Under Heaven Glossary

Under Heaven Glossary

This page contains terminology and key concepts for the Under Heaven science fiction setting, covering the various factions, genetic modifications, technologies, and social structures found throughout the Sol System and beyond.

Core Concepts

Equilibrium

Equilibrium

Everything tries to work towards an equilibrium. An equilibrium is the optimal exchange or efficiency of a process, life style, or strategy. This is the economic point prior to diminishing returns. This also applies to matters of complexity, where concepts, memes, ideas, and emotions move towards simplification.

Clans and Tribes

Clans and Tribes

Became the natural result of growing so quickly in fairly confined spaces and settlements. There are billions of clans and tribes, many having the most scant genetic relation. The clan and tribal structures emerged during the diaspora and population explosion of the 22nd century.

Elders

Elders

Some Clan and Tribal elders still exist from the days of the Diaspora and some old enough to have existed since the beginning of Space Colonization and earlier eras. Elders themselves have various titles to hint at their age, 230 years old being the oldest completely replaced by electronics. Some choose to leave their AI to watch over their descendants and the survival of humanity.

Elders try not to take leadership roles because of the obsolete Codes and mindset that add a resource strain to the decision making. Many who have relinquished their leadership status for fear of the collective's demise.

Factions and Groups

Jovians

Jovians

Term for all those that live in the influence of Jupiter. These include Ganymedes, Europans, Greeks (after the asteroid fields), Trojans (asteroid fields), Ioans, and Calistos.

Herans and Titans

Herans

Term for all those that live in the influence of Saturn. Since most of the Herans are from Titan, they are known as Titans more than Herans.

Titans

The primary population of Saturn system inhabitants, primarily based on Titan.

Belters

Belters

Those who live in the general areas of the Belts. Belters have been drastically altered to be more adapted to 0G and are very dependent on their life-suits, although they are adapted in a way that they require the least life support in space travel.

Urans

Urans

The young colony established in the Uranus system.

Neptians

Neptians

Inhabitants of the Neptune colony.

Genotypes and Modifications

Angel Genotype

Angel Genotype

The Angel genotype has been so named by its developers for its human adaptation and optimization for 0G and Free fall conditions. Over the generations, the angels have become more different in many ways.

The Angel genotype has double jointed limbs, allowing it to better maneuver in 3D space. Base-line human feet were altered to be more prehensile with longer toes relative to the base of the foot. Their brains have been adapted to process 3D spatial relations with the help of a more complex and sophisticated hearing system and echo-location. Their life suits augment all these sensory and object tracking capabilities (since everything floats around in their habitats).

The life suits are specifically designed to let them crawl or walk in gravities up to 2G (where they are on all fours). The Angel genotype can be found in any micro-gravity environment or habitat where they climb instead of float and habitats have a lot of hand holds and grips. Angels are semi upright in Terran gravity, with diminished movement when walking and full movement on all fours.

Microgravity Genotype

Microgravity Genotype

Similar to angel genotypes except the feet are more adapted to running and climbing. Their feet are less prehensile than angels. They can run on their feet in Terran gravity but slower. They can go on all fours as well as angels.

Heavy Worlder

Heavy Worlder

Heavy Worlders are humans designed for worlds up to 1.5Gs and survive high pressures, but can still function in micro to zero gravity environments. Scouts and Surveyors did find some high gravity worlds, some gas giants that can be colonized with buoyant habitat enclosures (with living cement), and some worlds.

Many Heavy worlders are very non-human in their appearance as their features allow them to survive the pressures of gas giant habitats.

Uplifts

Uplifts

Genetically enhanced and intelligence-modified non-human species adapted for space colonization and specialized tasks.

Dolphin Uplifts

The first uplifts were dolphins designed to live in Martian seas to oversee terraforming and growth. Then they were adapted to have the same role in habitable Gas Giants where their physical make up is altered to give them buoyancy and allow them to communicate and control lesser and smaller creatures and care for the spore whales.

Whale and Octopi Uplifts

Developed to colonize Gas Giants with tolerable gravities and high atmospheric pressures. The over reaching goal of Martians are space faring life forms. These two species were designed to have a symbiotic relationship. Octopi were made with the intent of assembling or concentrating physical resources.

Octopi Uplifts

Designed to work with Automated AI systems and with extended duration support were those rapidly deployed by Martians.

Technology Concepts

Instancing

Instancing

A Practice where you have a powerful computer that saves a copy of yourself and activates it in order to grant you the mental resources of a whole other person with the skills and experience of yourself to pursue other opportunities and problems, while you tackle others.

Instancing is a current practice that evolved from augmented computer use and Collective Computing. Prior to Instancing, and which is still practiced, many AIs have come to exercise and develop various regions and processes of the human mind to increase its Multi-Intelligence density and performance. Gestalt with more powerful computers while maintaining internal consistency and coordination led to Instancing as the coordination barrier increased with sophistication.

Many Professionals came to Instancing on their own, and thought it was only natural in what needed to be done and what resources was possible. Unfortunately Instancing is a resource intensive task, and typically professionals in charge of Ships, Stations, and Command Centers can attempt it.

Instancing can also lead to some level of predictability, because of quantum computing, so more organically grown experience in the collective is desired to have more unpredictability and variables in the patterns created. While a captain or anyone can do all tasks very well, the collective value of a group's experience creates combinations and ideas that are far more amazing and the Collective Power adds to the ships processing abilities.

Liberties, Points of View, greater personal Initiative and a Self Deterministic Phenotype is needed for smarter intelligence contributions, a trade off many societies have to balance with Cohesion and Collectivisation. Sol is low in this variety, but is rich in resources and infrastructure.

Instancing Expanded

Instancing Details

Instancing doesn't just mean a copy, typically a part of the person acts as seed. So a sub-personality becomes realized into another being. It is a copy of the character's psyche with a sub-part of the main psyche in control and bound to the Ego or Executive function of the character.

One can have as many instances depending on computing power and their own psyche. Fueling more and more instances requires a kind of life and intelligence that can be found in the same kinds of people that shaped the world in ancient times. They have so much going on in them, BUT have the will and power to control and bend these all to their will.

After the Instance need is gone, the Instance is re-absorbed into the psyche of the parent. Because of the strong connection, it is still a part of the parent and differences of experience are easily merged.

Example

Thea instances herself, Thea 2 is made up of a subpersonality of Thea - the side of her that is more reserved and compulsive. She looks like Thea in her minds eye, but changed as though it was her in another life. Thea 2 or Theora, which she named after getting to know her more, pursues another line of calculations and brings with her the exacting compulsions that make Thea the top notch professional at the expense of the fearlessness and a bit of the heart that allowed herself to be in positions of danger and risk. Theora is reluctant, hesitating and indecisive a bit. She tends to be conservative in her strategies, she complains out loud about her situation but manages to focus her frustration on the work instead of Thea or the captain for being in this situation.

Instances and Quantum Computing

Instances and Quantum Computing

An instance can be multiplied more through use of special probability engines that create sub-personas based on a limited time dilation of the character's sub-persona's perception and experience. It's basically making a copy of you but creating a divergent set of experiences to differentiate oneself.

To control this Instance is much harder since its stressing the limits of a psyche and the time alteration has made this psyche a bit more separate from the parent.

Computer Augmentation (Current Practice)

Computer Augmentation

Moore's Law began to slow down right after Nano-Tube or ill nick-named Diamond Chips reached its physical limits at around 2070AD. Diamond computing came to a slow decline towards a linear progress. Computing power became more linear in progression, but it curved slightly upward or downward because of economic growth and stability.

Collective computing became the natural way to max out the technology. Near-Field-Communication technology matured and the way data is organized and processed became amazingly efficient than many in the beginning of the 21st century could dream of.

AI and the Baby Boom

AI and the Baby Boom

AI was crucial in the population explosion that would be needed to hold the new colonies against Sol and its aggressive Stance towards all the resources it seeks to extract and consume, even when Sol itself was far from being depleted.

As parents and societies worked, the AIs were crucial in running many of its other operations as well as caring for future generations. In 2150 resources and demands recreated unintentionally industrial birth rates of 15-20 children (through artificial wombs, and spaced 4 years) but with the quality of life and opportunities that were enjoyed by the professional elite.

Populations were at a growth rate of 10% per year (cumulatively), in 50 years population of 1000 colonists grew to about 100,000 by 100 years 13M from 2100-2200 5.5 Trillion people spread out in a radius of 8 Light Years from Sol and still moving outward. Still the threat of Sol loomed with the population and resources of 200 Billion and the closer systems militarizing and politicking.

Setting Locations

Sol System

Sol System

The home system of humanity, containing Earth (Terra), Mars, and numerous colonies throughout the outer planets and asteroid belts.

Venus

Venus

Since 2070 there has been several attempts to move Ice into Venus. There has been extensive Terran resources spent in making Venus habitable in an accelerated pace. Several hundreds of microbiological strains have been introduced that would trap many of the greenhouse gasses in solid form.

In 2280 the microbes along with several deliveries of water asteroids have done much of the work to lower the temperature of Venus from 460C to 300C. Enough that certain parts of the planet are habitable. The Microbes have been evolved to create Mega-Foliage that seek heat and channel the gasses deep inside the crust of Venus. Terra has been using Venus as an experiment to push its bio-tech to new limits.

A space elevator is currently underway being "grown", and is expected to be complete by 2290. New gene-gineered mega foliage is being introduced to harvest the carbon for other abundant resources in Venus for building material. The space elevator will be important for terran plans as they seek to use the material for Sun shields and energy collection.

Terra

Earth, the homeworld of humanity and center of the Sol System's power.

Uranus

Home to the young Urans colony.

Nearby Star Systems

The following star systems are within the 8 light year colonization radius from Sol:

Alpha Centauri

4.3 light years from Sol

Bernard's Star

Nearby red dwarf star

Altair

Located beyond the immediate neighborhood

Vega

One of the brightest stars in the night sky

Sirius

The brightest star in Earth's night sky

Procyon

Binary star system near Sirius

Luyten's Star

Red dwarf star system

Kaptayne's Star

Intermediate destination star

Lacaille 8760

Star system reachable from Kaptayne's Star

Lacaille 9352

Star system reachable from Kaptayne's Star

See Also

• Under Heaven - Main setting page
• Technology in Under Heaven - Detailed technology overview
• Factions in Under Heaven - More information on political groups