A scion is a full or partial copy of a
sophont, specifically designed to go forth and gather experiences or
carry out
duties on behalf of the original. The term is usually reserved for a
copy on
the same substrate: a biont’s scion is also biological, a
vec’s scion is also
mechanical, and so on. Most commonly the scion is superficially
identical to
eir original, or is at least recognizably similar in appearance and
behaviour,
though over periods of long separation the two may diverge. Beings who
serve
transapients in a similar way but are of a lower toposophic level than
their
original are not called scions; they are referred to as a proxavs,
fragments,
or avatars,
depending on their purpose and origin.
Scions usually
either report
back verbally
or else upload their memories. They may do this at the conclusion of
their
mission, or on
a scheduled basis if their task is long term. What happens after the
scion has accomplished
whatever e was
sent to do varies quite strongly according to local law, custom, and
religion,
and according to the desires of the scion’s creator. Some scions
are designed
to have an extremely short lifespan, and will expire after a
pre-determined
time whether or not eir mission is complete. Others will be merged with
their
original and “blanked” after memory uploading and sent out
once again as a new
copy. Still others continue to develop as separate beings, and are
regarded as
heirs or descendants of their original. Most time-limited copies are
designed
not to regard themselves as separate beings, and are perfectly content
to
expire after they have completed their work. This is most commonly the
case in
some more densely settled regions, in compliance with local
reproduction and
population control statutes. On the other hand, longer term scions may
merely
feel some loyalty towards their original, and an impulse to report back
periodically.
Such compulsions may fade over time as the scion becomes eir own
individual,
however.
The legal and social
status of
a scion
varies strongly from place to place in the Terragen sphere. In some
places a
scion can be destroyed (some would say murdered) with only a small
penalty, or
without any penalty at all. In most civilized regions however a scion
has full
sophont rights, and in many places it is illegal to create a scion with
a slave
mentality or with a lifespan shorter than that of the original. In
combination
with typical reproduction statutes, this means that in many places
either the
scion is legally no different from a son, daughter, clone, engenerated
full
copy,
or some other descendant of the original. The periphery of the Terragen
expanse
is much more variable in its treatment of scions, so Sephirotic
polities
receive a steady trickle of scion refugees, and watchdog organizations
such as
the Francisclarans
have publicized a number of horrific cases of scion
abuse in some of the non-Sephirotic civilizations.
The Magellans,
especially
Magellan IV, XII,
and XIX, all famous human nearbaseline explorers and news journalists
along the
periphery
of the Terragen expanse, are a well known instance of scions who are
far better known than their original. They are somewhat enhanced copies
of an
obscure 97th century Inner
Sphere zar named John Xiang, who lived an
undistinguished life on public support in a series of nanotopias in the
Terran
Federation and who eventually died without backup in a trivial sports
accident.
Even the Magellans themselves have largely forgotten him.
The entire
population of
Balance Wheel, on
the Metasoft
periphery, still consists of specialized subordinate scions of a
single vec named Mainspring. A similar arrangement involving scions of
a sybont
named Mencius existed until recently in the system (named, rather
unimaginatively, after Mencius emself) on the NoCoZo
border, but after nearly
four centuries of rule Mencius was overthrown in a popular revolution
and
exiled. The population of the Mencius system still consists primarily
of
Mencius’ copies, but they have diverged over time and the region
is evolving
into a more typical diverse set of NoCoZo neo-libertarian polities.
