Alternates:GC-Gazetteer

Concepts with their own pages

Gatecrashing

Going Down the Rabbit-Hole.

Glossary

What the new terms mean, and how some of the old terms are different.

Groups

This alternate doesn't have "factions" - it has smaller groups that might actually be more famous.

Handwavium

In this alternate, handwavium is definitely technological in nature.

History

How we got from the world outside your window to the world outside the characters' viewports.

Places

What's where.

Other Ideas

All the bits that don't (yet) fit elsewhere. This isn't trivia, though.

The Convention

Will the Fen ever be like they are in the mainline, commanding the heights of the solar system? Probably not. There's not quite enough of them (though more on average than in the mainline) to offset the advantage Earth's population and economy offer, even with miracle technology.

But that doesn't mean they're not relevant. The Convention operates out on the ragged edge of the frontier, which gives them a certain frontier mystique. People join the Fen on a pretty regular basis - especially people who'd like something better in their lives but don't want to live under the Space Powers' collective thumb. Also, the Fen aren't simply lurking in holes in the outer system, they're actively involved in shaping things. They may not be the political force that they are in the mainline but they're much more of a cultural force, which may turn out for the better.

In the mainline the Fen control the solar system, but they're largely considered irrelevant on Earth, at best tabloid fodder and at worst a nebulous boogeyman for the paranoid. Here, the Fen don't control the solar system (they've got claims on big chunks, but actual control is limited to places like Callisto, Titan, Oberon and Triton) but they are very relevant on Earth. Fen "culture" is a big thing downstairs, it's not some shunned subculture that exists to be poked at on an episode of CSI, it's trendy. There are scenesters who wear "authentic" gatecrasher jackets with patches and insignia. Nerdy kids have posters of Stella Via or the Port Lowell domes on their walls and dream of being the next Callie MacDonald. Japanese fashion districts look to Luna and the sky-habitats of Venus for inspiration. Martian punk folk is the next big thing on Billboard. These things are important, they matter more than how many ships or guns or lines drawn on a map there are.

Here, the Fen are pretty obviously on the political edge, and that probably won't change. But they've got one huge advantage that the mainline Fen don't have: the respect and interest of the 'Danelaw.

Infomorphs and Civil Rights

Infomorph rights are recognized as the major rights issue of the later 21st century, even though we're just getting to the mid-21st century. Only a handful of nations (Iran, Spain, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom) accord full rights to infomorph citizens. The majority of industrialized countries recognize an infomorph's right to exist, but do not allow such things as survivor benefits, rights to marriage and/or adoption, etc.

The United States is very haphazard about this with each state having varying and sometimes contradictory policies about informorph rights. Noah Anderson has been quoted as saying he adopted the CIs he created to ensure infomorphs are people in the legal sense as well as the social sense.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the most liberal nations when it comes to infomorph rights. Infomorphs are accorded all the rights of human citizens. There is of course a catch: the infomorph in question had best be religious. Naturally there's a preference towards Shia, but any of the recognized religions are acceptable. Most Iranian AIs are brought up in the faith of their coders anyway, so this tends to be more important for immigrants.

A number of nations, most in the developing world but also including Japan as an influential member, don't recognize infomorph personhood at all. For AIs and uploads these are not good places to go, naturally.

Sleeves and Biosculpts

Unlike mainline Fenspace, handwavium cannot be used to directly alter a person's physiology.

This setting has "biosculpts" rather than "biomods" - organ reconstruction, rejuvenation, substantial cosmetic changes, minor physical boosts, but no metahuman abilities. It is a medical procedure - maybe even a hospital procedure - rather than something that happens because somebody ate some green stuff from the wrong bowl.

Something like the Catgirling Machine is possible - a dedicated expert system coupled to an autodoc that somebody invented somewhere along the way works quite nicely. However, it doen't induce the homeostasis effect and the other quirks that the mainline-Fenspace version is known for. Cat-people end up with a bonus to hearing and might get a slight dexterity/agility increase to go along with their fur and whiskers... but they're still biologically human underneath the fur.

Far more common are be the biosculpts of the "impossible but high demand" kind, for the insecure preppies who think they want to look like Barbie Dolls or similar.

Custom bodies are often called "sleeves," and can be used by any infomorph to take part in human society outside of the Internet.