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Wega

Wega
Image from Steve Bowers

Autonomous Moon of Wega - Data Panel

System:Wega
Region:Outermost Inner Sphere, 87 ly from Sol
Star:HD108309
Type:G5IV
Luminosity:1.93 x sol
Planets:Wega is the only planet; there were several small rockballs and ice dwarfs, these have mostly been converted to megastructures, computronium, and exotic matter for small wormholes.
AMW/Autonomous Moon of Wega is a small paraterraformed moon and the only nearbaseline habitable world in the system
Important Local Artificial IntelligenceAI overseer: Taam

AI's ethos: see below
Polity:Name: Wega
Symbol: Blue-green sphere on a black field, surrounded by a circle of stars.
Affiliation: NoCoZo.
Capital: Aam Taam City is the main sapient center
Territories: Several nearby red dwarfs (there are also a number of systems linked by small gauge wormholes and serve as extended nodes for Taam)

Natural Conditions

Rotations of the planetary system produce warm and cold seasons lasting between five and fifteen standard weeks. Every period is called local year, thence the local calendar is currently about the year 35,000. Shorter years have moderate climate, but the longest ones would bring extremes of -50 C to +90C on the ground level, without the climate control afforded by the paraterraformation system. Partially to control the climate, the first settlers built a system of megastructures, resembling spindle-shaped lattices of pipes and poles reaching up to 15 kilometers up. These are also main cities. The best known is Aam Taam (Aam). The 10 kilometer high structure is a planetary capital, climate control centre, spaceport and a symbolic residence of local archailect. The entire moon has since been paraterraformed.

Aesthetics

Landscaping combines pre-industrial Earth (farm houses, ornamental gardens, castles, etc.) with ultratech megastructures. Generally, the first hides or finishes the second. This striking but aesthetic design is the legacy of the first settlers, superbright Pygmies from the near-mythical polity of Zaire (Old Earth), who shaped Wega after parts of Old Earth which seemed most interesting and amusing for them. This aesthetic holds to this day.

Industry

Meme production and protection are the best known. Extravagant art is also prominent due to the colorful immigrant community. Tourism and immigration also contribute significantly to the economy (see Culture and Society). Many other general developed industries also thrive on Wega.

Culture and Society

Apparent lack of interference of the local archailect shapes Wega. It is neutral meeting place of nearbaseline (and other sapient) businessbeings and politicians in situations, where they prefer to meet personally and in security. It is also a haven of those too extravagant or eccentric for, or dissatisfied with, other regions of the Civilized Galaxy, who bring their creativity and resources with them.

Hedonics is prominent, although the more repellent forms are relegated to the Wega-owned colonies. Wega is known for eaglenet sports races, especially the famous RAISE.

Wega citizens are a cosmopolitan mix of all races and clades. Tolerance and extravagance appear the important distinguishing point. These are combined with respect towards some useless parts of Wega tradition, like history and calendar. Indeed, Wega is a curious mix of extravagance and practicality, tradition and godtech.

Wega citizens are known for their subtle sense of humor and disbelief and resistance towards most memes. They also have a great liking of spending holidays beyond their small moon, and an established publishing house called Wega Press publishes a travel guide called "Galaxy on a Holiday".

Taam - the archailect of Wega

Wega is an exception in the Inner Sphere and the developed worlds of the Civilized Galaxy. Dislike of archailects is tolerated, memetics is openly discussed and almost non-existent, and the local archailect shows no signs of opposition. Therefore, Wega earns huge profits as a centre of many businesses which normally the sephirotic administers (so it is said) don't like, like meme-prevention industry. It is also a retreat of those dissatisfied with memetics elsewhere. This immigrant community gives Wega part of it's flavor and vigor.

Why does Taam tolerate this? Some Taamologists believe that Taam has long ago retreated to solipsism, since it shows no visible signs of activity. This is not true. The first evidence is that Wega did not fall into any internal trouble for the last 3,000 years. Also, none of neighboring high transapients and archailects attempted to lay claim on the place, even if at least some might consider it a nuisance. Wega must be, very subtly, regulated and protected.

But the question of why this exceptional situation is tolerated remains. In 9211 a group of citizens decided to ask Taam about it. Surprisingly, they got an answer, and an almost comprehensible one. A number of high toposophic minds, led by Taam, agreed to keep Wega as it is because of one sociological concept, which is understandable (for sapients) only in parts.

First, Wega is seen as a safety valve for elements in the Inner Sphere low toposophic community. Dissatisfied individuals gravitate there, make no trouble elsewhere and cancel each other out. Second, monitoring Wega gives a clear idea of how sapients are faring. Increased immigration means, that neighbors should modify their policy. Third, Wega is a sort of experimental or training area of sociological management, which may be adopted elsewhere. Fourth, Wega is a first part of a global plan of archai to develop Terragen civilization into something new. It is believed, that important drive may the stability and the fear of archailects, that the Terragen Civilization will succumb after several hundreds of thousands of years, like extinct xenosophont species.

Unfortunately, no being of SI:<1 sophonce could understand how this should happen, and why SI:>1 cannot simply rebuild the civilization as they please. It is also unknown, so the locals say even to the transapients themselves, how this new civilization would look like, although it will not resemble Wega and will be much better for sapients than the current one.

Local paranoid and hu supremacist factions argue that Wega is being treacherously manipulated for some motives insidious towards sapients. More level minds point, that the only evidence of any plan are also words of Taam. Why believe em that a plan exists, but disbelieve the element that it is fundamentally good for sapients? Citizens of Wega themselves enjoy the life and think little about it.

 
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Appears in Topics
Inner SphereNon-Coercive Zone (NoCoZo)Systems & Worlds W - X
 
Development Notes
Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
Initially published on 22 April 2004.

 
 
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