitors find such habitats distasteful and bizarre. However, while voluntary forking is still regarded as
rotation, linear acceleration and magnetism to create artificial gravity fields more than a thousand times the somewhat odd, involuntary uses of this and the associated mental technologies are so horrifying that they form the
strength of the gravity of the Sun. The gates would enable craft to be hurled for scores of light years across the basis of much lurid crime fiction. Someone being unknowingly mind-napped and having an involuntaryand often
galaxy. In order to bring craft traveling at such immense speeds down from interspace, a jump gate of equal secretfork created is something that people regard with abject terror, despite it being quite rare. Similarly, while
strength would be needed at the desired exit point, or else the craft would be thrust into intergalactic space. The mental surgery to correct psychiatric problems or as punishment for various serious crimes is frightening and
weeks or months of spike drive travel that would otherwise be required would be compressed into a few days. It disturbing in its own right, illegal brain hacking draws almost universal horror and disgust. Penalties for
was further theorized that the root cause of ICD was the time, not the intensity, of interspace travel, and shortening involuntary forking and mind hacking are exceptionally high. In many habitats, they are among the few crimes
the travel time would thereby reduce the effects. The jump gate theory was put off for many centuries, deemed too punishable by death (including the destruction of all backups and forks).
impractical to realize. But as the effects of ICD became more apparent, the first experimental jump gates were built,
with humanity holding its breath. The experiments proved the theories right, and soon construction was underway
in dozens of Core systems.
PRIVACY
Privacy is a prized possession for most inhabitants of the sectors, but it is so rare that for many people it might as
well be a foreign concept. In the 20th and early 21st century, privacy consisted of two concepts that are now
The jump gates were the most advanced construction projects in human history; each gate had to be constructed
completely separatethe ability to remain unnoticed or anonymous and the ability to avoid unwanted intrusion.
almost exclusively from ferromagnetic materials; normally iron, nickel and cobalt. These materials are however
easily deformed in vacuum, and quickly irradiate from cosmic radiation. It soon became apparent that the The first is largely absent from the lives of most people in the present day. Anyone who uploads anything to a non-
private portion of the mesh understands that anyone who wishes to do so can gain access to it. Likewise, anyone
construction process of the gates would be one of engineerings most challenging ever. Beyond that, the rotation
who spends time in a public place understands that anyone can learn where they went, what they did, and what
and acceleration required to create the gravitational field used up enormous amounts of conventional rocket fuel
and power. Many of the largest jump gates eventually housed half a dozen fusion reactors. It is understandable that, they said due to the ubiquity of meshed, sensor-enabled devices. As a result, everyones public life, both on the
mesh and in person, can be transformed into an easily searchable database. Almost everyone keeps such a record
up until very recently, not even the hypercorps have had the resources needed to reactivate the gates.
of their own lives, commonly known as a lifelog. Most people allow their lifelogs to be public, understanding that
anonymity is now an archaic concept. While the interiors of private dwellings remain free from continuous
ATTITUDES TOWARD AGI surveillance, almost all habitats have emergency sensors in every building providing a full record of events to
Large groups of humanity blames Rho on ASIs (artificial seed intelligences; advanced AIs with unlimited self- emergency service workers and AIs in case of problems such as a dangerous chemical leak, a sufficiently large fire,
upgrading capability). As a result, any AIs that are not crippled or somehow limited from improving themselves an explosion, loss of air pressure, or some other equally dramatic and potentially dangerous event. Both the events
including the AGIs (artificial general intelligences) that were common and growing in number before Rhoare of Rho and the fact that almost all of humanity now lives in habitats surrounded by hostile environments mean that
completely illegal in many habitats or at least heavily regulated. In addition to strict anti-AGI laws, there have been such sensors are standard fare. A few habitats do not allow emergency sensors in private dwellings, but most
occasional riots and mass panics surrounding facilities still performing AGI research, which has pushed most such people regard these habitats as potential death traps. These emergency sensors do not record anything other than
research into isolated settlements. AGIs are often programmed to try to understand, respect and take into account the absence of potential dangers if they are not triggered by specific events. This limitation allows individuals
human emotions, but they cannot fully experience the subjectivity of human existence, and thus they lack a deeper privacy within their own residences. Ultimately, remaining unobserved is a matter of both care and trust, and
understanding of things such as empathy, emotion and intuition. This makes them stand out, and it is very hard for everyone understands that most of the time everything they do will be part of the vast public record.
even the most sophisticated AIs to fake being human. Nevertheless, there are still people passionately devoted to
AGIs; some see them as the next step in posthuman evolution, others value all sapience, and still others border on In vivid contrast, the freedom to avoid unwanted intrusion is carefully prized by the inhabitants of the sectors.
Unwanted personal or data intrusion into someones private dwelling or personal electronic files is a serious crime Yet there are those that utilize these technologies. Infugees rarely have the luxury of deciding whether or not to
in most habitats. Also, while both the mesh and augmented reality are filled with all manner of AI-mediated resleeve or be moved from one computer system to another, and, as far as they are concerned, its only a matter of
adware, most of it has evolved to be relatively benign and to provide nonintrusive suggestions about goods, semantics whether their originals died during Rho, or if they in fact are the same person as the one whose mind
information, and services that are likely to be of legitimate interest to the targeted person. An individuals muse was transferred to a databank in the sectors. AGIs generally dont have the same sense of self as humans do and
filters out unwanted advertising. While it is certainly possible to create advertising that can hack through any therefore rarely think too hard on the matter. Exhumans and other ideological extremists, who wish to break free
muses filters, doing so is usually illegal. Unwanted AR intrusions are similarly limited. During the early days of AR from conventional notions of identity and human essentialism, reject the idea of original egos entirely.
technology, there were serious problems with users being overwhelmed with unrequested and distracting input
as many said, the mist got very thick indeed, so both law and custom changed to prevent such invasions. Today, In the end, when faced with the possibility of death, for example due to their original morph nearing the end of its
most people expect to only experience data that they are looking for or that they might be interested in and that life-span, most who possess the resources required will choose to resleeve. After all, why would anyone pick
any data they are not interested in will quickly vanish. Being surrounded by a large amount of unwanted AR data is certain death, when there is at least a chance that you will remain your original self after you resleeve? Even those
not just annoying and distracting, it is also deeply frightening, because it means that there is a serious problem that are convinced that their original self will die usually think it better for an identical copy to live on, often for the
with either the habitats mesh or the persons electronicsit could even mean that the entire habitat is under sake of their family and friends, than for them to cease to exist entirely.
direct attack by infowar weapons.
Although death is rare, it is still possible. Severe accidents can destroy someones cortical stack as well as their
LOW-TECH EXISTENCE brain, and egos can also be wiped away in punishment for sufficiently heinous crimesthough the process of
execution is considerably more difficult than it had been a few centuries earlier. Since every death reminds many
More than sixty percent of humanity inhabits artificially created morphs. Most of them also possess basic implants, people of the billions who permanently died during Rho, most funerals are held in honor of both the person who
and the vast majority of the rest wear ectos with retina displays and other simple peripherals that allow the user to
just died as well as the victims of the catastrophe.
fully perceive and interact with the vast network of information around them. However, slightly less than half of
the remaining population inhabit flats or splicer morphs without basic implants and also lack access to ectos and
other basic technologies. Since an ecto is both a relatively trivial expense and a piece of equipment vital to
existence in the sectors, the only individuals who lack such technologies stand on the very lowest rungs of the
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT
social ladder. A few are the poorest members of the most marginal habitats, but most are slaves or the next best A substantial amount of media survived Rho, and a significant number of modern humans make their living
thing. The lowest social classes in Junta space lack personal infotech access, as do people indentured to the creating new songs, stories, reports, or other media. All of this is easily and swiftly accessible through any basic
hypercorps. These individuals are either indentured criminals or people sufficiently lacking in useful skills that implant, ecto, or (on very rare occasions) archaic handheld terminal. However, most of this media is not to the
they are assigned mindless physical tasks that cannot be more efficiently performed by AIs. The lack of mesh taste of any particular individual, and vast amounts of it are mediocre. As a result, most humans keep two layers of
access makes these unfortunate zeroes into mental and social cripples, unable to perceive the vast wealth of AR evaluation between them and anything they might consider exposing themselves to. The first layer is based on
that most people take for granted. They are also unable to communicate with anyone beyond the range of their popularity and critical reviews. Every piece of media has a rating, often weighted by the opinions of critics with
voice or to access almost all information, including traffic signals and shop displays. When necessary, the managers high rep scores who comment on their virtues and faults. Specialized AIs also evaluate the responses of consumers,
and overseers in charge of groups of zeroes allow them access to handheld meshbrowsers. These devices resemble so individuals can use reviewers they trust or they can seek out media that is either widely or specifically popular
the handheld terminals common in the early 21st century and have limited functionality, typically forbidding in their particular demographic and subcultural niche. The second filter layer is the individuals muse. Muses learn
communication and restricting mesh research to carefully filtered topics. Because of their inability to access AR or their owners tastes and moods and automatically search out and recommend various sorts of media. Individuals
the mesh, zeroes are almost completely isolated from everyone else, meaning they are also unable to organize can do everything from asking their muse to select something they will enjoy to asking for a something that will
effectively or to otherwise cause trouble for the people who control them. In much of the sectors, the existence of challenge their opinions or looking at all current events news that will be of interest to them.
zeroes is considered a crime against humanity.
Ratings, reviews, and muses allow individuals to avoid media overload, but they also reinforce subcultural barriers.
A great many people only seek out media and news that reinforces their existing opinions and beliefs. In a very real
LIFE, DEATH AND THE ORIGINAL SELF sense, individuals from radically different subcultures and demographics inhabit completely different worlds. The
While death is no longer a certainty for humanity, it remains a possibility. During the decade preceding Rho, most one force that works against this separation is the fact that many people wish to follow the lives and opinions of
of humanity was growing used to the idea that immortality was in their grasp. Then, in just a few short years, Rho those with the highest reputation scores. In many cases, a large portion of these individuals high rep scores comes
wiped out more than ninety percent of us. Faced with the horror of so much needless death, efforts to insure the from their interest in and willingness to interact with (or at least acknowledge) a wide variety of different sources
survival of the rest of humanity became a top priority. However, even though the technology of immortality is of information. As a result, listening to opinions by a high-rep celebrity can expose people to information that they
commonplace, uploading, cortical stacks, and other related wonders is a complicated affair. Today, most of the might never encounter otherwise. Also, in many habitats, AIs responsible for media distribution tag some news as
residents of the sectors have adjusted to the idea of living forever, and to have their friends, loved ones, and being sufficiently important that it should be immune to filtering by muses. This tagging is a regular and expected
enemies do the same. But most people have what is best described as an intrinsic fear of resleeving and uploading occurrence in some habitats, while in others it is reserved for only the most important and potentially life-saving
the fear that you no longer are the original person that you were, and that, when you upload, your original self information. Bypassing muses for any less important reason in these habitats is considered a gross invasion of
dies and is replaced by an identical copy Are we really who you think you are, or are we just imitations? These privacy or even a crime.
fears are the principal reason why the vast majority of humans refrain from sleeving out of their original morph,
egocasting (transmitting your ego as a data stream over stellar distances), and living as infomorphs.
VIDS network of linked devices. Many infomorphs and AIs effectively reside within simulspaces, and some humans have
sworn off the physical world altogether.
Vids are high-resolution audiovisual entertainment that can be augmented with fully immersive sensations such as
VR worlds involve the creation of a large and highly immersive simulspaces where the major characters are played
smell, touch, and taste from the point of view of one of the major characters. Most modern vids have variable by humans and NPCs by AIs. Unlike vids, simulspaces are specifically designed for a large number of participants.
theme and preference settings enabling viewers to adjust the content of what they are watching, including the level
VR worlds consist of everything from duplicates of various eras of Earth history to elaborate and strange fantasy
of violence, the amount and type of sexuality they prefer, and the appearances of some or all of the major
worlds with magic, dragons, and similar wonders. All manner of alien worlds or settings based on oddities like
characters. In addition, many vids have alternate endings for people who prefer happy, bittersweet, or grim time travel are also common. As is the case with vids, the most popular simulspaces are those set on Earth some
endings. In some highly interactive vids, the viewer not only experiences the story with the protagonist, they shape
time before Rho. VR worlds can have from dozens to tens of thousands of participants. For the best experience,
the story through their own actions. The degree of freedom in vids vary. Some are almost fully interactive realms,
many users prefer to access simulspaces through hardwired server connections as they offer better quality and
similar to VR worlds, but with all the supporting characters controlled by AIs, while others are considerably
less disruptions than accessing wirelessly via the mesh. Since people immersed in virtual reality are cut off from
simpler and more limited with player interaction limited to a few crucial decisions. This form of media remains the their bodies and often thrash around, most users ensconce their morphs in a tank or special couch for the duration.
most popular form of entertainment, with scenarios set on Earth before Rho being especially prevalent.
VR parlors typically offer private hardwired pods for participants to physically jack in. Some habitats also have
hardwired systems used just for this purpose, so users can experience VR from the comfort of their own dwellings.
AUGMENTED REALITY Due to distance and communication lags between habitats, even the most popular online simulspaces run each
Most users perceive data from the mesh as augmented realityinformation overlaid on the users physical senses. habitat as a separate realm, limiting interaction with users in other habitats/realms. The popularity of some VR
For example, computer-generated graphics will appear as translucent images, icons, or text in the users field of worlds means that someone moving from one habitat or world to another could continue playing in the same game,
vision. While visual AR datacalled entoptic datais the most common, other senses may also be used. AR input albeit with a new set of players. One of the other unusual features of VR settings is that a large number of
includes acoustic sounds and voices, odors, tastes, and even tactile sensations. This sensory data is high resolution infomorphs, including many infugees, play these games. As a result, while even most novice players can learn to
and seemingly real, though it is usually presented as something ghostly or otherwise artificial so as not to be easily tell the difference between a character played by an AI and one played by an actual person, there is no way
confused with real-world interactions (and also to meet safety regulations). User interfaces are customized to the to know if the person playing a character has a physical body or not.
users preferences and needs, both graphically and content-wise. Filters allow users to access the information they
are interested in without needing to worry about extraneous data. While AR data is typically placed in the users EXPERIENCE PLAYBACK
normal field of vision, entoptics are not actually limited by this and may be viewed in the minds eye.
Every morph with mesh inserts has the capability to transmit or record their experiences, a form of technology
Nevertheless, icons, windows and other interaction prompts can be layered, stacked, toggled, hidden, or shifted out
called experience playback, or XP. Since the first programs were developed that provide a simple interface to
of the way if necessary, so that the user can interact with the physical world unhindered. snapshot ones experiences, it has become extremely popular to share XP with friends and social networks or
with the online public at large. The depth of these experiences depends on how much of the recorded sensory
Augmented reality (AR) games involve players interacting both with events in the physical world and augmented
perception is kept when the clip is made. Full XP includes exteroceptive, interoceptive, and emotive tracks.
reality imagery that recasts the people and objects the players see. The nature and intensity of these games varies
Exteroceptive tracks include the traditional senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste that process the outside
widely. Long-term games might involve people playing the role of deep cover spies or some other exciting and
world. Interoceptive tracks include senses originating within the body, such as balance, a sense of motion, pain,
unique role for months on end. These games tend to be locally focused within a particular habitat so players can
hunger, thirst, and a general sense of the location of ones own body parts. Emotive tracks include the whole
interact when they are within physical proximity. AR games are almost always highly dramatic and consist of
spectrum of emotions that can be aroused in a human. Due to the biological requirements (neuronal and endocrine
everything from the players having to deal with a massive zombie attack or alien invasion to them participating in systems) of expressing emotions, hardcore XP aficionados deem only the experience in and from biomorphs as the
some simulation of an event on Earth, like the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. During their
real deal.
daily lives, players exchange messages with each other as well as with the people running and maintaining the
game. While AR games are considerably less detailed than VR worlds or vids, many players value the realism of Almost all of the inhabitants of the sectors lead relatively quiet and risk-averse lives and are naturally eager to be
being physically present during the game. Since participants in these games take actions in the real world,
able to vividly experience adventures, such as exploring uncolonized planets in the far frontier, or spending a day
including actions that could be disruptive or even dangerous, designers of AR games take great care to prevent
in a luxurious and exotic private habitat. There is also a thriving fringe market in less savory XP, including records
problems. In some early AR games players were occasionally seriously injured. Since that time, it is common of people committing all manner of violent or dangerous crimes and XP of actual gun battles between well-armed
practice in most habitats that people running AR games must register their games with local law enforcement or
criminals and law enforcement personnel, which often end with the death of the morph providing the point of view.
face serious fines.
Anyone with mesh inserts can create XP of their experiences, and anyone with an ecto or mesh inserts can access
the sensory recordings. Selling a particularly exciting XP can bring in a lot of money or rep. Most XPs consist of
VIRTUAL REALITY both sensory recordings and the surface thoughts of the individual who made them. Many people who access XP
Virtual reality overrides the users physical senses and places them inside an entirely computer-generated are only interested in the sensory recordings and feel that having another persons recorded thoughts and
environment called a simulspace. While AR is used for all common day activities and interactions, VR is used emotions in their head is intrusive and uncomfortable so they filter them out. However, some hardcore XP
mainly for recreation (gaming, virtual tourism, escapism), socializing, meeting (when face-to-face meetings are not aficionados feel that accessing the full XP, including the recorded thoughts and emotions, makes the experience
possible), and training. Dedicated networks with high-capacity information processing are required to render and more immersive and real.
run large and complex hyper-real simulspaces with many users, and these are often hardwired for additional
stability. Smaller simulspaces capable of hosting a smaller amount of users can be run on a smaller distributed A significant minority of XP fans becomes fascinated with one or two daring people who regularly sell XP, known
as X-casters, viewing all of their clips, including both the experiences and the accompanying thoughts. Some of
these XP fans become more interested in the person who recorded the clip than in their recorded experiences, and Mixed economies tend to be relatively safe places, since inhabitants cannot manufacture weapons more dangerous
they often come to believe that they have a special, clear understanding of this person, to the point where they than knives, clubs, or similar primitive armaments. Some habitats in the outer systems have mixed economies
strongly identify or even fall in love with them. because both residents and their governments prefer the safety that comes from centralizing control of potentially
dangerous technologies. Other habitats have mixed economies by default, because they have limited stocks of many
PHYSICAL ENTERTAINMENT of the more rare elements required for manufacturing various complex modern technologies. While residents
primarily use credits for purchasing goods, purchasing nanofabricator blueprints involves rep, especially among
In addition to a vast array of electronic and electronically mediated entertainments, people also still enjoy a wide residents who regularly visit new economy polities or have significant contacts there.
variety of physical sports, ranging from soccer to new sports like low-g air races, where the participants strap on
wings and engage in tests of speed and acrobatics. The ability to both fix any injury in a healing vat has given rise
THE NEW ECONOMY is much better than the old at supporting a decentralized populace. In new economy polities,
to a new variety of extreme sports. While Rho and the permanent death of more than ninety percent of humanity
individuals can freely manufacture and use almost anything they want, assuming they can acquire the correct
greatly reduced the interest in playing with death for many years, interest in dangerous sports has been growing. blueprints and raw materials. As a result, the residents need for food, clothing, medical care, information access,
In some subcultures, dueling has been a popular fad for decades. Swords, knives, and pistols firing single-shot soft
and other basic needs are all easily met. However, there are still items of value that individuals work very hard to
lead bullets are all popular choices, because none of these weapons do not instantly kill someone hit by them.
obtain. Though these are commonly described as post scarcity societies, some types of scarcity remain very real.
However, there are other more exotic options, including aerial duels in jetsuits that have been fitted with blades on In most new economy habitats, common goods are freely available to all residentsor at least to all residents who
their wings. On rare occasions, duels take place in space, with the participants wearing non-armored vacuum suits.
meet the criteria to become citizens. Free access to all basic goods is offered to citizens. Citizenship can be earned
Certain criminal groups make money with underground dueling circuits, featuring illegally acquired backups
in a variety of ways, but the most common involves either being considered a strategic asset due to some singular
sleeved into non-sapient animals, often outfitted with lethal cybernetics. Dangerous non-combative sports are also expertise, performing an exceedingly valuable service to the habitat, or working for the habitat for some period of
popular. The highest levels of many sports are regularly done with no safety equipment. There are climbing
time. Once an individual is a citizen, the energy, living space, and raw materials they use in the course of their daily
competitions in many habitats using artificially constructed climbing walls as well as regular free-running
lives are all available.
competitions through almost every habitat. Also, there is an entire class of sports, including both diving and
parachuting, where perfection of form is seen as a far more important goal than avoiding injury. As a result, While basic citizenship allowances cover most necessities and even some luxuries, this has limits. With the
current high dive records for morphs not specially modified to survive high impacts are held by individuals who
allowance, individuals receive a quota of goods and energy they can use every day. In addition to large-scale uses of
required time in a healing vat immediately after their successful breaking of a previous record.
resources and difficult-to-manufacture goods, there are other aspects to life in new economies that are limited.

THE ECONOMY There are limits to the amount of travel that residents can easily undertake. Even the smallest actual
spacecraft are far too large and difficult to create to be available on an ordinary citizenship allowance.
THE OLD ECONOMY is essentially the same sort of industrial consumer capitalism that has been in place since the
late 19th century, a system centered on manufacturers who create material goods and sell them to consumers. Since each cubic meter of a habitat must be manufactured and the process of building or expanding a
Some old economy societies have planned economies, where the corporations or the state determine what options habitat is far from simple, space is at a premium. As a result, owning a larger dwelling space in a habitat is
the citizens may choose or occasionally what goods they must have. Others claim to have a free market, where worth a significant amount.
citizens have more options, but the residents must still pay to obtain goods that are essentially free for the
corporations or government to produce. In the present day, almost no one willingly lives in old economy societies. While human labor has become cheap due to the large number of infugees and indentures, skilled labor is
far more expensive. While the actual manufacturing costs of custom designs might not be any more
The oppressive and totalitarian polities control most of the remaining old economy habitats in the sectors. Since a expensive than its standard equivalent, the time and effort needed to create them can make them
nanofabricator can be used to create more nanofabricators, maintaining strict control over them requires constant exceedingly expensive.
vigilance. Old economy societies are unique in that money is the societys only acceptable means of exchange.
While reputation networks exist, they are informal and serve as an unsanctioned means of exchanging favors. The final aspect that is both scarce and valuable is innovation. Not all goods have blueprints that can be
easily acquired, and reverse-blueprinting complex products is a difficult process. Cutting-edge fashion and
THE MIXED ECONOMY is a far more stable and easily maintained system than the old. Mixed economies blend old new music are harder to find because the blueprints needed to manufacture them are hard to come by.
and new economies, and habitats using this system feature both private ownership of nanofabricators as well as Blueprints for new technologies might be restricted or kept secret. Popular new blueprints command a good
public ones that are freely accessible. These public machines have a limited set of blueprints and the raw materials price in the new economy, and a large number of people make their living designing and marketing such
for various complex goods are also heavily regulated. For the inhabitants of a mixed economy, creating food, blueprints. Others make a living from pirating blueprints that for one reason or another are not widely
clothing, furniture, and most other simple objects is a trivial matter. However, public nanofabrication machines can accessible.
usually only create objects that either contain no electronics at all or contain only simple circuits that report on the
objects condition and location. To pay for the small amounts of energy and resources needed to create these goods,
all inhabitants pay a small tax. Once the usage tax has been paid, food, clothing, furniture, and similar goods are all DANGEROUS TECHNOLOGIES
free. Most polities restrict access to exceptionally dangerous goods, especially military hardware. Few people living in a
sealed habitat surrounded by hard vacuum enjoy the idea of easy access to biowar plagues or devices that can
make large holes in their habitats outer hull. Standard procedure is to restrict access and heavily encrypt
blueprints needed to create military-grade weapons and similar dangers, though sufficiently dedicated individuals
can eventually decrypt or reverse-blueprint such designs. Even nanofabricators in autonomist habitats may be Other infugees found that they enjoyed life as infomorphs, reveling in complex simulspaces and otherwise living up
blocked from creating such things or at the very least will alert the local public mesh if anyone instructs them to do the virtual life. Some found work that paid for the ability to egocast throughout the solar system. A century after
so. Habitats that possess almost no other laws regarding possession of various objects and devices usually have Rho, there is a thriving infomorph culture. While exact data is difficult to obtain, many researchers believe that at
laws against weapons that can do serious harm to the habitat. least a third of all current infugees have no plans to place themselves into a morph, instead enjoying the freedom of
virtual existence. These infugees have become increasingly involved in habitat politics, especially in the sectors;
Many dangerous technologies are specifically designed to make use of various exceptionally rare or human-made many habitats have officials who are infugees. Most researchers predict this infomorph culture will increasingly
elements, including radioactive elements and artificially created transuranic elements. Therefore, many habitats diverge from physical cultures as time progresses.
will restrict access to these elements to limit the manufacture of these weapons. Since detecting radioactive
elements is simple using standard environmental sensors located throughout every habitat, security authorities
can easily learn when someone has acquired significant quantities of such elements or catch them if they attempt
THE CLANKING MASSES
With so many infugees acquiring cheap synthmorph shellsparticularly casesand unable to afford anything
to bring them on board.
better, synthmorphs have become associated with poverty throughout the solar system. This lowest strata of the
poor are often referred to as the clanking masses and compose one-sixth of the population. Most of these people
INFUGEES AND INDENTURES strongly desire a biomorph sleeve, even if it is only a splicer or worker pod. Their omnipresence is now viewed
During Rho and the evacuation of the Core, more than four hundred million infomorph refugees (infugees) were with distaste, especially in elite social circles. Even those who have expensive, lovely, custom-designed synthetic
uploaded and egocast to orbital databanks throughout the frontier. They were forced to flee the Core without any of morphs fitted with all of the latest augmentations are considered to be eccentrics with poor taste. Some habitats
their possessions, even their bodies. Instead, they became infomorphs who had nothing beyond their minds and have gone so far as to actively segregate their synthmorph populations, rationalized by the fact that shells can
memoriesthe most destitute group of refugees ever to exist in human history. In the years since Rho, large easily inhabit unheated and unpressurized portions of various habitats. This segregation and social stigma,
numbers of these infugees have been resleeved. Anyone with valuable skills was first to gain a morph, followed by however, has produced the beginnings of an emergent synthmorph culture. There are already numerous habitats
anyone with friends or relatives already living in a habitat who could take responsibility for the persons resleeving. where all of the inhabitants are sleeved in synthetic shells and conventional life support exists only for the few
Those two groups accounted for only half of the infugees. The remaining found themselves in a far more difficult visitors wearing biomorphs.
situation. Lacking either personal contacts or vital skills, they had no one else to help them. In the first few years,
many of these infugees signed contracts promising their labor or other services in return for resleeving and a
guarantee of some form of income sufficient to support them. THE MESH
Before Rho, humanity interfaced with each other through the internetinterconnected networks that served as
Because of the critical labor shortages in the first five years after Rho, another thirty percent of the infugees the technical backbone for the evolving world wide web. While it began as an electronic medium for retrieving
managed to regain bodies (usually cheap synthmorphs). These indentured servants performed all manner of information from various sources, succeeding generations emphasized digital communities and hosted services
critical tasks, ranging from scavenging ruined habitats for useful devices to mining or asteroid herding. Others such as networking sites, wikis, blogs, and social tagging. These facilitated openness, collaboration, and sharing,
became servants or bodyguards for the rich or performed less moral services for criminal syndicates. Most took on thereby laying the groundwork for a modern, interconnected information society. Further stages achieved huge
vacwork construction jobs, helping to build the new habitats that would eventually become their homes. Some leaps in the realm of user interaction with the advent of brain-computer interfaces, augmented reality (AR), virtual
infugees found work performing services like data-mining, monitoring automated factories, or other jobs that reality (VR), and experience playback (XP). As the evolution continued, connections started to move from the
could be done by infomorphs. central server hubs of old, and users would instead wirelessly link up to each other, creating a decentralized
intermeshed network of handheld devices, personal computers, robots, and electronic devices. This was especially
Unfortunately, some infugees made bad or unlucky deals and ended up working for years only to find that their true of those participating in humanitys expansion into space. Disconnected from the internet due to distance and
employer either kept finding ways to delay or reduce the payment or vanished before they delivered on their communication lags, these users were nevertheless connected with all of the people and objects in their nearby
promise. As a result, slightly more than twenty percent of the original infugess remain infomorphs; some by choice, environment or habitat, creating local wireless mesh networks. The mesh had been born.
but most because they have not been able to acquire the means to resleeve themselves or are still working long
contracts to gain their morph. The problem with obtaining bodies for these infugees goes beyond simply providing The mesh is only possible thanks to major developments made in computer and communication technologies and
a new morph for resleeving; living beings require living space as well as a steady supply of consumables. For this nanofabrication. Wireless radio transmitters and receivers are so unobtrusively tiny that they can literally be
reason, many infugees have been morphed in synthetic shells and housed in areas inhospitable to biomorphs. With factored into anything. As a result, everything is computerized and connected, or at least tagged with a radio
space in short supply, the waiting list for infugees looking for a habitat to call home is quite long. frequency ID (RFID) chip. Even food is tagged with edible chips, complete with expiration date and nutritional
content. Other communications mediums, such as laser and microwave links, add to the information flow. Data
Exogenesis was one of the few polities to have the resources to quickly make use of this vast labor pool, providing storage technology has advanced to such high levels that even an individual users surplus storage capacity can
microgravity habitats with no life support to large numbers of infugee synthmorphs. As a result, Exogenesis has maintain an amount of information easily surpassing the entire 20th-century internet. Lifeloggers can literally
been responsible for the employment of almost half of all remaining infugees. For the past decades, the vast record every moment of their life and never fear about running out of room. The amount of data that people carry
majority of infugees who want bodies have found that indenturing themselves to Exogenesis or one of their around in the mesh inserts in their head or in portable ecto personal computers is staggering. Processing
associated hypercorps. The contracts are normally quite long, and Exogenesis is particularly adept at adding capabilities also exist at hyper-efficient levels. Massive supercomputers are a thing of the past when modest
charges that prolong indenturethough most indentures carry five to twenty year contracts, in reality these handheld devices can fulfill almost all of your needs even while simultaneously running a personal AI assistant,
indentures typically last between eight and twenty-five years; some go on even longer.
downloading media, uploading your log, and scanning thousands of newsfeeds. Within the mesh network, devices without vocalizing. Input from the mesh inserts is transmitted directly into the brain and sometimes perceived as
that near their processing limits simply share the burden with devices around them, creating a massively augmented reality, overlaid on the users physical senses. In a similar vein, the mesh inserts installed in
distributed framework that in some ways is like an entire supercomputer to itself, shared by everyone. Similarly, synthmorphs and pods are directly integrated with their cyberbrains (creating a potential security concern as
transmission capacity now far exceeds most citizens definition of need. cyberbrains are vulnerable to hacking).

Anyone born within the last several generations has always lived in a world in which hyper-realistic, multisensory No matter if ecto or endo, modern computers are governed by an operating system (OS), a multifunctional suite of
media of nearly any length is available for instantaneous download or upload from anywhere. Massive databases programs that includes media tools, a mesh browser, locator, socializing programs (messenger, socnet updater),
and archives are copied back and forth with ease. Bandwidth is such a non-issue that most people forget it ever cartography and navigation software, language translation software, and similar software tools. OS designs are
was. In fact, given the sheer amount of data available, finding the information or media youre looking for takes highly customizable, allowing plug-and-use add-ons for whatever additional software and gadgets are desired.
considerably longer than downloading it. The mesh is also never down. As a decentralized network, if any one Typically, the users muse (personal AI assistant) facilitates software interactions.
device is taken offline, connections merely route around it, finding a path via the thousands if not millions of
available nodes. The entire mesh behaves like a peer-to-peer network, so that large transfers are broken into
manageable chunks that take independent routes. In fact, most users maintain personal torrent archives that are
SPIMES
Along with the accumulated data of human affairs, the mesh is also cluttered with information derived from untold
publicly accessible and shared. With the factionalization of humanity, attempts to unify software into standard
numbers of wireless-capable sensor-enabled devices that continuously update the mesh with their location, sensor
formats have still failed. However, different operating systems or protocols are rarely an obstacle anymore due to
recordings, and other data. Colloquially called spimes, these location-aware, environment-aware, self-logging,
easily accessible conversion tools and AI-aided compatibility oversight.
self-documenting objects broadcast their data to anyone who cares to listen. Since visual, auditory, and other
sensors are absurdly tiny and inexpensive, they are ubiquitously incorporated into nearly every object or product
RESTRICTED INFORMATION a person might wear, apply, use, or internalize. This allows almost any user to reach out through the mesh and
The mesh is an up-to-date, authoritative source on all human knowledge and activities. But private networks still gather environmental data and ambient sensor recordings from a specific location (or at least public locales
exist, of course. Some are physically walled away behind closed-access wired networks or even wireless-inhibiting private areas typically block such signals or slave them to a local AI that filters their output).
infrastructure that keep a network isolated and contained. Most, however, operate on top of the public mesh, using
encrypted tunneling protocols that provide private and secure communications over unsecured networks. In other
words, these private networks are part of the mesh along with everything else, but only the participants can
SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY, AND SOUSVEILLANCE
While spimes are easily trackable, they also contribute to an environment of universal surveillance. Between
interact with them thanks to encryption, user authentication, and message integrity checking.
spimes, microsensors, ubiquitous security systems, and the recording capabilities of the mesh inserts used by
almost everyone, just about everything is recorded. Factor in the availability of mesh-tracking, facial recognition,
Quite a bit of proprietary data is kept off the grid in secure storage or sequestered away in private networks. Some
rep/social networks, and other data mining software, and it rapidly becomes clear that privacy is an outdated
of this is for sale and heavily encumbered with digital restrictionssoftware, media, nanofabrication blueprints,
concept. Special considerations must be embraced by anyone that seeks to mask their identity or cover their
skillsofts, etc. A thriving movement offers free and open-source alternatives to much proprietary data, however,
movements. Alternatively, off-the-shelf looks common with some morphs (especially synthmorphs and pods)
and numerous digital piracy groups deal out cracked versions of protected material, despite pressure from some
allow a user to blend in with the masses. Though in part this may seem an Orwellian surveillance nightmare, the
authorities. Other data is simply secured from competitive interests (hypercorp research projects) or is an
abundance of recording tech actually works as sousveillance (watching from below), serving a role in making
extremely private affair, such as ego backups.
everything transparent and putting checks on abuses of power. Authoritarian regimes tread carefully, as they are
also universally monitored, despite their attempts to control information flow. Many people also willingly
MESHING TECHNOLOGIES participate in this open participatory panopticon. With nearly infinite storage capacity, dedicated lifeloggers
A very popular brand of mobile multifunctional personal digital assistant before Rho, the ecto name became record every moment of their lives and share it for others to experience.
a synonym for handheld personal computers at the dawn of the Mesh Age. The ecto is typically the size of a 20th-

INTERFACING
century credit card and can be molded and shaped into different forms due to smart material construction. It is
often worn as jewelry or a clothing accessory, particularly as a bracelet. The user interface varies according to user
preference. Wireless-enabled contacts and earbuds enable users who lack mesh implants to experience augmented
reality and the ectos AR control interface. Standard entoptic control interfaces are also available via wireless radio, E-TAGS
skinlink, and direct fiberoptic line. With the introduction of mesh inserts in the last centuries before Rho, Ectos Entoptic tags are a way for people to tag a physical person, place, or object with a piece of virtual data.
started to become increasingly rare, and are these days considered a defunct technology. These e-tags are stored in networks local to the tagged item and move with the item if it changes location.
E-tags are viewable in AR and can hold almost any type of data, though short notes and pictures are the
Almost all biomorphs in the solar system are equipped with basic mesh insertimplanted personal computers. most common. E-tags are often linked to particular social networks or circles within that network so that
Standard Implanted computers are also sometimes referred to as endos to reflect the difference between an people can leave notes, reviews, memorabilia media, and similar things for friends and colleagues.
external and an internal device. Endos are inserted into the brain via nanosurgery. The processor, wireless
transceiver, storage devices, and other components are directly wired to the users cerebral neuronal cells and
cortical centers responsible for language, speech, and visual perception, among others. Thought-to-communication
SKINNING
Since reality can be overlaid with entoptics of hyper-real quality, modern users can skin their reality by
emulation (so-called transducing) enables the user to control the implant just by thinking and to communicate
modifying their perceptual input. Environments around them may be modified to fit their particular tastes or
mood. Need your spirits boosted? Pull up a skin that makes it seems like youre outdoors, with the sun shining white room. Here the user chooses a customizable avatar-like persona to represent them in the simulspace, called
down, the sounds of gentle surf in the background, and butterflies drifting lazily overhead. Pissed off? Be a simulmorph. From this point, the user immerses themself in the virtual reality environment, effectively becoming
comforted as flames engulf the walls and thunder grumbles ominously in the distance. It is not uncommon for their simulmorph.
people to go about their day accompanied by their own personal soundtrack that only they can hear. Even
olfactory and taste receptors can be artificially stimulated to experience sensations like the smell of roses, fresh air,
or freshly baked pastries. While originally developed to make spacefood less distasteful and counter space- MESH ID AND VIRTUAL FOOTPRINTS
induced cabin fever for those that werent born in space, vast archives of aromas, tastes, and environments are Every mesh user (and, in fact, every device) has a unique code called their mesh ID. This ID distinguishes them
available for download. Skins do not need to be kept private, they may also be shared with others via the mesh. from all other users and devices and is the mechanism by which others can find them online. Mesh IDs are used in
Tired of your cramped habitat cubicle? Decorate it with a custom-themed skin and share it with visitors to make almost all online interactions, which are often logged, meaning that your activities online leave a datatrail that can
them feel more comfortable. Found a new music track that livens up your day? Share it with others around you, be tracked. AIs, AGIs, and infomorphs also each have their own unique mesh ID. For those that value their privacy,
so they can nod to the same beat. Skinning can also be used for the opposite effect. Any undesired content of reality there are ways around this, as the ID code itself doesnt serve any other function than to identify the user.
can be edited out, veiled, or censored by modern software programs or muses that engage in real-time editing. Concealing your Mesh ID is generally illegal.
Tired of looking at someones face? Add them to your killfile, and youll never have to acknowledge their presence
again. AR censorware is also common in some communities with strict religious or moral convictions. Even users that have masked their Mesh IDs leave traces of their physical and digital presence all throughout the
Mesh. The accounts they access, devices with which they interact, services they use, entoptics they perceiveall of
AVATARS these keep logs of the event, and some of these records are public. Simply passing in the vicinity of some devices is
enough to leave a trail, as near-field radio interactions are often logged. This electronic datatrail can be used to
Every mesh user represents themselves online via a digital avatar. Many people use digital representations of
track a user, both to ascertain their physical location or to note their online activities.
themselves, whereas other prefer more iconic designs. This may be an off-the-shelf look or a customized icon.
Libraries of avatars may also be employed, enabling a user to switch their representation according to mood.
Avatars are what other users see when they deal with you onlinei.e., how you are represented in AR. Most SLAVING DEVICES
avatars are animated and programmed to reflect the users actual mood and speech, so that the avatar seems to For ease of use, as well as for privacy and security purposes, one or more devices may be slaved to each other. One
speak and have emotions. device (usually the users mesh inserts or ecto) takes the role of master, while the other device(s) takes the role of
slave. All traffic to and from slaved devices is routed through the master. This allows a slaved device to rely on the
DEFYING NATURES LAWS masters security features and active monitoring. Anyone that wants to connect to or hack into a slaved device is
rerouted to the master for authentication and security scrutiny. Slaved devices automatically accept commands
A plethora of simulspace environments are available, ranging from simulations of real places to historical
from their master device. This means that a hacker who penetrates a master system can legitimately access and
recreations or fantastic worlds representing almost every genre imaginable. All of these simulations are bolstered
issue commands to a slaved device, assuming their access privileges allow for it. PANs are typically formed by
by the fact that possible scenarios are not bound by the laws of nature. The fundamental forces of reality, like
slaving all of a characters devices to their ecto or mesh inserts. Similarly, individual components of a security
gravity, electromagnetism, atmosphere, temperature, etc., are programmable in VR, allowing for environments that
system (doors, sensors, etc.) are usually slaved to a central security node that serves as a chokepoint for anyone
are completely unnatural. These domain rules may be altered and manipulated according to the whim of the
hoping to hack the system. The same is often true for other networks and facilities.
designer. Time itself is an adjustable constant in VR, though deviation from true time has its limits. So far,
designers have achieved time dilation up to 60 times faster or slower than real time (roughly one minute equaling
either one hour or one second). Time slowdown is far more commonly used, granting more time for simulspace
recreational activities (more time, more fun!), learning, or work (economically effective). Time acceleration, on the MESH USES
other hand, is extremely useful for making long distance travel through space more tolerable. There are many reasons people use the mesh. The foremost is communication: voice and video calls (typically
displaying avatars rather than actual video), electronic messaging (email, instant messaging, micro-blogging), and
ACCESSING SIMULSPACES file and data transfers. Socializing is also key, handled via social and reputation networks, personal profiles,
lifelogging, chats and conferences (both AR and VR), and discussion groups and forums. Information gathering is
Most simulspaces can be accessed through the mesh just like any other node. Since VR takes over the users
also at the top, whether its browsing the popular Solarchive or other databases and directories, tapping the latest
sensorium, however, and sometimes involves time perception dilation, users are cut off from other mesh-
newsfeeds, browsing mesh sites, tracking your friends, taking lessons in VR, or looking up just about anything
delivered sensory input and interacting directly with other nodes. Instead, outside mesh interactions are routed conceivable. Recreation rounds out the pack, covering everything from gaming (AR and VR) to experiencing other
through the simulspaces interface (meaning that a character may browse the mesh, communicate with others, etc. peoples lives (XP) or VR tourism and club-hopping.
from inside a simulspace, if the domain rules allow it).Since physical senses are overridden when a user accesses
VR, most people prefer to rest their body In a safe and comfortable environment while in the simulspace. Body-
fitting cushions and couches help users relax and keep them from cramping up or injuring themselves if they PERSONAL AREA NETWORKS
happen to thrash around. In case of long-term virtual sojourns (for instance, during space travel), morphs are Since everything a person carries is meshed, most people maintain personal area networks that route all of these
normally retained in tanks that sustain them in terms of nutrition and oxygen. Many VR entertainment and game devices through their mesh inserts or ecto, which acts as a hub. This is both a security measure, ensuring they
networks offer dedicated and hardwired physical VR cafes with private pods. Visitors rent a pod and physically maintain control over their own accessories, and a convenience factor, as it focuses all of the controls in one place.
jack in, using either access jacks or an ultrasonic trode net that reads and transmits brain patterns when placed on
the head. When accessing a simulspace, the user first enters an electronic buffer holding space known as a
VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS Transmissions made between habitats almost always occur via each stations massive data relays, where they are
then distributed into the local mesh. This bottleneck is often used by authoritarian habitats to monitor data
Virtual private networks (VPNs) are communications networks tunneled through the mesh, which are dedicated
transmissions and even filter or censor certain public non-encrypted content. Some messages are also prioritized
for a specific group of people. The primary use of VPNs is to create privacy and security for their users, and so they over others, potentially meaning further delays. The method of transmission between habitats also sometimes
typically use security features such as ego authentication and public key encryption. VPNs are regularly used to
matters. Radio and neutrino broacasts can be intercepted by anyone, whereas tight-beam laser or microwave links
mesh mobile offices into a corporate network or mesh people together who work on or contribute a certain project.
are specifically used as a point-to-point method that minimizes interception and eavesdropping. What these lags,
Other VPNsparticularly social networks and rep networksoperate with minimal security features, simply bottlenecks, and prioritizations mean is that some news and data takes a particularly long time to trickle from one
serving as a network of specific users within the mesh and making it easier to keep in touch, transfer information,
local mesh network to another, passing slowly from habitat to habitat. This means that there are always gradients
make updates, and so on. Most VPNs come as specialized software suites that run custom environmental programs
of information available to different local mesh networks, typically depending on proximity and the importance of
that integrate into the users normal mesh interface and AR.
the information. Some data even gets lost along the way, never making it further than a habitat or two before it is
lost in the noise. The only way to retrieve such information is to track it down to its source. It is common that news
SOCIAL NETWORKS will start as unconfirmed rumors, as traders and other spike-travellers bring with them stories from far away
Social networks are the fabric of the mesh, weaving people together. They are the means by which most people places. Before confirmation arrives via probe or an official envoy, it is fairly common that the whole station
keep in contact with their friends, colleagues, and allies, as well as current events, the latest trends, and other already knows about it, albeit not in as much detail. This can sometimes make populations sensitive to
developments in shared interests. They are an exceptionally useful tool for online research, getting favors, and disinformation, and straight out lies can be accepted as truth, at least for short periods of time, until the authorities
meeting new people. In some cases, they are useful for reaching or mobilizing masses of people (as often and major news sources can verify that the information is false.
illustrated by autarchists and pranksters). There are thousands of social networks, each serving different cultural
and professional interests and niches. Most social networks allow users to feature a public profile to the entire In interstellar communication, farcasting is barely used at all, unless two star systems happen to be exceptionally
mesh and a private profile that only those close to them can access. Reputation plays a vital part in social networks, close to one another. Instead, unmanned and automated probes enable communication. These microcraft,
serving as a measure of each persons social capital. Each persons reputation score is available for lookup, along typically spherical and no more than a meter in diameter, only to stay for a few weeks in a system as they
with any commentary posted by people who favored or disfavored them and rebuttals by the user. Many people broadcast their stored messages to the various habitats in the sectors, as well as await replies from them. Once
automate their reputation interactions, instructing their muse to automatically ping someone with a good review they are done they spike on to the next system on their route, constantly exchanging information with other
after a positive action and to likewise provide negative feedback to people with whom the interaction went poorly. probes as to get each of their store messages to their destinations as fast as possible. These probes have been
known to be the target of hijacks, as criminal organizations search for sensitive information that they can use as
MOBILE OFFICES leverage or blackmail. Some authoritarian polities also regularly monitor the information content of the probes.
For this reason, important and sensitive information is almost always sent via a human courier.
Due to the lack of office space and the wireless accessibility of most information, most businesses now operate
virtually, with few or no fixed offices or other assets. Instead, individuals have become their own mobile office. Bit-
pushers and bureaucrats like hypercorp executives, clerical workers, accountants, and researchersas well as DARKCASTS
innovators like artists, writers, engineers, and designerswork wherever they want to. On rare occasions, office Darkcasts are ranged communications that go outside of legal and approved channels. Since certain habitats have
environments are run in simulspace with time dilation to maximize efficiency. Since this requires the workers to strict regulations on transmission content, forking, egocasting, infomorphs, muse abilities, and AGI code,
access a centralized wired network and leave their bodies unattended while accessing simulspace, however, it underworld groups profit by offering illegal data-transmission services. Primarily used for censored data and
requires an extra level of physical security that is typical only of some governmental installations and corporate banned content (like illegal XPs or malware), local organized crime factions also often offer egocasting services
habitats. complete with resleeving and leasable morphs, allowing egos that prefer discretion to enter or leave a habitat
without drawing attention. Though the authorities hunt down these darkcast networks whenever they get a
ISLANDS IN THE NET chance, many habitats have a sophisticated darknet infrastructure that makes use of decoys, temporary
communications lines, relays, and regular transmitter relocationnot to mention judicious bribing and
Information can become outdated quite fast, and the accessibility of new information depends on your location. Its blackmailing.
easy to keep up-to-date on your local habitat/city or planetary body, but keeping current on events elsewhere is
typically reliant on the speed of light. If you happen to be waiting on a message from an inner system habitat of
Desmoines in Sector 35 while on a station in the Justinian Belt at the outer edge, the signal carrying the message MESH ABUSES
will be roughly six weeks old when it reaches you. Of course, it will only reach you that quickly if it was sent via As with all things, the mesh has its darker side. At the basic level, this amounts to flamewar-starting trolls, stalkers,
neutrino broadcast, which is only limited by the speed of light (not to mention being rare and expensive in most or griefers whose intent is to mess with others for a laugh. At the more organized level, it expands to illicit or
habitats). If you are not using a neutrino tranceiver, the signal may take even longer and is prone to interference criminal enterprises that utilize the mesh, such as selling black/snuff/porn XPs, illegal software, pirated media, or
and noise, deteriorating the quality and possibly losing some of the content, especially over major distances. even egos. The most infamous threatsthanks to the continuous sensationalism applied by media and stern
Whenever you start dealing with intrasystem communication between habitats, you have to factor in the light- authoritiesare, of course, malware and hackers. Given the capabilities of modern hackers and the vulnerability of
speed lag: the amount of time it takes even the fastest transmission to reach you. This lag works both ways, so many habitatswhere damage to life support systems could kill thousandsthe threat may not be over-
trying to hold a conversation with someone just 5 light-seconds away means that youre waiting at least 10 exaggerated.
seconds to get the reply to whatever you just said.
HACKERS empathy and may be programmed to anticipate the needs and desires of users and pre-emptively take action on
their behalf. Perhaps most importantly, however, is that their psychological programming is specifically based on
Whether individuals who are genuinely interested in exploring new technologies and seeking ways to break them
universal human modes of thought and an understanding and support of human goals and interests. This is part of
in order to make them better, hacktivists who utilize the mesh in order to undermine the power of authorities, or an initiative to engineer so-called friendly AIs, who are programmed with sympathy towards humanity and
black hats who seek to circumvent network security for malicious or criminal intent, hackers are a permanent
all life and seek out their best interests. In most societies, ALIs are considered things or property rather than
fixture of the mesh. Unauthorized network break-ins, infiltration of VPNs, muse subversion, cyberbrain hijacking,
people and are accorded no special rights.
data theft, cyber-extortion, identity fraud, denial of service attacks, electronic warfare, spime hijacking, entoptic
vandalismthese are all common occurrences on the mesh. Thanks to smart and adaptive exploit programs
and assisting muses, even a moderately skilled hacker can be a threat. In order to counter hacking attempts, most GENERAL AI
people, devices, and networks are protected by a mix of access control routines, automated software intrusion- AGIs are complete and fully operational digital consciousnesses, self aware and capable of intelligent action at the
prevention systems, encryption, and layered firewalls, typically overseen by the users muse who plays the role of same level as any human. Most have full autonomy and the capacity for self-improvement by a processing similar
active defender. Extremely sensitive systemssuch as space traffic control, life support, power systems, and to learninga slow optimization and expansion of their code that features programmed limitations to prevent it
hypercorp research facilitiesare usually limited to isolated, tightly controlled, heavily monitored, hardwired from achieving the self-upgrading capabilities of seed AIs. They have more fully rounded personalities and
networks to minimize the risk of intrusion from snoopers and saboteurs. Various countermeasures may be applied emotional/empathic abilities than ALIs, due in part to a development process where they are literally raised within
against such intruders, ranging from locking them out of the system to tracking them back and counterhacking. a VR simulation analogous to the rearing of human children and so are more fully socialized. As a result, they have
a fairly human outlook, though some deviation is to be expected and sometimes is apparent in great degrees.
MALWARE Despite this attempt to humanize AGIs, they do not have the same evolutionary and biological origins that humans
have, and so their social responses, behavior, and goals are sometimes off-mark or decidedly different. AGIs bear
The number of worms, viruses, and other malware programs that ripped through computer systems immediately
the social stigma of their non-biological origin and are often met with bias and mistrust. In some polities AGIs are
prior to and during Rho was staggering. Many of these were part of the netwar systems used by old Earth nation- outlawed or severely restricted. AGI mind programming emulates human brain patterns sufficiently well that they
states and corporations and unleashed on their enemies. Even now, many of these are still reappearing, brought
can be sleeved into biomorphs if they choose.
back to life by the accessing of some long-forgotten data cache or the accidental infection of a scavenger mucking
through old ruins. New ones pop up every day, of course, many of them programmed by criminal hacker outfits,
while others that enter circulation are modifications and variations of BR designs, perhaps implying that certain SEED AI
parties are intentionally tinkering with netwar code and releasing it into the wild. Rumors and whispers circulate Due to the capability for unlimited self-upgrading, ASIa have the capacity to grow into god-like digital entities far
that some of these BR worms are even more potent and frightening than previously hinted at, with stunning beyond the level of humans or AGIs. They require massive processing power and are always increasing in
adaptive capabilities and intelligence. These rumors are steadfastly denied by authority figures and security complexity due to a continual metamorphosis of their code. ASIs are too complex to be downloaded into a physical
experts who then quietly turn around and do their best to ensure that their own networks remain safe. morph, even a synthetic one. Even their forks require impressive processing environments, so ASI forks are
rare. In fact, most seed AIs require the capacities of hardwired networks to survive. The only seed AIs known to the

AI AND INFOLIFE
public are the infamous Prometheans who are widely regarded as being responsible for the fall of the Core in the
aftermath of Rho. These AIs were developed independently by various Earth-governments and megacorps, and
were deployed in the netwars that plagued humanity in the last centuries before Rho. As the catastrophe drew
Self-aware helper programs were originally designed and realized to augment human cognitive abilities. These
closer, one by one the Prometheans all started ignoring or refusing commands. Several attempts were made to
specialized-focus AIs were then developed into the more complete, independent digital consciousnesses. The
either correct or delete these rogue AIs, and while some were sucessful, most of the Prometheans disappeared,
further evolution of these digital life forms unfortunately led to the emergence of rogue AIs that, during the
erasing themselves from the hardware centers where they were stored. Some evidence was uncovered that
turbulent decades directly preceeding Rho, refused to follow orders and then vanished during the chaos of the fall.
suggested they had transmitted themselves to new locations, rather than having committed suicide. There are no
This created a rift in human society as fear and prejudice turned popular opinion against unrestricted AIs, an
publicly known Prometheans (or other seed AIs), although stories of Prometheans or new seed AIs hidden away in
attitude of mistrust that still lingers to this day.
secret networks on the far frontier are a staple in both fiction and media.

LIMITED AI HUMAN INFOMORPHS

The term ALI (artificial limited intelligence) is used to refer to narrow, limited-focus AIs. These digital minds are
For thousands of infugees, embodying a digital form is their only choice. Some of these are locked away in mesh-
expert programs with processing capabilities equal to or even exceeding that of a human mind. Though they have a
separated virtual holding areas or even inactive storage, locked up by habitats that didnt have enough resources
personality matrix with individual identities and character, and though they are (usually) conscious and self-aware,
to handle them. Others are imprisoned inside simulspaces, passing time in whatever way they choose until an
their overall complexity and capabilities are limited. The programmed skills and abilities of ALIs are typically very
opportunity to resleeve comes their way. Quite a few are free to roam the mesh, interacting with physically sleeved
specific in scope and aligned towards a particular function, such as piloting a vehicle, facilitating mesh searches, or
humans, keeping up with current events, and sometimes even forming activist political blocs to campaign for info-
coordinating the functions of some habitat subsystem. Some ALIs, in fact, can only barely be considered sapient,
morph rights or interests. Still others find or are forced into virtual careers, slaving away in the digital sweat-
and their emotional programming is usually narrow or non-existent. ALIs have a number of built-in safety features
shops of hypercorps or criminal syndicates. A few find companions who are willing to bring them along in their
and programmed limitations and must serve and obey the instructions of authorized users within their normal
ghostrider module and become an integral part of their lives, much like a muse. Some willingly choose the
functioning parameters. They lack self-Interest and self-initiative, though they have limited
infomorph lifestyle, either for hedonism (custom simulspace and VR games until the end of time), escapism (loss of
a loved ones leads them to write off physical concerns), freedom (going anywhere the mesh takes them),
experimentation (forking and merging, running simulations, and weirder things), or because it is ensure conditions are not Earth-equivalent, terrestrial planets are much more habitable than others, and so are ideal for
immortality. colonization and resource exploitation. Terrestrial planets are commonly referred to by the dominant component
of their atmospheres, so BR Earth would have been a nitrogen planet, whilst BR Mars was a carbon planet.

EXTRASOLAR ENVIRONMENTS SUPER-EARTHS are a rare type of terrestrial planet which is significantly larger and more massive than Earth.
They are rocked by more vigorous geological activity (volcanoes and earthquakes) and have higher surface gravity
EXOPLANET CLASSIFICATIONS (typically between 2 and 3 g).
Most exoplanets orbit main sequence stars, similar to our own sun. This is because other star types tend to have
had conditions that were detrimental to planetary formation or underwent changes that destroyed any planetary CTHONIAN PLANETS are born when hot giants are drawn closer to their stars, thereby having their hydrogen and
bodies in the vicinity. The most common stars (~75%) are M-class red dwarfs, with the rest usually being yellow- helium atmospheres slowly stripped away over time. The remaining core planets are similar to terrestrial planets.
white F stars, yellow G stars (like Sol), and dim, orange K stars. There are occasional exceptions, such as the The cthonian planets discovered so far have been ideal sources for heavy metal mining.
cryoplanets around brown dwarf stars, rogue planets, and non-main sequence stars and other stellar bodies. Many
of the known exoplanets can be grouped into typical categories, described below. It should be noted that these are ICE PLANETS are similar to ice giants in that they have surfaces composed of water, methane, ammonia, carbon
just some of the larger and most notable groupsthey are many exceptions on record. dioxide (dry ice) and other volatiles. The difference lies in their size (obviously) but also in that at some lost their
hydrogen or helium atmospheres and replaced them heavier gases. On the surface, ice planets are hostile to human
GAS GIANTS life because of their extremely cold. Many ice worlds have subsurface oceans, warmed by internal heat and, in the
case of ice planets with natural satellites, tidal forces. Liquid subsurface water provides habitable conditions for a
These massive planets, often easily ten times or more the mass of Earth, are known for their dense atmospheres
few rare cases of microorganisms. These microorganisms produce nutrients using specific chemicals
and turbulent cloud layers. They are uninhabitable by human standards, with unbreathable atmospheres and
(chemosynthesis) that provide energy. Subsurface plants as we know them do not exist because there is no
severe radiation, and even their core surfaces have crushing atmospheric pressures and high gravity. Though some
sunlight to use for photosynthesis. The lack of plantlife also disqualifies ice planets from harbouring anything that
are subject to limited colonization, most remain unexplored. Gas giants commonly have a large number of moons,
resembles animals.
with some of them being reasonably habitable. Humanity's primary interest in the gas giants is resource extraction
from the atmospheres (notably helium-3, which is used in most fusion reactors), and the mining of heavy metals on
IRON PLANETS are planets with iron-rich cores, whose rocky mantles were stripped away by giant impacts, such
the moons. Gas giants can be broken down into three categories:
as collisions with large asteroids or moons. Some have surfaces covered by diamond fields. Iron planets are
smaller and more dense than other types of planets of comparable mass. They also have no plate tectonics or
COLD GIANTS are massive gas giants that have cold outer system orbits. They feature thick, heavy atmospheres of
strong magnetospheres, and often have very thin atmospheres, resulting in them normally being heavily irradiated
helium and hydrogen swirling above dense rocky or metallic cores. Their planetary system typically features
and extremely hostile to human life. Despite this, their easily accessible metals and minerals means they are still an
numerous moons and sometimes rings. The moons are often more habitable.
attractive target for temporary mining operations.
ICE GIANTS have far orbits that make them quite cold. Their atmospheres tend to be less violent than those of
other gas giants. Their skies are heavy in hydrogen and helium, and sometimes nitrogen and hydrocarbons, with DWARF PLANETS
numerous cloud layers. Upper clouds tend to be methane, giving them a blue color. Their rocky surfaces feature Dwarf planets occupy the gray area between asteroids and planets. By definition they are massive enough to be
solid water, ammonia, and methane ices. They commonly have ring systems, a magnetosphere, and multiple moons. rounded by their own gravity (usually meaning they are at least 400 kilometers in diameter) but have not cleared
Eccentric orbits around their parent star are not uncommon. their orbits of asteroids and other debris. Dwarf planets are rocky, lack atmosphere, and are notable only for their
potential metals or silicates. They are less interesting than other types of planets, but there are far, far more of
HOT GIANTS are simply cold giants and ice giants whose orbits have migrated closer to their parent star. They them.
tend to have a much higher surface temperature as a result, in addition to bleeding their atmosphere away
(eventually becoming chthonian planets).
OCEAN PLANETS
These planets began as icy proto-planets far from their parent star. They lacked the mass to grow into ice giant
TERRESTRIAL PLANETS status and migrated to an inner orbit. As the ice melted, they were transformed into water worlds with vast,
Terrestrial planets tend to have orbits closer to their parent star and are composed of either silicates or carbon exceptionally deep oceansas much as hundreds of kilometers. Below their crushing liquid depths is a small rocky
rocks. They feature a solid metallic core (usually iron), a rocky surface mantle, and a thin atmosphere (compared core with a mantle of ice VII (an exotic form of ice that forms under intense pressure). Above the oceans is a thick
to the gas giants, at least). The larger the planet, the more likelihood there is of volcanism and tectonic activity due helium and hydrogen atmosphere, hot with greenhouse effect. Like terrestrial planets, ocean planets are good
to the planets internal heat. Most terrestrials lose their primary atmospheres (the hydrogen and helium candidates for finding alien life, but so far only plankton and microbes have been discovered on them. Ocean
accumulated from the accretion disk in their star systems formation) over time. The larger terrestrials will planets are among the rarest types of planets, as they, akin to Earth-likes, can only exist in a circumstellar habitable
develop their own secondary atmospheres thanks to volcanism and comet impacts, as icy materials in the surface zone. Only a few hundred are known to exist in Orion.
sublimate. These atmospheres vary greatly in composition, but are usually dominated by either nitrogen or carbon,
depending on various factors, though oxygen, neon, and argon-dominated atmospheres also exist. Terrestrial
planets that lie within a solar systems habitable zone are the best candidates for finding xenolife. Even if the
HABITATS
one hundred meters or more below the surface. On bodies covered in ice, warrens are usually built deeper,
plunging under the icy surface near hydrothermal vents. Warrens are some of the largest habitats in the sectors, as
they are easier to expand and maintain than many others. However, due to the rarity of ocean planets, they make
With the Core now being largely desolate, humanity survives in a wide variety of habitats. There are two major
up only a small fraction of all current human habitats.
types of these habitats: settlements on planets or large moons, and space habitats that are built on or near an
asteroid or other useful source of raw materials. Most space habitats spin themselves to provide gravity.
ICICLES are a more recent development and a cheap alternative to warrens on ice planets and ice giants (both
types being much more common than ocean planets). Icicles are huge protrusions of ice jutting from the underside
PLANETARY HABITATS of the crust into the cold ocean below. These icicles are hollowed out, often with an accessway to the surface,
With humanity having failed to find any planets similar enough to earth to sustain human life without extensive powered with fusion reactors or large wave turbines that harness internal convection, and then transformed into
terraforming, planetary habitats are generally small and require just as much maintenance as space habitats. In living spaces, laboratories, farms, communal areas, entertainment districts, and more.
some sectors, where terraforming began centuries ago, there are now a few planetary habitats where the
atmospherse only require simple planetary gear such as breathing masks. In most however, it is either required to
wear a full-body habsuit, or it is simply impossible for standard biomorphs to travel outside of the habitat. Around SPACE HABITATS
30% of the galaxys population is estimated to live in planetary habitats. Space habitats come in many sizes and configurations, from survivalist outposts designed to support ten or fewer
people to miniature worlds in resource-rich areas housing as many as one million people. In heavily settled regions
AEROSTATS are floating, lighter-than-air habitats that follow the winds in the upper layers of the atmospheres of of space, habitats may be integrated into local infrastructure, relying to some extent on supply shipments from
gas giants and hard-surface bodies not suited for surface habitats. Most aerostats resemble mushroomshaped other orbital installations. More commonly habitats are independent polities. This usually means that in addition to
skyscrapers, or upside-down teardrops. The largest are close to half a kilometre tall, ringed at their center by four the main space station, the habitat is attended by a host of support structures, including zero-g factories, gas and
radial outrigger spars, each ending in a stabilizing gas envelope filled with hydrogen. The size of an aerostat, as well volatiles refineries, foundries, defense satellites, and mining bases. Majors habitats are crossroads in space. In
as the size of the cap, which serves as the main oxygen envelope, depends on the atmospheric composition of the addition to scheduled bulk freighter stops, they may have hangers-on such as scum barges and prospectors. Many
planet, as the structure as a whole has to be lighter than the atmosphere around it. Gas giant aerostats are habitats have some form of transportation network. This is most common in large cylindrical habitats with
relatively rare because of the difficulty of building structures capable of handling their violent storms and powerful centrifugal gravity. Common solutions for public transit include monorail trains, trams, and dirigible skybuses.
gravity. This has not stopped some hypercorps from attempting colonization however, as the potential for gas Common personal transit options included bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and microlight aircraft, with larger
mining from sustainable colonies is enormous. A small number of aerostats have been successfully deployed in vehicles being uncommon and usually reserved for official use. Most habitats with large interior spaces also use
tranquil gas giants with milder climates and heavier and less hostile atmospheric compositions. Most, however, are augmented reality overlays to create consensual hallucinations of a sky and clouds, to which most residents keep
built in the atmospheres of coreless, carbon or terrestrial planets. their AR channels tuned.

VAULTS are built on solid-surface bodies, and are relatively common form of planetary habitat. Vaults consist of Almost two-thirds of these habitats were built during the first two decades after Rho, when millions of the Cores
networks of subsurface tunnels and chambers excavated with plasma drills. These tunnel settlements differ slightly surviving infugees were in need of habitats. During this era, several thousand torus habitats and cluster colonies
from one world to the next. In most of these tunnel cities, the floors of all open areas and many dwellings are were created throughout the sectors. Many of these habitats were created by automated mining machinery that
composed of genetically modified grass designed for both comfort and durability. Light panels cover the ceiling and had been repurposed to create colonies. Due to the limitations of these automated mining rigs, most these habitats
provide bright full-spectrum lighting. A few of these buried cities further enhance their natural appearance with were small, holding between one thousand and thirty thousand inhabitants. Twenty percent of the frontiers
trees and, in some cases, specially engineered ecosystems, in both public areas and private dwellings. The more inhabitants live in such habitats. The expense and difficulty involved in expanding existing habitats or building new
prosperous tunnel cities also contain large open areas that are typically between one and twenty hectares, with ones is one of the principle reasons that more than forty million infugees still do not posses morphs.
ceilings at least ten meters high. Some are parks, others are public plazas, but all offer the residents of the tunnel
cities a chance to experience open spaces. CLUSTERS are the most common form of microgravity habitat. Clusters consist of networks of spherical or
rectangular modules made of light materials and connected by floatways. Typically business and residential
DOMES are the most common form of habitat, as they are lightweight as well as quick and easy to assemble. They modules are clustered around arterial floatways and infrastructure modules such as farms, power, and waste
are normally made from flexible polycarbonate and supported entirely by the internal air pressure, sometimes recycling. Limited artificial gravity areas may exist, frequently parks or other public places and specialized modules
contained with a high-tensile strength restraint net. Strong enough to withstand hurricane winds, micrometeorite like resleeving facilities (morphs often keep better when stored in gravity). Arterial floatways in large clusters may
strikes, and dirt loads, they are buttressed with hardened shutters in dangerous environments. Larger city domes have fast lanes where a constantly moving conveyor of grab-loops speeds people along. Clusters are most
are constructed from sturdier materials like aerogel, transparent alumina, and diamond. Domes for temporary commonly found in resource-rich environments like asteroid belts and the rings of gas giants. Cluster colonies can
settlements are simply inflated on any available flat surface. For more permanent installations, they are used to have anywhere from 50 to 2,000 inhabitants.
cap off craters and canyons. Most domes consist of networks of minor domes and antiquated tin can modules,
while large domes can reach heights of close to one kilometer at the apex, leaving room for a teeming gardens and CYLINDERS are found mostly in the orbits of colonized planets and were among humanitys first large space
skyscrapers connected by skywalks. habitat designs. They were the most common form of space habitat in the Core, but are relatively rare compared to
some other types of habitats in the sectors. With that being said, they are still home to tens of millions of humans. A
WARRENS are among the most exotic locations in the entire galaxy, and are quite disorienting for individuals not typical cylinder habitat is thirty-five kilometers long, eight kilometers in diameter, and rotates around its long axis
used to underwater living. From a distance, they appear to be complex Christmas tree ornaments hanging down at a speed sufficient for centrifugal force to create one Earth gravity on the inner wall of the cylinder. Smaller
cylinders exist, though these usually feature lower gravity. Cylinders are sometimes joined together, end-to-end, for
extra long habitats. A spaceport is situated at one end on the rotational axis of the cylinder (where there is no existing material or coating the walls with a sealant. Chambers are dug out of the host object and internally sealed
gravity). Arrivals by space use a lift to get down to the habitat floor. in the same manner if additional internal volume is required. Access points on the surface are capped with airlocks,
docking modules, or hard seals to prevent depressurization. For people without the training or mods to think
The inside of a cylinder has six alternating strips of ground and window running from one cap of the cylinder to the three-dimensionally, this can make beehives a veritable labyrinth. Purpose-built beehive habitats use color coding
other. One narrow end of a cylinder points toward the sun. The opposite end is the mooring point for three and grid assignments to make navigation easier. Those adapted from mining tunnels or designed for internal
immense reflectors angled to reflect sunlight into the windows. Smart materials coating the windows and security may not have such luxuries. Most beehives are small, but some have populations ranging in the tens of
reflectors prevent fluctuations in solar activity from delivering too much heat. The air inside the cylinder and its thousands, with massive cavernous microgravity cities.
metal superstructure provide radiation shielding. The land in most cylinders is one-third agricultural (a
combination of food vats and highyield photosynthetic crops), one-third park land, and one-third mixed use TIN CANS most often consist of small modules connected either directly to each other or by node modules with
residential and business. Cylinder habitats have a day and night cycle regulated by the position of the external common attachment mechanisms. These are bare-bones structures with little more than an exterior debris shield,
mirrors. The business and residential sections of the cylinder usually alternate with the park land over two of the a pressure shell, minimal radiation protection, plumbing for environmental systems, and wiring for electrical and
strips of land; cropland usually takes up the third. Bridges cross the windows every kilometer or so, linking the power systems. Deluxe models feature actual floatways or crawlways between modules, while barebones setups
land strips. The interior climate, the architectural style of the structures, and the types of vegetation and fauna require a vacsuit or vac-resistant morph to go from room to room. Food growing capacity is severely limited and
present vary with the tastes of the habitats designers. Depending upon size, cylinders can house from 25,000 to there may be no farcasters, but fabricators are available, as well as mooring for shuttles and perhaps prospecting
80,000 people. craft. This simplicity has its advantages for people who want to live off the grid. Tin cans rarely house more than
50 people.
TORUSES are interchangeably called toruses, toroids, donuts, and wheels and are circular space habitats that are a
cheap alternative to the cylinder used for smaller installations. Toruses had largely become obsolete before the SCUM BARGES are infamous spacecraft built before Rho and were used in the early stages of the space
sectors were even colonized, but some are still encountered, particularly in planetary orbit. A toroidal habitat looks colonization. Many of these craft were disassembled for supplies once they reached their destinations, but the ones
like a donut 1 kilometer in diameter, rotating on great spokes. There is a zero-g spaceport at the wheels hub. that werent are now full of people unable to find anywhere to settle, having become a sort of permanent traveling
Visitors take a lift down one of the spokes to the level of the donut, where rotation creates one Earth gravity. The refugee camp. The barges eventually joined up with pre-existing scum craft and swarms, adopting a nomadic, free-
plan of toroidal habitats varies greatly, as many were designed for specific scientific or military purposes and only wheeling, autarchistic lifestyle. In contrast to egocasting or faster and more efficient spike drives, so-called scum
later taken over as habitats by entrepreneurs or squatters. Many have a succession of decks in the donut. Most of barges offer a floating city alternative to space travel. These craft function as roving black markets and carnivals of
those designed for long-term selfsufficient habitation have smart material-covered glass windows for growing the bizarrelawless zones where anyone can find whatever they want or need for the right rep or price. Most
plants along much of the inside surface of the torus. Toroidal habitats equipped for farming normally face the sun scum barges hold between five and twenty thousand inhabitants. The worst barges are exceptionally overcrowded,
in a direction perpendicular to their rotational axis, but then use a slow processional wobble of that axis to create a with aging life-support systems struggling to maintain a breathable (but still foul-smelling) atmosphere under the
day/night cycle. Toruses were usually built to accommodate small crews of 500 or fewer people, though some strain of too many passengers. The larger and more prosperous scum barges are often fitted with various modern
larger ones exist, able to house 50,000. A few rare double toruses also exist, like two large wheels spinning in conveniences, including large nanoreplicators.
opposite directions, joined at the axis.

BUBBLES, or bubbleworlds, are hollowed out asteroids found mostly in belts, where the large nickel-iron asteroids
LOCUSTS
Locusts are a more recent development and are designed for use by inhabitants in ruster morphs or synthmorphs
used to construct them are abundant. Bubbleworlds are similar in many respects to cylinders, but there are no
and feature no life support.
longitudinal windows. Sunlight instead enters through axial mirror arrays. Bubbles can also be spun for gravity,
according to the whims of the inhabitants, though the gravity lowers as you near the poles of the bubble, with zero
gravity at the axis of rotation. Most residents of spun bubbles are in the central third of the sphere where gravity FALLEN HABITATS
variation is the least. The remaining two-thirds are evenly divided into park and agricultural space. Bubbles are Shortly after Rho, many habitats on the frontier faced extinction. Aerostats were running out of helium to keep
among the largest structures humanity has created in space, easily reaching over 10 kilometers in diameter, and so them skyborne, beehives were unable to produce enough oxygen and ocean cities were struggling with their power
are capable of supporting hundreds of thousands or even several million people. supplies. The vast majority of these have at this point been evacuated or failed. Aerostats have come crashing down,
ocean cities have sunk and space habitats have lost life support. The few habitats that still remain in isolation have
SPHERES are similar in their construction to bubbles, but are artificially constructed hollow spheres, built to hold usually done so due to sheer luck; their bodies have happened to have all of the resources needed to keep them
atmosphere for inhabitants living on the inner surface. Though designs have been produced for spheres up to 16 going, and they have avoided major malfunctions in life support systems. Some have regressed technologically, and
kilometers in diameter, most are much smaller, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 kilometers in diameter and providing living their inhabitants born AR are considered primitives by the rest of humanity. Fallen habitats are still discovered on
space for populations ranging from 10,000 to 100,000. A few smaller spheres are also kept at zero gravity, occasion, but are becoming increasingly rare.
providing ample internal air space for floating structures. Spheres are often coupled with other station types,
particularly cluster habs and toruses.

BEEHIVES are much like planetary vaults, but are carved out in asteroids rather than on planets or moons. They
are commonly converted from asteroids with large quantities of metals or silicates. Tunnels burrow into rock or ice,
often in the wake of mining or exploratory operations, and are converted into living spaces by either fusing the
THE EXCHANGE
entities. Complete automation, advanced robotics, morph technology, and nanofabrication allow the hypercorps to
abstain from mass employment for labor or production services. The need for physical labor has mostly been
reduced to tasks associated with habitat construction, terraforming, or deep space mining. Infomorphs and AIs are
Please, take a seat; we have a lot to discuss. If you are going to understand the Exchange, we need to make sure you
heavily employed (or more accurately, owned) as drone operators or virtual workers, and many administrative
understand it from every conceivable angle. Youre not a corporate, youre an outsider, and an autarchist to boot, and
tasks are performed online via augmented reality, virtual private networks, and simulspace nodes. Some
the only reason were using you is because your social networking skills in this system are without peer. The
hypercorps are in fact entirely virtual, with no physical assets and each employee acting as a mobile office. A few
psychosurgery and the skillsofts will cover a lot of angles, but were going to cover all of the basics face-to-face, to
major hypercorps literally consist of only a dozen human personnel.
make sure the groundwork for your assignment is solid. Itll probably come as no surprise to you that, ever since we
bought the majority of the shares in the mining op, weve been looking for a reliable rep that knows the lay of the land.
Though some hypercorps are massive and diversified, most specialize in particular fields or services. This results
The illusion of choice is wonderful, but for anyone who is a resident of Harmonys Embrace the choice between selling
in both an intricate system of partnerships to develop, produce, and market products and services and a large-
to us and the half-dozen other interested parties was the choice between sanity and the creeping madness of
scale tendency to internally contract special services from other hypercorps. Many hypercorps also pool their
autonomism. Bread and circuses with the threat of howling barbarism at the gate.
resources and talent into cooperative research initiatives, project centers, or shared habitats. Most hypercorps are
traditional capitalist in outlook, though many have adopted alternative business philosophies and management
The question to ask in every situation is: Who profits? Who gains? Whose interests does it serve? The Exchange gains,
of course, but so do the residents of Harmonys Embrace. A lot of wet-behind-the-ears autonomist types view the models. This might include basing decisions on internal forecast market trends, groupthink consensus models, or
citizens of the Exchange as exploited workers and slaves, blinded by their XP feeds and limited educations into ditching management entirely in favor of staff polling/voting initiatives that statistically fare better. The sectors
believing that their lousy lives are the best they can do. Those naive anarchists think that if only these poor Exchange boast thousands of hypercorps; a few of the more prominent and interesting are noted below.
dupes knew better, if they could just escape and see the glories of the free systems, then they would abandon their
ways, rise up against their masters, and topple the parasitic gerontocrats and hyperelites. The truth is, that without COMEX
law and order, and strong government, humanity is doomed. The Exchange offers economic growth and creates new Major Industries: Shipping, Logistics
wealth. It offers continuity and security. It offers an escape from the miserable existence of life on the brink. The Comet Express specializes in delivery services, interstellar logistics, supply chains, and shipping. They maintain a
standard of living, even among the poor, is significantly more prosperous than it was on old Earth. presence on almost every human habitat in the sectors, often via local subcontractors. Despite the wonders of
nanofabrication, many resources must still be imported. Comex focuses on managing supply and trade routes and
Visit any of our habitats and youll quickly be assaulted with images of the depraved and debased autonomist making sure physical shipments reach their destinations. For that purpose, Comex maintains a large fleet,
systems and the threat that they pose to civilization. You know what? Theyre right. You do pose a threat. Your way of stationed at strategic waypoints throughout the sectors. For reasons unknown to the public, Comex is viewed with
life would upset the security and sense of purpose that we have spent decades building. This is the pivotal mistake hostility by Firewall, who have standing orders to shoot down Comex vessels.
outsiders make the first time they come in contact with us. They assume that the people here want their way of life,
that they want unfettered choice and the ability to live next door to a polymorphously-perverse gun-nut with a MICROLIGHT
background in biowarfare agents. But if youve spend your entire life secure in your identity, if the only morph youve Major Industries: Uploading, AIs, Electronics, Software
ever known is the one you were born in, if all your friends and neighbors are good people who look out for you, if Microlight emerged from Rho almost unscathed, any significant losses absorbed by corporate assets in peripheral
youve spent your entire life letting your leaders take care of all the hard decisions, then you are likely to find that the market segments, while ruthlessly buying out troubled competitors or think tanks unable to adapt to the
new way of doing things is rather disturbing. transitioning economy. Nowadays, Microlight remains a predominant designer of high-end electronics, AIs, and
mesh presence software systems. Microlight also continues to pursue an uncompromising progressive agenda with
Reality isnt black-and-white. It is easy to accuse the powerful of being corrupt. To call the rich greedy. To lable the its research in mind emulation, uploading, and resleeving, as well as infomorph ego simulation.
ambitious as ruthless. But what else can humanity do but look to us as the solution? We transform the ashes into a
bountiful new economic paradise. Once were done with one system, well get to work on the next. The past no longer SOLARIS
matters. Forget about the mistakes that preceeded Rho. Cast aside the old nationalism and cultural identities, and Major Industries: Media (AR, VR, XP), News, Entertainment
embrace the new. Forget about Earth, Luna, Venus and Titan. The Exchange is the new home of humanity. Solaris dominates the sectors news, media, and entertainment market segments, generating controversy not only
with its publicly expressed pro-AI stance or inviting an AGI to its board of directors, but also by proficient use of
- Udyam Mahimkar, Human Resources Officer in Sector 32 hyperviral marketing and sophisticated XP-programming. Another core segment is the production of educational
XP and infomorph or AI tutors, some of the latter regularly ascending to pop-culture icon status. The corp has
THE RISE OF THE HYPERCORPS automated nodes and VR centers on many habitats throughout the sectors, and it contracts thousands of freelance
To some economists, Rho and the numerous crises that predated it in the Core can be viewed as an extinction lifeloggers as live, roving, citizen journalistas. Claims by some infomorphs that Solaris has illegally subjected
event, the end of the line for the massive transnational megacorp dinosaurs, financial giants that supported their indentured infomorphs to never-ending simulation experiments for forecasting and intelligence analysis purposes
monolithic frameworks on outdated economic models and industrial technologies. The hypercorps are their remain unsubstantiated.
evolutionary descendants: slimmer, faster, meaner, and more flexible, eagerly embracing the possibilities of new
technologies and never afraid to toss the old aside to take advantage of the new. It was the hypercorps that drove NEXUSWORKS
humanitys expansion into space and who continue to push the technological envelope, guiding humanity towards Major Industries: Miltech, Security, Military Contracting
new horizonsalways with profit as their driving goal. Most hypercorps are decentralized, non-asset-based legal
Based out of a Mutualist freehold, Nexusworks has become a major name in the design and manufacture of leadership of the eccentric but charismatic archeologist Xander Rabin, Gatekeeper funds gatecrasher explorations
weapons, vehicles, sensors, and other defense technologies. Their product range includes personal weapon through the gate, paying a small share of the revenue to the explorers but otherwise retaining all-encompassing
systems, spacecraft armaments, and habitat defense systems. While a prominent supporter of Firewall, rights on any discoveries madeas well as the marketing and distribution of the highly popular gatecrasher XP
Nexusworks is also one of the main arms suppliers to autonomist polities. They also offer private securityservices recordings. Aside from scheduled explorations, Gatekeeper offers high-risk gatecrasher scouting and discovery
in direct competition to Neferitas. While Neferitas is known for its expertly trained soldiers, Nexusworks is known trips for the bold or desperate, selected through a random lottery system.
for their elite cadre of highly trained and aesthetically enhanced female combat morphs. It is suspected that
several prominent assassinations have been the work of agents contracted through Nexus. OMNICORP
Major Industries: Nanofabrication, Chemicals, Energy, Anti-Matter
EXTROPIA A descendant of the BR megacorporate giant Monolith Industries, Omnicorp specializes in the fields of nanotech
Major Industries: Agriculture, Aquaculture, Pharmaceuticals design and fabrication, chemical refining, alternative fuel, and antimatter research. Omnicorp managed to secure
Extropia ascended into the hypercorp ranks before Rho, meeting the high demand many new stations had for research-oriented key assets from its twin rival Starware in a violent conflict shortly after Rho, leading to an
microgravity agritech, aquaculture, hydroponics, and other sources of food. Expanding into pharmaceuticals as ongoing enmity that might be better termed a corporate war. Despite its progressive technological outlook,
well, Extropia is considered the lead supplier for the poor mans food and drugs. Their cultured faux-meats and Omnicorp retains a conservative corporate structure with strict internal regulations and controls as a defense
proteinenriched nutrition additives are in high demand. This corp earned some sympathy when it lost an entire against Starwares repeated infiltration and sabotage attempts. Among the hypercorps major assets are their
habitat to some sort of ASI outbreak a few years after Rho, though some have suggested this was just a cover story antimatter research facilities orbiting Monolith-3.
to hide an unfortunate accident resulting from experimental drug testing on an unwitting populace.
STARWARE
LAGRANGE Major Industries: Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Habitat Construction
Major Industries: Cognitive Science, Mental Implants, Psychosurgery, Nootropics Another remnant of the BR megacorp Monolith Industries (like Omnicorp), Starware is a leading manufacturer of
A pioneer in the field of cognitive science, Lagrange drives forward the cutting edge of research into understanding robotics, spacecraft fusion drives, satellites, and entire pre-fab habitats. Despite its financial success and resources,
the human mind. Well known for their mental augmentations and the original menton morph design, Lagrange Starware makes heavy use of AI workers in robotic shells, having suffered a few too many labor disputes with
also specializes in psychosurgery and nootropics. Their elitist and aloof image was not aided by their scandalous disgruntled workers. In fact Starware grows increasingly unpopular with its neighbors and has been forced to
involvement with the projects to raise accelerated growth children nor rumors that they engage in research bring in extra security due to frequent sabotage attempts. Recent negotiations with Firewall have spurred theories
involving emergent AIs. Nevertheless they remain a key member of the Exchange. that Starware might have acquired a contract to design a new fleet for deployment in Sector 56.

NEFERITAS SKINTHETIC
Major Industries: Security Services, Military Contracting Major Industries: Genetics, Cloning, Biotech
Descended from the remnants of several BR national military forces and private military contractors, this As the leading designer of biomorphs, Skinthetic enjoys popularity and respect for its sophisticated products,
hypercorp made a name for itself in the period immediately following Rho, where they helped manage refugee especially high-end customized models. Best known for its breakthroughs in genetic engineering and
populations among various habitats and vessels while shattering any sign of unrest immediately and with full force. enhancements, the hypercorps interest in sophisticated combat morphs or stylized pleasure pods are lesser-
Neferitas today is known for its highly efficient shock troops and superior combat morphs, providing security and known facts and often sold through a network of seemingly unaffiliated shell corporations or local distributors.
public police services to self-governing habitats or hypercorp installations. Shifting political alliances between Skinthetic emphasizes environmental adaptations and useful cybernetic enhancements, increasing humanitys
habitat clusters and corporate rivalry cater to Neferitas paranoia-inducing marketing. The corporation maintains chances for survival and further prosperity. Experimental morphs are sometimes offered to desperate infugees for
several habitats as physical training facilities and armament depots. field testing.

CALDWELL AURATRONICS
Major Industries: Mining, Energy, Industrial Manufacturing Major Industries: Genetics, Cloning, Biotech
The industrial giant Caldwell is a powerhouse in the mining and energy production markets and also boasts a Auratronics is also a lead designer of morphs, but with a much sleazier reputation and not just because of their
remarkable presence in industrial equipment manufacturing. The former megacorp has quickly adapted to the new Mutualist roots. Specializing in extensive and often radical biomodifications, the hypercorp pushes the envelope in
economic environments and reputation-based systems, thanks partly to its dedication to network building and exotic pod and biomorph designs under the mantle of morphological freedom. Bioconservatives have condemned
sharing social responsibility. Often considered insular and close-minded, its internal communal and protective the corporations business practices and ethics and have even levelled accusations that Auratronics is
mindset is a strong contrast to its manipulative and monopolist business attitude. Caldwell is engaged in mining experimenting with xenomolecular materials. Auratronics cavalier attitude actually makes them popular in many
operations throughout almost all of the sectors. parts of the sectors, and they are know as the biotech corp to go to if you want something weird.

GATEKEEPER OMEGALINKS
Major Industries: Gatecrashing, Research, XP Media, Exoplanet Colonization Major Industries: Media, News, Entertainment, Public Relations
Initially born from the merger of several scientific institutions and their corporate financiers, this hypercorp made VR and simulspace design, news feeds and XP stations; Omegalinks and its subsidiaries have market shares in
a name for itself overnight when it announced the successful reactivation of the jump gate in Sector 8. Under the practically every media segment of the mesh. In an age of information wars, Omegalinks width and depth also
means that it has the capacity to not just be a media corp; it is also able to provide the invaluable service of altering are also adept at making certain the inhabitants of the habitats they control are safe, relatively content, and, ideally,
public opinion. A nightmare for the opponent of whoever hires them, Omegalinks works a combination of network unable to cause serious problems. This protection, however, comes at the price of freedom.
analysis, viral marketing, media relations, spin control, and smear campaigns. The hypercorps specialty is pre-
empting civil insurgencies and preventing political movements from destabilizing a habitats or politys regime.
Criticized by civil rights movements for turning social engineering into a business, Omegalinks has been known to
LIFE IN A CORPORATE HABITAT
The mixed economies of hypercorp-controlled habitats ensure that most citizens are relatively well off and need
embed programmed infomorph agents into the local population of any oppressive regime that will pay their price.
not fear starvation or serious want. Many hypercorps strongly oppose bioconservatism, and so anyone who can
While many in Sector 56 view Omegalinks as the brainwashing and secret police arm of Firewall, the hypercorp
afford various augmentations or morphs is free to obtain them as long as none are equipped with weaponry that
will offer its services to almost any polity or individual.
can be used to harm a habitat or large numbers of its inhabitants. In return for safety and relative prosperity,
however, citizens give up the ability to voice more than token criticisms of the hypercorps. Exchange habitats tend
EXPLORITY to have access to all of the latest products produced by the ruling hypercorp (or conglomerate of smaller
Major Industries: Intelligence, Data Mining, Info Brokerage, Espionage hypercorps) and its corporate allies. These habitats sometimes possess their own security forces, but more
Explority is a largely virtual hypercorp; it doesnt own any physical assets and most of its employees are AGIs and commonly have a private security company responsible for law enforcementwith the dual tasks of protecting the
infomorphs. Explority offers an impressive array of intelligence services, including data mining, analyst think tanks, inhabitants from each other and against external threats, but never at the cost of protecting the hypercorps
surveillance, data theft, espionage, media manipulation, and infiltration. Explority offices can be found in almost interests. All potential threats to the hypercorp and its personnel, ranging from attempted sabotage to simple civil
every sector, and their services are highly valued by anyone who wants to get a hold of information that is not disobedience, are dealt with quite harshly, with serious offences resulting in forced indenture, mental editing,
available to them through any other means. Explority is known for their affiliation with Exogenesis and their expulsion or death.
strong stance in favor of freedom of information, which to some might seem paradoxical, as their business relies on
their being restricted information that they can mine. The various hypercorps transcend location. Though some are quite large, rivaling the old megacorporations of
Earth in size, the majority of hypercorps are small and specialized with few physical assets, leveraging the
MARINERIS capabilities of AIs, infomorphs, and robotics and communication technologies. Some maintain staff and work forces
Major Industries: Mining, Habitat Construction, Colonization large enough to populate multiple habitats, but most rely on few employees, instead contracting with freelancers
Marineris is the first hypercorp to turn far frontier colonization into a business, claiming new territories beyond or other hypercorps. Many business projects consist of multiple hypercorps networked together; temporary and
the sectors and constructing numerous habitats. Known for taking advantage of desperate infugees, Marineris has even ad hoc business alliances are a common affair, with multiple hypercorps partnering towards common goals.
one of the largest percentages of indentured labor out of any hypercorp. It is not uncommon that as many as 95% Thousands of dedicated hypercorp manufacturing and processing installations can be found in resource-rich
of the workforce of Marineris deep-space mining operations and habitat construction sites are indentures. locations scattered throughout the sectors. Many hypercorps eschew macro-manufacturing and instead focus on
developing new technologies and new cornucopia machine templates. Aside from the numerous public hypercorp
HERMES factories and labs, there is an impressive number of secure and often secret research installations, some of which
Major Industries: Probing, Communications are located in deadspace, meaning that the only way to get there is via egocasting, or with a one-way ticket on a
Hermes is a young hypercorp, coming about after mergers of various national communication networks and spike craft. All manner of mysterious and often highly dangerous research occurs in such locations, ranging from
organizations in the aftermath of Rho. Their large stockpile of spike probes led them to quickly become the market experiments with xenomolecular materials to attempts at creating self-replicating nanotechnology or artificial
leader in interstellar communication. While those polities and habitats that can afford it tend to have their own miniature black holes.
probe fleets, Hermes is frequently hired by private individuals and other legal entities that do not have the
resources to maintain probe networks. Despite its young age, Hermes has already been involved in several large Many inhabitants of the more independent habitats complain about the repressive nature of hypercorp-controlled
security scandals, where they have been accused of being the secret intelligence service of the Exchange. colonies, but residents of these habitats prefer the safety and security found there to the intimidating freedom of
autonomist colonies. To help reduce dissent, residents of habitats controlled by the Exchange (and similar
hypercorp-dominated polities) can vote on a wide variety of issues. The results of these votes, however, are only
AN EXCHANGE ONLY VISIBLE FROM ABOVE binding on issues that are not considered matters of habitat survival, corporate policy, or security concerns,
Though nations no longer exist, they have been replaced by polities that may well have been on the road to which effectively includes anything related to the profits and productivity of the hypercorps involved. Votes on
dominance even if Rho had not occurred. While most habitats in the sectors are independent, some live under the these matters are purely advisory, meaning that they are utterly ignored when the results are at odds with
thumb of the hypercorps. The entity known as the Exchange is best described as the framework or structure hypercorp agendas. This does not mean, however, that the results of elections are completely disregarded. If a
through which the hypercorps interact and coordinate with one another. It is the pattern that emerges when large majority of the population strongly supports a particular issue, the hypercorp controlling that habitat usually
financial transactions, shipping manifests, research agreements and joint mining ventures are studied at the finds ways to modify its current policies to s and planetary settlements, as much as twenty percent of the
macro-level. The hypercorps have become more specialized than ever before, and thus have come to rely more on population consists of hypercorp employees or private contractors who are hired on a short-term basis when the
other hypercorps than ever before. More than forty percent of the surviving human population lives in Exchange local workload exceeds the capacity of the regular population. These workers are in the unique position of having
space, mainly due to it controlling many of the oldest and largest habitats in the sectors, including most of the late- dual loyaltiesto both their habitat and their employer. Despite what hypercorp propaganda preaches, the two
stage terraforming operations. In the aftermath of Rho, the hypercorps established three important goals: interests do not always overlap. Because of the delays involved in normal communication, local heads of hypercorp
rebuilding an interconnected human civilization, protecting itself from any further catastrophes, and growing in offices usually have a great deal of autonomy, since asking for instructions from their superiors on another habitat
both wealth and power. Since popular rebellion and widespread dissent complicate these interests, the hypercorps or installation requires either dealing with a time-lag or sending emissaries on spike craft. As a result, except for
the most important or difficult problems, local directors deal with all local matters on their own, reporting any humanity, the Singularity Foundation was a strong advocate for restricting AIs in order to protect humanity from
unusual or potentially problematic decisions afterwards. an uncontrolled, dangerous singularity event. Despite the efforts of these and similar groups, the most dire
predictions of the outcome of a technological singularity were fulfilled; Humanity was ravaged and the Core fell to

FIREWALL
ruin.

A SAFEGUARD AGAINST EXTINCTION REMNANTS OF AN INTERSTELLAR ARMY

During the chaos of Rho, states-of-emergency were made permanent across multitudes of civilian habitats. In many
It all came crashing down with Rho. Keep in mind that even under the best of conditions, it takes over half an hour for
situations they were justified; without clear chains of command and empowered authorities, these habitats might
a radio message to reach Jupiter from Earth. How long do you think it took to reach the frontier? By the time the first
have failed. In other cases, they were nothing more than military coups by another name. Further, the large
garbled reports of the supernova reached us, the civilians had already thrown themselves into complete chaos. The
number of Military Vaults (MVs) that had been established on the frontier in the centuries preceding Rho quickly
organization crumbled; everything we knew fell apart in front of our very eyes. Seemingly random and often
seized surrounding habitats, in order to secure vital resources and key industries. The other branch of the
contradictory orders came in from high command. As the jump gates were about to fall, the government sent through
surviving military forces, the navy, acted in a similar manner. The supercarriers and battlecruisers that made it out
whatever cabinet members and senators were still alive. But it was appallingly clear that the old structures wouldnt
from the Core, or that were already stationed in the sectors, forced local habitats to submit to their rule; all in the
work anymore. Disputes over who held authority were already breaking out. Refugee craft continued to pour in, many
name of ensuring humanitys survival. These authorities, which soon became known collectively as the juntas,
of them having been turned away by already full habitats. People began to polarize according to ethnic and national
quickly brought the majority of the surviving military-industrial complex under their control.
identities. A strong authority was needed to unite the survivors. Our superiors decided to use their power to establish
order and safeguard the Vault from outside threats. Within days we seized control of the entire system. We even sent
craft to aid in the evacuation of the Corebut none of them returned. THE BIRTH OF FIREWALL
During the crucible of Rho and its immediate fallout, the surviving members of various anti-AI, bioconservative,
As the Exchange rose to dominance and the autonomists declared their independence, it became evident that no one and paternalistic organizations, such as JASON and the Singularity Foundation, found a natural ally in the juntas. As
cared about the survival of the species but ourselves. We have not forgotten why we now huddle in underground both sides acknowledged the weakened and fractured state of humanity, together they undertook drastic new
shelters, and in tin cans surrounded by vacuum. When their AI systems and their very bodies betray themwe will be measures, swearing to prevent another catastrophe and to curb the misuse of technology. Public communication
standing strong. Then, perhaps, they will have to turn to us, their last hope. The shining city on the hill that will offer channels were subjected to extensive censorship and travel privileges put under heavy restriction. AGIs were
the benighted masses the possibility of salvation from the instruments of their own destruction. Or perhaps not. banned and treated as property without civil rights. These authorities also limited access to other technologies
Regardless of what the future holds, we are dug in deeply. We grow steadily, without exponential curves. When their such as nanofabrication, cloning, forking, and even uploading, in order to secure their positions of power. Over the
societies collapse with the inevitable entropy of anarchy, when their machine gods have reaped all of their souls, when decades that followed Rho, the juntas, along with organizations like JASON and the Singularity Foundation, came to
they have accelerated their evolution and transcended into nothingness, we humans will still be here, ready to form an organization known as Firewall. With the motto there cannot be another catastrophe as the unifying
reclaim our birthright and our heritage. principle, Firewall dedicated itself to safeguarding humanity from what it views as existential risks (X-risks):
galactic disasters like that of Rho, weapons of mass destruction, anti-matter experimentation, ASIs, contact with
I could tell you that we are not so different from them, that we share a common backgroundbut it would be a lie. sentient alien life forms, and so on.
Down to our very genetic material we are different. More than that, our differences are those of culture and ideology,
the ultimate fate of the universe, and the place of humanity within it. These are the principles upon which Firewall THE SHADOW ADMINISTRATION
was founded: our belief that humanity is worth preserving.
Though Firewall has stringent guidelines to ensure the organization is not subverted from within or turned into an
organization under the thumb of any individual member, the origins of many of its founders made it seem almost
- David Ruiz, Civic Defense Corps volunteer on Batuco
inevitable that secondary agendas would arise. Some of these agendas are based purely on the politics of power,
while others are rooted in the philosophical underpinnings of the organizations ideological framework.
THE SINGULARITY The camp that encourages Firewall to develop a stronger, more centralized internal structure is in large part a
Back before Rho, the first, concrete attempts to recognize the dangers of uncontrolled technological development reaction to the growing autonomist influence in the sectors, which they view as a destabilizing factor, and
and to create an international organization to safeguard humanity were made. Several programs, both on the potentially an X-risk. These groups view hierarchy as a stepping stone to efficiency and a better model for
national and international levels, to research and protect against so-called existential risks, from asteroid strikes to protecting against infiltration and external subversion. They argue that Firewall cannot be truly effective unless it
pandemicsanything that might wipe humanity out were launched. JASON, established in the mid-22th century, adopts a more aggressive and expansionistic foreign policy. The issue of how exactly Firewall would legitimize
was an international advisory committee to the United Nations on matters of science, technology, and defense. itself as a true polity remains an open and disputed question. There is some concern among other factions that,
They sparked numerous technological developments for the governments of Earth to deploy and were one of the should these tendencies within Firewall become dominant, they may prove to be an unstoppable force.
first internationally recognized groups to understand the dangers of ICD. Even before the catastrophe, most
members of JASON split away from the strict controls and reactionary agendas of the UN, to form a Another vocal contingent within Firewall argues that the only way to ensure the survival of humanity is for a rapid
extragovernmental shadow organization. The Singularity Foundationformed at the dawn of the 24th century increase and expansion of the population, the precondition of which is nothing less than the reclamation of the
was dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers that AIs represented. A fervent believer in the singularity Core. Even though most of the Coreworlds were devastated during Rho, there is still the possibility that some of the
doctrine that technology would move towards a single explosion of advancements that would forever reshape terraformed planets, maybe even Earth, could be mended in a matter of decades. This would provide the
opportunity for a population boom unlike anything possible in the sectors. Others view the increasing separation subversive ideas and technologies. As a result, all media outlets are subject to monitoring and review. Outside
and isolation of human societies as the main threatand thusly see the reactivation, and eventual expansion, of the media and information sources are strictly banned. In addition, any public gathering in excess of twenty persons
jump gate network as the prime objective. Such a campaign would require either collaboration with the hypercorps, will usually be broken up by the Civil Defense Corps in fairly short order. While there are rather strict sedition laws,
or a direct confrontation, followed by the confiscation of their vast assets. merely criticizing the government will not get you hauled off to prison. An individual may feely express
disapproval of such a thing as the bad maintenance of the local park, or even the cronyism at the tax office. Direct
The Shadow Administration is the rumoured behind-the-scenes government of Firewall which, depending on who criticism of the military or Firewall, or the attempted organization of a political group or the unionization of the
you talk to, usually either consists of hyperbelligerent militarists, or ultraconservative Core-reclaimers. What is factory workers, however, is quickly quelled by the CDC.
certain, however, is that since the first few decades after its inception, Firewall has remained relatively isolationist,
seemingly preoccupied with entrenching itself in its space and building up its infrastructure and industry. The process for acquiring an exit visa is long, complicated, and expensive, and more often than not it ends with a
refusal unless the applicant has a particularly good reason for leaving. Even if an exit visa is obtained, booking a
CITIZENS AND CIVILIANS berth aboard a craft is often a challenge, given how few passenger routes exist. Returning citizens can expect heavy
While their opponents may characterize Firewall as a fascist state, Firewall is not a unified polity and there is no screening and questioning about their outside activities. For outsiders, entering is an equally difficult process.
template for government. Many habitats are military dictatorships, but many are also, at least nominally, Visas must be registered well in advance (just showing up will get you thrown in a cell) and must have good cause.
democratic. There are, however, some common features for all Firewall habitats. Suffrage is limited to citizens, and Hypercorp reps generally have an easier time cutting through the red tape, whereas an autonomist has a better
citizenship is not a birthright. By birth or by immigration, all persons within Firewall space are considered civilians. chance of finding a golf ball in Saturns rings. Visitors are warned in advance that certain morphs, mods, and
This means that they have limited rights and that these rights are contingent upon remaining in good standing equipment are considered contraband, including your muse. Accredited guests are granted a registered alien
with the authorities. Citizens are made, not born. In order to become a citizen a civilian must do several things. status, which gives them roughly the same rights as a citizen. A category of protected aliens is extended to guests
First, and most importantly, they must sign up for a voluntary four-year stint in either the Space Force or the Civil to the Republic who would not normally be granted rights or protections but who, due to their diplomatic or trade
Defense Corps and must serve out the entire deployment. The standard tour is six months of basic training, standing, are accorded a limited form of legal protection. Native infomorphs and certain political undesirables are
followed by six months of specialized training, and then three years on active duty. This ensures that the forces, also granted this status. AGIs are, of course, strictly forbidden, and aiding or abetting one is a crime. A registered or
both internal and external, are always fully staffed. Many of these assignments are for positions such as engineers, protected alien does not have a right to privacy and a search of their person or possessions can be conducted at
medics, and various service and bureaucratic roles; everyone, however, receives basic military and security any time. Additionally, in the case of suspected subversive activity or basically anything an inspecting officer may
training. After serving for four years a person is granted citizenship, though a high degree opt to re-enlist since find objectionable, military officers can be called in to access the subjects cortical stack. All aliens legally visiting
most careers outside of military or police work reward increased experience within the services. are required to install and carry around a modified version of a muse called a minder that reports your activities to
local authorities at all times and is admissible as evidence for deportation or detention.

LIBERTIES UNDER A JUNTA

Citizenship may be revoked for any number of major criminal infractions. While a simple theft is unlikely to see the
perpetrator stripped of citizenship, repeat minor offenders or major offenses such as assault against another
THE AUTONOMISTS
The first thing to understand about us is that we have no government. Theres no one in charge, no standing military,
citizen or murder will be punished with the loss of citizenship. As long as a citizen remains in good standing, they
no figureheads and no headquarters. Various freedom-minded individuals came here and built the habitats, free from
are afforded all of the rights and privileges of a full citizen. Civilians are generally anyone under the age of fifteen,
taxation and government restrictions. Disgruntled workers, indentures, convicts... people started going off-grid just
anyone who has been convicted of a criminal act, new naturalized arrivals, or any adult who has not completed
disappear. See, people were being darknetted out here and the corps didnt have a clue what was going on. Our
their voluntary military service. While a civilian enjoys some rights, these can appear quite arbitrary. They may, for
numbers were small, our resources limited, but we were just the first wave. We were the pioneers.
example, be detained or confined to their quarters by the authorities, no justification needed. Civilians are banned
from working or even accessing sensitive areas in habitats. Adult civilians are relegated to a second-class status
When things were starting to get real bad back home, the corps tried to take us over. They came in with their shiny
and are generally considered to be criminals, cowards, or both. An adult who is not a citizen has failed humanity in
colony barges and their terraformers. How fucking stupid can you be though no, really. The contract labor, who
some manner and this status is not only reflected in their mesh and other digital interactions but also in housing.
were mostly convicts and indentures by the way, mutinied as soon as they cleared the gates. Then they started sending
The rental or purchase of housing in certain zones is a privilege extended only to citizens, meaning that most
them with military escorts Didnt end so well for the escorts. By the time they sent in the heavy stuff, it was too late.
civilians are relegated to ghettos where they are more easily controlled and monitored. Below civilians are a class
We had everything we needed to defend ourselveswe had the endlessness of space. Good luck finding a darkzoned
of non-persons. This includes infomorphs, repeat criminal offenders, and untrusted inhabitants of protectorate
beehive with a battlecruiser.
habitats that are not collaborating with the regime. These non-persons cannot claim even the most basic rights,
and while it is still considered a crime to kill one, it is treated as felony property damage and not murder or
BAM! No more battlecruisers No more megacorps No more Core
manslaughter.
We dont need them. And that, dear listener, is what really scares the Exchange more than anything else. We dont
Most Firewall habitats, including MVs, have a constitutional framework that grants rights and privileges for need them. Thats how they have survived for millennia; like fucking leeches, someone always needed them. They
citizens as well as contains the basic outlines of the legal system. A stranger would find much about the judicial and provided an invaluable service to humanity. Yeah, right Anyway, we were the winners of Rho. Nearly all of the
political processes reminiscent of several old Earth democracies with a few notable exceptions. There are no corps were diminished, weakened, on the verge of extinction And then they came running onto our turf. But this is
universal freedoms for the press or of assembly. The first is a military matter; a free and independent press leaves our space, and we were ready and able to take a disaster and turn it around, liberating millions and providing the
humanity open to infowars that could jeopardize the efforts to maintain social cohesion, or create support for basis for a strong and enduring confederation of societies among these desolate space rocks. We are building a society
that can really deal with things like Rho. Were the bogeyman of the old-guard. We represent the chimera of the future,
that ever-changing, multi-headed beast that is adaptable and fierce. This is who we are, the future. Your future. We
are the Autonomists. Join us.
BEHIND THE FACADE
Many outer system habitats opened their doors to refugees from the Core. Distance, the lack of spike ships, and the
high cost of egocasting curtailed these efforts, however, as did the Coreworlds reluctance to send potential
- Phan Xian Chi, X-caster and former indenture.
recruits to their ideological opponents. Simple overcrowding and lack of resources drove them to push many
refugees to the frontier, however, though the hypercorps weeded through their virtual infugee mobs and sent
THE LIBERTARIAN AND UTOPIAN LEGACIES those with the highest risk of criminal tendencies or discontent with Coreworld life. While other factions tend to
The inhabitants of autonomist sectors (roughly thirty percent of humanity) have considerably more freedom than view the Autonomism as a unified, coherent ideology, this is not something that those that have been branded as
anyone else. But even here the struggle between the desire for freedom and the longing for safety forms an Autonomists themselves agree with. Very few people, if any, would identify with the term. The Autonomist sectors
important part of the political discourse. Various libertarian ideologies were quite common among those that habitats run the gamut of the socio-political spectrum, and while habitats have at times bonded together to help
ventured outside of the comfort and safety of the jump gate-connected Core, to settle space in what was then each other in times of crisis and to present a united front against other powers, there is no formal structure. In
referred to as the frontier. Many habitats in the sectors have inherited this legacy of freedom. Interstellar practice, Autonomism only exists as an assortment of joint resolutions agreed to by various habitats and a few ad
colonization presented a fantastic opportunity for those with a strong desire to avoid the authoritarianism of the hoc task forces dedicated to addressing a particular problem or issue and then dissolving. Even in the autonomist
hypercorp-controlled Core to pursue social organizations more based in equality and collective action or even to sphere, however, patterns and common ideals can be identified. The four major schools of thought are listed below.
simply experiment with new political models. Before Rho, the hypercorps were preoccupied with fighting amongst
themselves, which gave resourceful colonists a chance to explore their interests unmolested. The more radical of
these elements grew out of or maintained ties to progressive, anti-authoritarian, and left-wing social movements
AUTARCHISM
Autarchists eschew power and hierarchy, promoting horizontal and directly democratic methods of organization.
and insurgencies in the Core, drawing support where they could. Others simply stole hypercorp resources from the
Individual empowerment and collective action are cornerstones of their philosophy, as is economic egalitarianism
Core and smuggled them to their secret projects.
enabled by equal access to nanofabricators and shared resources. In Autarchist stations, private property has been
abolished above the level of personal possessionsnobody owns anything, its all shared. There are no laws and no
THE POLITIES OF ANTI-POLITISM one to watch over what you doreputation networks encourage positive behavior and anti-social acts are likely to
During Rho, the habitats of entire sectors mutinied, refusing corporate orders and pursuing their own paths. It was draw a response from locals or even the entire populace, with disputes handled through ad hoc community conflict
rarely feasible for the hypercorps to pursue and punish such subversion. Over time these have become lumped resolution. The mesh and various networking tools are used extensively to strive for group consensus decision-
together, by outsiders, and are commonly referred to as autonomists. In reality, their only unifying cause is that of making in realtime. AIs and robots are relied on for most mundane and demeaning tasks. Various self-organized
maintained independence from the hypercorps, Firewall and other, in their eyes, authoritarian regimes. Among the collectives, syndicates, workers councils, and affinity groups, often with rotating membership, take on different
more anti-capitalist habitats, the centuries-old doctrine of from each according to their ability, to each according tasks and services that are important to a habitats community, including everything from communications
to their need is a living and vital philosophy. The ready availability of cornucopia machines ensures that no one and space traffic control to backup and resleeving services. Participatory militias organize collective defense
wants, and the use of reputation systems encourages people to be active participants towards the common good. against external threats. Among the Autarchist stations there are many variations and permutations on how things
Equitable access to morphs and augmentations is also available for residents, though the demand from so many are organized, as everything is fine-tuned at the local level by whomever is involved. Larger decentralized
infugees in need of a body means that they first must contribute and build up social capital. However, even for an confederations handle inter-habitat affairs and resource-sharing, even trading with the hypercorps. Though a
infomorph, egocasting across the solar system is expensive, and the Exchange produces large amounts of hypercorp presence is allowed on some habitats, they are treated just like everyone else.
propaganda about the dangers of these habitats to discourage indentures from considering escape.

Many autonomists consider themselves to be engaged in an ideological conflict, a cultural cold war that sometimes MUTUALISM
extends to physical actions. Some willingly pursue campaigns of sabotage and subversion against hypercorp and Though a smaller tendency, the Mutualists are notable because they ride a line between Core and Frontier
other authoritarian interests, such as smuggling cornucopia machines into habitats where nanofabrication is ideologies. Mutualists believe in an economic free market with the absence of a binding legal system, so that all
strictly regulated. The hypercorps and their allies occasionally strike back, though open conflict is rare. Even relations and transactions are based on individual contracts agreed on by all parties involved or affected. Contrary
though the Exchange and Firewall could theoretically field enough military might to subdue the autonomist to the Autarchists, the Mutualists very much support private property and personal economic wealth; Mutualist-
factions, they have so far been too preoccupied scheming among themselves. The vastness of human space also owned corporations actively participate in the Sectors hypercorp economy. Many of these corporations are
makes it unfeasible that anyone could control all of the autonomists areas; even if they could conquer them. There worker-owned cooperatives, with workplace councils in local offices and an elected cooperative congresshandling
are also rumors that the autonomists have some sort of card in their pocket that keeps their opponents at bay, management. This puts the Mutualists in a remarkable position where they interact heavily with both the
perhaps even some threat of mutually assured destruction. hypercorps and other autonomists but are not fully trusted by either. In Mutualist society, law and security, like
everything else, are contracted services. When entering a Mutualist habitat, you purchase defense insurance from a
Inhabitants of autonomist habitats still remember how the allegiance to distant and often unresponsive leaders did local contractor such as Neferitas, who maintains automated drones and freelancers throughout the station who
nothing to prevent Rho from almost wiping out humanity, and that memory fuels their mistrust of authoritarian can come to your aid if threatened. Likewise, the only law that exists is whats put into writing between two
and bureaucratic polities. The old powers were undone by failing to deliver what they promisedwhen they could contracted parties. In case of disputes, both parties resort to a pre-agreed legal contractor to settle the matter.
not provide the security that they claimed their paternalistic measures would bring, the seeds of their defeat were Some Mutualist colonies utilize AGIs for facilitating contracts and legal matters.
planted.
UNIONISM time to recover. With the use of their strategically placed locusts, a significant portion of the sectors was quickly
established as Exogenesis space.
The first Unionist habitat started as an experiment by a European academic consortium, making it the one of the
few habitats set up by non-hypercorp interests. The social organization was rooted partly in the ideas of old-Earth In the last few decades, Exogenesis has mainly occupied itself with renting out its services. Individual Exogens are
social democracy and partly on open economics. As the experiment proved rather successful, a small but
free to work for whomever they choose, and so a small warming of the relationship with the hypercorps has
significant number of autonomist habitats embraced the model. On one hand, Unionists eschew the use of currency
occurred, as many corps have realized what a source of scientific expertise Egogenesis really is.
for mundane needs, participating in the new economy used by much of the rest of the sectors. On the other, upon
reaching the age of majority, Unionists agree to a literal social contract, which grants citizenship. A portion of a
citizens economic productivity is quantized as social money, which is then tithed to microcorp-administered social DISPUTED ORIGIN, DISPUTED PRESENT
projects such as research initiatives, mental health programs, defense, public resleeving facilities, mining Exogenesis was the end-product a long-running conflict between the scientific community and its sponsors. The
operations, and habitat construction. Unlike old-Earth socialist regimes, there are no state monopolies and no seemingly endless, but up until then stable, cold war between rival old-Earth governments and hypercorps
central planning. Anyone able to garner enough votes in the habitats parliament (referred to as a Plurality) can escalated in the last centuries before Rho. Netwars, robotic warfare, industrial espionage and sabotage of research
start a social money-funded microcorp and compete with other microcorps for public funding. Microcorps are facilities led to the first large-scale defections of scientists and theorists. Many abandoned their usual techo-
owned by the habitat, and profits are disposed of by the Plurality. Regulatory matters are handled by AI and AGI optimism and progress ideology. Others began to organize in new ways, with the autonomists of the frontier as an
bureaucrats (red tape still exists, but it doesnt slow things down much). The main reward for individuals in this inspiration. The tipping-point came when ISO, the international science organization, a supervisory organ of the
system is rep. Unionists who invest a lot of time or resources in a given field gain rep rewards for doing so. UN, was shut down. Many leading scientists were charged with crimes against humanity and executed.

SCUM According to Exogenesis, ISO had for almost a century been collecting data from Rho Cassiopeiae, and possessed
conclusive evidence of it going supernova within two centuries. As ISO was finalizing a report that was going to be
Scum are space nomads, traveling from station to station in heavily modified barges or swarms of smaller space released to the public, the organization was shut down, and the report disappeared. The official story, however,
vessels, mostly former colonial ships. The term scum has been gleefully appropriated from its original derogatory
was that ISO had been involved in illegal xenomaterial and Seed AI research. Exogenesis ideological opponents,
usage. Despite their reputation as criminals and scam artists, their temporary presence is often tolerated in many
these days mainly found in Firewall, still hold this view. The only undisputed facts are that the Prometheans, the
habitats, as they offer relief from the isolation of remote habitats and clusters. Their thriving black markets are an
first, and so far only, known Seed AIs were developed by scientists who would eventually defect to Exogenesis. As
open secret but shut down only in the most oppressive regimes, as citizens returning with illegal goods must pass
for the disappeared report with the evidence of the supernova, no proof of its existence has been unearthed.
their stations security anyway. The scum themselves comes from all manner of backgrounds. They are rejects,
criminals, societal dropouts, wanderers, artists, eccentrics, and more. As a culture, however, they embrace Exogenesis is perhaps the most controversial organization in the sectors. Some claim it is a terrorist organization,
experimentation and an everything is permissible attitude. Many are ardent practitioners of extreme
others that it is nothing more than a crime syndicate. There are those that view it as the protector of the little
modifications. Long-time scum are sometimes scarcely recognizable as having once been human. Scum economies
person from authoritarianism, and those that view it as the only realistic alternative if humanity is to not only
are mixed rather than new, due to their constant interaction with other habitats, though among long-term
survive, but also prosper. There is also a long-lived rumor that Exogenesis ultimately is under the control of some
residents an underground new economy often flourishes.
elite inner circle. Supporting this theory is the existence of the medeans, the organizations clandestine para-
military wing, bodyguarding high-level members and protecting the groups assets. Another hard-to-kill rumor is
EXOGENESIS that Exogenesis has proof of the existence of a sentient alien species, or perhaps that they are even secretly
controlled by them.
THE MANY FACES OF PROGRESS
On the surface, the group calling themselves Exogenesis is a public organization advocating the use of technology THE POLITICS OF SCIENCE
to solve humanitys problems, but Exogenesis has shed skin many times throughout its history. What started as a Exogenesis is a strong proponent of the open source movement, advocating open access to technology and
condemnation in the scientific community of hypercorp practices quickly led to expropriation of corporate data information. In their view, providing equal access to humanitys knowledge and achievements will further growth
and resources, causing Exogenesis to be labelled as a terrorist organization. This caused an exodus of Exogenesis and security, so that all of humanity is more prepared for future threats and challenges. Thus Exogenesis scientists
members to the frontier, many of which took up residence in proto-Autonomist habitats. Over time, construction of often insist that payment for their services come in the way of releasing otherwise unobtainable information
Exogenesis habitats were started in many sectors. As Rho drew closer, Exogenesis encouraged defections from the hypercorp proprietary secrets, research data, nanofab blueprints, hidden pre-Rho archives, and so onto the
Core, and even staged some very high risk rescue operations, where scientists, theorists and other important public mesh. Exogenesis maintains several open databases and archives for this specific purpose. Support for the
individuals were liberated. The hypercorps on their part claimed that these abductions were nothing more than advancement of knowledge takes a number of forms. A large minority of Exogenesis members live in habitats
an attempt by Exogenesis to monopolize knowledge of certain prototype technologies. A significant portion of the belonging to other factions, and thus have dual allegiance: Theyre Exogens, but they might work for a university, a
scientific infrastructure of the Core fell into Exogenesis hands, but it wasnt until after Rho that the organization polity, or even a hypercorp. For these researchers, the support they receive from the organization is less material
really came into its own right. Hundreds of previously unknown habitats were revealed, ready to house the and more in the form of networking and legal or cultural support. At other times, for research that has been
thousands upon thousands of infugees that came pouring in. Most of these habitats were locusts; small, zero-g banned, defunded, or wouldnt be secure elsewhere, Exogenesis provide direct material support, sometimes with
stations with no life-support. Their new inhabitants were hence to become sleeved in cheap synthshells. It was hosting in their own facilities. Exogenesis is also a haven for AGIs, which creates an overlap between Exogenesis
only at this point that Exogenesis truly became a faction, capable of challenging the economic might of the and transhuman rights-oriented organizations.
Exchange and the military power of Firewall. Because they had been prepared for the catastrophe, they needed no
Pre-Rho academic organization was maze of interdepartmental hierarchies, intellectual blood feuds, and heavily
bureaucratized financial mechanisms. Yet Exogenesis modelled their organization after old-Earth universities.
Exogenesis wasnt originally inclined to organize as much as they have; there are quite a few autonomists in the
ranks. But the movements cross-economy status, old, mixed, and new, demanded administration of funds and
coordination of favors to get big projects like space habitats built. Since the completion of much infrastructure
there are occasional calls from autonomist-leaning elements to flatten the hierarchy more.

The question of what the exact qualifications to be an Exogen are is a complicated one, because so many have other
affiliations, and because they participate in the organization to varying degrees. Further, Exogens work and dwell
all over the sectorssome in polities that are much more hierarchical than others. When Exogenesis have
consulting engagements in hypercorp space, they obtain the necessary legal status and set up corporate entities
often temporarily. Some Exogens are therefore employees of companies with allegiance to the movement. Similarly,
being an Exogen isnt a citizenship, although it is possible to be a legal citizen of an Exogenesis-run habitat.
Eligibility to vote and run for public office is probably the best way of characterizing who belongs to the
organization. To vote, one must have contributed substantially to an Exogenesis-affiliated project within the past
year. For researchers working on non-Exogenesis projects as their main occupation, this usually means
volunteering off-hours to support official projects. Donations of credit or resources to the movement may also
qualify an Exogen to vote.

As for the rest, the nintey-nine percent of the inhabitants of Exogenesis space; the clanking masses of synthcase
infugees, their only hope of having a say in government is to be accepted to the position of research assistant to an
already-Exogen, thereby slowly being able to prove their worthiness to join the ranks of the organization.