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Xdim (GJ 1105)
Xdim
Image from Steve Bowers
Inner sphere system surrounding the M4V star HIP 38956.
Distance from Sol 28 ly
Constellation Lynx

Xdim was colonized in the 5500's by Xdim Euhabi, a corporation-sect maintaining the computronium habitats of uploaded bionts. Although they had significant holdings in many systems, they considered HIP 38956 to be a suitable location for their isolationist storage: uploads that had no desire to interact with the external world, and hence did not require any out-system bandwidth. The corporation-sect converted a number of asteroids into nanocomputing nodes, transporting their isolationist customers to the system. Over time the system came to be the destination of a large percentage of all isolationist uploads, as well as maintainer of a number of virtual heavens and hells for various religions and a large number of backup copies of active uploads and AIs.

During wartime, Xdim Euhabi kept studiously neutral. The system lacked strategic importance, had no wormholes and held no important resources. Occasional visitors arrived to try to visit certain uploads, with mixed results. Slowly the Xdim nanohabitats were extended to more parts of the solar system, converting Xdim III, Xdim IV-1,2,3 and 5 and Xdim V-1 into megastructures for information storage. The system remained essentially unchanging for millennia.

Although enormously large amounts of storage space were available, by the 9000's it was beginning to run out according to industry observers, and no further suitable planets to convert existed. Still, for the last millennium Xdim has continued to accept new uploads and datablocks and have in fact begun to undercut prices in other isolationist storage systems. How they can do this remains a mystery; there is no evidence of any godtech storage, and beside it would be extremely expensive to manufacture. It is also exceedingly unlikely that they have deleted any of their ancient customers given the Negentropy-like tenets of Euhabism and numerous spot-checks done by investigators. A nasty rumor suggests that they have struck a deal with the Paradigm for extra space, and pipe their oldest uploads into Paradigm dysons. The Euhabi AIs simply keep quiet, calling it a trade secret.

 
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Development Notes
Text by Anders Sandberg
Initially published on 12 December 2001.

 
 
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