From: jmiguel@cco.caltech.edu (John Miguel Baker) Subject: HiveWorld Date: Thu Jun 02 22:06:46 EST 1994 Position: Mother's Chamber Persons: Mother, Drone, AFN-00283-OKF Designate "Roy", DKH-38429-OGD Designate "Mmann-Tra" "AFN-00283-OKF Designate 'Roy' reporting." "Deliver." "Self-same non-society discovered, named Aysle." "Something's wrong?" "Aysle is dangerous. They divide power up by archaic lineage technique. Magictreason is commonplace. Possibility control present, in Darkness Device: Drakacanus." "We have a friend for you, Drone." -- Drakacanus is weak --- "DKH-38429-OGD Designate 'Mmann-Tra' reporting." "Deliver." "Aysle is connected to another non-society: Earth." "There's more, isn't there?" "Earth is connected to multiple non-societies. All with Darkness Devices." "My, my, Drone, we have a family reunion..." -- You jest -- "But, Mmann-Tra, the other non-societies are invading Earth?" "It would seem so." "Why, then, let us bring them all society. Find population centers." "Yes, Mother." "I will assist, Mother." "Good for you, Roy." Welcome to the Hive. Mother is part of us all. I've got a ton more background, but first, the important stuff: Axioms and Laws. Magic: 13 Hiveworld used to be a magical world, similar in history to Aysle, up to the breaking of the Sword of Dunad. Many interesting effects are possible and are supported by Hiveworld, but very little of it is actually used. Magic is considered treason in Hiveworld, and thus is subject to the Law of Order and Chaos, explained below. Social: 28 Hiveworld is a utopia in the truest sense of the world. Anything is available to anyone at any time. Money has been outmoded. Life is good for anyone who simply follows the laws, and since the society works, why rebel? Everyone only takes what they need. In return, everyone gets what they want. All races and species work together in harmony. There is no such thing as a "lower class." A rebellion is possible, but any signs of dissension are quickly found and removed without difficulty. Only about one out of a thousand people would entertain a thought that might cause crime, but most of them turn themselves in for reprogramming in order to help society. Spiritual: 2 Religion is not a consideration in Hiveworld. The spiritual mindset is in general like this: You are created. You spend your life helping society and society in return helps you. When you become nonfunctional or non- productive, you are removed, recycled, and your mass is returned in a useful form. Afterlife is not thought about, but enough spirituality is left to allow for devotion to a way of life. Technological: 28 Persons are either born or vatgrown with purposes genetically encoded. Any nonliving item is manufactured from its component subatomic particles and then teleported to wherever it is needed. Artificial intelligence is commonplace, but usually unnecessary, being replaced with any naturally occurring intelligence. Weapons usually involve the generation and storage of subatomic plasma. Mass-to-energy and energy-to-mass conversion is needed and constantly used, as part of the Law of Artificiality. World Laws: Law of Artificiality: Everything in Hiveworld is either a living being, an artificial item, or subatomic mass/plasma. Anything "natural" quickly decomposes into plasma, including most kinds of food, leather, furs, and corpses. Normally, any nonfunctional living being in Hiveworld is teleported into the holding tanks, to be recycled into whatever is needed. Items decompose quickly, creating a radiation hazard if not disposed of. Roll a bonus number to the time since an item has been brought in, and this is the damage value that anything in contact with the now decomposing item takes. Yes, things go bad on the order of seconds here. Law of the Net Mind: All minds can be accessed and examined by the most loyal members of the Hive. If someone wishes to know what another is thinking about, the "Thought Police" person must generate a Faith(the Hive) total anc compare this to the target's Willpower and distance value added together. Minimal: Know only the most important thought on the target's mind at the moment. Average: Know all present thoughts of the target. Good: Understand all emotional attachments to these thoughts. Superior: Gain access to memories. Spectacular: the editing of present thoughts can be accomplished by another successful use of Faith. This law is passive: the Thought Police can access anyone of any cosm in Hiveworld, but outside Hiveworld the Police can access only other Hiveworlders. Law of Order and Chaos: All actions that reaffirm society become more orderly in nature; all actions against society become chaotic in nature. Divination Magic, being treasonous and thus against society, is a contradiction, as knowledge implies understanding and order in the Hive. A new skill, Illusion Magic, takes its place. Illusion magic makes understanding more difficult for those around the caster. Also, any magical spellis subject to wild surges, similar to Core Earth magic. Other than magic, other actions against society include the accosting of any citizen without proof of treason, and any action taken with the goal and actual possibility of going against society. (pulling up stelae, planting glory seeds for a cosm other than Hiveworld, use your best judgement) Basically, bizarre effects will befall the traitor: reliable items may malfunction, a broken item may work temporarily, be original and random, but remember: no order may be a result. Rebel bands will fall apart into anarchy within days. Order, on the other hand, has created an interesting tool: the subroutine. A person, faithful to society, may program oneself to perform a specific action or series of actions in order to achieve a societal goal. The subroutine may be as long or as complex as you like, and you get a bonus for all the actions in the subroutine equal to the power push of the time value for the subroutine. The side effect is once you've started a subroutine, you can't get out of it until the routine is over. For example, Designate "Henri" tells a minute long speech to a group of Cyberpapal citizens about the benefits of the Hive. Henri gets a +3 (I think) bonus to his Persuasion roll, but if the Inquisition arrives 30 seconds through the speech, he'll still deliver the rest of his spiel, even if he is being shot at, until he is done. It still needs work, but I'm getting there... John Baker Mother is part of us all.