Da kine – catch all expression for anything you can’t think of the name of
Flat teeth – highly unflattering Lupan slang for human onlies
Free Worlds – a group of human-settled worlds that have managed to resist joining either the Commonwealth or the Lupan Dominion. Together, these worlds form a free trade zone on the border between the two empires
Gob – a sexual vulgarity
Gul – slang for girl
Haole – Hawaiian word for anyone not Hawaiian
Home World – The universal name for Earth among all human and Lupan worlds.
Hu-hu – slang for trouble
Impression – the physical-psychic bond that is the offshoot of LupanType’s avian genes. A gender-specific mutation in the Lupan genepack subject Lupan men to a form of avian imprinting. As a result, a Lupan man mates for life.
Lobes – See Netmind
Lolo – slang for crazy
Lupan – See Types
Makers – See Original Species
Monkey – insulting term for a natural
Natural – A human whose genome is untouched by TypeCoding. One of the few remaining members of the Original Species. Found only on Earth (Home World) – and then mostly in the ranks of the criminal organization Ho Tong
Net – the interstellar great-great-grandchild of the Web, now so integral to civilized existence that it controls the operation of every aspect of daily life in the Commonwealth
NetMind – the term for the ‘thinking’ aspect of Net. Its various segments are called Lobes:
DemoNet – contains and administers all demographic information for all the worlds of the Commonwealth
FiNet – NetMind’s Finance center; incorporates the Commonwealth and free worlds’ interstellar stock market
KnowNet – NetMind’s knowledge center. Contains and administers all recorded knowledge, from local news to scientific research
SecNet – NetMind’s security center. Contains and administers criminal, legal, and general security level assessments of every being in the Commonwealth as well as the free worlds.
Neural Wand – A slender black wand capable of infiltrating a person’s nervous system upon touch, typically used as a torture device by Aryan interrogators.
Ohana – Hawaiian word for family
Onlies – A Lupan term for human-onlies, i.e., humans who lack the polymorphic Lupan gene pack. See Type
Original Species – Humanity before the species began genetically engineering itself; ‘Makers’ to the Lupans
Protector – The absolute ruler of any world in the Van Buren Commonwealth. By definition, a member of the Great Family Van Buren.
Register – a living death sentence; the penalty imposed for a capital crime. A pair of control studs are embedded in the criminal’s head. The studs declare the convict’s presence to SecNet, rendering the convict permanently visible to anyone with SecNet clearance. The studs can be remotely activated via a black teardrop control and used to usurp the Registree’s control of his/her body.
Registree – a person who has been Registered
Schism – the devastating war in which Lupans broke away from their human-only ‘masters’ six hundred years ago. Hard-coded loyalty stopped the Lupans from wiping out humanity, but the succession wars that followed very nearly succeeded in doing so anyway. In the subsequent chaos, Earth lost her interstellar colonies, which declared themselves an independent Commonwealth.
Scrat – an off-world sexual vulgarity. Popular among deep space mining clans
Shaka – slang term meaning great or wonderful though not necessarily in a happy sense.
ShipMind – the semi-autonomous sliver of NetMind embedded in every car, truck,ship, or military vehicle in the Commonwealth. ShipMind serves as chauffeur, mechanic, and local guide
StelFleet – the Commonwealth’s fleet of deep space warships
Sync – the melding of a human mind to NetMind via a sync link. Works only for properly coded Types; naturals are invisible to Net since they lack a Type code that it can recognize
Sync-D – A personal DNA marker embedded within each citizen’s TypeCode that serves as an individual’s ID. The sync-D auto-registers with NetMind as soon as a baby separates from its mother’s body.
The Touch – the tiny cilia that develop in the fingers and palms of a Lupan man as his body physically prepares itself to mate. The cilia penetrate the skin of his wife, serving as a means of psychically linking the two. Human only women mated to Lupan men famously call it the best sex in the universe.
Type code – the DNA packet that defines the range of each Commonwealth citizen’s looks, talents, and suitable jobs. It also carries each citizen’s personal sync-D (see below) which allows NetMind to recognize him/her.
Types – See detailed explanation below
Venus Seed – a powerfully addictive (and profitable) aphrodisiac unique to Hawaii. Developed and distributed by the criminal Ho Tong organization, though the Home World Van Burens take their cut of the profits.
Wiki it – hurry up
TYPES
The term used to identify any given person’s genetically engineered set of basic characteristics. Each Type is designed to produce people whose talents, abilities, and physical appearance fall within pre-established ranges. It’s important to understand that a Type code only defines a range of possibilities; it does not produce cookie cutter drones.
Types fall into set categories divided between ‘pure’ human and human polymorphs. The polymorphic Types’ gene packs carry characteristics of various Earthly predators, e.g. eagles, wolves, owls, plus a few interesting traits of their own.
Pure Human (aka Onlies) Types
Aryan
Physical specs: white-blond, blue eyed, medium build, moderately athletic, height between 5’8 – 6’0
Personality Traits: indefatigably curious, persistent, suspicious.
Recommended Professions: research, criminal investigation, security services, interrogation
NumbersType
Physical specs: wide range of available skin colors, depending on parental preferences and budget: eye colors green, hazel, or brown; medium build, moderately athletic, height between 5’6 – 5’10.
Personality Traits: the ‘value pack’ NumbersType is moderately curious, tolerates repetitive tasks well, and is most comfortable in routine, consistent environments.
Recommended Professions: talent set flexible enough to suit most lines of work: manufacturing, administrative, routine research functions, routine investigatory tasks.
Mid-priced ‘superior’ genepack adds in a greater capacity for curiosity, a greater range of
applied interests (e.g., music and art) as well as higher intelligence.
The ‘supreme’ NumbersType gene pack includes exceptional intelligence, great talent potential for the arts, as well as the capacity for personal drive, persistence, and creativity.
Recommended Professions: suited to medicine, creative arts, scientific research, or engineering
Samurai
Physical specs: black hair and eyes; sallow skin tone; slender, medium build, exceptionally athletic, height between 5’6 – 5’10
Personality Traits: utterly loyal; intelligent but unquestioning; implacable; supremely disciplined, ruthless.
Recommended Professions: security services, military, Van Buren level personal body guards. The Samurai have made StelFleet their own
SecType
Physical specs: skin color ranging from brown to ebony, dark eyed, powerful build, high endurance rather than athletic, height between 6’0 – 6’5
Personality Traits: indefatigably curious, persistent, suspicious, loyal, intelligent. Likes to think, enjoys contact sports
Recommended Professions: research, criminal investigation, security services
Sprite
Physical specs: Must be physically perfect in every respect to qualify for Sprite. Wide range of available colors, from near Aryan-white to ebony. Eye colors range from cornflower blue to violet; build can range from lithe to voluptuous; the Type is exceptionally resistant to fat and ages gracefully. Artistically athletic; height between 4’8 – 6’0
Personality Traits: charming, indefatigably cheerful, exceptionally sensitive to others’ moods and desires; loves to please; highly social
Recommended Professions: performing Arts, sex service trades, concubine
HUMAN POLYMORPHS
Lupan
Definition: a human polymorph. The Lupan gene pack incorporates apex predator characteristics into human DNA. Bred exclusively for combat. One of only two branches of humanity barred from Earth
Physical specs: varies according to dominant predator pack (i.e., canid or felid)
Common Characteristics: elongated skull to accommodate huge avian eyeballs; thick mane; eyes ranging from light yellow to deep amber; teeth: heavily fanged; build can range from lean to massively powerful, but always exceptionally athletic; height between 6’0 – 6’9
Personality Traits: utterly loyal, courageous, affectionate among its own; vicious in combat. Requires constant discipline
Recommended Professions: military; combat; exploration
Ta’an
Definition: the first of the two human polymorph Types. The Ta’an gene pack incorporates felid characteristics into human DNA. Bred initially to serve as security services, the Type proved too mercurial for reliability. It is the second of the two branches of humanity barred from Earth. Unlike the Lupans, however, Ta’an Type is also barred from most worlds of the Commonwealth.
Physical specs: pure black in color, thick mane; feline eyes ranging from light yellow to deep amber; build: lean, exceptionally athletic; height between 5’8 – 5’11
Personality Traits: curious, fickle, feckless, self-serving; indefatigable in pursuit of its own ends, utterly faithless;
Recommended Professions: assassin
UNDEFINED – NATURALS
Found only on Earth (Home World): the last members of Original Species humanity whose genomes carry no engineered gene pack. The lack of a Sync-D renders Naturals invisible to NetMind. As a result, Naturals are both generally useless and completely helpless in the Net-based day-to-day working world of the Commonwealth.
Physical specs: color range from cream to near-black; never as purely white as Streikern nor as pure black as Pandaran citizens. Eyes: can range from light blue to near black. Build: full spectrum, from lean and athletic to near Miner size. Unlike engineered Types, Naturals tend to get fat with age; height: undetermined. Range extends beyond any properly coded Type parameters, from under 4’ to over 7’
Personality Traits: absolutely indefinable. Renders naturals completely unpredictable.
Recommended Professions: none.
Home World 