Elephant Guy 2011/07/10(Sun)12:35 No. 39586 ID: 5dece2
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yeah, what the betelgeuse is this?

>>349386
Madness.
What else could it be?

>>349386
I AM MORE FRIGHTENED NOW THAN I HAVE EVER BEEN BEFORE.

Okay.. So any questions about the setting?

Discuss.

Or, um, ask.

WHERE'S MY WIFE?!

>>349581

Illinois, last I checked. But she may have escaped.

We know so little about the setting that we have no basis to ask things on, and our 'host' is so active we don't have the time to ask.

Idiom Alpha, why don't you use this thread to give us a general layout of the setting?
You know, common knowledge you could learn in high school and Wikipedia.

Okay!

So, there's only a few million people on Terra at the moment, though the population of Mars is somewhere in the billions. It is sort of a nature reserve, where only the best and brightest get to live. Evid had the good luck to be born there, but was intelligent enough to stay.

It's still a bit irradiated after the Last, Fast Nuclear War, but it's getting back to what it was before.

Zeus Starbase, the Terraside astronautical hub, is where most daring and experimental scientific activity goes on in the solar system. Humanity has not yet advanced beyond the ever-present, ominous edge of the solar system.

Boop.

>>349624
Beep

What about notable space stations or non-mars colonies? Has Mars been Terraformed? What about Luna?

What does it mean to be an astronaut in this day and age? Does it have benefits that make lots of people compete for it?

Is there a social thing about being born on earth rather than mars?

Is Mars separated into nations, and is earth now one big conglomerate?

Boop.

any hot green space babes around?

>>349632

Zeet.

Terra/Earth became a single unified nation around the time it got incredibly fucked up. In the last few centuries, a near-total evacuation of people commenced, though Mars is at best only partially terraformed. It's where 90% of the human race is located, and it's kind of not nice there.

Generally, to be born on Earth gives you a higher chance of staying there, though population is strictly enforced. Any crime, mental or physical, is subject to immediate banishment to Mars. Once you're on Mars, there's generally no way to get back, unless you prove yourself extremely worthy.

>>349638

Sorry, first contact with space babes remains only mankind's fondest dream.

Zoot.

The Church of Split is a radical yet widespread religion and social experiment on Terra. It consists of dividing the brain into two opposing personas, one of which is full of nice, helpful qualities, and one which contains the most twisted and dark elements of the mind.

They then attempt to rid themselves of of the dark half of their mind, exorcising all those qualities permanently. Though it began solely as a psychological experiment, the ideas behind it were formed into the Church of Split, which combined spiritual elements from such religions as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Scientology, all successful old-world religions, with the ongoing experiment. It has spread quickly, though the Terra government is limiting it to only a small part of Terra at the moment, for fear that it should have negative consequences.

It should be noted that, although the word Split is not a deity, it has been used in common slang, such as 'Split you' or 'In Split's name' in a similar manner to old-world 'God damn you' or 'In God's name'.

Also, for most Split people, there are often side-effects to the procedure, such as schizophrenia, paranoia, sudden and dramatic reemergence of the twisted side during times of stress, and dissociative identity disorder. It is for this reason that the Church of Split is kept tightly controlled by the government, though the military seems to have a more pro-Split outlook than the government.

Evid Corte knows of the Church but does not care for it.

GEE WHIZ GUYS LOOK AT ALL THAT TEXT HURR HURR HURR

>>349660

Zeet.

>Evid had the good luck to be born there, but was intelligent enough to stay.
Well, this makes all sorts of sense now. Are we talking genius level IQ and knowledge, or simply bright or clever or intelligent enough to be considered acceptable?

>Mars = Not Nice
Are we talking about a Total Recall(80's movie) type of not-nice Mars here, or unpleasant because it's where all the 'waste' of humanity is without the 'best' of humanity to balance it out?

>Any crime, mental or physical, is subject to immediate banishment to Mars.
Mental crime? Would you explain how that works?

>It's still a bit irradiated after the Last, Fast Nuclear War, but it's getting back to what it was before.
Fun fact: with the exception of already desolate test sites, vegetation remains unaffected by fallout in all respects, and animals are a good bit more resistant to the negative effects of radiation than humans.

Is there anything that could be spinned by the media so as to be called 'Space Combat'?

Has there been anything along the lines of wars or similar on Mars?

What about the Moon? Was it simply considered non-viable for human habitation?

Did Japan survive?

Zoot.

Deet.

>Are we talking genius level IQ and knowledge, or simply bright or clever or intelligent enough to be considered acceptable?
A midpoint between the two. Evid himself is quite intelligent, though not the biggest brain in the Terra room by any degree. His various eccentricities hold him back, anyway.

>Are we talking about a Total Recall(80's movie) type of not-nice Mars here, or unpleasant because it's where all the 'waste' of humanity is without the 'best' of humanity to balance it out?
Mars is habitable, but is almost a very large, hostile desert at this point, with only a few isolated areas with stable ecosystems. The quality of life there is not the best, but people survive, though not as well as the people on Terra.

>Mental crime? Would you explain how that works?
Any ideas not beneficial to the community at large, or any scientific ideas that are useless and/or dangerous. Also, open opposition to the government and military, though to a lesser degree.

>Fun fact: with the exception of already desolate test sites, vegetation remains unaffected by fallout in all respects, and animals are a good bit more resistant to the negative effects of radiation than humans.
Fallout was not the biggest problem of the Last, Fast Nuclear War - it was the massive amount of explosions. Almost every populated area of the world got hit at least once, and some got really bad. It was the trigger for the final destruction of any and all remaining nuclear weapons, and also caused the hasty terraforming and population of Mars over around 150 years. Nowadays, the processes of nuclear weapons are hidden from everyone on Mars and a lot of people on Terra. The damage is generally going away, but Terra's government isn't letting anyone who can't prove themselves worthy live there.

>Is there anything that could be spinned by the media so as to be called 'Space Combat'?
Once or twice, a group of Martian rebels or prisoners tried to arm a ship and fight against Terra's satellite defense array. It ended poorly for them. Other than that, there's nobody to fight.

>Has there been anything along the lines of wars or similar on Mars?
Recently, there have been plenty, as the low resources and large population lead to conflict. Terra is doing all it can to support them, but there are a lot of people doing badly out there.

>What about the Moon? Was it simply considered non-viable for human habitation?
A marginal complex of bases was established on the far side, so as to not disturb Terra's ecosystem, but past that, there's not much that can be done with it. As for space stations and colonies, Mars remains the biggest, but there are a few on Phobos and Deimos, and, of course, the Tesla line: an array of stations which protect Mars and the way to Mars from hostile radiation.

>Did Japan survive?
Yes. Well, Japanese people did, if that's what you mean. Plenty remain on Terra, which has led to some question as to the intelligence of race.

WHOA THERE WE'RE COMING UP ON TEEEEEXT

Doot.

So, if the Church of Split splits your mind into a positive and a negative region, could failure to follow the steps to exorcise the bad thoughs from your head potentially result in a person whose thinking process is entirely composed of the most dark and twisted thoughts?

>>349711
most likely that is why the government is watching it carefully. to make sure no evil super geniuses are made.

>>349698
>>349698
>the Tesla line: an array of stations which protect Mars and the way to Mars from hostile radiation.
TELL ME MORE.

do we have giant mecha? powered exoskeletons? dark matter? neutron bombs? railguns?

yes, I'm a huge sch-fi nerd, shut up.

>>349711
Though the Church of Split revels in splitting the brain, it works hard to prevent any splitting beyond the initial purge, for fear of excessive mental trauma. Studies have shown it is unhealthy to have more than one persona for any long period of time, and it is one of the reasons the Church has been kept under extreme supervision.

>>349718
Terra is protected from the radiation of space by its magnetism, but Mars - and the open space used to travel to Mars - do not have the same sort of luxury. One of the first steps in colonizing Mars was to set up the Tesla line, based on the works of Nikola Tesla and adapted to modern technology. This element of Mars is so crucial that each individual magnetic station, of which there are hundreds, are operated by thousands of people, to make sure nothing happens to the people whose lives depend on them. Safety is also the reason there are dozens of redundant stations, in case the main stations would be incapacitated somehow.

>>349724
Well, if by 'mechas' you mean mining equipment, sure. Powered exoskeletons are sometimes used by the paranoid or disabled. It's kind of hard to get rid of dark matter, not that it's doing anything especially threatening. Neutron bombs had their processes revoked from the public consciousness, same as most nuclear weapons. Railguns are still around, and are sometimes used in defense satellites, although newer technology is starting to replace it.

MMM MM MM GONNA HAVE ME A TEXT SANDWICH

Winston 2011/07/16(Sat)09:03 No. 40041 ID: 52102d
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>>349828
>Nikola Tesla

Heh that guys always sci-fi gold isn't he. Just hearing his name's making me nerd all over the place. Oh and speaking of nerding.

>>349724
>powered exoskeletons

While I would never try to influence the content in a quest, I would be very happy if one of these turned up at some point.[/nerdnerdnerd]

nononon, he was asking if what if you failed to purge the bad thoughts and instead you were purged of good thoughts.

>>349849
Nobody's gone out of their way to accomplish it, but.. The Church of Split sometimes has a failed purging, where a person who has been split, instead of having one dominant personality, flips between the two randomly and chaotically.

These people are often kept restrained at their closest Church, for their safety and the safety of others, until the situation can be resolved.

>>349889
I am beginning to think that the massive psycho-being that is haunting-fucking with Evid is the result of the collective effect of the purging of negative thoughts coalescing into a psychic being of insanity.
Why it wants Evid, hell if I know.

Anonymous 2011/07/25(Mon)22:45 No. 40697 ID: b6ca92
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>>349971
Dammit, I was right!

OH HEY GUYS I'M BACK JUST SO YOU KNOW, K

Martian Society is our lesson today, buckaroos!

The people of Mars are usually clumped together, but there are factions and prejudices on the planet, just as there were on Earth. For one, most martians generally show at least a little dislike for people on Terra, as the people there are generally removed from the affairs of Mars, save for certain distinguishing circumstances.

As for the culture of Mars, you wouldn't be too far off if you compared it to a slum, with all the cultural implications in full effect. Small-scale to moderate gang warfare is common in almost all parts of Mars, though the orbiting government, and the defense satellites in particular, keep the peace well enough. High-powered weaponry has in the past been used to defend Mars from itself. This has been looked on poorly by the people of Mars, but on Terra is is viewed as a necessary evil. It is a point of political contention at the moment.

Though many Martians are uncultured, and are of substandard intelligence, there are a few, in special installations, which receive an almost parallel development to Terra's people. The people in these installations rarely leave, for they're not adapted to the nature of Mars, and even if they were, the average citizen of Mars holds the average installation citizen in contempt. They are known as Merrans, half-and-halves, and many other less polite terms. Evid's parents were Merrans, who proved themselves worthy enough to come to Earth. They died shortly after arrival, and their young son was left in the care of a librarian, who, while not abusive, was much too busy to be any real guardian to Evid. Evid instead found comfort and education in books, and grew up intelligent, though not overly social, and very eccentric.