terMinOLOGY

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• n AGI: Artificial General Intelligence. An AI that has cognitive

faculties comparable to that of a human or higher. Aka “strong AI” (differentiating from “seed AI” or more specialized “weak AI.”

• n AI: Artificial Intelligence. Generally used to refer to weak AIs; i.e.,

AIs that do not encompass (or in some cases, are completely outside of) the full range of human cognitive abilities. AIs differ from AGIs in that they are usually specialized and/or intentionally crippled/ limited.

• n AR: Augmented Reality. Information from the mesh (universal

data network) that is overlaid on your real-world senses. AR data is usually entoptic (visual), but can also be audio, tactile, olfactory, kinesthetic (body awareness), emotional, and other senses.

n Bots: Robots. botit

n Brinkers: Exiles who live on the fringes of the system, as well as other isolated and well-hidden nooks and crannies. Aka isolates, fringers, drifters.

n Cornucopia machine: A nanofabricator.

n Cortical stack: An implanted memory cell used for ego backup. Located where the spine meets the skull; can be cut out.

n ecto: Personal mesh devices that are flexible, stretchable, selfcleaning, translucent, and solar-powered. From ecto-link (external link). ekto

• n ego: The part of you that switches from body to body. Aka ghost,

soul, essence, spirit, persona.

n ego-casting: Term for sending egos via farcasting.

n entoptics: Augmented-reality images that you “see” in your head. (“Entoptic” means “within the eye.”)

n Factors: The alien ambassadorial race that deals with transhumanity. Aka Brokers.

n the Fall: The apocalypse; the singularity and wars that nearly brought about the downfall of transhumanity. lankeamus

n Farcasting: Interstellar communication via FTL links.

n Firewall: The secret conspiracy that works to protect transhumanity from “existential threats” (risks to transhumanity’s continued existence). palomuuri

n Flats: Baseline humans (not genetically modified). Aka norms.

• n Ftl: Faster-Than-Light.

n Gate Crashers: Explorers who take their chances using a Pandora Gate to go somewhere previously unexplored.

• n Iktomi: The name given to the mysterious alien race whose relics

have been found beyond the Pandora gates.

n Infomorph: A digitized ego; a virtual body. Aka datamorphs, uploads, backups.

n Infugee: “Infomorph refugee,” or someone who left everything behind on Earth during the Fall—even their own body.

n Isolates: Those who live in isolated communities far outside the system (in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud); aka outsters, fringers.

n lost Generation: In an effort to repopulate post-Fall, a generation of children were reared using forced-growth methods. The results were disastrous: many died or went insane, and the rest were stigmatized.

n mercurials: The non-human sentient elements of the transhuman “family,” including AIs and uplifted animals.

n mesh: The omnipresent wireless mesh data network. Also used as a verb (to mesh) and adjective (meshed or unmeshed).

n morph: A physical body. Aka suit, jacket, sleeve, form.

n muse: Personal AI helper programs.

n Neo-avians: Uplifted ravens and gray parrots.

n Neo-hominids: Uplifted chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.

n Pandora Gates: The wormhole gateways left behind by the TITANs.

n Pods: Mixed biological-synthetic morphs. Pod clones are force-grown and feature computer brains. Aka bio-bots, skinjobs, replicants. From “pod people.” podit

n reclaimers: A transhuman faction that seeks to lift the interdiction and reclaim Earth.

n reinstantiated: Refugees from Earth who escaped only as bodiless infomorphs but have since been resleeved.

n resleeving: Changing bodies. Aka morphing, reincarnation, shifting, rebirthing.

n seed aI: An AGI that is capable of recursive self-improvement, allowing it to reach god-like levels of intelligence. siemen-AI

n shell: A synthetic physical morph. Aka synthmorph. 'kuori

n singularity: A point of rapid, exponential, and recursive technological progress, beyond which the future becomes impossible to predict. Often used to refer to the ascension of seed AIs to god-like levels of intelligence.

n skin: A biological physical morph. Aka meat, flesh. iho

n splicers: Genetically modified to eliminate genetic diseases and some other traits. Aka genefixed, cleangenes, tweaks.

n synthmorph: Synthetic morph. A robotic shell possesseds by a transhuman ego.

n tItaNs: The human-created, recursively improving military AGIs that underwent a singularity and prompted the Fall. Original military designation was TITAN: Total Information Tactical Awareness Network.

n transhuman: An extensively modified human.

n Uplifting: Genetically transforming an animal species to sapience.

n Xenomorph: Alien life form.

• n XP: Experiencing someone else’s sensory input (in real-time or

recorded). Aka experia, sim, simsense, playback.

n X-risk: Existential risk. Something that threatens the very existence of transhumanity