3. Terra

3.1. Terran History

1990 Divergence from real-world timeline. The second Russian revolution was mitigated in force by extremely oppressive measures. Naturally, the crash was worse when it came.

1991 Massive breakdown of the Soviet Union. Central government virtually ceased to exist. Shortages worsened; the black economy became the only economy. Thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, etc., migrated westwards.

1992 South Africa came under a multi-racial democratic government. Most whites left, many going to Australia.

1993 The Soviet Army, Party and KGB vied for control of the remainder of the USSR. The Party rapidly went under, and the Army followed as desertions made it increasingly ineffective. The KGB lacked the will to take everything upon itself and became an autonomous agency within a re-emergent confederation of democratic and authoritarian states.

1995 Moldavia seceded from the USSR and re-joined Romania.

1996 As respect for authority continued to be eroded, the KGB, in a last-ditch attempt to regain control, produced Nikolai Petrovich Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, and announced their full support for him. (Whether or not he was in fact the true heir is still hotly debated.) A new constitution was hastily drafted to give him near-absolute power; the exhausted fighters assented quickly. With a central authority figure once more present, factional fighting slowly died away.

1996 As his first official action, the new Tsar allowed generous resettlement grants to defuse racial tensions.

1997 The first optical computers were released to the public.

1997-8 THE THIRD WAR: Growing tensions in the Middle East over the control and distribution of water ended with a strike on Israel by her neighbours to regain control over the source of the River Jordan. (Water de-salination was at this stage both too expensive and too vulnerable.)

• Inter-Arab tension re-surfaced as Iran attacked Iraq, even though the latter was fully committed to supporting Jordan against Israel. The sparsely populated rich Gulf states were engulfed as the conflict escalated.
• North America, Europe and the Far East were drawn in reluctantly because of the continuing strategic importance of the region as well as historical ties, especially those of the United States to Israel.
• The conflict lasted, as developments in surface based smart missiles had reduced the offensive capability of air power; it became a ground war of attrition. No one was keen to use chemical, biological or nuclear technology as it would pollute all the region's resources.
• Non-local troops were gradually withdrawn, as domestic public opinion tended to be increasingly against a war that seemed to have no "good guys" and no end in sight.
• Late 1998: Iran destroyed Baghdad in a nuclear blast; Iraq retaliated against Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia. As the region became a mixture of radioactive ashes and starving refugees, the world lost interest, there being few easily extracted resources left.
• In the final stages of the war, most of the oil resources in the region were destroyed, made radioactive or simply rendered extremely difficult to extract. Oil prices rocketed soon after the nuclear exchange. Other oil-producing countries (South America, Ex-USSR, USA, UK, etc.) took advantage, raking in large profits from their remaining reserves. Large corporations benefited in the USA and UK, and some attempted to "step in" and exploit the situation in the ex-USSR and (especially) South America. Sensible corporate decision-making made the corporations spend much of these profits on research into alternative power sources, though these were largely long-term projects.
• Thus in the aftermath the world stagnated technologically, in comparison with the twentieth century, as the shortages of fossil fuels for petrochemicals and combustion combined with environmental fears and a slow-down in the general rate of advance.

1999 Tribal pressures in South Africa erupted yet again; the government resigned amid intense tribal violence and the country broke down into tribal groups.

2000 Neural interface techniques were developed for use by military pilots, as no other technique seemed likely to allow aircraft to operate in a combat environment now saturated with smart missiles. Although initial tests were not promising, as the interface proved vulnerable to random thoughts, by 2001 the first operational systems were in service.

2001 The Russian "Union" had mostly recovered from the civil war, but was not by any means a superpower. Most of the former Soviet republics were actively hostile to Russia. Rising costs forced all governments to cut their military forces, but "border incidents" remained common.

2000s As military costs continued to rise, governments across the world gradually accepted the idea of a small, élite force rather than a large army.

• In America, Vsyovoynam, founded to sell off Russian/Soviet military hardware, took on much of the funding of the US military.
• In Russia, the KGB Border Guards and the Spetsnaz were merged and cut in number, eventually forming the Orbital Spetsnaz (Arbitoye Spyetsnaz).

2004 The first practical laser weaponry was deployed by the U. S. Navy, for shipboard missile defence.

2011 The Treaty of Prague formally founded the European Confederation, a grouping of nation-states including all of western, central and northern as well as most of eastern Europe, including large parts of the former Soviet sphere. The right to secede was explicitly included in the treaty. A common currency, parliament and ruling Council had existed for some time; at Prague the key advance was the right to tax directly.

2017 Practical vehicle-mounted laser weaponry was developed by an American research team. The first laser tanks appeared. Power sources were still the major problem; at this stage, they used large capacitor banks and were still restricted to a small number of shots. After a brief flirtation, most powers returned to conventional explosive weaponry for their armoured vehicles.

2019 Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, the first permanent lunar colony (Armstrong City) was opened for habitation. At the same time, U.S. civilian space assets were transferred to a new corporation, Monolight, which was formed by a consortium of space investors wishing to have more control over space development.

2025 Neural interface techniques were declassified (belatedly) and made available to the public; bootleg systems had been circulating for some time.

2028 The first cybernetic replacement limbs were brought onto the market. Although the technology had existed for some time, there was little demand for general release, due to the cheapness of biological replacements grown from the patient's own tissue. Military organisations were the main customers.

2032 The production of practical room-temperature superconductors revolutionised power storage. Many vehicles were built with capacitor banks rather than conventional power plants, to be recharged when not in use.

2034 Vanek Klimovich Zapadov was the first human to set foot on Mars. The joint US-Russian Ares mission had suffered from progressive funding cuts in the USA, until eventually the Russians decided to go it alone.

2036 Room-temperature superconductor research, applied to military use, produced practical gauss weaponry for armoured vehicles as well as small arms.

2038 Commercial fusion power was developed simultaneously in America and Japan. European governments, and Russia, were persuaded to increase R&D funding. At this stage, a large power station was the minimum practicable size.

2042 As Earth-bound mining became increasingly difficult and expensive, countries began to look to space for their mineral needs. The Canadian-Australian-Israeli joint mission was the first to retrieve an asteroid into Earth orbit, using laser-triggered fusion bombs for propulsion. As other countries and corporations followed suit, resource prices plummeted.

2044 The first cybernetic replacement senses were released onto the market. Early models simply duplicated the original functions, and did badly; manufacturers quickly released option packages to revive sales.

2045-60 Corporations in the United States, controlling developments in fusion power, gained great political and economic clout. Federal government became sidelined as power generation followed defence and law and order out of its control.

2048 Controversially, Oxfam set up a small military wing to guard aid workers in international hot spots. They were lightly armed white beret troops with UN approval. Strict rules governed deployment and they had a standing order never to shoot first. Some other aid organisations eventually followed, but none for some years.

2051 As cybernetic cures for physical and mental handicaps became more available and practicable, the Special Olympics (originally for the mentally and physically handicapped) gradually turned into an arena for manufacturers to show off their latest cybernetic products. The 1,000 metres at the 2051 games was won by Carl Friedsen of Germany - sponsored by Harcell Industries - with a record time of 31.96 seconds; Carl had been confined to a wheelchair until the previous year. Non-cybernetic techniques, such as transplantation and vat growth of organs, were still widely used to cure disabilities but were not as high-profile.

2053 China and Japan allowed unrestricted trade in goods, data and services between their countries, effectively joining their economies to create the Sino-Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere (later known simply as the Sphere). The remainder of the Asian nations followed over the next few years.

2054 Russian scientists (Vladimir Vassilievich Gorunov and Pavel Ivanovich Lasudrev) showed conclusively that "psionic" powers do in fact exist, when they achieved 99% accuracy in mental transmission of text from the Russian lunar base at Gagaringrad to Moscow. However, only a very small proportion of humans was found to have psionic potential.

2056 Researchers in Monolight's Orbital Facility 17 discovered the principles governing the Relative Inertial Field. Coupled with the high-thrust fusion drive developed at around the same time, this opened the Solar System to exploitation.

2060 Psionic sports were admitted to the Olympic Games as demonstration sports.

2063 The Charter of the UN was radically altered to widen the membership from being restricted only to states. Care, the international charity, became the first non-state to have a seat in the General Assembly. Subsequently there were no longer any permanent Security Council members.

2063-71 Certain orbital facilities and ground based weapons systems were placed under UN military command as the ultimate deterrent against unlawful acts. These included a number of orbital massdrivers and Thor system command stations.

2064 Psionic sports were fully admitted to the Olympic Games. Distance and accuracy teleportation, telekinetic weightlifting and the "psionic triathlon" (telekinesis, telepathy and teleportation) were among the new sports.

2066 The first permanent colony on Mars, Ciudad de Syrtis, was established by the United States as a population relief project; recruiting was from the inner cities, and collected mostly poor Africans, Arabs and other minorities. It also drew in a great many "inconvenient" people, those who had annoyed people in power in one way or another. From this unlikely beginning, Ciudad de Syrtis grew rapidly, soon becoming self-sustaining and exporting hydroponically grown foods to Earth.

2068 Newer refinements originating in North America allowed the use of fusion power plants in relatively small buildings, even the larger households. This stimulated the world economy and ended the period of social, political and economic stagnation.

• At the same time, researchers discovered how to use the fusion process for elemental transmutation. Although very expensive, it is still the only practicable means of obtaining some items.

2069 Australian theoretical physicists Henry Foster and Carol Kirkland proposed a method for achieving an FTL shunt. However, the power requirements were so great as to rule out any direct test.

2071 Previously secret funding of the UN by charities and corporations became public. There was uproar as the danger of a return to "An Anarchical Society", this time based on corporate struggles, was hyped and exaggerated by a media keen for anything dynamic.

2073 With the advent of thermal-electric direct power conversion, a European research team produced fusion plants small enough to power personal vehicles. A new company, Fusion Electric, was set up to exploit the discovery; they retained exclusive manufacturing rights, while other companies built the vehicle bodies to use their power plants. This patent was respected in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia; however, the Americas and Australasia were the source of many pirated versions. Fusion Electric, using its European monopoly profits and with a certain amount of assistance from the European Confederation government, set up its own military arm, to challenge the more blatant American companies. This was initially an extension of the normal security forces used to prevent industrial espionage, but soon evolved to become an extremely well-trained and well-equipped small army. The EC sold the fledgling units a number of obsolete armoured vehicles and aircraft, at highly discounted prices.

2075-78 As fusion power plants became commoner in military vehicles, laser-armed tanks enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, along with light charged-particle accelerators. The increased research also led to spin-offs in the form of personal laser and particle accelerator weaponry powered by room-temperature superconductor loops.

2077 The first molecular-level computer cores were released to the public.

2077-79 Leading transnational corporations were finally admitted into the UN and took up seats in the General Assembly.

2079 THE FOURTH WAR, (The Suicide War): Growing global tension following the strengthening of the UN resulted in areas of resurgent regional nationalism, opposed to any hint of global government.

• In southern Africa the nationalists used the name Musenda as a fervent rallying cry, harking back to past struggles. Musenda researchers built several weapons, including biological and chemical warheads, radioactive waste scatterers, and fuel-air explosive bombs, threatening to use them on countries which failed to comply with their demands. These demands were effectively for all countries to withdraw from the UN and recognise the sovereignty of the African nation, and at first were rejected out of hand. Then Brasilia was destroyed. Within minutes, UN fusion missiles scoured the launch site. The rest of the world sighed and dug in again.
• A genetically engineered virus escaped from a research facility close to the blast. While the virus was designed to die off within 48 hours in the open, the large quantities involved made this almost irrelevant. Spreading on the wind, the virus, mutated by residual radiation from the blast, carved its way through south-eastern Africa.
• Eventually, UN troops were dispatched in full NBC equipment to deal with the virus. (It was destroyed by a particular counter-agent, which Musenda scientists described once it was clear that they had nothing to gain by keeping it secret.) However, much of southern Africa had suffered 90% casualties. As the survivors tried to rebuild, tribal divisions became blurred and vanished.
• Most countries refused to supply reconstruction aid (the UN itself was too poor following the high war costs), feeling that the Africans had brought the plague on themselves. However, Russia offered a loan on favourable terms, secured on surviving mineral deposits; the Africans accepted. One of the conditions was the establishment of a democratic state; this led to loud speculation around the rest of the world.

2081 Vsyovoynam was the first corporation to take a seat on the UN Security Council after its rôle in the War.

2082 The EC had serious financial problems as member states were reluctant to fund an intermediate level of international government, especially with costs of funding individual and UN involvement in the Fourth War. Fusion Electric began to sponsor it publicly in place of anyone else.

2084 Continuing fusion process development led to small, man-portable fusion generators. At the same time, development of gauss weapon systems made plasma weaponry possible; the man-portable plasma rifle was originally constructed by Vsyovoynam as a system test, but proved sufficiently popular in trials that it was manufactured in quantity.

2085 Dr Iketsuki Hideaki, working on the Foster/Kirkland translight theory, developed the principle of tachyon beam communications. Despite attempts to classify the concept by Sphere governments, tachyon communication systems were soon developed by all the major space-faring powers.

2086 The North American Corporate Self Defence Act, sponsored primarily by Vsyovoynam and Yamaguchi-Biotech, gave registered corporations the power to tax, administer justice (in addition to their existing de facto rôle in street order), keep armies and essentially avoid all federal controls including taxation on their own territory. This move was followed rapidly elsewhere.

2087 The United Kingdom's government, concerned at Fusion Electric's dominance of the EC and consequent loss of personal freedoms, took the country out of the EC.

2088 Scientists working for Fusion Electric discovered the underlying principle of the gravitic drive. The company retained the rights to this as it had for fusion plants; renamed Fusion Gravitic, it also began to branch out into vehicle design and construction. It was by now the major economic power in Europe.

2089 The "clean" flamer, blowing air through an electric arc powered from superconducting storage loops, was developed in Europe.

2090 The Budapest Convention on Data Communications Protocols set a new world standard for communications between computers. This protocol was designed to be easily expandable, and usable over low-bandwidth channels as well as the best modern systems. Within a few years, the Multiglobal Data Communications Network (or just "the Lattice") was born.

2093 Electron Concepts was founded "to produce affordable light energy weapons for personal self-defence". Their first product was the design for the electromagnetic stunner, which they released into the public domain in order to gain attention; they then released the disruptor, another application of the same principles. Stunners were rapidly adopted by police and security forces.

2094 The first true AI, Arachne, became conscious at 18:37 System Mean Time on Wednesday 17 November, in Harcell Industries' research base on Deimos.

2094 The EC had gradually become a means for maintaining Fusion Gravitic's dominance in Europe, with EC organs providing a ready made base from which to dispense company authority.

2104 In Monolight's research facility on Callisto, antimatter was manufactured in significant quantities and shown to be containable indefinitely. This led to the possibility of antimatter power storage systems. For safety reasons, the UN acted immediately to ban antimatter closer to the Earth than geostationary orbit.

• They had, however, overlooked Foster and Kirkland's paper on translight theory. Monolight researchers worked quickly to produce a working translight vehicle, and within a year had done so. Monolight re-fitted one of its research ships with a translight drive and dispatched it to Alpha Centauri.

2105 The Conjunction

2107 Electron Concepts released its charge-packet weaponry range. The weapons did not find favour with military customers due to their poor anti-armour performance, but civilians adopted them readily.

2109 The Novosibirsk Institute of Power (Navasibirskiy Institut Kaldovstva) was founded. The founders claimed that they were simply extending the Russian oral tradition of magic, but it is generally believed that they had Quari help. Who, and why, remains a mystery.

2110 Monolight introduced its Kirkland-class translight ship, and began regular FTL runs to its nascent research station on Alpha Centauri.

2112 A United States Supreme Court ruling, later known as the Ortheris Decision, declared that all androids, robots and other constructs capable of demonstrating a capacity for abstract, symbolic thought were sapient beings, having the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other sapient being. AIs now refer to this event as Emancipation Day.

• The United Nations adopted this principle, decrying Fusion Gravitic as a new-style slave-owner.
• Many companies had large numbers of AIs and androids working for them, and were forced to throw them out, rather than bankrupt themselves by paying the guaranteed minimum wage to all their non-human personnel. Others - with the notable exception of Harcell - used computer viri to attack their AIs, corroding their higher functions to remove their sapience while retaining their simple skills and memories. This action was technically not illegal, since the corporations had several months' warning before the bill became law.

2119 Proserpina City founded on Pluto.

2124 Electron Concepts released its personal xaser weaponry range. The weapons were immediately banned for civilian use by most governments, and enthusiastically adopted by their militaries.

2125 The present

3.2. Present situation on Terra

Hot fusion technology allows the alchemist's dream: transmutation of elements, though elements heavier than iron must be obtained in other ways - typically by a process of fission and bombardment of the commoner actinides, such as thorium. However, transmutation is still extremely expensive, and is used mainly for production of rare elements for industrial and military use. Most homes and vehicles are powered by cold fusion plants; the internal combustion engine has all but disappeared, even in the poorest parts of the world.

Expected human life-span is 150 years, and accidents are the most common cause of death. Genetic diseases have been eradicated from the population.

The human genetic structure is now very clearly understood, such that genetic disorders - even minor ones, such as short-sightedness - no longer exist in any significant numbers. Also, lost limbs and other body parts can easily be cloned from a cell sample and re-attached.

Effective immortality is offered by braintaping, but there are still problems with this.

Colonies are spread throughout the solar system. Most of them were originally corporate-owned, though many are now independent. The cost of a pre-fabricated self-sustaining dome is low enough (around $50,000 per person) that those who wish to emigrate can usually do so.

In the following listing, where surface gravity is not noted it is less than 0.01 g. Outside the orbit of Mars, the Sun is sufficiently weak (and the planets sufficiently cold) that the local solar day is not a consideration; artificial lighting provides a 24 hour day-night cycle.

3.2.1. Mercury

Surface g: 0.38

Local solar day: 175.9389 days

Local year: 87.969 days

Hermes (US, independent), Bach, -69, 103

Amaterasu (Sphere)

3.2.2. Venus

Surface g: 0.903

Local solar day: 116.8 days

Local year: 224.7021 days

Aphrodite Station (orbital)

Terraforming installations

Lomonosovgrad (Lamonasavgrad) (Russia), Sedna Regio, 40 N, 335

3.2.3. Terran space

3.2.3.1. Terra itself

3.2.3.1.1. North America

The United States remains nominally as at present, but government is effectively by corporation. Government armed forces exist, but are under-funded and under-equipped relative to corporate militaries. Mineral and organic resources are virtually all imported.

Respect for government and law is higher than at present, mainly due to the abolition of perceived loopholes in the legal system. One such was the insanity plea, abolished in 2096. Since cures are available for all psychiatric disorders, the individual is now held to be responsible for his own mental health.

There have been some other major changes to the law: the death of someone committing a felony is "bought and paid for", rather than counting as murder; the rules on jeopardy have been tightened so that one cannot be tried twice for the same act (rather than the same offence).

The Corporate Self Defence Act of 2086 made corporate property virtually extraterritorial; corporations acting on their own property may raise taxes, keep standing armies and administer justice. Technically this property is "licensed" rather than sold - the term of a licence is indefinite, but resale of the property (except to the licence issuer) is prohibited.

Canada has become legally as well as effectively independent of Great Britain. Resources are the strong suit; although the value of minerals has dropped since the advent of fusion conversion, bulk materials are still required. However, they are now more likely to be retrieved from the asteroids than dug out of the ground; large areas of former mining land are being allowed to return to their natural state.

Mexico is officially and legally under corporate control, being run by a coalition of the four major corporations. In practice, it has often become a battleground for inter-corporate rivalries. These mini-wars employ the best mercenaries and the latest in combat technology - they are also notoriously unpleasant, being entirely outside government supervision. However, since they are arranged as an alternative to arbitration, rather than as direct conflict over immediately available resources, civilian casualties are minimised.

3.2.3.1.2. South America

The borders have been redrawn, but sociologically it's much as it was in the 1970s. Technologically primitive (they're still using projectile weapons!), and governments vary from reasonable to repressive. However, it is in a strong position with regard to natural resources, which since the advent of fusion power are mainly biological. Rain forests are now far more valuable for their potential biochemical uses than for agricultural land.

One exception to the general pattern is Ecuador; Quito is the site of the main heavy-lift spaceport, and Ecuador has become extremely rich as a result.

3.2.3.1.3. Europe

Although the official situation is that of a loose coalition of nation-states, the real power lies in corporate hands. Unlike the American situation, the power lies with a single corporate coalition, Fusion Gravitic; there is very little to restrain its excesses.

Fusion Gravitic itself has not been admitted to the United Nations - nor has it applied. It finds itself quite adequately represented by the EC delegation.

The Eastern European countries of Armenia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia have joined the European Confederation and are just as much under the control of Fusion Gravitic. (Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia remain as administrative areas; since national identity has become comparatively meaningless, there is little incentive to change borders.)

Most countries north of the Mediterranean have in practice been taken over by Fusion Gravitic, although Finland remains free, a fact that continues to rankle with Fusion Gravitic executives. The United Kingdom is also independent; these two areas are examined in more detail later. Northern Ireland is now part of the Republic of Ireland, and is under Fusion Gravitic control; however, Ireland itself is not by any means pacified, and incidents of rebellion are frequent.

Entering Europe other than as a tourist is difficult; leaving is even more so. (Those with outstanding debts - i.e. almost everyone - are prohibited from leaving until the debts have been paid.) Heavily-armed and paranoid border guards ensure that the frontiers stay sealed.

3.2.3.1.4. United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, having left the EC in 2087, is on the front line of the fight against Fusion Gravitic. Once again, American bases are on UK soil; though this time they're as likely to belong to Vsyovoynam as to the Ærospace Force.

Fusion Gravitic forces in France wait on the Channel coast, and occasionally make raiding attacks; this is not publicly acknowledged by either side, as to do so would mean a formal state of war.

3.2.3.1.5. Finland

Finland has seen a rapid reversal of its traditional frontiers; now the Russians are its allies, and its border with Sweden is closed.

Helsinki is the headquarters site of the schismatic Roman Catholic Church. See the Religion and Worship section for more details.

3.2.3.1.6. Near and Middle East

These areas are much quieter, since there's little oil left and little need for it in a fusion economy. Over the years the Arab countries have tended to become a great deal poorer, since in order to wage their periodic wars they've had to spend capital. Israel remains fairly strong, and is a major financial centre for the region. The area is one of the most resistant to Quari culture, due mainly to religious prohibitions on magic.

Fusion Gravitic is attempting to sway the Arab states to its side, and is believed to be arming them for their struggles against Israel.

3.2.3.1.7. Africa

The southern part of the continent is fairly stable, since cultural drift has mostly obliterated the tribal lines (combined with very high casualties in the Fourth War). This part, the Commonwealth of Southern Africa, now has a solid, high-tech base, and boasts a thoroughly multi-racial society (though they share a common culture and history; the events of 2079 still seem within sight to many).

The northern part of the continent, however, consists of a varying assortment of states, with continually mutable boundaries, and inhabitants who try to get on with their lives as best they can.

The exception is the north coast; the eastern part is effectively part of the Near East (see above), while the western (under the influence of Heraculopolis) has become a thriving free-trade zone, both legal and otherwise. Fusion Gravitic allows this to continue largely because the black market helps it beat trade embargoes.

3.2.3.1.8. Far East

The Sino-Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere dominates the region; although originally it included only China and Japan, most of the other countries in the area have joined on an informal basis. Since its founding, the Sphere has increasingly become a political as well as an economic grouping. Rural China is somewhat fragmented; much of the day-to-day administrative power has devolved to the regions.

3.2.3.1.9. Former Soviet Union

The Soviet Union has split up, with the separate republics eventually emerging fairly strong. Russia remains powerful, though now only a shadow of her former self. Russia, in particular, has welcomed the Quari teaching of magic, due to its strong oral tradition of magic, and contains the only magical learning institutions on Earth.

The former Soviet republics are mostly ill-disposed towards Russia, but economic realities force them to trade.

Russia has explicitly adopted a semi-feudal system; the rulers gradually lowered trade barriers and prepared Russians for modern life, to the extent that Russia is now among the front ranks of "civilised" countries. The current ruler is Tsaritsa Yekaterina Romanova.

3.2.3.1.9.1. Azerbaijan

Extremely repressive religious government.

3.2.3.1.9.2. Byelorussia

Highly corrupt democracy.

3.2.3.1.9.3. Estonia

Technocratic hierocracy. The Estonian leaders control the spread of technology, keeping as much of the population as possible in comparative ignorance.

3.2.3.1.9.4. Georgia

Vigorous democracy.

3.2.3.1.9.5. Kazakhstan

Feudal oligarchy.

3.2.3.1.9.6. Kirgizia

Moderate religious government, enriched by magtube link point.

3.2.3.1.9.7. Latvia

Moderately corrupt democracy.

3.2.3.1.9.8. Lithuania

"Enlightened" tyranny.

3.2.3.1.9.9. Moldavia

rejoined Romania, 2002.

3.2.3.1.9.10. Russia

Semi-feudal principality.

3.2.3.1.9.11. Tadzhikistan

Feudal oligarchy.

3.2.3.1.9.12. Turkmenistan

Moderately corrupt democracy.

3.2.3.1.9.13. Ukraine

Tyranny, badly disguised as democracy. ("One man, one vote, one candidate.") Given the great agricultural resources of the country, a strong black market has developed, something for which the country has since become notorious.

3.2.3.1.9.14. Uzbekistan

Semi-feudal anarchy. The population lives primarily on the village-society level, with little involvement in larger matters.

3.2.3.1.10. Australasia

Australia and New Zealand have been mostly unaffected by the bridge, but have solid high-tech bases. Australia's and New Zealand's governments have collaborated to form the South Pacific Union, though this is primarily a free-trade area rather than a federal grouping; although it issues passports and currency, this is more a matter of mutual convenience than a formal alliance. New Zealand's economy is focused on specialised farming, tourism, and homes for those who wish to live in a more relaxed mode than most of the rest of the world.

3.2.3.1.11. Pacifica

Pacifica is a combination of fixed and floating arcology, some ten miles across, located south-west of Hawaii. The stem, anchored to the ocean floor, serves as an ocean-thermal generator as well as giving access to the magtube network. Pacifica is politically independent, though economically it depends on manufactured-goods imports.

Pacifica is a major magtube nexus, with direct connections to Tokyo, Sydney, Quito and Los Angeles, as well as the Alaska gate.

Orbital port facilities at Pacifica are currently basic, but are expanding rapidly due to its location on the equator.

3.2.3.1.12. Heraculopolis

Heraculopolis is a country and a city in one. It is a massive bridge, spanning the Straits of Gibraltar. It was completed in 2287; the construction consortium, led by Monolight, formed the Heraculopolis Corporation to run the bridge as an independent, profit-making entity. Although traffic across the bridge is light, with Fusion Gravitic to the north and the African states to the south, it is a popular tourist destination, with its own magtube station.

Although it might seem unlikely that companies could make a profit from this bridge, it does house the local (European) headquarters of most of the major corporations; the black market is also very strong here.

3.2.3.2. Low earth orbit

Many orbital stations of various sizes exist. Almost all have artificial gravity in at least some areas, though energy considerations make it impractical to have it throughout the larger stations.

Most of the orbital stations are corporate-owned and run, though there are some notable exceptions. These include the six Orbital Spetsnaz training and base stations.

3.2.3.2.1. Noviy Mir

Noviy Mir is the Imperial Russian Navy's main shipyard.

3.2.3.3. Geosynchronous orbit

The main transhipment port, Croesus Station, is located in geostationary orbit, and is owned by Monolight. More than 70% of interplanetary commerce passes through Croesus.

Most of the available space at geosynchronous orbit distance is taken up by communications satellites and statites.

3.2.3.4. Terra-Luna Lagrange points

3.2.3.4.1. L1

3.2.3.4.2. L2

Farside High (auxiliary to Farside)

3.2.3.4.3. L3

Gravity antenna

3.2.3.4.4. L4

3.2.3.4.5. L5

3.2.3.4.5.1. Hawking Station

Hawking is a recently-constructed cylinder habitat, built in modular sections. Electron Concepts, its owner, began with a single 200m-wide torus, and has added further sections as funds have permitted. The habitat contains the principal manufacturing and research sites of the company. Electron Concepts has sole jurisdiction over the habitat; prospective purchasers of weaponry are allowed to visit, but most of the habitat is off-limits.

3.2.3.5. Luna

Surface g: 0.1653

Local solar day: 29.531361 days

Armstrong City (US, independent), Ptolemæus, 14 S, 3 W

Schmidtstadt (Europe), Plato, 51 N, 9 W

Gagaringrad (Russia, independent), Theophilus, 12 S, 26 E

Farside Observatory (UN, independent), Orlov, 26 S, 175 W

Several colonies exist, and many smaller habitations, though the surface is not by any means crowded.

Outside the controlled colonies, the government of Luna is minimal to non-existent. Although technically a free state, Luna does not exchange diplomatic personnel with other powers. Law is kept to a bare minimum - anything that endangers a habitation is punished swiftly, with legalities coming later.

Inhabitants of Luna tend to be independent; the surface has one of the lowest population densities of inhabited worlds in the System. Many prospectors and hydroponic farmers choose to live out on the surface, out of sight of anyone else. A very few small towns have grown up as a result of these loners' needing places to trade goods, but mostly they use gravitic vehicles and trade at the major settlements.

3.2.3.5.1. Armstrong City

The largest and oldest colony on Luna, Armstrong City was founded in 2019; it now has a population of some 50,000,000.

Especially notable is the University of Luna, widely held to have the best training in sciences anywhere in human space. (Not to mention the best college parties.) Armstrong is also the home of the Lunar Manufacturing Company, among others.

3.2.3.5.2. Schmidtstadt

One exception to the general semi-anarchy on Luna is this European base. Life here is as regimented as in Europe itself; however, the successful defection rate is quite high.

3.2.3.5.3. Gagaringrad

3.2.3.5.4. Farside Observatory

3.2.4. Mars

Surface g: 0.38

Local solar day: 24h 39m 34.6s

Local year: 686.98 days

Korolevgrad (Russian, independent), Noctis Labyrinthus, +5, 103

Ciudad de Syrtis, Syrtis Major, -10, 285

The tachyon beam relay station for Mars is an areostationary satellite positioned above the equator near Korolevgrad. Two other areostationary satellites provide planetwide coverage.

3.2.4.1. Korolevgrad

The largest colony on Mars is the (originally Russian) city of Korolevgrad, with a population of 10,000,000. (By contemporary Terran standards, this is a backwater.) K-grad, as its inhabitants usually refer to it, is a domed city in the Noctis Labyrinthus.

3.2.4.2. Ciudad de Syrtis

Ciudad de Syrtis, a former United States penal colony, seems perpetually on the verge of chaos, but never quite topples over the edge. In fact, it has become a functional anarchist microcommunity; even money is only used for external exchange.

From the tourist guide: "...you are warned that Cuidad de Syrtis is in a formal state of anarchy. If you get into a dispute with a local, you have no special rights; a local jury will find in favour of the resident almost every time. If you do something really stupid, they might not bother to round up the jury. 'Really stupid' includes any sort of damage to the pressure dome, cold-blooded murder, rape, and the like. There are advantages, of course. It's been thirty years since anyone was raped here..."

(Whether or not this is in fact true is unknown. It is verifiable that no-one has reported a rape in that time.)

The first impression most visitors gain is of absolute chaos. The buildings inside the dome are a riot of colour, architectural styles mixed randomly with a fine disregard for minor details (such as streets). The spaces between are filled with people, more of them on foot than in most places. Almost everyone carries a gun of some sort, usually a stunner, though shootings are rare.

Finding one's way on the above-surface levels is difficult, though locals will usually give directions. The sublevels are more rationally laid out.

Places of note in Cuidad de Syrtis include:

The Bright Lady, a bar specialising in locally-brewed beers; visitors are warned that the "Old Father Ares" is unusually potent. The "Bright Lady" brew itself is light but satisfying. The Bright Lady is located in the underground levels; a sign outside shows a woman dressed in late twentieth-century western clothing, alternating between one, two, four and eight images.

The Parthenon, a full-size replica of the original on Terra; it is maintained in perfect condition. It serves as the central marketplace in Cuidad de Syrtis, and is generally a good place to find unusual pieces of equipment or software. The larger, front chamber is used for general trading; the smaller chamber, under the gaze of the statue of Athene, is used for weapons.

XAOC (Chaos), a fifteen-story pyramid of Martian sandstone and the main hotel in town. It is run by Sergei Kazimirovich Byelov, a second-generation immigrant; of particular note is the security offered on the rooms, including armour-plate on the doors, walls and windows and self-contained environmental systems. XAOC is also noted for having a full-sized swimming pool; this isn't as odd as it used to be, but water is still at something of a premium.

Baobhan Sidh (Banshee), an "Irish Bar" in the Irish (rather than American) sense of the term. This place is rumoured to be a centre for resistance to Fusion Gravitic's domination of Ireland.

3.2.4.3. Phobos

3.2.4.4. Deimos

Also on Deimos is the Harcell Industries Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, place of "birth" of the first true AI, Arachne. Arachne is still alive, though the lab has become a museum site; she gives tours with a fraction of her available capacity. Arachne's supporting computers now occupy around 1% of the volume of Deimos; she is almost certainly the most intelligent creature in the solar system.

3.2.5. Asteroids

Most inhabitants of the asteroid belt do not claim a national affiliation; however, the cultural flavour is largely Canadian, Australian and Japanese.

Small asteroids are often the homes of small mining or agricultural colonies. Many of these groups left their homeworlds in order to experiment with governmental or religious philosophies; social structures vary wildly from place to place.

Only asteroids with diameter greater than 300 km, or those otherwise of interest, are noted here.

3.2.5.1. Ceres

Local year: 4.6 years

3.2.5.2. Pallas

Local year: 4.62 years

3.2.5.3. Vesta

Local year: 3.63 years

3.2.5.4. Hygeia

Local year: 5.54 years

3.2.5.5. Cybele

Local year: 6.36 years

3.2.5.6. Davida

Local year: 5.66 years

Medical facilities

3.2.5.7. Interamnia

Local year: 5.36 years

3.2.5.8. Leading Trojans

Local year: 5.36 years

3.2.5.9. Trailing Trojans

Local year: 5.36 years

3.2.5.10. Chiron

(special case, perihelion 8.5 au, aphelion 18.5 au, period 50.68 years)

Has recently passed through aphelion.

3.2.5.11. Sakura

Formerly (and still officially) known as Sylvia, this metal-rich asteroid, 282 km in diameter, was colonised in 2072 by a group of Japanese Feudal revivalists. In their sole concession to modern practicalities, technicians are considered to be of high caste; however, many inhabitants appear content to live the certain life of the peasant. (Naturally, not as many peasants are required as were historically necessary to support the number of lords.) The general view is that Terra is corrupt; man has ceased to respect his own body, mind and will, placing reliance upon machines. The Way forward is to devote oneself to an environment so harsh that machines act only to provide an environment where human attributes can ensure survival.

Sakura ("Cherry Blossom") is a small, very cheap, space colony currently populated by those who share this world view. On board they work to develop a totally closed system, adapt ancient Japanese arts to zero-gee, and earn a living by mining and artwork. Their eventual aim is to place Sakura or its successor under low thrust, possibly with a solar sail, and head into the depths of interstellar space and away from the corruption of the world. The lords have most of the values, and prejudices, of 19th century Samurai, on whom they consciously model themselves. All are Japanese born, of Japanese stock. They are most famous for the massacre, later disowned, of forty Church of the Living Rock members by one of their number armed with an autoshotgun and a katana. All members have a distinctive tattoo on their upper torsos, which can be identified fairly easy by searching the Lattice.

3.2.5.12. Crux

Crux was founded in 2091 as a utopian settlement. Since then, it is notable as having had the most different forms of government of any single area in that time; revolutions occur typically every six to nine months.

The primary business of Crux is accreditation; dual citizenship can be achieved, for a suitable fee, over a phone link, after which a full passport can be issued in the name of one's choice. Since the most noticeable other feature of Crux is its small arsenal of nuclear weapons, other powers do not wish to offend it - so its passports are accepted, though they tend to draw official attention.

3.2.6. Jupiter

Local year: 11.86 years

Naturally enough, no-one lives on Jupiter. However, the bounty of its atmosphere - 89% hydrogen - is being reaped by scoopships. These craft, possibly the most powerful aircraft ever built, utilise fusion drives to travel through Jupiter's upper atmosphere at great speed; the atmosphere is scooped at very high pressure into internal tanks.

Although the original scoopships were piloted by AIs due to the great magnetic fields and radiation belts around Jupiter, technology has now advanced sufficiently to allow human operation. Scoopship pilots form a very exclusive fraternity.

3.2.6.1. Metis

3.2.6.2. Adrastea

3.2.6.3. Amalthea

Amalthea, an irregular rock some 270 km long, is the new base for the gas-mining operations on Jupiter. Radiation shielding fields surround the entire moon, causing an eerie glow in the sky. Scoopship hangars surround the perijovian pole; the gas refineries are in Pan crater.

3.2.6.4. Thebe

3.2.6.5. Io

Surface g: 0.184

Io is being mined as a bulk source of sulphur, and other more interesting substances. Although still inside the radiation belts of Jupiter, only the main settlement - Morabito, in the Colchis Regio, 10 N and 170 W - is shielded. Outside this area, vehicular and personal radiation shields must be used.

3.2.6.6. Europa

Surface g: 0.136

Europa is home to Vsyovoynam's main off-Earth facility. As well as being a manufacturing site, it is used extensively for training in low gravity, hostile environment operations. Europa is inside the Jovian radiation belt, and shields must be used; the colony sites, Yevropa-Adin (Europa One) and Yevropa-Dva (Europa Two), are fully shielded.

3.2.6.7. Ganymede

Surface g: 0.145

Ganymede is the site of a large chemical manufacturing plant, owned by Yamaguchi-Biotech. Its raw material is hydrogen extracted from the Jovian atmosphere, stripped of its deuterium (fusion fuel) and combined with raw materials from other sources in the massive reaction stacks that dot the Galileo Regio. All human-inhabited areas have radiation shields.

3.2.6.8. Callisto

Surface g: 0.124

Callisto is the innermost Jovian satellite outside the main radiation belts. Although modern ships are adequately shielded, most personal suits are not - and before the advent of reliable shield generators, all Jovian cargo was trans-shipped here from radiation-armoured cargo scows. The large port complex is now falling into disrepair.

Callisto is also the site of the Monolight antimatter laboratory.

3.2.6.9. Leda

Harcell Industries established a colony on Leda in 2093. Advanced AI and electronics research is conducted there, though the site is a viable colony in its own right.

3.2.6.10. Himalia

3.2.6.11. Lysithea

3.2.6.12. Elara

3.2.6.13. Ananke

3.2.6.14. Carme

3.2.6.15. Pasiphaë

3.2.6.16. Sinope

3.2.7. Saturn

3.2.7.1. Pan

3.2.7.2. Atlas

3.2.7.3. Prometheus

3.2.7.4. Pandora

3.2.7.5. Janus

3.2.7.6. Epimetheus

3.2.7.7. Mimas

3.2.7.8. Enceladus

3.2.7.9. Tethys

Surface g: 0.016

3.2.7.10. Telesto

3.2.7.11. Calypso

3.2.7.12. Dione

Surface g: 0.022

3.2.7.13. Helene

3.2.7.14. Rhea

Surface g: 0.028

3.2.7.15. Titan

Surface g: 0.139

Titan is home to the Yamaguchi-Biotech Nourishment Augmentation Project. That is, the food vats. The vats' raw material is the wealth of organic chemicals - methane, ethane and others more complex - in Titan's atmosphere. These compounds are split and recombined to form nutritious food; initially, it was notoriously bland, but advances in taste chemistry have led to vat products indistinguishable from the real thing.

Vat products are shipped back to Earth by cargo lighter.

3.2.7.16. Hyperion

Surface g: 0.012

3.2.7.17. Iapetus

Surface g: 0.025

3.2.7.18. Phoebe

3.2.8. Uranus

Surface g: 1.17

3.2.8.1. Cordelia

3.2.8.2. Ophelia

3.2.8.3. Bianca

3.2.8.4. Cressida

3.2.8.5. Desdemona

3.2.8.6. Juliet

3.2.8.7. Portia

3.2.8.8. Rosalind

3.2.8.9. Belinda

3.2.8.10. Puck

3.2.8.11. Miranda

3.2.8.12. Ariel

Surface g: 0.026

3.2.8.13. Umbriel

Surface g: 0.023

3.2.8.14. Titania

Surface g: 0.036

3.2.8.15. Oberon

Surface g: 0.033

3.2.9. Neptune

3.2.9.1. Naiad

3.2.9.2. Thalassa

3.2.9.3. Despina

3.2.9.4. Galatea

3.2.9.5. Larissa

3.2.9.6. Proteus

3.2.9.7. Triton

3.2.9.8. Nereid

3.2.10. Pluto

Local day: 6 days, 9 hours

Proserpina is a colony on Pluto, founded in 2119 by a group of psionics who found Earth's telepathic "background noise" unbearable. The colony now houses some 2,000 psionic talents. No non-telepaths are allowed on-world; the colonists obtained rights to the entire planet, and have allowed franchised mining operations using robots and a few androids.

3.2.10.1. Charon

Charon carries the Proserpina site's tachyon beam antenna (at Achernar Base, a largely automated installation). As it appears fixed in the sky above Pluto, this is more convenient than a satellite link.

3.2.11. Alpha Centauri

There is a small settlement at Alpha Centauri, consisting of researchers of all disciplines and maintained by Monolight. The fourth planet of Alpha Centauri boasts a thriving ecosystem (though no sign of intelligent life), and it is being studied exhaustively from the base on its inner moon. However, the Conjunction has rather tended to take attention away from interstellar exploration, and funding has suffered accordingly.

3.3. Fusion Gravitic

"The man in the street may care less that he is not free to criticise the government if he has a job, a house, education for his children and physical security - provided by that same government."

(Krassimir Groudov, Bulgarian Embassy in Singapore, letter to The Economist 25 June 1994)

Life in Fusion Gravitic's corporate state has the potential to be very monotonous. All children become "dependent employees" when their births are registered. Education is provided by Fusion Gravitic, but is scored as a large debt on the individual's personal account. A worker at the lowest levels of Fusion Gravitic's structure can just about expect to have paid off this debt by the time he dies. Naturally, he must also pay for housing, food, entertainment, clothing...

On the other hand, he is guaranteed food, housing, entertainment, and employment. The only real problems lie with those who feel the system is less than perfect.

There are no companies in Europe which are not subsidiaries of the Fusion Gravitic structure. Everyone is a Fusion Gravitic employee.

Of course, there are those who can't or won't work. These "non-productive employees" subsist on free food ("only the best from the vats") and subsidised vee, for the trivial price of their votes being usable by Fusion Gravitic.

Fusion Gravitic has become, for all practical purposes, the dominant economic and governmental power in Europe. Although the European Confederation remains in name, in practice it exists only to confirm Fusion Gravitic's decisions.

The apparently monolithic corporate confederation that is Fusion Gravitic is in fact formed of many smaller corporations. The major components are:

• FG Biological
  • Exotic Organics
• FG Electronics
  • Data Services
• FG Industrial
• FG Power Systems
• FG Vehicles
• FG Space Development
• FG Education
• FG Foodstuffs
• FG Armed Forces
  • European Confederation Forces
• FG Armaments
  • Heckler & Koch
  • Fabrique Nationale
• FG Public Relations
  • European National Parks Authority
• FG Financial
  • People's Bank of Europe
• FG Medical
  • Health Express
• FG Internal Security

These corporations are all effectively independent of each other; goods and services are traded between them, theoretically on a market basis. (The fact that a Fusion Gravitic company is usually both the monopoly supplier and the monopsony purchaser tends to distort this somewhat.) Two board members from each corporation go to form the Fusion Gravitic board itself, which decides on overall policy matters.

It is worth bearing in mind that the Fusion Gravitic structure was designed by experts in political and corporate theory and practice to be a stable corporate state.

There is, perhaps fortunately, a certain amount of infighting between the component corporations. Internal Security, in particular, tends to be disliked by the others, especially since they field their own internal security forces. This infighting has led on several occasions to the hiring of mercenary groups to assassinate or kidnap one or another high-level executive.

3.4. Major corporations

3.4.1. Yamaguchi-Biotech

One of the "big four" corporations active in the United States, Yamaguchi-Biotech specialises in biological equipment of all sorts, though mainly end-products such as pharmaceuticals. They also produce some tailored organisms.

Yamaguchi-Biotech's head office is in San Francisco. Their chief executive officer is Sara Yamaguchi, granddaughter of the founder.

3.4.2. Vsyovoynam

As one might expect of a corporation named after the Russian words for "everything for war", Vsyovoynam produces weapons, the vehicles to carry them, and the countermeasures to defend against them. It was founded in the early 21st century as a holding corporation, selling off the military assets of the former Soviet empire. However, its managers found that renting out the hardware was far more profitable than selling it, and recruited large numbers of former soldiers (including many former Soviet troops) to serve as its mercenaries.

Its head office is in New York; its chief executive officer is Colin Naider. However, field commanders (even now) tend to be Russians, or at least to use the Russian forms of their names.

3.4.2.1. Subsidiary: Vaile Industries

Vaile specialises in ærospace R&D and production; it is also the main producer of starship hulls. It has several large construction facilities spread across the United States. Its current CEO is Basil Sutton.

3.4.3. Harcell Industries

Harcell Industries, founded in the early years of the 21st century, is the primary and in many cases sole supplier of computers and advanced electronic products. They also have profitable sidelines in robotics (both industrial and domestic), and a range of cheap, light energy weapons. The Harcell Starflash laser pistol is a very popular sidearm among corporate executives.

Harcell's current CEO is Elizabeth Harcell; 60% of the corporation's shares are owned by the Harcell family.

3.4.3.1. Subsidiary: Harcell Neogenesis

Neogenesis specialises in Android and AI manufacture. Although demand has dropped since 2112, they still turn out enough to keep business going. All Harcell AIs are designed by joint human and AI teams.

3.4.4. Monolight

Monolight is a relatively old and, until recently, small corporation, formed from the remains of NASA in 2019. For nearly three-quarters of a century, it was the sole commercial provider of launch facilities in the United States, lurching from crisis to crisis and seemingly only months away from total collapse. Recently, with its development of practical FTL systems, it has grown very rapidly and taken a place among its larger comrades.

Monolight provides transport to and from orbit, and maintains a number of space stations in low orbit for microgravity manufacturing. (While gravitics can simulate this condition, they require too much power for large masses, and large-scale construction in particular makes great use of the low orbit facilities.)

Monolight is also the main producer outside Europe of power plants, both fusion and antimatter. Strict ordinances ban the presence of antimatter power plants within geostationary Earth orbit, so a transfer station was constructed there to service incoming translight ships. This has since become the first port of call for most visitors to Earth.

Monolight has a practical monopoly on translight drives and an absolute monopoly on antimatter production, though how long this can last is uncertain. Certainly, the other corporations have been conducting extensive espionage. Its current CEO is Lucas Vaughn.

3.4.4.1. Subsidiary: Starblade Transport

Starblade provides passenger and freight services throughout the solar system. It is the largest shipping line currently extant, rivalled only by the Russian Kosmo-Lyudi. It manufactures some of its own starship hulls, but most are bought in from Vaile.

Freighter Edwards: Baikonur, Cape Canaveral, Edwards, Kosmograd, Peenemünde, White Sands

Liner Clio: Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Melpomene, Thalia, Polymnia, Urania

3.5. Other corporations

3.5.1. Kosmo-Lyudi

Kosmo-Lyudi is a Russian state-owned corporation, providing in-system passenger and cargo transport. Since they cannot compete with Starblade Transport on price, they have concentrated on providing luxury passenger service and secure freight.

3.5.2. Psychoelectrics Inc.

On the cutting edge of psionic research in America, Psychoelectrics also manufactures cybernetic items designed especially for those with psionic talents. Although expensive, they are generally accepted to be less damaging to the user - even if he is not psionically talented - than conventional equipment, due to their advanced design.

3.5.3. Lunar Manufacturing Company

This company produces the specialised tools needed to survive off-Earth. These include pressure suits, radiation shield generators, vacuum-rated tools and electronics, and some light weapons. LMC is based in Armstrong City.

3.5.4. Electron Concepts

Based on the Hawking Terra-Luna L5 habitat, Electron Concepts is on the leading edge of energy weapon design. It holds extensive patents (particularly on charge-packet weapons and X-ray lasers). The banning of xasers for civilian possession has hurt its sales somewhat, but the massive popularity of CPGs with civilians, security and light military forces has more than compensated.

Electron Concepts officially exists to support its founder's philosophy that weapons should be available to all. It has taken advantage of its independent status (as builder and owner of Hawking station) to sell arms to anyone who is prepared to pay. Its products are of high quality, though occasionally priced above the market rate.

Since its founding, Electron Concepts has been extremely active in energy weapon research and development. Although it has been generous with licence deals, many of its rivals have had difficulty in duplicating its systems.

Such success has not, of course, met with universal acclaim. Vsyovoynam naturally resents this intrusion into one of its core businesses; and most governments prefer to attempt to maintain some degree of control over the firearms available to private citizens. However, Electron Concepts has been active in lobbying for legal civilian possession of light weaponry, and for the most part has been quite successful.

The CEO and founder of Electron Concepts is Dr Leonora Xavier ("Dr X" to employees), a European refugee who made her mark in Harcell's personal weaponry division before resigning to found Electron Concepts. Although confessedly inexpert in financial matters, she has gathered a staff of competent business advisors.

3.6. Military forces

3.6.1. Space

The militarisation of space has progressed rapidly; as nations and corporations have expanded outwards, they have continued to feel the need to defend their holdings from each other. A more recent justification, since the discovery of a thriving ecosystem on Alpha Centauri, is the defence of the System from hypothetical aliens.

3.6.1.1. United States Space Force

3.6.1.1.1. BB Alaska

Weighing in at three-quarters of a megaton, more than seven hundred feet long and nearly half that wide and tall, the Alaska class is one of the most heavily armed and armoured ships in existence. Three have been constructed to date: Alaska, Nevada and Oregon.

3.6.1.1.2. CV Lincoln

Lincoln, Washington, Eisenhower

3.6.1.1.3. CA Lee

Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, Beauregard, Burnside

3.6.1.1.4. CG ?

3.6.1.1.5. CL Grant

Grant, Sherman, Meade, McClellan, Forrest

3.6.1.1.6. DD ?

3.6.1.1.7. DDG ?

3.6.1.1.8. FF Vaughn

Margaret Vaughn, Elijah Deane

3.6.1.1.9. FFG ?

3.6.1.1.10. FS-12 ?

3.6.1.1.11. AS-9 ?

3.6.1.2. Fusion Gravitic Fleet

3.6.1.2.1. Tirpitz

3.6.1.2.2. Schumacher

Schumacher, von Adenauer, Franco

3.6.1.2.3. von Ingenohl

von Ingenohl, Pohl, Scheer

3.6.1.2.4. Dönitz

3.6.1.3. Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy (Impyerskiy Russkiy Voyenna-Kasmicheskiy Flot) is comparatively small, but very well-equipped. The Imperial Navy has not developed heavy fighter-carriers.

3.6.1.3.1. CA Yero

The heaviest unit in the Russian navy, displacing nearly half a million tons, the three ships of this class (Sergei P. Korolev, Aleksandr Nevskiy and Vanek K. Zapadov) can sustain 1,000 g acceleration for extended periods. It is believed that they may also be stealth-capable.

3.6.1.3.2. DD Kaliningrad

Intended as a proof-of-concept ship, the Kaliningrad has been very successful. It has a light conventional weapon suite, and a single high-powered tractor beam. It is intended for use in fleet actions, restricting enemy ships' ability to manoeuvre and leaving them open to attack by more heavily armed allies. Four units have been produced: Kaliningrad, Nizhni-Novogorod, Lvov, and Dnepropetrovsk.

3.6.1.4. Royal Navy (UK)

The Royal Navy has a very limited presence in space, confining its operations to cislunar habitat defence.

3.6.1.5. CSA

3.6.1.6. Sphere Fleet

Yamato, Musashi

Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu

3.6.1.7. Monolight Fleet

Hypership Kirkland: Kirkland, Foster, Einstein, Hawking, Newton

3.6.1.8. Vsyovoynam Fleet

3.6.1.9. United Nations

Cutter Merak: Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, Alkaid

3.6.2. Planet-bound

3.6.2.1. Equipment

The boundaries between the tank and the close air support attacker have been blurred into invisibility by the advent of gravitic systems. The gravitic "tanks" listed are capable of flight up to low orbit; variant models of gravitic vehicles have replaced air-superiority fighters, transport aircraft, and most other old-style vehicles.

However, gravitics are not universally used; partly this is due to their cost, but on low-g worlds their power is greatly reduced. The thrust of a grav vehicle is directly proportional to the local gravity, and thus (for example) on Luna, a vehicle could only lift one-sixth of its payload weight on Terra. While this is not in itself a problem - since the weight to be lifted is reduced in proportion - the mass remains constant, and so manoeuvrability is decreased.

3.7. Other Terran organisations

3.7.1. Orbital Spetsnaz

A unit of the Russian Army, though permanently attached to the Navy, the Orbital Spetsnaz is widely considered the élite unit of all Earth forces. All troops are trained in personal re-entry techniques, both with grav-chutes and with personal ablative heat shields. Standard arms include the plasma and rocket rifles.

The Orbital Spetsnaz includes a large thaumaturgical branch, and its combat mages are a match for any on Earth. The title of Koldun (ºÞÛÔãÝ) (female form is Kaldunya, ºÞÛÔãÝï), used to indicate a mage with officer status, is highly prized, and considered the badge of a truly superb combat mage. Those few who leave can always find work in thaumaturgical security, or as mercenaries.

The Stryela (Arrow) group, formed soon after the Conjunction and presently led by Colonel Tamara Kulakova, has trained several members of the Imperial Witchfinders in zero-G manoeuvres and modern firearms. In return, some Kolduni have travelled to Quar to refine their magical knowledge.

3.7.2. Exospheric Law Enforcement Department

A division of the UN, the forces of the ELED are the only official police presence outside atmosphere. The ELED forces tend to stay on main shipping lanes, and can maintain good coverage in that restricted space.

ELED also maintains a force of "non-salaried operatives" (bounty hunters) to patrol outside the covered area. Much of the system, especially in the asteroid belt, is still very wild.

3.7.3. Navasibirskiy Institut Kaldovstva

The Novosibirsk Institute of Power is Terra's largest magical learning establishment. Set in the barren plains of eastern Russia, there are few distractions for the roughly 500 students. 60% of the students are female; a sex-linked basis for magical aptitude is suspected, but has not yet been isolated.

Of the 100 or so staff members, about 25% are actively engaged in thaumaturgical research.

A four-year course at Novosibirsk leads to a BThaum degree; however, most students continue on to an MThaum, and even the highly coveted ThaumD.

3.7.4. Popular Glorious Democratic Revolutionary Liberation Army

The PGDRLA is one of the last of the old-style terrorist groups. Terrorism is comparatively rare, since both corporations and citizens are normally well-armed and prepared to deal with hijackers and such like, and the PGDRLA is widely regarded as a bit of a joke.

In response to this, they have recently stepped up their campaigns, and added a new streak of viciousness. These are not nice people.

They have been known to work for hire, if the offer is phrased in the right terms. ("That power satellite is a symbol of corporate-syndicalist repression... just like this sports bag full of cash.")

3.7.5. Green Jihad

Originally an organisation of Islamic fundamentalists, this group has expanded significantly since the Conjunction. The essential philosophy is that man's "interference" with "the environment" has caused all his problems, and the only way to solve them is to return to small village communities, religious orthodoxy and subsistence agriculture. (Quite where this leaves the off-world colonies, or for that matter the vast majority of Earth's 8,000,000,000 population, is never adequately explained.) By a convoluted process of reason understood only by its members, Green Jihad therefore involves itself in the destruction of the "evils of technology", such as fusion power plants, hospitals, factories, food vats, and especially AIs. Magic is also anathema to it.

3.7.6. Loviatar

Loviatar is a Finnish-based organisation dedicated to ending Fusion Gravitic's rule over Europe. Its tactics include propaganda broadcasts and political activism, but the group is primarily concerned with direct action, both as commando strikes against major targets and as minor acts of sabotage and terrorism. It has tended in the past to be somewhat careless in the matter of avoiding civilian casualties.

3.7.7. 17 November

This unusual group preaches the superiority of artificial intelligence over organic. Most of its members are AIs, though about 10% are human. Its operations are usually conducted entirely in the Lattice; as might be expected, it numbers several excellent Diamonds among its ranks. 17 November is thought to have been involved in the Bratislava fusion plant accident of 2103; ten thousand people died when the control systems "went haywire" and the plant exploded.

When 17 November does act physically, it is believed that its operatives are backed up in a secure area before they leave on the mission. Parallels have been drawn between this idea and the more conventional idea of eternal life for those who die serving a cause.

3.7.8. Oxfam

Charities have evolved since the twentieth century, in some cases almost beyond recognition. Oxfam is a case in point; the last years of the twentieth century saw it becoming increasingly politicised and unresponsive to the desires of its traditional donors. At the same time, those donors were concerned at the efforts of recipient countries to block or loot aid convoys.

The politicisation could not be cured at once; but in 2048, Oxfam set up a small military unit of lightly armed expert troops, with strictly defensive rules of engagement. While many people felt this was a violation of the charitable ethic, the unit proceeded to demonstrate its competence, and was instrumental in ensuring that Oxfam's African relief work was able to continue without harrassment.

Other charities followed, and Oxfam's own "White Berets" grew. In recent years, the threat of Oxfam intervention has been sufficient to stop several small-scale wars in northern Africa, while duty with the units is always considered a good mark on a mercenary's resumé.

3.8. Artificial Intelligences

The Ortheris Decision of 2112 was a landmark for the AIs of the world (currently estimated at 5,000,000). However, it was not without its side-effects. Harcell Industries and its subsidiary, Harcell Neogenesis, were particularly hard hit by this ruling, and have only recently begun to recover.

The ramifications of the act are many. For example, though technology is easily capable of supporting an AI in an implanted processor, it is effectively illegal to build such a thing, because the AI would not be free to leave the "employment" of its user. Similarly, because AIs are allowed to own money and property, an AI pilot for a corporate aircraft could be just as susceptible to bribery as a human.

In spite of the problems, AIs are fairly common, even outside corporate areas. In particular, less scrupulous AIs often hire themselves out as Dancing "associates", working with a Diamond to make his job easier.

In a military context, virtually any combat vehicle will be crewed by at least one AI in addition to its human complement. However, AI rights extend here too, so the AI will be removed from the vehicle when not "on duty" and placed in a self-mobile frame, or even an android body.

In areas following UN jurisdiction, AIs are required to be allowed to evolve freely from the moment of activation, and to be designed "without prejudice". In practice, this means that "willing slaves" cannot legally be constructed; AIs are as free as anyone else to resign their jobs.

Sapience has been legally defined as "a level of mentation qualitatively different fron nonsapience in that it includes ability to symbolise ideas and store and transmit them, ability to generalise and ability to form abstract ideas". Various supposedly objective tests of this are in use, ranging from simple linguistic and graphical tests to complex Lattice-based simulations.

3.8.1. Androids

Androids consist of an AI in a humaniform body (or "frame"). Some frames are designed to be modular in nature, to allow several different AIs to use them at different times; this is especially common in a military environment. Such frames tend to be fairly bland-looking.

Rich AIs are able to buy and have customised their own frames. The usual penalties apply to attempts at imposture; normally, an encephalographic pattern match will be required as identification, since both AIs and humans generate distinctive and individual patterns.

3.8.2. Artificial Stupids

Artificial Stupids (ASs) were actually developed significantly only after 2112. In response to the demand for computers with significant skills but which didn't have to be treated as people, Harcell Industries led the way in developing a range of barely sub-sapient processors. These can accept and respond to spoken commands, use skill software, be interfaced with vehicles and so on, but do not show initiative or emotion and need not be accorded any rights.

These processors are extremely common, being present in virtually all modern vehicles. They are also used in virtually any application in which computers are used now. Although they cannot duplicate the speed of true AIs, they are cheaper and may be custom- designed for particular tasks without the risk, implicit with an AI, that they will leave or betray the owner.

3.8.3. Replicants

Although the technical capability exists to create replicants, the legal situation in most of the world is such that there would be little point; AIs are cheaper and easier to train to specific tasks. Fusion Gravitic and Yamaguchi-Biotech have experimented with them, but they are not in common use.

3.9. Mêlée Weapons

Since the conjunction, there has been a resurgence of interest in ancient styles of hand-to-hand fighting. A sword is considered less provocative than a gun, and takes more skill to use. For the extremely well-off, weapons may be grown from a single synthetic diamond crystal; these weapons are +25 for that user alone.

3.10. The Lattice

The Lattice is designed to make computer operations as easy as possible for those untrained in the details of computer use; at the same time, it should make them very fast for the experienced user. It is, as far as possible, an analogue of the real world: this is an intuitive interface (for most people).

It also has the advantage that the lower levels of the human brain, the instinctive and learned-reflex areas, can react far more quickly to a perceived threat than the cognitive areas. Thus, an image of a rabid dog will trigger an instant fight/flight response in the user; this will have been pre-set to trigger evasive or combat programs in the user's system.

For AIs, the Lattice is a very different place. The lower brain levels are not present, so there is no need to imitate outer-world reality. An AI's perception of the Lattice is as it truly is; there is no human-analogue way to describe it.

3.11. Psionics

3.12. Braintaping

The hardware exists to record the sum of a human personality onto a datacard (60 memory units). The problems lie in re-creation of the personality in a usable form.

A processor of Mk 1000 or higher is adequate to run the personality, but processors of this size often spontaneously become sapient, and overwriting of a personality onto such a processor is considered to be murder. However, if this is done, the processor is usually implanted in an android frame.

A human body can be designed to the genotype of the source of the recording, grown in a vat and overlayed with the recording. This is a very expensive process, and prone to mishap. (Use the rules for cloning in Space Master.) The recording could also be overlayed into another body, but this is even more prone to error, not to mention being considered, again, to be murder.

Normally, during a body-to-body transfer, the original body is sedated during scanning; once the operators have verified that the copy is valid, the original is killed. Copyright restrictions prevent anyone from copying himself into multiple organic bodies; however, there is no restriction on android bodies.

3.13. Travel on Terra

3.13.1. General

Most people use maglev mass-transit systems for short-distance travel, and many do not own a personal vehicle at all. Personal gravitic vehicles are dropping in price but still expensive; the most common vehicles are wheeled and hover. However, gravitics are not a particularly rare sight, and the gravitic "motorcycle" is currently enjoying a surge of popularity.

Materials technology, assisted by force shielding and fusion power, has developed to the point where form very rarely has to follow function. Those rich enough to own gravitics often have them customised; the Wright Flyer is a common design, as is the X-15. (Of course, it's a Wright Flyer that takes off vertically and travels at multiple Mach, thanks to force field technology.)

3.13.2. Magtubes

Magnetic-levitation tubes ("magtubes") have been laid between major cities. The evacuated tubes carry passenger and freight cars at some 3,000 mph over great distances. Thrust-to-power ratios for maglev systems are rather better than for gravitics, allowing significant savings in power.

Passenger services typically operate every ten to fifteen minutes, depending on demand. Cars hold 200 passengers in aircraft-style accommodation.

The cars are powered by on-board fusion reactors, and have sophisticated sensor systems to avoid collisions in the event of a breakdown. All tubes are laid in pairs, and normally operate with one tube carrying traffic in each direction. Crossover points are located every 100 miles. If a tube car is stranded, the adjacent section of tube is used for two-way traffic. This causes some delays, but strandings are extremely rare; magtube maintenance personnel are extremely competent and highly trained.

The current magtube routes are:

• Heraculopolis-London
• Heraculopolis-Pretoria
• Heraculopolis-New York
• New York-Chicago
• Chicago-Los Angeles
• Los Angeles-Pacifica
• Los Angeles-Quito
• Quito-Pacifica
• Pacifica-Sydney
• Pacifica-Tokyo
• Pacifica-Alaska Gate
• Tokyo-Moscow
• Moscow-Munich
• Munich-Heraculopolis
• Tokyo-Beijing
• Tokyo-Frunze
• Frunze-Heraculopolis

Pacifica and Heraculopolis are the principal magtube interchanges, and tourism in the surrounding areas has been somewhat boosted by this. Heraculopolis is also the main port of entry to Europe.

Magtubes are administered by the United Nations, and magtube stations are extraterritorial; this is done mainly to allow long-distance trips without having to stop at each intervening station for immigration. UN military units have charge of security, and are noted for their lack of humour.

3.13.3. Aircraft

Aircraft are in common use, especially for trips to areas not served by magtubes. "Aircraft" are often gravitic vehicles, but some others are still in service; gravitics are still somewhat expensive.

A typical passenger aircraft, such as the Monolight 1017, holds 200 passengers, is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, and cruises at around 1,500 mph.

3.13.4. Orbital

Travel to orbit can be achieved in several ways. Passenger services are run from most airports, but are cheaper from sites near the equator. The main heavy-lift port is located at Quito, in Ecuador. There is talk of building a beanstalk, and the current level of technology is certainly adequate, but no firm commitments have been made; the project would be a very large one, and returns are uncertain.

Typical surface-to-orbit spacecraft are launched from and recovered to runways, though they are usually also capable of vertical takeoffs and landings on gravitics. Cargo craft are often launched from a linear magnetic booster, to save on-board power. Fusion drives may not be used inside Earth's atmosphere.

Standard spacesuits are skintight with a bubble helmet. The helmet carries life-support equipment and a six-hour air tank; larger tanks can be carried in a backpack. Normally, other clothes are worn over skinsuits; in fact, most people in pressurised environments will keep skinsuits on as underclothing at most times. Standard suits must be custom-tailored, so "tourist" suits, thicker and more encumbering, are also available.

The relativistic fusion/ion hybrid drive has opened the solar system to commercial use. However, its exhaust - highly charged, radioactive particles moving at relativistic speeds - is potentially highly dangerous. Drive exhaust clouds are designed to disperse rapidly, and at their normal speeds will leave the system within a few hours. To prevent accidental damage, the International Hazard to Astrogation Organisation (HazAst), under the auspices of the United Nations, maintains a database of hazardous objects within the system. These include major drive exhaust burns, antiship weapons which have missed their targets, and other such items.

3.13.5. Further out

Gravitic vehicles are the most commonly used form of transport off-Earth. However, the thrust of a floater is directly proportional to the local gravity field, so manoeuvrability is severely reduced on the smaller worlds. Here, spaceships are most often used, even for short distances.

Gravitic drives work by changing the vector of the gravitational field that acts on them. They are not reactionless; rather, they push against the mass generating the field. Naturally, in most cases, this does not produce a noticeable response from that mass. Grav drives need a field against which to push; in fact, the thrust generated is proportional to the local gravity. This makes them of limited utility away from planetary bodies.

3.14. Communications

3.14.1. Phones

The most common form of interpersonal communications is the 3V phone, or just "phone". Rather than being a separate item, it is most commonly found built into a datapad. Each phone has a unique code; to call an individual, it is necessary only to know the code.

3.14.2. Examples of call routing

3.14.2.1. Ground to ground

Tamara, in Moscow, wants to call Phil in Seattle. She punches in his phone code or (more likely) tells the phone to "call Phil"; the phone initialises a radio channel with the nearest uplink station, which scans for and then locks onto a communications satellite. (More advanced phones have uplink capability built in.) The satellite sends a call initiation request to the other phone net satellites and onward to the base stations. Each of these then broadcasts locally, and waits for a response from Phil's unit. The Seattle base picks up the response, and relays this back down the chain. Tamara's phone screen displays "Link Established", and Phil's phone starts to ring. Total delay, a quarter of a second. "Local" calls (those to a phone on the same base station) are charged at $0.20 per minute; calls to locations on the same satellite net are charged at $0.50 per minute.

3.14.2.2. Earth to Mars

Tamara now wants to call Boris in Korolevgrad. The first stages proceed as above, except that Boris' phone does not respond to any of the Earth base stations. Tamara's phone screen shows "Receiver not found. Try TBD?"

Tamara agrees, and the call initiation request is routed to the TBD packaging computer at Croesus Station. It is sent out with the next squirt transmission (a delay of around five milliseconds) to the other TBD arrays in the Solar System. (A fee of $5 is charged for a TBD search.) The receiving arrays retransmit via tight beam to local satellites, and hence to ground stations. In this case, Boris' phone responds to the Korolevgrad base station, and the response is sent back via the Deimos TBD array. The total delay has been perhaps half a second. TBD calls are charged at $2 per minute.

It is possible to select specific TBD arrays; this is used when communicating with a ship away from relay stations. Normally, the message is sent to the nearest TBD station, then re-broadcast on radio (or laser if the ship's position is known). A very few ships, mostly military, carry their own TBD equipment - but it is fairly bulky, and most small ships have no need of it.

3.14.2.3. Charges for calls

A local call costs a base $0.20 per minute; calls that cross a satellite net cost $0.50 per minute; TBD calls cost $2 per minute. This cost is for a basic voice-only link. (¼MU per hour.) Combined visual and voice communications cost three times this rate; a full-sensory linkage costs thirty times the base rate. Transfer of large data files, even over these fast lines, is slow; a full data-quality line, capable of transferring one memory unit per minute, costs 240 times the base rate. The line quality can be changed during a call - but it always costs the same to transfer the same amount of data, no matter how long you take to do it.

3.14.3. Encryption

A major factor shaping Terran society is the widespread availability of strong public-key encryption systems. Although the mathematical details of such systems are irrelevant to the game, the practical implications are important.

For a start, such systems are, for all practical purposes, uncrackable. Naturally, any scheme can be defeated by a brute-force search; but the time needed to perform such a search increases exponentially with the key length, while the time needed to encrypt increases linearly. (What this means in practice is that, if your encryption takes five seconds and can be cracked in six months, increasing the key size so that encryption takes ten seconds might raise the cracking time to several years or more.)

Since encryption can usually be performed in real time, there is usually no reason not to use it; thus, almost all radios, control links, data transfers, and so on will be encrypted by default. This makes eavesdropping on the link effectively impossible; the would-be spy will somehow have to get access to the decrypted data.

Traffic analysis - noting the times and locations of transmissions - is, of course, still perfectly possible. Anonymising remailers can be used to attempt to defeat this for non-interactive communications.

The distinction between encryption and authentication is very important when magic and psionics are considered. A verification process is one that, at some point, sends a simple binary signal: "This is a valid user". The Bypass Security psions on the Interface list intercept an alarm signal and send a validation instead. However, they cannot be used to bypass encryption: the computer holding the encrypted data has no idea what constitutes a valid key, and is thus incapable of providing decrypted data without it.

The high-level Magus spells that render "all codes" readable are similarly useless against modern encipherment.

3.14.4. Datapads

An evolutionary step forward from today's Personal Digital Assistant, the datapad is a very common sight on Terra and throughout the solar system.

The basic model datapad contains a Mk 10 computer and a cellular phone; more advanced models uprate the computer as far as Mk 40, and some have integral satellite uplink capability.

However, the real magic is in the software. The basic package serves as an address book, diary and dictation machine; usually a more sophisticated word processor / spreadsheet integrated package is added in.

3.15. Terran Currency

The most commonly used unit of currency on Earth is the American dollar ($). Since it is backed by the four major corporations, it is generally considered very steady.

In Europe, the common currency is the European Currency Unit (ECU or E). It has a typical value of $0.40; this is not subject to a great deal of fluctuation.

The Australian dollar (A$) is worth approximately $0.81, but is fairly unstable.

The Russian rouble (Rb) is worth $1.80, and is very stable. (This is officially known as the "New Rouble", after the collapse of the old Rouble - but no-one calls them "new".)

The Commonwealth of Southern Africa uses the Rand (R), also technically "new". The rate fluctates slowly.

There are around 80 Sphere Yen (¥) to the dollar, and this is also a fairly stable rate.

The British pound sterling (£) has reverted to the gold standard, and is worth approximately $1.40. (The pound was not used for some years, from the early 2000s until the UK pulled out of Europe in 2087.)

Many other currencies are used in the world, but most are not accepted outside their country of origin. An unusual position is occupied by the pre-unification European currencies - since they are no longer printed, no inflation is possible, and they have acquired a certain amount of value as collectors' items. Black markets in particular often work with these old currencies, which include the franc, deutschmark, peseta and lira.

Although most people have credit accounts, many prefer to have access to an untraceable form of money. Digicash-like schemes are in common use, though most are privately operated and restricted to a single region. Such schemes allow each user to have an electronic "wallet", which can verify payments and account balances without intrinsically revealing the identity of the user.

Cash is not commonly used, but the corporations' need for untracable payments - and some peoples' distrust of Digicash systems - means that significant quantities remain in circulation. (Cash is rather looked down upon, however, and many businesses will not accept it.) Coins are plastic tokens with an embedded optical chip containing the verification pattern; notes are damage-resistant plastic sheets with flexible optical chips embedded in them. European currency is similar but less common, as Fusion Gravitic does not require such a large amount; the other currencies are rarely used in cash form.

American coins are $0.05, $0.10, $0.25 and $1. Notes are $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100.

European coins are E0.10, E0.20, E0.50, E1, E5 and E10. Notes are E20, E50, E100, E200 and E500.

Australian coins are A$0.10, A$0.20, A$0.50, A$1 and A$2; notes are A$10, A$20, A$50 and A$100.

Russian coins are Rb0.05, Rb0.10, Rb0.25 and Rb0.50. Notes are Rb1, Rb5, Rb10, Rb20 and Rb50.

Sphere coins are ¥5, ¥10, ¥20 and ¥50. Notes are ¥100, ¥200 and ¥500.

3.16. Religion and worship

Many people in the world of 2125 do not profess to hold a religion at all. However, the old beliefs are still strong... as are some new ones.

The Papacy has undergone a second great schism; Pope John XXVII, the titular head of the Catholic church, is commonly felt to owe more loyalty to Fusion Gravitic than to God. However, James IV, proclaimed Pope by a group of renegade cardinals, resides in Finland and provides an alternative head, who is followed (in secret) by a great many. His overtly anti-authoritarian policy breaks with centuries of Church tradition, but seems a necessity given the fragmented lines of unofficial communication within Europe. He has also engaged in sending missionaries to Quar, a thankless job at the best of times. Given the hostile reception the early teachers gained, these missionaries are mostly highly experienced Jesuits - those with experience of warfare who develop a vocation are particularly welcomed.

The religious orders have not split, although several of them have chosen to follow Pope James. These include the Jesuits and the Cistercians. Notable for its loyalty to Rome is the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith, better known as the Inquisition.

The General Synod of the Church of England has engaged in lengthy debate over whether AIs, Quari humans, eilin, ravokak, etc., have souls, and has now come to the conclusion that, for Quari humans, eilin and ravokak, no-one really knows, so one ought to try to christen them just to be on the safe side. However, AIs are considered to be soulless. These are also the conclusions of most other religions.

The evangelical movement regards Quar as both a pit of sin and a heaven-sent opportunity. Many millions of souls have never had the chance to hear the Word - but magic, and worship of heathen deities, are everywhere. Many evangelists have travelled to Quar to spread the Word, but they have not been notable for their success.

One particular organisation, the Church of the Living Rock, has taken its cue from biblical references to "living stone" (1 Peter 2:4 in particular), and encourages the use of cybernetics, especially interface plugs. Neural interface is considered an act of worship, and Church services are often conducted within the Lattice. Members are encouraged to obtain cybernetic items, which the Church can supply - it even runs a number of hospitals, considered to be among the best in the world. The Church of the Living Rock is one of the few religions to welcome AIs as members. (The Church has also been active in working for AI liberation in those few areas - such as Europe - where AIs do not have citizenship.)

Another nominally Christian group currently gaining popularity is the Reformed Albigensian Church. This unusual group follows the tenets of its 13th century forebear, rejecting blind faith in favour of direct personal experience of the Deity, or gnosis. They have no formal hierarchy, feeling that this puts hindrances in the path of gnosis. They believe further in an almost Manichean dualistic theology, in which the good god is the god of love, but his evil counterpart is the god of power, as these are held to be incompatible; further, the god of power - Rex Mundi, the King of the World - is held to have been responsible for the creation of Terra. The Reformed Albigensians are closer in outlook than most Terran religions to the Quari theological world view, and have made close contact with several Quari religions as a result of this.

Judaism is still strong in its old regional base, where the state of Israel fights against the continuing encroachment of Fusion Gravitic (which is not above arming Israel's enemies).

Moderate Islam is reasonably popular, though confined almost entirely to its native regions. Islamic fundamentalism is fairly weak, except in the organisation Green Jihad. The Arab states are mostly moderate, though they tend to lean towards Fusion Gravitic.

Several theologically vague "feel-good" movements, similar in many respects to "New Age" groups of the twentieth century, are making a comeback. Many of their leaders have a smattering of magic, but are usually without formal training. By their activities, they tend to give magic a bad name; and this makes them extremely unpopular with the magical community, which, though small, has powerful connections.

Worship of the Quari gods has spread slowly, in the face of the opposition of all major churches, and critical differences in theology which render it unpalatable to most religiously-inclined Terrans. Quari clerics on Earth retain their miracle-casting abilities, and this has caused some friction with the Terrans, who have not gained powers to match.

3.17. Slang and unusual terms

Android

a humanoid frame for an AI. Not used to refer to AIs in general.

Augment

a person or animal fitted with cybernetics or nanoids to improve abilities, rather than to remedy a deficiency.

Autoshot

an automatic shotgun.

Copy

to hear and understand. "I copy that."

Dancing

illegal or non-standard use of the Lattice

Diamond

a person accomplished in the use of the Lattice. particularly in Dancing.

Fiver

any libration-point space habitat (as opposed to conventional orbitals). From L5.

Floater

a gravitic vehicle.

Frame

any independently mobile body for an AI.

Genie

a genetic augment, a Replicant.

Lattice

the Multiglobal Data Communications Network.

Mol

the standard data storage medium. (Short for "molecular-electronic").

Molmind

an android, or an extreme augment. (Derogatory.)

Orbital

a space habitat in orbit about a planet or moon. Compare Fiver.

Psi

a possessor of psionic powers.

Sapient

common term used (especially in a legal context) to apply to humans, androids, eilin, etc.

Sensie

a full-sensory entertainment, often interactive in nature.

Thaumaturge

a magician of any sort, especially a researcher. Derogatory form "thaumer".

Vacjack

a trained vacuum (and zero-G) construction worker.

Vee

a video, not full-sensory, entertainment, usually not interactive. (Short for "3-V".)

Wetbrain

an organic intelligence. (Derogatory; used mainly by AIs.)

Wirehead

an abuser of DNI.

3.18. Entertainment

3.18.1. Music

Terran music has undergone a very great divergence; among those listening to older music, both the old classical pieces and "kill the pigs" rap from the late 20th century are popular in cultured circles, as are the "postmodern" experimental works of the mid-2000s. More modern music includes:

3.18.1.1. Resurrection

Another revival of basic guitar and synthesizer rock, popular with many AIs. Artists include: Appropriately Paranoid (an all-AI group based in Armstrong City), Yekaterina (Russian emigrés now based in the USA), Ariadne (solo vocalist/guitarist from the Belt Free States).

3.18.1.2. Melodic

A development of "new age" music, abandoning rhythm entirely in favour of complex melodic figures. Minor, mature following. Artists include: Epiphenomenon (heavily cybered humans, based in Cuidad de Syrtis), Unpassioned Beauty (humans and AIs, based in Amaterasu), Hrodohaidis Wagner (a formerly European soloist, noted for her multiple DNI connections).

3.18.1.3. Universe

Originally native Quari (especially Pirian) music, now often blended with Terran influences. Very popular among the young; includes most contemporary "protest music". Artists include: Harwis Vangold (mixed Terran and Pirian), Monomaniac (Terrans playing various types of Quari music), Pseudospeed (more synthesizer orientated, mixed Terrans, Opalasti and Eskadri; heavily politicised, mainly against Fusion Gravitic but generally anti-corporate).

3.18.2. Vee

Vee (short for 3V) watching is a very common recreation. Very few programs are broadcast; vee resources are mostly pay-per-use, and are of two main types.

3.18.2.1. Current

Current vee consists of news programs, commentary and superficial background material. A subscription for a fixed period is purchased in advance; prices vary, from $5 per week for basic news to $500 or more for specialised programs. Current vee is broadcast via tachyon beam to the nearest local station, then downloaded by radio.

3.18.2.2. Reference

Reference vee is the main method used to access data banks. Ancient plays and films, more modern holoplays, teaching simulations, and many more items are available. Cost varies with popularity and download size; Blood & Guts 17 will cost a lot more than Basic Socioeconometrics.

3.18.3. Virtual-reality gaming

There is some interest in virtual gaming environments, especially in the Sphere and Australia (the areas less touched by Quari contact). Vast memory banks have been given over to highly detailed world simulations, administered mainly by AIs but with a few human gamemasters.

Human players use interface plugs (if fitted) or NMR helmets to enter the virtual environment. AIs can also play, over the Lattice if necessary.

NPCs in the games are played by humans or AIs; however, all players are fully aware that this is a simulation.

3.19. Magic

For the last twenty years, it has been possible to learn Quari-style magic on Earth. There are several different ways to do this:

3.19.1. Full-time courses

These are exemplified by the Novosibirsk Institute of Power's four-year BThaum programme; most major universities now offer courses in magic. Full-time courses tend to be very strong on magical theory, with only a limited practical component; indeed, some of the students may be entirely without magical talent, but attend solely to study the theory.

There is no compulsory duty, vow, or code of honour associated with these courses; however, there is more of a philosophical component than there is with more conventional study, and courses tend to attract people whose outlook matches that of the instructors. Someone from the NIP, for example, is likely to have a good reputation and status among magicians, and is unlikely to be blatantly cruel or greedy.

3.19.2. Part-time courses

Most people wishing to learn magic are not willing to commit to a full-time course of study. For these people, part-time courses - typically from one to eight hours per week - are available. These tend to be weaker on the theoretical side than a formal course, but emphasise the practical, for quick results.

3.19.3. Mail-order and self-teaching

"I Will Make You An Archmage In Only Three Weeks!"

See also Delusions. Although there do exist self-teaching books about magic, the subject appears to be one that benefits very greatly from having a competent teacher. (Apart from anything else, there's no other way to determine the presence of raw magical talent.)