Teralogos News 2101 First Quarter

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TM
2101, F
IRST
Q
UARTER
TM
Written by JAMAIS CASCIO, PHIL MASTERS, KENNETH PETERS,
PATRICK SWEENEY, and JON F. ZEIGLER
Edited by PHIL MASTERS
Illustrated by MARCIO FIORITO
An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS
®
STEVE JACKSON
GAMES
Stock #37-6708
®
Version 1.0 – February 2010
C
ONTENTS
2101, F
IRST
Q
UARTER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Search for the Oldest Living Human. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A Monstrous Ego? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Too Much to Swallow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Esperante Executive Assassinated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Gaza Desalination Plant Goes Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Triplanetary Lines Offers Discount Mars Rates . . . . . . . . 4
Traveler’s Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Record Attendance at UN General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . 5
Divad Blasts to the Finish in
Mars-Earth Plasma Sail Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Noted Philosopher Turns Isolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
InVid Review: The Tempest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
About
GURPS
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I
NTRODUCTION
Back in 2002-2003, the background for Steve Jackson
Games’
Transhuman Space
hard SF setting was expanded by
a series of reports from that solar system’s leading news
source, Teralogos News (
Fifth Wave,
p. 64), distributed
through an e-mail mailing list. Since then, this rich collection
of setting details, local color, and potential scenario seeds has
only been available in the form of a little-known raw text file.
So we’ve decided to do something about that. This is one of
four free PDF files that collect those reports.
The dates on each report are a bit of stylistic detail, related to
the real-world dates on which the posts were originally distrib-
uted. Don’t take them too seriously as setting canon; after all,
Transhuman Space
doesn’t have a fixed future or “metaplot.”
The incidents described in these reports can occur whenever
suits your own campaign.
– Phil Masters
A
BOUT THE
E
DITOR
Phil Masters is the author of
Transhuman Space:
Changing Times, Transhuman Space: Shell-Tech,
Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 1-5,
and a chapter in
Transhuman Space: High Frontier.
He has also worked on
countless other
GURPS
products, including
GURPS Castle
Falkenstein, The Discworld Roleplaying Game,
and
GURPS
Y2K,
and on products for other companies.
GURPS
System Design
❚
STEVE JACKSON
Managing Editor
❚
PHILIP REED
WILL SCHOONOVER
Marketing Director
❚
SEAN PUNCH
Transhuman Space
Line Editor
❚
Asst. Managing Editor
❚
MONICA STEPHENS
❚
PAUL CHAPMAN
❚
PHIL MASTERS
WILL SCHOONOVER
Production Artist
❚
ROSS JEPSON
GURPS
FAQ Maintainer
❚
e23 Manager
❚
STEVEN MARSH
❚
NIKOLA VRTIS
–––––––
VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
❚
Page Design
❚
PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT
Editorial Assistance
❚
JASON LEVINE
I
NTRODUCTION
2
Prepress Checker
GURPS
Line Editor
Art Director
Director of Sales
2101, F
IRST
S
EARCH FOR THE
O
LDEST
L
IVING
H
UMAN
MUMBAI, India/Teralogos: January 8, 2101
Producers of the popular CenturyQuest! interactive video
show have announced a search for the oldest living human
being. When located, this individual will be offered a multi-mil-
lion-euro contract for exclusive interviews and the publication of
a biography. CenturyQuest! producers invite men or women
who can prove that they were born before January 1, 1960 and
have never undergone cryonic suspension or nanostasis to con-
tact them at oldest_human@centuryquest.marwari.co.in.
CenturyQuest! has been published on a weekly basis since
March 16, 2096 by Marwari Digital. It combines reporting on
genetic upgrades and geriatric medicine with human-interest
stories on the super-elderly. Current ratings indicate that it
reaches approximately 50.6 million viewers per week.
– filed by Jon F. Zeigler
“Biotech Euphrates is the most likely contractor,” said
Tomizawa. “Although we’re also talking with Avatar. It
depends on where we end up shooting, since ideally we’ll want
to grow it locally. We intend to record the monster’s scenes in
an indoor set in either one of the Huygens City domes on Titan
or a lava tube complex on Luna: Kyoryura is bipedal, and in 1/7
Earth gravity he’ll be able to walk upright or jump without
worrying about the pesky square-cube law.”
– filed by Patrick Sweeney
T
OO
M
UCH TO
S
WALLOW
?
THE COMBS, Mare Frigoris Industrial Zone,
Luna/Teralogos: January 27, 2101
“When I realized what had happened, I was giddy at first −
then I got mad!”
When lunar geology graduate student Beth Shang stumbled
across what appeared to be alien artifacts in a previously unex-
plored lava tube in Mare Frigoris, she was stunned. So were her
classmates from the University of Melbourne, on Luna for a field
research trip. Excited (and skeptical) messages were flying
across the web even as the artifacts − a series of black, diamond-
fiber pillars − were discovered. Equipment and personnel were
rushed to the site from Luna City and even Earth. Unconfirmed
reports had the Prime Minister of Australia being awakened to
be told the news, and the JSDF/ADF Lunar Composite Force at
Tranquility preparing to secure the site for the PRA.
“I was there when Dr. Howard removed the last pillar, and
we found the
Don’t Eat That!
sign under it,” continued Beth.
“My first reaction was to laugh, and look for the cameras. Like
pretty much everybody, I enjoy
Don’t Eat That!
on InVid when-
ever I can catch it. I just never expected to be the butt of one of
their pranks.”
Don’t Eat That!
is the enormously popular InVid hidden-
camera prank and game show hosted by former KT Event lead
singer Min Volume. In a typical episode, hidden InVid cameras
record a series of increasingly outlandish pranks played on an
unsuspecting victim. When the victim realizes what’s going on,
he or she can play games − typically involving messy sub-
stances − for cash prizes.
A M
ONSTROUS
E
GO
?
TOKYO, Japan/Teralogos: January 21, 2101
Reclusive director Kansuke O is said to be considering hav-
ing a semi-sapient bioroid “monster” created to star in his next
slinky. Yokose Studios recently signed O to direct the next
release in its popular
Kyoryura
series of giant monster produc-
tions. Previous installments in the series have been InVids that
relied on digital effects or cybershells to create the monstrous
star, but O now reportedly favors a fully live-action slinky pro-
duction starring a living Kyoryura.
“If Kyoryura lives, slinky technology will enable fans to
actually experience the action as if they were the monster,”
said Yokose spokesperson Akiko Tomizawa. “Kyoryura X is
the true, ultimate, realization of Kansuke O’s vision.”
Plans for a slinky version of Kyoryura have been in the off-
ing for some time. According to Yokose insiders, O only reluc-
tantly gave up his initial plans for a full-sized version of the
100-meter-tall Kyoryura due to liability and practical concerns,
agreeing to an elephant-sized monster instead.
GURPS
, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
Transhuman Space
,
Teralogos News, “2101, First Quarter,”
Pyramid
, e23, and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated,
or used under license.
Transhuman Space: Teralogos News
–
2101, First Quarter
is copyright © 2010 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
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T
ERALOGOS
N
EWS
: 2101, F
IRST
Q
UARTER
3
Q
UARTER
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The
Don’t Eat That!
episode for January 26 was different,
however, in that the producers spent upwards of $8 million to
artfully conceal plausibly alien items in a fairly inaccessible
part of Luna. One of the producers has a relative in the U.
Melbourne graduate program, and learned of the upcoming
expedition. Inspiration struck, and the
Don’t Eat That!
team
scrambled to set up the prank in time.
“We honestly never realized it would go that far,” claimed
Don’t Eat That!
producer Saito Aki. “We’d never done some-
thing on that scale, we didn’t know it would spiral out of con-
trol like that.”
Don’t Eat That!
has been hit with a $50 million bill from the
University of Melbourne, which is trying to cover the costs of
their rapid deployment to the site. The producers are still in
discussions with their lawyers as to whether to comply with
this demand. Other damages, however, will be harder to repair.
“For a brief moment, I thought the universe was suddenly
much more exciting than we had believed, and that we’d finally
discover some sign of alien life in the cosmos,” said Beth
Shang. “Now, I’m just kind of sad that the height of human civ-
ilization is a stupid game show.”
Lagos police reported that they had received an anonymous
email, routed through Free Net, from an individual claiming to
be Muller’s killer. The email denounced Esperante Enterprises,
and promised further direct action “on behalf of the victims of
global capitalism.” At present, authorities are treating the
death as a politically-motivated murder.
– filed by Jon F. Zeigler
G
AZA
D
ESALINATION
P
LANT
G
OES
O
NLINE
GAZA, Palestine/Teralogos: February 10, 2101
Palestinian President Muhammad Al-Hamedi was present
for the dedication of the Gaza Desalination Station, calling it
“a major step toward the true independence of the Palestinian
people.”
Built largely with funds from the Islamic Caliphate and
Israel, the fusion-powered plant has been plagued by accidents
and delays. All of that was forgotten during today’s celebra-
tions, as the plant operated smoothly on its first day online. By
the end of the day, engineers reported that 52 million liters of
Mediterranean seawater had been purified and pumped into
the Gaza distribution system.
The new plant is expected to end freshwater shortages in
the Palestinian Enclaves, especially once a trans-Israel fresh-
water pipeline is completed later this year. Israeli officials
expressed cautious optimism that the new pipeline would
reduce cross-border tensions. “Water rights have always been
a point of contention between Israel and its Palestinian neigh-
bors,” said Israeli Prime Minister David Gould, a guest at
today’s ceremony. “The progress of civilization is about ending
such conflicts by replacing scarcity with plenty.”
– filed by Jon F. Zeigler
– filed by Jamais Cascio
For a brief moment,
I thought the universe was
suddenly much more exciting
than we had believed . . .
E
SPERANTE
E
XECUTIVE
A
SSASSINATED
LAGOS, Nigeria/Teralogos: February 3, 2101
Acting on an anonymous tip, police found the body of cor-
porate executive Henrik Muller in a back alley this morning.
Muller was discovered bound with cufftape but otherwise
unmarked. The cause of death was determined to be massive
nervous damage due to “scrambler” nano. “His cerebral cortex
had been reduced to a featureless jelly,” said Dr. William
Gemade, medical examiner for the Lagos municipal police. “If
he had any plans to become a ghost, I’d say they were deci-
sively ruined. The worst part was that he was probably con-
scious when the process began.”
Muller, who was reported missing on December 26, was a
senior executive with Esperante Enterprises, a Lagos-based
corporation specializing in development projects in poor Third
Wave nations. Esperante Enterprises has long come under
harsh criticism from human rights advocates for its alleged
cooperation with corrupt local regimes and exploitation of
local workers. While Esperante is a major employer in many
developing nations, it mainly employs unskilled VT workers,
who follow rote instruction from their virtual interfaces, which
are not owned by the workers but rented to them.
T
RIPLANETARY
L
INES
O
FFERS
D
ISCOUNT
M
ARS
R
ATES
ISLANDIA, L4/Teralogos: February 18, 2101
In an expansion of their successful TransMars program,
Triplanetary Lines is reassigning two of their newest Meizi-
class passenger space vessels −
Zubatka
and
Golden Swan
− to
the Earth-Mars passenger route. The two vessels have been
recently refitted with additional passenger accommodations
and are expected to reenter service on March 10, 2101. The
additions to the Earth-Mars route underlines a new strategy
for the company, which had previously concentrated on high-
margin cargo transports.
“Since the Mars space elevator became operational,
Triplanetary Lines has seen steady growth in the Earth-Mars
passenger business. This has far outstripped our expectations,
and we are working to give it more attention,” said Juan
Cabrillo, Triplanetary Lines President and CEO. “The move of
these two vessels to the TransMars route will further reduce
our already-low prices and further cement our growing lead in
this important market. We expect the current one-way econ-
omy ticket price from Earth HEO to Mars LEO to drop 7-10%
by the end of this year.”
T
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Triplanetary has been aggressive in breaking the near-
monopoly enjoyed by rival Mars Interplanetary, establishing
generous long-term shipping contract with brokers and
expanding their network of freehauler affiliates for charter
transport to the Main Belt and the rest of the Deep Beyond.
Their liberal management policies regarding bioroid and AI
rights have landed them several high-profile government con-
tracts with the EU and they enjoy considerable clout with the
independent Farhauler’s Guild − although at the expense of
profits compared to the more aggressive cost-cutting actions of
Mars Interplanetary.
“Our expansion of Earth-Mars passenger service is an excit-
ing opportunity for those planning to make an interplanetary
trip,” Cabrillo stated. “Triplanetary Lines’ commitment to
value and integrity has never diminished and our customers
and partners can continue to rely on us as we move into the
22nd century. As new vessels are added to our growing fleet we
will further diversify our offerings and increase our presence
both on Mars and the outer solar system.”
– filed by Kenneth Peters
At which, a small screen pops out of the cybershell and displays
the face that belonged on his old body, which smiles.
“I’m interested in making the most of reality,” he says, “not
in escaping from it.”
>>This is a free sample from our popular magazine channels.
For the full interview, in InVid or slinky format, please subscribe
to
Teralogos-People.
<<
– filed by Phil Masters
R
ECORD
A
TTENDANCE AT
UN G
ENERAL
A
SSEMBLY
GENEVA, Switzerland/Teralogos: March 5, 2101
Attendance of member nations at the United Nations
General Assembly in Geneva has reached 42% this week, as
nations send delegates to attend the ongoing U.N. Conference
on International Aid. The last time attendance in the General
Assembly rose above 40% of member nations was in 2084,
when members of the Transpacific Socialist Alliance called for
an emergency session to discuss the Pacific War. Since the UN
began publishing attendance statistics in 2063, the average
proportion of member states attending General Assembly ses-
sions has been about 32%.
“I’m quite encouraged,” said U.N. Secretary-General Rajiv
Pandya in a public statement. “That so many member states
have chosen to attend a non-emergency session demonstrates
that the United Nations Organization is far from irrelevant in
today’s world. Humanity needs a place in which to discuss
and resolve ongoing problems, and we provide the best forum
available.”
Notable delegations attending this week’s session include
those of the United States (last attending in 2076) and the
People’s Republic of China (last attending in 2085).
– filed by Jon F. Zeigler
T
RAVELER
’
S
T
ALE
COLUMBIA STATION,
Earth Orbit/Teralogos: February 25, 2101
They gave Sven Egilsson the Fergus Memorial Award for
travel writing last week. Normally, the ceremony is held in
November, but they had to wait this time; Egilsson insisted on
collecting it in person, and that meant that he had to come
half-way across the system to Columbia Station. It may seem
good of them to delay things just for him, but given what he
won it for, it was fitting. And when I asked to interview him, he
insisted on meeting me in person, too, and I couldn’t argue.
That is why I’m sitting in a Columbia Station bar, drink-
ing locally brewed beer, when everyone starts staring at the
doorway. After all, you don’t see many non-humanoid cyber-
shells in bars, and Egilsson’s custom ’shell is an arachno-
phobe’s nightmare, with limbs which switch between use as
legs, arms, or sensor masts seemingly at random, and a heavy
casing that looks like it’s been sandblasted and then tinted
with unearthly acids. Which, in fact, it has − on Mars and
Venus, among other places.
He scuttles across the room to me, asks what I’m drinking,
then pauses before announcing that he’s downloaded the fla-
vor model from the Web, and yes, it tastes good to him. For a
radical transhumanist personality upload − a ghost − Egilsson
seems awfully attached to the experiences of flesh.
Which is somewhat the point here. Egilsson is a traveler
who believes in doing things the old-fashioned way. When he
wants to visit another planet, he doesn’t just have himself
beamed there, or even sit in orbit and teleoperate a tourist
cybershell; he goes down in person, in the same cybershell
every time. (Which is why it has to be a custom model. In fact,
it’s probably the toughest, most versatile cybershell you’ll meet
outside the U.S. Army.) And he doesn’t power down while he’s
in transit, either; he travels by fastliner, and mingles with the
other passengers all the way.
You may gather that Egilsson is quite rich. Believe me, travel
writing doesn’t pay well enough to support all that. So I ask him
why he bothers, when he could just as easily sit at home on a
very secure mainframe with a virtual harem, and download all
the slinky records of other places that he might ever want.
D
IVAD
B
LASTS TO THE
F
INISH IN
M
ARS
-E
ARTH
P
LASMA
S
AIL
R
ACE
ISLANDIA/Teralogos: March 12, 2101
Julia Divad won the 4th Annual Solar Cup on Wednesday,
narrowly beating last year’s winner, Kei Noguchi, with a record
time of three months, five days, and six minutes. Her racer,
Raptor of Dawn,
is the first to have been designed and assem-
bled in the Islandia Lagrange 4 colony.
“I really think I owe the win to my friends and family who
kept me motivated over the trip,” said Divad. “I’ve raced by
inhabiting cybershells, but the Solar Cup is significantly harder.
They make an effort to keep the pilots as close to a baseline
human as possible − three months in a stinky meat shell without
any pain overrides makes me appreciate my other bodies a lot
more. I’m just glad I lucked out towards the end, it was a tight
race all the way back from the Mars gravity slingshot.”
Divad had been in second place until an electrical fire in
Noguchi’s crew compartment forced him and his racer
Eye of
Ra
to drop out. The accident was one of several that have given
the Solar Cup a reputation for dangerously lax safety regula-
tions and restrictive race rules that prevent automation of
piloting and repairs.
T
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: 2101, F
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