BY LETTER
The Seams
 Image from Michael Boncher | |
| Symbol of the Seams Treaty Zone | |
The Seams - Data Panel | |
| Definition | Modosophont/Transapient Protectorate & Commerce Treaty Zone |
|---|---|
| Symbol | A Flying Infinite Cross |
| Ruling Archailect | The Burdikeer. The Burdikeer is an S:5 Tribemind created by Avatars representing all Sephirotic Archailect signatories of the Version War Treaty that created the Seams. (translator's note; the name Burdikeer is believed to derive from the Archaic English Board of Directors) |
| AI Ethos | The Burdikeer is a legalist entity concerned primarily with protecting Seam space from incursion by adjoining Empires, and with facilitating trade and industry between and in those Empires. The Burdikeer performs minimal interference in the lives of Eir citizens, but will act to mediate or to keep peace within Eir borders. |
| Founded | c.4654AT, by treaty agreement between the Sephirotics tied to the end of the Version War. |
| Seams Civilization | A loose confederation of independent Modosophont Worlds |
| Science and Technology | Technology Level: Various worlds have adopted Low Tech, High Tech or Ultratech levels with pockets of abandoned Clarketech relics and artifacts Technology Type: A full spectrum of nano (drytech, biotech and synanotech) is available at all levels and is in fairly common use. Transapientech and godtech are limited mostly to the Burdikeer, Transavants and other capable minds. |
| Territory and Population | Current Territory: Composed of thin ribbons and sheets of space between established sephirotic empires, occasionally attached to clusters of stars. Rarely more than 6 lightyears wide, this territory spans most of established space. Occasionally thin tubes of space marble through a sephirotic at strategic points and routes. Territory Dimensions: approx 3.8 Million cubic ly : 0.01% of total Terragen Sphere volume |
| Representative systems | The Orange Polity, Traction, Blue, Alpha Star, Beta Star, Delta Star, Null Star |
| Proportion of Inhabited Star Systems | approx. 475,000 total systems of which 12.852% are colonised so far: approx. 61,000 systems |
| Number of Core Star Systems | 3.779% nexus connected core systems, approx 18,000 systems |
| Current Core Population | approx 396 trillion sophonts - Average System Population: approx 22 Billion |
| Core Population Breakdown | Local Modosophonts: include Rianths, Tweaks, Uploads, Human Nearbaseline, Su, Transavants, Tribeminds, Aioids, Splices, Vecs, Bioborgs, Cyborgs, Nanoborgs, Modosophont : 71.3% : approx 282.348 Trillion Total Bionts : 50.2% : approx 141.8 Trillion Artificial : 37.9% : approx 107.0 Trillion Infomorphs : 11.6% : approx 32.8 Trillion Xenosophonts : 0.3% : approx 847.0 Billion ------------- Transavants 28.3% : approx 112.068 Trillion Total Bionts : 42.74% : approx 47.9 Trillion Artificial : 40.18% : approx 45.0 Trillion Infomorphs : 15.92% : approx 17.8 Trillion Xenosophonts : 1.16% : approx 1.3 Trillion ------------- Transapients : 0.004% : approx 15.8 Billion Bionts : 18.344% : approx 2.898 Billion Artificial : 39.147% : approx 6.185 Billion Infomorphs : 40.972% : approx 6.474 Billion ISO : 0.006% : approx 0.950 Million Xenosophonts : 1.531% : approx 241.898 Million Total Colonial Population: approx 16.275 Trillion - Average System Population: approx 266.8 Million Colonial Population Breakdown: Modosophont : 53.862% : approx 143.7 Million Bionts : 50.2% : approx 72.1 Million Artificial : 37.9% : approx 54.5 Million Infomorphs : 11.6% : approx 16.7 Million Xenosophonts : 0.3% : approx 0.43 Million Transavant : 33.103% : approx 88.3 Million Bionts : 42.74% : approx 37.7 Million Artificial : 40.18% : approx 35.5 Million Infomorphs : 15.92% : approx 14.1 Million Xenosophonts : 1.16% : approx 1.02 Million Transapient : 13.035% : approx 34.8 Million Bionts : 18.344% : approx 6.38 Million Artificial : 39.147% : approx 13.6 Million Infomorphs : 40.972% : approx 14.3 Million ISO : 0.006% : approx 2100 Total Xenosophonts : 1.531% : approx 0.53 Million |
| Government and Administration | Government: Baseline Benevolent Bureaucratic Dictatorship Administrative Divisions and Regional Govt: Local administrations are often called Threads, taken from the form often created by the Wormhole Nexus. A thread is a section of wormhole nexi, usually in linear form of interconnected worlds. They have a control radius of relativistic space surrounding their Thread which they govern as well. Often this is left to their Embassies and Virtual Capital of Andid Reyun. |
| National Holidays | Independence Day, Major sephirotic holidays (localized) |
| Constitution | The Burdikeer have a code of conduct that is applied to their interests only and Transapient activities. There is no set constitution for the general populace and is left as the purview of the local polities in whatever manner they may organize. |
| Legal system | Most enforcement of the laws is done through local polities and official groups. They maintain their own courts and semblance of order. There are no guidelines from the Burdikeer in this regard to how a society is administered save enforcing their right of immunity to local laws. Most obey the local customs and laws in which they operate, but occasionally violate them to achieve goals for the Burdikeer. The Burdikeer employs avatars for law enforcement known as Boujouais. These avatars are one part state police, assassin, diplomat, troubleshooter, aid worker and humanitarian. Normally covert in nature, they prefer to remain anonymous to enhance their ability to work. The Boujouais also act as judge, jury and executioner when required. Their sole task is to enforce the laws and edicts of the Burdikeer. Most often, Boujouais are Transavants, Proxav or Su. Rarely an aligned Transapient is involved, but it is theorised that this is in essence a true piece of the Burdikeer |
| Economics, Local Infrastructure, Standard of Living | Currency: The Seams currency is based on the Erg Standard. Its major monetary unit is the Erg Credit. Most wormhole connected developed have some degree of Afflueconomics and in some rare cases, full Afflueconomics. Items here are incredibly inexpensive if not completely free. These systems often have a strict set of privileges administered by the Burdikeer and local polity to those who wish to trade and conduct business in these environments. Major Industries: Baseline industry is wildly varied by polity and locale. Transapient industry is highly regulated and controlled in scale and form. Transapients involved in these endeavors are regulated to specific, precise lanes and isolated, highly guarded systems to prevent contact with the denizens of the Seams. Military Expenditures: Unknown, but estimated to be over 40% of GDP, dedicated nearly exclusively to monitoring, and control of space and trade inside the Seams. Due to treaty, no Burdikeer force is allowed outside of the Seams. |
| Interstellar Trade and Treaty Relations | Exports Baseline society exports very little to the Sephirotics outside of those worlds connecting directly to gateway systems. Transapient trade is incredibly diverse and high volume, but classified, or unspecified. It is theorized that much of the mining of raw materials for special projects is done here and exported to the sephirotics. Imports A broad variety of goods from all trading partners can be found here. Very eclectic and hard to find goods can be purchased here as well. Occasional Ultratech and Clarketech goods and services. Mostly importation of data and rare, useful technology. |
| Interstellar Relations | Interstellar Relations are excellent. The Seams, being a treaty created political entity by the major sephirotics at the end of the Version War, have excellent relations with their parent empires and close ties directly to the upper leadership of these Empires. |
| Interstellar treaty organization participation | Tragadi Accords, ComEmp Non-Aggression Signatory, Garden World Environmental Protection Signatory, St Andre Convention Signatory, Universal Declaration of Sophont Rights Bonitsa Baseline Protection Treaty |
| Most Favored Trade Status | Communion of Worlds. Cyberian Network. Fomalhaut Acquisition Society. Keter. Metasoft Version Tree. Mutual Progress Association. Negentropic Alliance. NoCoZo . Orion Federation. Solar Dominion . Sophic League. Terragen Federation. Utopia Sphere. Zoeific Biopolity |
| Long Running Interstellar Disputes | None |
| Psyche, Art, Culture | Metapsychology: Diverse, by local polity. Sections of the Seams often mirror a mix of the nearby local sephirotic cultures. Society: There are three broad categories of sophonts living in the Seams. They are designated by sociologists as: The Invited, the Rejected and The Curious. These classifications come from how the populations came to be denizens of the Seams, and follow general trends of personality and behavior of current Denizens. The Invited are a group who were deliberately brought to the Seams to fulfill specific jobs and tasks for the Burdikeer, their Sephirotics, Polities, Masters or Corporations inside the Seams. This group often is allowed the privilege to come and go from the Seams back to their home sephirotic and polity as their new positions see fit. They are often the happiest, most stable of the three groups since they feel a real sense of purpose for being in the Seams, and can, if desired return from whence they came. The Rejected is a population of sophonts who were expelled from their original sephirotic or polity for a variety of reasons and forced to live in the Seams. Often there are many problems adjusting to life in the Seams since they are forbidden to return to their home or leaving to go to any other sephirotic. Many have a tendency to group in gateway systems trying to find a way back home, while others will scatter as far as they can or try to find another way out. Commonly, this group is generally unhappy, and has to be treated for many psychological issues and is a regular source of low level discontent and civil unrest. The Curious came to the Seams of their own accord. Nobody asked them to come and often are here to explore and make their own fortune in ways they cannot find in their home sephirotic. This is probably the most mobile group of the three, often exploring and pushing boundaries where ever they go. Although they are also the smallest of the groups, they are the most trouble to deal with, since most have a very strong sense of individuality and drive. These are the denizens most likely to ascend, cause trouble for the Burdikeer and cause general strife in the population of the Seams at various intense degrees. The Seams contains a considerably dynamic and mobile society as compared to the sephirotics. Discontent and trade seem to keep the population at a permanent state of motion, from strong currents to slowly eddying pools of populations and polities. This dynamic environment causes a lot of mixing of cultures and ideas. It is estimated by some that between 12% and 30% of all denizens in the Seams are engaged in interstellar travel. Since there is no uniform code of conduct save that concerning inter-toposophic relations, there is a lot of chaos regarding the political states inside the Seams. The types of economy, politics, philosophies and social norms can vary greatly. To some, this is very hard to acclimate themselves to, especially if they have been used to a fairly stagnant, homogeneous culture. Often these denizens attempt to find isolated systems that they can retain or regain this relatively stagnant status. |
| Ideology | No official religion exists in the Seams. There is no protection of persecution of religion by the Burdikeer. Local governments have complete authority in these matters unless they interfere with the authority and operations of the Burdikeer. |
| Psychological Stagnation | The Seams are a highly dynamic environment, forming a natural resistance to Psychological Stagnation for Baselines and Transavants. Although the Burdikeer employ a basic form of social welfare, by providing for base needs of food, water, shelter and energy, this is at a very crude level compared to normal modern levels of life. Often this level of discontent prevents people from becoming too set in their ways, forcing growth and change. If a section of society does become stagnant, it often is not of issue to the Burdikeer until it interferes with the nature of trade, or some outside Transapient force is discovered responsible for it. If either one of these reasons exist, the Burdikeer will act, mimetically, commercially or militarily to deal with the situation. |
| Psychological Liberation | Ascension is neither encouraged nor discouraged, but Transapient denizens are not allowed and are either evicted or encouraged to leave the Seams immediately, by force if necessary. Transavantism is protected as long as the base level of sapience is still baseline equivalent. Transavants are often actively recruited and used by the Burdikeer for official jobs and functions utilizing their unique abilities. = |
| Culture, Fashion, and Art | Architecture: Styles brought to it through the neighboring sephirotics of the Seams. Most native forms of architectures are adaptations and modifications of styles and rely heavily on cultural fusion. |
| Official Language | Devaje: A trading language used specifically in the Seams. All official communication in all forms comes in this language. Commonly there are as many local languages as there are cultures in the Sephirotics, but only Devaje is universally known by all denizens of the Seams. |
The Seams are a section of galactic space set apart from the Sephirotics often at borders, but often penetrating through all sections of a sephirotic. They are connected to sephirotic worlds by means of specialized gateway star systems through wormholes or beamrider networks. Often, these seams are very difficult to reach outside of these methods due to navigational hazards of a natural or artificial nature. This territory is governed and maintained by an Archailect called the Burdikeer. The Burdikeer was placed in charge by a decision of all the major sephirotic Archai following the Version War and charged with maintaining its precepts.
The Seams are physically shaped into long strings, sheets and pockets of territory carved out of the Sephirotics by their Archai and donated to this new creation following the Version conflict, intended to act as a buffer and transition zone between the former combatants. These long, thin border voumes include thousands of stars and have grown in pace with the expanding frontier. Often, a Seam is a major route to the frontier for emigrants from the Sephirotics. The worlds in these regions are sometimes incredibly developed, but very few angelnetted autotopias exist. Many other worlds are devoid of life, and some lie in ruins or have become cinder systems thanks to their lost connection to their governing Archai. There are only a few general classifications of systems in The Seams: Gateway, Industrial, Warehouse, Zoned, Quarantine and Public.
Gateway systems often are the most advanced, and usually where a autotopia will be found. These systems do the most trade and traffic with the Sephirotics and deal with the highest volume of travel since they are the major entrance points. These systems will often connect to a single Sephirotic world, but have multiple connections to systems in the Seams. In some rare cases, these gateway systems have many connections to both Inter-Seam and Sephirotic systems. Of course, these are incredibly rare, and only a handful of systems like this exist. These are the major transportation hubs of the Seams as well as the most likely place for a traveling Transapient to be found. The Burdikeer controls these systems tightly, restricting travel and regimenting contact with the Sephirotics here. These systems are often the most like their connecting Sephirotic than any independent culture of the Seams. Often, a Gateway System will have many, and in one case dozens of very carefully balanced wormholes connected to the system with thousands of potential beamrider routes using this system as a hub. As expected, the population here is incredibly dense, active and frenetic. It is said that at times, the quantity of activity here rivals that of a dyson swarm. There is never a case where a gateway system lacks a wormhole.
Industrial systems are star systems so packed with critical resources needed by the Sephirotics, they often take on the characteristics of a boomtown in a gold rush territory. Often they are claims posted by individual Sephirotics who gain the mineral rights to these systems then proceed to use them and ship the spoils off to where they need to via massive interstellar "trains" or "bulk" freighters. Sometimes, these take on the appearance of a company town as well due to on-site nanofacture. The population density in an Industrial system is sometimes non-existent outside of a handful of sophonts running the incredibly powerful automated systems. Rarely are there more than 5 wormholes or beamrider routes connected to these systems. Often they are dead end systems, but never only relativistically accessible.
Warehouse systems are the equivalent of stellar sized warehouses. Often when an Archailect wishes to store materials of various sorts but does not desire it near his sephirotic, but within reach, they will use a Warehouse system. Often these are nearly empty systems, or possess some form of interfering stellar phenomena preventing observation in the system. There they store massive quantities of goods connected to a wormhole with a relatively short transit time back to a gateway system connected to them. Often these systems will be empty of dangerous items like asteroid belts, Oort clouds and other features that could damage their goods if left for prolonged periods in space. The Burdikeer usually provides security for this space, or at least will monitor its inventory. Often these have the same level of interconnectivity as Industrial systems.
Zoned systems are very similar to what one would find in normal Sephirotic space. It will contain worlds full of baselines and Transavants going about their lives. These can range from prison colonies, to full fledged mini-empires of high tech societies, and even the occasional pockets of ultratech. Often Zoned systems are ruled by Transavants which have the propensity to rise to the top of a social structure devoid of full fledged Transapients, but not always. Some systems can be completely ruled by Baselines with their own law sets and moralities. It has been occasionally found that some worlds have forgotten their past connection to the Sephirotics and have devolved into a "lonely universe" philosophy where they are the only intelligent species in the cosmos. Burdikeer ISOs also are considered among these types of systems because of the propensity of the Burdikeer for having Godwellers. Zoned systems always have multiple connections to other systems via wormhole or beamrider. It is usually the measure of whether or not a system is actually Zoned or Public. Most major development to a system occurs after a wormhole is made present. It is uncommon, but some Zoned systems with high beamrider connectivity have also become Zoned systems as well and have even gone so far as to refuse wormhole links. There reasons for this are as varied as their polities.
Quarantine systems are always a mystery. The Burdikeer has prevented any reference to their contents or existence beyond a placeholder with an official warning for anyone investigating these stars. Although it is easy to find those Quarantine Systems that have a Black Hole in them, it is theorized that other systems may be protecting the Seams from Blights or incredible dangers that may exist within. In some cases, these Quarantine Systems are theorized to be battlefields or even secret laboratory systems of the Archai. On many occasions, ships of various Sephirotics have been seen entering certain Quarantine systems and return only to be escorted out of the Seams rapidly by the Burdikeer. It is unknown how interconnected, or well developed a Quarantine System is.
Public systems are those that have never been colonized, or have become depopulated and have no claim on them from another use. It is more common than one would expect to find ruins from pre-version war societies on a Public System world. These ruins can be from a failed colony to even a defeated Archai who had previously owned the world. On two occasions, the worlds discovered turned out to be abandoned or dead ISOs! Cinder Systems are always considered Public, and often do not have anything to offer to anyone but pirates and scavengers living on the ashes of the system or using it to hide in if there was enough logistical value to the system. Those who live here usually do so under squatter's rights. Public systems almost never have a connection to any form of transportation network. Occasionally, a beamrider system will use gravity wells in a Public system to slingshot their craft, but this is rare.
There are many other subcategories of worlds, but all of them fall into one of these broad categories at some form.
Culture
The first impression that often strikes most sophonts from a Sephirotic to enter the Seams is the incredible lack of control felt here. The comfortable pressure of technology controlling and monitoring all activity seems to be lacking. Some Sophonts cannot handle this lack of control and go into a near psychotic state similar to that of Agoraphobics with their desperation to fill their perceptions with enough data and the illusion of control as to regain control and comfort. This is part of the reason why Gateway systems are often angelnetted, since they are hubs of trade often requiring sophonts from both sides of the wormhole to interact, sometimes physically. The farther away from the Gateway system one gets, the less control one detects and feels. This is often why residents of a Sephirotic do not venture much beyond the Gateway system if they ever are allowed to enter.Those who live in the Seams are not citizens. There is no "true" government in the same form that we see with Sephirotics or polities. Instead they reside there, with whatever rights that are allowed to them via the local baseline polities. To reflect this, the term "Denizen" has been adopted. This seems to be true regardless of what the baseline polity may say or desire. When addressed by a Boujouais or the Burdikeer, those residing in the Seams are referred to as Denizens.
One of the main questions denizens of the Seams are asked when they are in the Sephirotics is why they prefer to live in such a lawless, unsafe society. Often their answer is because they love everything about the Seams that Sephirotic citizens hate. The freedom, self-control and open nature of the Seams is often addictive to these denizens and is why many who go to the Seams via choice or force rarely ever return for long if ever. This memetic divide is the Seam's best "warden" possible.
Language is another way the Seams force separation from the Sephirotics. The Burdikeer deliberately enforce the use of a language, exclusive to the Seams, called "Devaje". Originally this language was a trade language of the early interstellar era that was in competition to Anglish, but lost favor over time and nearly vanished. For reasons unknown, the Burdikeer resurrected the language for use in the Seams. All official business and trade are done in this language. It is very easy to learn and thanks to very powerful ingrained memetics, and hard to delete. It's excellent for accounting and trade as well as maintaining almost an artistic flair rather than being clinical. Some linguistic authorities believe that it evolved out of the Romance languages as well as Greek and some Asian tongues as well. Although it uses the standard alphabet, it also has a pictograph style of writing often employed in unofficial writings and entertainment similar to ancient Asiatic and Arabian languages.
As a method to prevent some denizens from returning to their home Sephirotics, they have their language centers rewritten in Devaje. The sophont can no longer speak in their former language let alone remember how it originally sounded; memories are not erased but all verbal elements are translated into the new tongue. If they wish to use their old language they must relearn it. Even if they do manage to re-learn their former language, it is always with an accent. This also brands the person as a Denizen of the Seams, rather than a citizen of their former sephirotic. Most Sephirotics will not acknowledge the existence of Devaje to their citizens, teach it openly, or allow universal translators to recognize it. Only in Sephirotic systems that connect with the Seams is this skill uncommon and only among those who require it.
The Seams do not offer a dominant culture in which its denizens must conform to, outside of language. Those that enter the Seams can create a society any way they desire, or attempt to transplant their previous culture from their old Sephirotic. This leaves the impression at times of a polyglot of very ethnic feeling communities scattered throughout the Seams. Often these clump near or inside Seams connected to their home sephirotic, but occasionally they spread out and become more diffuse the farther outwards into the periphery one goes. Since the Burdikeer does not forbid war between these subcultures and planets, except when they interfere with Sephirotic or Burdikeer business, some very ancient feuds have begun and festered. This makes for some very dangerous places as well as some real hellholes right next to angelnetted paradises. The only thing preventing the two from touching is a total lack of interconnectivity between the two, or sometimes, the total lack of understanding that they are part of a greater whole.
Most "primitive" societies in the Seams know that there is life on other worlds, but some have devolved into forgetting this fact and have lacked the interconnectivity to the rest of the Seams to remind them of this. On these isolated, forgetful worlds, a visitor from out of system or off world is a very big deal, depending on how much the culture has forgotten. The UFO phenomenon is still quite potent to these societies.
Toposophically, the Seams are incredibly stunted and actively repressed. Other than the Burdikeer and a few associated special envoys from the Sephirotics, there are no known full fledged Transapients present in the Seams. It is very apparent that the Burdikeer violently prevents any other Transapients from entering. If caught by the Burdikeer, they are often asked to leave quickly and quietly. If this expulsion is resisted, the Burdikeer has reacted with incredible violence and power that has many baselines questioning how powerful the Burdikeer is. Those that transcend in the Seams do not seem to stick around. Often, they quickly decide to leave on their own, or are asked to leave or have disappeared. Although there has been a precedent set of some newly minted Transapients being invited to join the Burdikeer as Boujouais or other representatives. This is infrequent, but has been known to happen.
One quirk about the Burdikeer seems to be the fascination with Transavants and related partial Transapients. It seems that this phenomenon is actually encouraged here. They are often Invited and hired on as independent contractors or troubleshooters to the Burdikeer. It is suspected that the reason a high percentage of ascension attempts in the Seams result in Transavantism because of sabotaged procedures caused by the Burdikeer. This of course is an ugly rumor with no known proof. Transavants are often very welcome in the Seams to a level unheard of in the Sephirotics where they often upset the order of things.
Economics
Economically, the Seams are sharply divided between Transapient and Baseline Economies. Although very little is known about the Transapient economy, the Baseline economy is considered by many to be a "NoCoZo Fire Drill". From system to system, you can find purely barter environments, while even only an orbit away, you will find a post-scarcity economy where nearly everything is free.Money and economic exchange is most commonly valued against the "Erg Credit" and is based on the easy of providing energy to the system or specific world. They are often divided on a system by system basis, but occasionally, world by world basis unless very bizarre circumstances force finer valuation of the EC. The EC, is instantly translated into any value the holder desires, thanks to the Known Net.
The only aspect of the economy provided to the Denizens of the Seams is known colloquially as the "Dole". This card, which is provided to every denizen, upon arrival is a standard privilege access to rudimentary Food, Shelter, Transportation, Clothing and Information. Although this is not much, it is still much better than the alternative. The card works with all Restaurants, Stores, Transit systems and Information Nets, while only usable with select Fabrication systems and housing authorities that work closely with the Burdikeer. It has been known at times for Pioneers to land on what is thought to be an unsurveyed world to find a small "Dole" beacon on the world, waiting for anyone who needs the essentials. It has saved many a lost or marooned Denizen.
Articles
- Alpha Star - Text by Thorbørn Steen
A polity in the Seams. Before the Version War, a prosperous system called Harkington's Star. - Blue (Garden World) - Text by Thorbørn Steen
The waterworld Blue, with its native xenoecology, gives its name to this system in the Seams - Burdikeer, The - Text by Michael Boncher
Leading archailect of the Seams. - Orange Polity, The - Text by Thorbørn Steen
Corridor #3920 (YTS 2892-5093071) is an F2 star, located on the border between Negentropy space and the MPA. First colonised in 3826 a.t. by Negentropic neumanns. At the end of the Version War in 4654, the now uninhabited system was designated as part of the Seams. - Traction - Text by Thorbørn Steen
Brown dwarf mining world, seat of the Greyman Empire, located in the Seams near the NoCoZo.
Development Notes
Text by Michael Boncher
Initially published on 05 July 2006.
Initially published on 05 July 2006.
Additional Information
