Sephii

Sephii home of the robot Sephiites Terra Φ cluster
System attributes
Technology	+3
Environment	-3
Resources	0
Aspects
No hu-mans allowed
Ghosts in the machine
"You'll be better off as one of us"
Derelict mining platforms
Connections
Deneb, Eridanus, Zash'ar, Antares

{{#set:system name = Sephii }}{{#set:system in cluster = Terra Φ }}{{#set:blurb = home of the robot Sephiites }}{{#set:technology = +3 }}{{#set:environment = -3 }}{{#set:resources = 0 }}{{#set:connected to = Deneb}}{{#set:connected to = Eridanus}}{{#set:connected to = Zash'ar}}{{#set:connected to = Antares}}

Sephii is a barren system targeted long ago for strip mining by a now-abandoned initiative.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

"The space of Sephii remains full of derelict mining platforms even centuries after the fall."

History

When caution gave way to greed, the largest gas giant in the system was approved for mining without regulation. The rapid and localized decrease in mass destabilized the orbit of the planet. It began to drift away and its moons followed suit. Within a decade the moons had scattered, most joining the rubble of Sephii's massive asteroid belts, and despite the steps taken to correct the mining mistake, the planet shared the fate of its moons. While the heads of the mining initiative juggled blame and argued about the risks of salvaging the planet's bounty, its forward momentum was dispersed to the asteroids and the planet's arc turned inward, towards the massive star at the heart of the system.

4 months later, the mining station in orbit around the system's only garden world suffered widespread system failure as the derelict gas giant ignited due to its proximity to the central star. The mining station crashed into the garden world as the resulting binary star ripped away its atmosphere. The few survivors of the initiative evacuated the system leaving the now grounded space station behind. While the system rearranged to the new gravitational center and solar wind, the maintenance nanites of the space station diligently followed their directives as best they could.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

"Sephii space during the crash of the mining colony"

Today Sephii is the home of the dualist machines that evolved out of the machinery surviving the crash of the derelict mining station. The Sephiites are efficient optimizers, but this aspect of their nature has stunted their evolution. Whereas in the first generations of the Sephiites were vastly distinct, due to the effect of the solar wind on their processors, this variety attenuated as they adapted to their circumstances. Today's Sephiites are incorporeal AI's capable of jumping between machine bodies, but their optimizing nature prevents any creativity, forcing them to import it from other worlds.

The Sephiite bargain

Being machines, the Sephiites have little need of importing food or luxuries from the neighboring systems. Yet, being machines, their technology is significantly more advanced than that of any of their neighbors, yielding a significant demand for trade. Thus a bargain was offered to anyone wishing to trade with the hive mind: ships would be rented out and technology would be passed down to the governments that supplied the Sephiites with recently deceased bodies of creative individuals. The bargain still stirs controversy among religious communities, but is often justified by the popular majority as being for the greater good.

Despite the official stance of planetary governments, the Sephiite Bargain is open to anyone who can meet their end of the deal. Entrepreneurs down on their luck have been known to trade away their own corpses for what little technology they can haggle for in an attempt to enrich their short lives. The terminally ill have also made similar bargains (sometimes bargaining away entire families) in return for salvation from their sickness.

Links

• See also the Cepheus constellation

<graphviz border='frame' format='png' renderer='neato'>

digraph teraPhi {
 { rank=same;
 Sephii [URL="Sephii" fontcolor=blue];
 }
 { rank=same;
 Antares [URL="Antares" fontcolor =blue];
 Deneb [URL="Deneb" fontcolor =blue];
 Eridanus [URL="Eridanus" fontcolor =blue];
 Zashar [URL="Zash'ar" label="Zash'ar" fontcolor =blue];
 }
 { rank=same;
 NovOrion [URL="Nov'Orion" label="Nov'Orion" fontcolor =blue];
 }
 edge [len=2,dir=both];
 Sephii -> { Antares } -> NovOrion;
 Sephii -> { Zashar } -> NovOrion;
 Sephii -> { Eridanus } -> NovOrion;
 Sephii -> { Deneb } -> NovOrion;
 edge [len=2,dir=forward];
 Antares -> Zashar
   Deneb -> Eridanus
 ;
 { rank=same;
 Sephii ;
 }
 { rank=same;
 Antares ;
 Deneb ;
 Eridanus ;
 Zashar ;
 }
 { rank=same;
 NovOrion;
 }
}

</graphviz>