Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. He drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. The Conclave Bible We hold life to be sacred, but we also know the foundation of life consists in a stream of codes not so different from the successive frames of a watchvid. Why then cannot we cut one code short here, and start another there? Is life so fragile that it can withstand no tampering? Does the sacred brook no improvement? Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Dynamics of Mind" Resources exist to be consumed. And consumed they will be, if not by this generation then by some future. By what right does this forgotten future seek to deny us our birthright? None I say! Let us take what is ours, chew and eat our fill. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Ethics of Greed" The righteous need not cower before the drumbeat of human progress. Though the song of yesterday fades into the challenge of tomorrow, God still watches and judges us. Evil lurks in the datalinks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"The Blessed Struggle" Scientific theories are judged by the coherence they lend to our natural experience and the simplicity with which they do so. The grand principle of the heavens balances on the razor's edge of truth. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"A History of Science" If you can discover a better way of life than office-holding for your future rulers, a well-governed city becomes a possibility. For only in such a state will those rule who are truly rich, not in gold, but in the wealth that makes happiness--a good and wise life. Plato

"The Republic" Once a man has changed the relationship between himself and his environment, he cannot return to the blissful ignorance he left. Motion, of necessity, involves a change in perspective. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"A Social History of Planet" Planet's atmosphere, though a gasping death to humans and most animals, is paradise for Earth plants. The high nitrate content of the soil and the rich yellow sunlight bring an abundant harvest wherever adjustments can be made for the unusual soil conditions. Lady Deirdre Skye

"A Comparative Biology of Planet" Important? Yes! Critical? Absolutely. I would go so far as to say that Superconducting Fiber alone makes our present economy possible. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

MorganLink 3DVision Live Interview There are two kinds of scientific progress: the methodical experimentation and categorization which gradually extend the boundaries of knowledge, and the revolutionary leap of genius which redefines and transcends those boundaries. Acknowledging our debt to the former, we yearn nonetheless for the latter. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Address to the Faculty" You ivory tower intellectuals must not lose touch with the world of industrial growth and hard currency. It is all very well and good to pursue these high-minded scientific theories, but research grants are expensive and you must justify your existence by providing not only knowledge, but concrete and profitable applications as well. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Ethics of Greed" Our ancestors harnessed the power of a sun, and so again shall we. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"The Science of Our Fathers" Until quite recently, spider silk had the highest tensile strength of any substance known to man, and the name Silksteel pays homage to the arachnid for good reason. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"U.N. Scientific Survey" The substructure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons, and behind electrons quarks. Each layer unraveled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" At atrociously high energy states, the properties of matter change subtly and new miracles become possible. The Plasma Accretion process is now dangerous and difficult to control, but its products will soon become commonplace in our society. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"The Lord Works" As I stepped onto the Magtube, a thought struck me: Can there be friction where there is no substance? And can substance be tricked into hiding from itself? Dr. Gayle Nambala

Morgan Industries Researcher Our scientists now use fractal theory to "teach" the molecules to assume, or resume, a particular form. Substances of amazing strength become simple once the formulae are properly computed. Col. Corazon Santiago

"The Council of War" A brave little theory, and actually quite coherent for a system of five or seven dimensions--if only we lived in one. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Now We Are Alone" Man has killed man from the beginning of time, and each new frontier has brought new ways and new places to die. Why should the future be different? Col. Corazon Santiago

"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide" I maintain nonetheless that yin-yang dualism can be overcome. With sufficient enlightenment we can give substance to any distinction: mind without body, north without south, pleasure without pain. Remember, enlightenment is a function of willpower, not of physical strength. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Essays on Mind and Matter" Preliminary analysis indicates that our rivals have developed a safe and reliable method to simulate conditions existing on the interior of a stellar mass. The fabrication and transmutation of materials possible in such an environment guarantees significant industrial and military applications. Probe Team Operations Directorate

Top Secret Report Beware, you who seek first and final principles, for you are trampling the garden of an angry God and he awaits you just beyond the last theorem. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"But for the Grace of God" This unusual specimen is not so much a classic particle as a connector--a kind of string attaching two particles. As distance increases the connective power becomes attenuated, but if it is cut the power vanishes: forever. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" Technological advance is an inherently iterative process. One does not simply take sand from the beach and produce a Dataprobe. We use crude tools to fashion better tools, and then our better tools to fashion more precise tools, and so on. Each minor refinement is a step in the process, and all of the steps must be taken. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Looking God in the Eye" "What goes up . . . better doggone well stay up!" Morgan Gravitonics

Company Slogan Until now the battle had been proceeding smoothly: the enemy was outflanked and had been driven from the reactor housing. But against the reactor itself the matter cannon were strangely ineffective. Rounds simply . . . stopped. In mid-air. Col. Corazon Santiago

"A Tactical History of Sparta" Heaven lasts long, and Earth abides

What is the secret of their durability?

Is it because they do not live for themselves

That they endure so long? Lao Tzu Yes, yes, we've all heard the philosophers babble about "oneness" being "beautiful" and "holy". But let me tell you that {this} kind of oneness certainly isn't pretty and if you're not careful it will scare the bejeezus out of you. Anonymous Lab Technician

MorganLink 3DVision Live Interview Some would ask, how could a perfect God create a universe filled with so much that is evil. They have missed a greater conundrum: why would a perfect God create a universe at all? Sister Miriam Godwinson

"But for the Grace of God" Time travel in the classic sense has no place in rational theory, but temporal distortion does exist on the quantum level, and more importantly it can be controlled. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Looking God in the Eye" Begin with a function of arbitrary complexity. Feed it values, "sense data". Then, take your result, square it, and feed it back into your original function, adding a new set of sense data. Continue to feed your results back into the original function ad infinitum. What do you have? The fundamental principle of human consciousness. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"The Feedback Principle" Optical computers, genetic catalogs, nanorepair modules--forget all of that. It's when you see a megaton of steel suspended over your head by a thread the thickness of a human hair that you really find God in technology. Anonymous Metagenics Dockworker

MorganLink 3DVision Live Interview If our society seems more nihilistic than that of previous eras, perhaps this is simply a sign of our maturity as a sentient species. As our collective consciousness expands beyond a crucial point, we are at last ready to accept life's fundamental truth: that life's only purpose is life itself. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Looking God in the Eye" We are no longer particularly in the business of writing software to perform specific tasks. We now teach the software how to learn, and in the primary bonding process it molds itself around the task to be performed. The feedback loop never really ends, so a tenth year polysentience can be a priceless jewel or a psychotic wreck, but it is the primary bonding--the childhood, if you will--that has the most far-reaching repercussions. Bad'l Ron, Wakener

Morgan Polysoft Without sensibility no object would be given to us, without understanding no object would be thought. Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind. Immanuel Kant

"Critique of Pure Reason" I swear sometimes they're watching me. Bozon Pete, Shift Foreman

Metagenics Biomachinery Division A ship at sea is its own world. To be the captain of a ship is to be the unquestioned ruler of that world and requires all of the leadership skills of a prince or minister. Col. Corazon Santiago

"Leadership and the Sea" He held his arm too stiffly, and so was thrown back repeatedly, until at last I seized his forearm and snapped it back against itself. His training suffered while the arm healed, of course, but I felt this was a lesson he must learn early, and well. Spartan Kel

"Honing the Ki" Man's unfailing capacity to believe what he prefers to be true rather than what the evidence shows to be likely and possible has always astounded me. We long for a caring Universe which will save us from our childish mistakes, and in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary we will pin all our hopes on the slimmest of doubts. God has not been proven not to exist, therefore he must exist. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" Fossil fuels in the last century reached their extreme prices because of their inherent utility: they pack a great deal of potential energy into an extremely efficient package. If we can but sidestep the 100 million year production process, we can corner this market once again. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

Strategy Session Air Power rests at the apex of the first triad of victory, for it combines Mobility, Flexibility, and Initiative. Spartan Battle Manual Time dilates as the speed of light approaches. To the extent that light consists of particles, it is in its own way timeless. Through simple perturbations of the temporal manifold, we can refract or repel photons most efficiently. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Now We Are Alone" The Warrior's bland acronym, MMI, obscures the true horror of this monstrosity. Its inventors promise a new era of genius, but meanwhile unscrupulous power brokers use its forcible installation to violate the sanctity of unwilling human minds. They are creating their own private army of demons. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"Report on Human Rights" Objects once measured in meters have become so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye, with revolutionary applications across the board. Gentlemen, forget what your courtesans have told you: size does matter! CEO Nwabudike Morgan

Morgan Industries Annual Report Therefore a wise prince will seek means by which his subjects will always and in every possible condition of things have need of his government, and then they will always be faithful to him. Niccolo Machiavelli

"The Prince" Some vices miss what is right because they are deficient, others because they are excessive, in feelings or in actions, while virtue finds and chooses the mean. Aristotle

"Nichomachean Ethics" Our first challenge is to create an entire economic infrastructure, from top to bottom, out of whole cloth. No gradual evolution from previous economic systems is possible, because there IS no previous economic system. Each interdependent piece must be materialized simultaneously and in perfect working order; otherwise the system will crash out before it ever gets off the ground. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" In the borehole pressure mines 100km beneath Planetsurface, at the Mohorovicic Discontinuity where crust gives way to mantle, temperatures often reach levels well in excess of 1000 degrees Celsius. Exploitation of Planet's resources under such brutal conditions has required quantum advances in robotic and teleoperational technology. Morgan Industries, Ltd.

"Annual Report" The Isle of the Deep is really not a single creature but a colony of thousands of individual tubules, an aquatic vector of the Mind Worm which terrorizes Planet's continents. Over its lifetime certain tubules secrete a tough, gluelike substance which hardens to form the characteristic shell that floats the colony and creates the appearance of a rogue island. Lady Deirdre Skye

"A Comparative Biology of Planet" There are only two ways in which we can account for a necessary agreement of experience with the concepts of its objects: either experience makes these concepts possible or these concepts make experience possible. Immanuel Kant

"Critique of Pure Reason" The genetic code does not, and cannot, specify the nature and position of every capillary in the body or every neuron in the brain. What it {can} do is describe the underlying fractal pattern which creates them. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Nonlinear Genetics" Why do you insist that the human genetic code is "sacred" or "taboo"? It is a chemical process and nothing more. For that matter -we- are chemical processes and nothing more. If you deny yourself a useful tool simply because it reminds you uncomfortably of your mortality, you have uselessly and pointlessly crippled yourself. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Looking God in the Eye" I loved my chosen. How then to face the day when she left me? So I took from her body a single cell, perhaps to love her again. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"Time of Bereavement" I think, and my thoughts cross the barrier into the synapses of the machine, just as the good doctor intended. But what I cannot shake, and what hints at things to come, is that thoughts cross back. In my dreams, the sensibility of the machine invades the periphery of my consciousness: dark, rigid, cold, alien. Evolution is at work here, but just what is evolving remains to be seen. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"Man and Machine" The wicked have told me of things that delight them, but not such things as your law has to tell. Saint Augustine

"Confessions" The happy life is thought to be one of excellence; now an excellent life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement. If Eudaimonia, or happiness, is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence; and this will be that of the best thing in us. Aristotle

"Nichomachean Ethics" Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman--a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under. I love those who do not know how to live, for they are those who cross over. Friedrich Nietzsche

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" And when he has brought forth and reared this perfect virtue, he shall be called the friend of god, and if ever it is given to man to put on immortality, it shall be given to him. Plato

"The Symposium" The first living thing to go through the device was a small white rat. I still have him, in fact. As you can see, the damage was not so great as they say. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"See How They Run" Observe the Razorbeak as it tends so carefully to the fungal blooms; just the right bit from the yellow, then a swatch from the pink. Follow the Glow Mites as they gather and organize the fallen spores. What higher order guides their work? Mark my words: someone or something is {managing} the ecology of this planet. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Planet Dreams" We sit together,

the mountain and I,

until only the mountain remains Li Po

From the Yang Collection The prevalence of anoxic environments rich in organic material, combined with the presence of nitrated compounds has led to an astonishing variety of underground organisms which live in the absence of oxygen and "breathe" nitrate. Likewise, the scarcity of carbon in the environment has forced plants to economize on its use. Thus, all our efforts to return carbon to the biosphere will encourage the native life to proliferate. Conversely, the huge quantities of nitrate in the soil will be heaven to human farmers. Lady Deirdre Skye

"The Early Years" The Morgans fear what may not be purchased, for a trader cannot comprehend a thing that is priceless. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"The Collected Sermons" You are the children of a dead planet, earthdeirdre, and this death we do not comprehend. We shall take you in, but may we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath disease? Lady Deirdre Skye

"Conversations with Planet" The Mind Worms are the natural defenses of the living Planet--the white blood cells, if you will. In a world in which unassimilated thought represents danger, the Mind Worm seeks out concentrations of sentient mental energy and destroys them, ruthlessly and efficiently. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"Mind Worm, Mind Worm" You waited so long to heed us, earthdeirdre,

Almost we pruned you, as we may yet prune your branches. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Conversations with Planet" And when the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity, then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not. Soren Kierkegaard

"The Sickness Unto Death" And so we return again to the holy void. Some say this is simply our destiny, but I would have you remember always that the void EXISTS, just as surely as you or I. Is nothingness any less a miracle than substance? Sister Miriam Godwinson

"We Must Dissent" Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks--those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest. Friedrich Nietzsche

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" Organic Superlube? Oh, it's great stuff, great stuff. You really have to keep an eye on it, though--it'll try and slide away from you the first chance it gets. T. M. Morgan-Reilly

Morgan Metagenics Men in their arrogance claim to understand the nature of creation, and devise elaborate theories to describe its behavior. But always they discover in the end that God was quite a bit more clever than they thought. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"We Must Dissent" "Energy is the currency of the future." CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" 'Abort, Retry, Fail?' was the phrase some wormdog scrawled next to the door of the Edit Universe project room. And when the new dataspinners started working, fabricating their worlds on the huge organic comp systems, we'd remind them: if you see this message, {always} choose 'Retry.' Bad'l Ron, Wakener

Morgan Polysoft We have reached an informational threshold which can only be crossed by harnessing the speed of light directly. The quickest computations require the fastest possible particles moving along the shortest paths. Since the capability now exists to take our information directly from photons travelling molecular distances, the final act of the information revolution will soon be upon us. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these . . . things . . . these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day and announce that they have no further need of us? Sister Miriam Godwinson

"We Must Dissent" Remember, genes are NOT blueprints. This means you can't, for example, insert "the genes for an elephant's trunk" into a giraffe and get a giraffe with a trunk. There -are- no genes for trunks. What you CAN do with genes is chemistry, since DNA codes for chemicals. For instance, we can in theory splice the native plants' talent for nitrogen fixation into a terran plant. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Nonlinear Genetics" The fungus has been Planet's dominant lifeform since about the time of the Lower Paleozoic on Earth. But when, once every hundred million years or so, the neural net at last achieves the critical mass necessary to become sentient, the final metamorphosis kills off most of the other life on the planet. It is possible that we humans can help to break this tragic cycle. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Planet Dreams" The Academician's private residences shall remain off-limits to the Genetic Inspectors. We possess no retroviral capability, we are not researching retroviral engineering, and we shall not allow this Council to violate faction privileges in the name of this ridiculous witch hunt!" Fedor Petrov

Vice Provost for University Affairs I have often been asked: if we have traveled between the stars, why can we not launch the simplest of orbital probes? These fools fail to understand the difficulty of finding the appropriate materials on this Planet, of developing adequate power supplies, and creating the infrastructure necessary to support such an effort. In short, we have struggled under the limitations of a colonial society on a virgin planet. Until now. Col. Corazon Santiago

"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide" Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind.

Have you drunk your fill? Lady Deirdre Skye

"Conversations with Planet", Epilogue To map the very stuff of life; to look into the genetic mirror and watch a million generations march past. That, friends, is both our curse and our proudest achievement. For it is in reaching to our beginnings that we begin to learn who we truly are. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Address to the Faculty" Information, the first principle of warfare, must form the foundation of all your efforts. Know, of course, thine enemy. But in knowing him do not forget above all to know thyself. The commander who embraces this totality of battle shall win even with the inferior force. Spartan Battle Manual I shall not confront Planet as an enemy, but shall accept its mysteries as gifts to be cherished. Nor shall I crudely seek to peel the layers away like the skin from an onion. Instead I shall gather them together as the tree gathers the breeze. The wind shall blow and I shall bend. The sky shall open and I shall drink my fill. Gaian Acolyte's Prayer Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary, but competition for limited resources remains a constant. Need as well as greed have followed us to the stars, and the rewards of wealth still await those wise enough to recognize this deep thrumming of our common pulse. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" Symbols are the key to telepathy. The mind wraps its secrets in symbols; when we discover the symbols that shape our enemy's thought, we can penetrate the vault of his mind. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Our Secret War" As the writhing, teeming mass of Mind Worms swarmed over the outer perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well known that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae in the brains of its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Our Secret War" What do I care for your suffering? Pain, even agony, is no more than information before the senses, data fed to the computer of the mind. The lesson is simple: you have received the information, now act on it. Take control of the input and you shall become master of the output. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Essays on Mind and Matter" As distances vanish and the people can flow freely from place to place, society will cross a psychological specific heat boundary and enter a new state. No longer a solid or liquid, we have become as a vapor and will expand to fill all available space. And like a gas, we shall not be easily contained. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"But for the Grace of God" I believe Planet will talk to us if we are willing to listen. These fungal stalks behave as multistate relays: taken together, the neural net connectivity must be staggering. Can a planet be said to have achieved sentience? Lady Deirdre Skye

Arguments in Council Against such abominations, we organize our defenses on the principle that one strong and able mind can shield the many. Spartan Battle Manual It is altogether fitting that we who have sailed the deeps of space now return again to the sea. This is in many ways a water planet, and it can be ruled from the waves. With sea power, rugged terrain can be bypassed and enemy strongholds isolated. Once naval superiority is achieved, Planet is ours for the taking. Col. Corazon Santiago

"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide" As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"U.N. Declaration of Rights" God does not play dice. Albert Einstein Learn to overcome the crass demands of flesh and bone, for they warp the matrix through which we perceive the world. Extend your awareness outward, beyond the self of body, to embrace the self of group and the self of humanity. The goals of the group and the greater race are transcendent, and to embrace them is to achieve enlightenment. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Essays on Mind and Matter" I plan to live forever, of course, but barring that I'd settle for a couple thousand years. Even five hundred would be pretty nice. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

MorganLink 3DVision Interview If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it. Sun Tzu

"The Art of War" We welcome you, earthdeirdre and earthwheat and earthtree as

honored guests, for you add great power to our ancient song--

planetfungus and planetworm and planetmind sing and play

here, and you are welcome among us. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Conversations with Planet" A handsome young Cyborg named Ace,

Wooed women at every base,

But once ladies glanced at

His special enhancement

They vanished with nary a trace. Barracks Graffiti

Sparta Command The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot stay in the cradle forever. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

The Father of Rocketry Mary had a little lamb,

Little lamb little lamb,

Mary had a little lamb,

whose fleece was white as snow. Assassins' Redoubt

Final Transmission And the Lord said, "Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." The Conclave Bible Of course we'll bundle our MorganNet software with the new network nodes; our customers expect no less of us. We have never sought to become a monopoly. Our products are simply so good that no one feels the need to compete with us. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

Morgan Data Systems press release Industrial Grade Nano-Paste, Planet's most valuable commodity, can also be one of its most dangerous. Simply pour out several canisters, slide in a programming transponder, and step well away while the stuff cooks. In under an hour the nano will use available materials to assemble a small factory, a hovertank, or enough impact rifles to equip a regiment. Col. Corazon Santiago

"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide" We estimate that during the next mission century most of Planet's industries will be moved off-planet to Nessus Prime and other orbital facilities. Many of our industries will benefit greatly from the low gravity environments available in space, particularly those involving genetically engineered microbes. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" We shall take only the greatest minds, the finest soldiers, the most faithful servants. We shall multiply them a thousandfold and release them to usher in a new era of glory. Col. Corazon Santiago

"The Council of War" Will we next create false gods to rule over us? How proud we have become, and how blind. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"We Must Dissent" And the Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, we must send him forth." Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. The Conclave Bible In one moment, Earth; in the next, Heaven. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" What actually transpires beneath the veil of an event horizon? Decent people shouldn't think too much about that. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"For I Have Tasted The Fruit" And what of the immortal soul in such transactions? Can this machine transmit and reattach it as well? Or is it lost forever, leaving a soulless body to wander the world in despair? Sister Miriam Godwinson

"We Must Dissent" From the delicate strands,

between minds we weave our mesh:

a blanket to warm the soul. Lady Deirdre Skye

"The Collected Poems" Imagine the entire contents of the planetary datalinks, the sum total of human knowledge, blasted into the Planetmind's fragile neural network with the full power of every reactor on the planet. Thousands of years of civilization compressed into a single searing burst of revelation. That is our last-ditch attempt to win humanity a reprieve from extinction at the hands of an awakening alien god. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Planet Speaks" No longer mere earthbeings and planetbeings are we, but bright children of the stars! And together we shall dance in and out of ten billion years, celebrating the gift of consciousness until the stars themselves grow cold and weary, and our thoughts turn again to the beginning. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Conversations with Planet" As we approached we were confronted by the ruined splendor of Sparta Command. The true immensity of the place became instantly apparent as our Quantum Tank crunched over the rubble and parked next to a shattered bunker, but the extent of the destruction took weeks to assess. The shielded datacore had sustained several massive breaches and smoke still billowed from the numerous cannon ports. There were few signs of human life. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Our Secret War" Proper care and education for our children remains a cornerstone of our entire colonization effort. Children not only shape our future; they determine in many ways our present. Men and women work harder knowing their children are safe and close at hand. And never forget that, with children present, parents will defend their home to the death. Col. Corazon Santiago

"Planet: A Survivalist's Guide" It is every citizen's final duty to go into the tanks and become one with all the people. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Ethics for Tomorrow" Having now established a secure perimeter, we have made ourselves relatively safe from enemy incursions. But against the seemingly random attacks by Planet's native life only our array of warning sensors can help us, for the Mind Worms infiltrate through every crevice and chew through anything softer than plasmasteel. Lady Deirdre Skye

"The Early Years" The klaxon began to wail, but we felt the reassuring tingle of the Tachyon Field crackling to life around us, encasing the entire base in its impenetrable glow. Spartan Kel

"The Fall of Sparta" The entire character of a base and its inhabitants can be absorbed in a quick trip to the Rec Commons. The sweaty arenas of Fort Legion, the glittering gambling halls of Morgan Bank, the sunny lovers' trysts in Gaia's High Garden, or the somber reading rooms of U.N. Headquarters. Even the feeding bay at the Hive gives stark insight into the sleeping demons of Yang's communal utopia. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"A Social History of Planet" Life is merely an orderly decay of energy states, and survival requires the continual discovery of new energy to pump into the system. He who controls the sources of energy controls the means of survival. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" I don't know but I've been told,

Deirdre's got a Network Node.

Likes to press the on-off switch,

Dig that crazy Gaian witch! Spartan Barracks March Although Planet's native life is based, like Earth's, on right-handed DNA, and codes for all the same amino acids, the inevitable chemical and structural differences from a billion years of evolution in an alien environment render the native plant life highly poisonous to humans. Juicy, ripe grenade fruits may look appealing, but a mouthful of organonitrates will certainly change your mind in a hurry. Lady Deirdre Skye

"A Comparative Biology of Planet" The popular stereotype of the researcher is that of a skeptic and a pessimist. Nothing could be further from the truth! Scientists must be optimists at heart, in order to block out the incessant chorus of those who say "It cannot be done." Academician Prokhor Zakharov

University Commencement Richard Baxton piloted his Recon Rover into a fungal vortex and held off four waves of mind worms, saving an entire colony.

We immediately purchased his identity manifests and repackaged him into the Recon Rover Rick character with a multi-tiered media campaign: televids, touchbooks, holos, psi-tours--the works.

People need heroes. They don't need to know how he died clawing his eyes out, screaming for mercy. The real story would just hurt sales, and dampen the spirits of our customers. "Mythology for Profit"

Morgan Stellartots Keynote Speech That sunny dome! Those caves of ice!

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread,

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise. Samuel Taylor Coleridge In the great commons at Gaia's Landing we have a tall and particularly beautiful stand of white pine, planted at the time of the first colonies. It represents our promise to the people, and to Planet itself, never to repeat the tragedy of Earth. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Planet Dreams" You see in this dome the intermingling of native and earth plants. Outside, they are competitors, struggling over the trace elements required for life. Often, one destroys the other. Here, they are tended with care and kept well nourished. They thrive together, and the native fungus does not unleash its terrible defenses. As you can see, competition is unnecessary when resources are plentiful and population growth is controlled. Lady Deirdre Skye

"Planet Dreams" It will happen, and it will happen in our lifetimes. Fusion Power isn't just the future. Fusion Power is now. T. M. Morgan-Reilly

Morgan Metagenics Have you ever wondered why clouds behave in such familiar ways when each specimen is so unique? Or why the energy exchange market is so unpredictable? In the coming age we must develop and apply nonlinear mathematical models to real world phenomena. We shall seek, and find, the hidden fractal keys which can unravel the chaos around us. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

University Commencement Some civilian workers got in among the research patients today and became so hysterical I felt compelled to have them nerve stapled. The consequence, of course, will be another public relations nightmare, but I was severely shaken by the extent of their revulsion towards a project so vital to our survival. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

The Personal Diaries It is a medical commonplace that the tissues of the human body replace themselves regularly, essentially creating an entirely new body every seven years. From whence then come cancer and the slow degeneration of age? They exist as faults in the patterns of intelligence within the genes themselves; by reprogramming these smallest parts, the whole becomes well. Academician Prokhor Zakharov

"Nonlinear Genetics" Captain said to big old John Henry,

That old drill keeps a-coming around.

Take that steam drill out and start it on that job

Let it whop, let it whop that steel on down

Let it whop, let it whop that steel on down. Traditional Look at any photograph or work of art. If you could duplicate exactly the first tiny dot of color, and then the next and the next, you would end with a perfect copy of the whole, indistinguishable from the original in every way, including the so-called "moral value" of the art itself. Nothing can transcend its smallest elements. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Ethics of Greed" And when at last it is time for the transition from megacorporation to planetary government, from entrepreneur to emperor, it is then that the true genius of our strategy shall become apparent, for energy is the lifeblood of this society and when the chips are down he who controls the energy supply controls Planet. In former times the energy monopoly was called "The Power Company"; we intend to give this name an entirely new meaning. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" My gift to industry is the genetically engineered worker, or Genejack. Specially designed for labor, the Genejack's muscles and nerves are ideal for his task, and the cerebral cortex has been atrophied so that he can desire nothing except to perform his duties. Tyranny, you say? How can you tyrannize someone who cannot feel pain? Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

"Essays on Mind and Matter" It is not uncommon to see patients undergo permanent psychological trauma in the presence of the Sphere, before the nerve stapler has even been strapped into position. Its effect on the general consciousness of the culture is profound: husbands have seen wives go inside, and mothers their children. Dr. Xynan left the surface of the sphere semitranslucent for a reason. You can hear them in there; you can see them. It is a thing of terrible beauty. Baron Klim

"The Music of the Spheres" The chief aim of their constitution and government is that, whenever public needs permit, all citizens should be free, so far as possible, to withdraw their time and energy from the service of the body, and devote themselves to the freedom and culture of the mind. For that, they think, is the real happiness of life. Sir Thomas More

"Utopia" I sit in my cubicle, here on the motherworld.

When I die, they will put my body in a box and

dispose of it in the cold ground.

And in all the million ages to come, I will never

breathe or laugh or twitch again.

So won't you run and play with me here among the

teeming mass of humanity?

The universe has spared us this moment. Anonymous When beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean's skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and would not willingly remember that this velvet paw but conceals a remorseless fang. Herman Melville

"Moby Dick" Superior training and superior weaponry have, when taken together, a geometric effect on overall military strength. Well-trained, well-equipped troops can stand up to many more times their lesser brethren than linear arithmetic would seem to indicate. Spartan Battle Manual The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert where a man is never alone, for he can feel life quivering all about him. The sea is only a receptacle for all the prodigious, supernatural things that exist inside it; it is only movement and love; it is the living infinite. Jules Verne

"20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" You are orphans, earthdeirdre, your homeworld already buried so young among the aeons. Yet now you fill the skies where we watched a million sunsets with flame and contrails, paying no heed to the hard lessons the universe has tried to teach you. Are you a breath of life to invigorate a complacent world, you earthhumans, or an insidious cancer which must be excised? Lady Deirdre Skye

"Conversations With Planet" We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism? Project PYRRHO, Specimen 46, Vat 7

Activity Recorded M.Y. 2302.22467

TERMINATION OF SPECIMEN ADVISED In the years since our arrival, we have foolishly disrupted so many of Planet's ecosystems that entire species may vanish without our ever having understood, or even known them. We must halt this plunder, and halt it immediately, for our own survival as a species depends on our ability to strike a balance on this world. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"Mind Worm, Mind Worm" Let the Gaians preach their silly religion, but one way or the other I shall see this compound burned, seared, and sterilized until every hiding place is found and until every last Mind Worm egg, every last slimy one, has been cooked to a smoking husk. That species shall be exterminated, I tell you! Exterminated! Academician Prokhor Zakharov

Lab Three aftermath Go through, my children! The time of miracles is upon us. Let us cast off sin and walk together to the Garden of the Lord. With God's mercy we shall meet again on the other side. Sister Miriam Godwinson

"Last Testament" Sky farms are fantastically beautiful, with their kilometer long networks of glass framed in grids of metal, and the sunlight shining through jungles of vegetation inside. When one of them catches the light, you can see the refracted beauty for miles; they are life-giving stars on a desolate planet...gardens on the wing. Lady Deidre Skye

"Planet Dreams" Red-hot iron, white-hot iron, cold-black iron; an iron taste, and iron smell, and a Babel of iron sounds. Charles Dickens

Bleak House Planet's Primary, Alpha Centauri A, blasts unimaginable quantities of energy into space each instant, and virtually every joule of it is wasted entirely. Incomprehensible riches can be ours if we can but stretch our arms wide enough to dip from this eternal river of wealth. CEO Nwabudike Morgan

"The Centauri Monopoly" God, from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top Shall tremble, he descending, will himself, In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets' sound, Ordain them laws. John Milton

Paradise Lost I hold a scrap of paper in the darkness and light it. I watch it burn bright and curl, disappearing into nothingness, and the heat burns my fingers. Where has it gone? What has it become? I cannot shake the feeling that I have witnessed a form of transcendence. Commissioner Pravin Lal

"The Convergence" The quotes have been taken from the game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, by Firaxis. Some of the authors and sources are fictional.











