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Story

Starting Hook

The UMS Carl Sagan departs for Mars on a mission that could change everything humanity knows about its place in the universe — or prove to be an expensive embarrassment.

  • University of Mare Serenitatis sponsors a pre-colonization archaeological survey on Mars.
  • Phobos Station branch planned.
  • Professor Leonidas claims artificial elements in old rover samples; university backs him.
  • Leonidas is a kinetic Talent; "caught" collapsing ice in Antarctica; believes Talent has always existed in humanity.

See UMS Carl Sagan for the ship, crew, and mission details.

Current Events

Mars

  • Push for a Mars colony; UEF/Luna/Corporates jockeying over charter and ownership.
  • Likely joint effort with a defined independence path (details hotly contested).
  • University of Mare Serenitatis sponsoring pre-colonization archaeological survey.
  • Professor Leonidas claims artificial elements in old rover samples; university publicly backs him.
  • Constitutional crisis brewing: freedom of movement was written for Earth borders, not resource-limited space colonization. Courts haven't ruled on whether the right applies to off-world settlement. "Who gets to go?" is becoming a defining political question.

Talents

  • Public suspicion persists despite PR campaigns. Talents are visible but politically vulnerable.
  • Growing pressure toward a unifying organization addressing both political representation and ethics/enforcement. Factions disagree on structure: guild, union, or regulatory body?
  • Research priority: detecting latent Talents early to prevent "Talent explosions."
  • Regional attitudes vary sharply: Earth suspicious, Luna conflicted (surveillance culture meets telepathy fears), Belt pragmatic, Outer System rumored to be recruiting or experimenting.
  • The mental illness connection is a political powder keg — as detection improves, a reckoning looms over how many people were institutionalized for what was actually untrained Talent.
  • Empathic manipulation without consent is not explicitly illegal in most jurisdictions — a gap that will explode when a high-profile case emerges.
  • Talents are absent from high military ranks. Whether deliberate policy or emergent bias is ambiguous, but the glass ceiling is real.

Outer System

  • Population growth tied to He-3 demand and corporate expansion.
  • The UEF's He-3 monopoly — long a pillar of federal power — has cracked. Corporate extraction operations at Saturn represent a precedent that could reshape outer system politics.
  • Labor discontent rising at corporate installations; working conditions harsh, oversight distant.
  • Persistent rumors of illegal genetic experimentation at remote corporate facilities — including attempts to artificially induce or enhance Talent.
  • Exploration vessel disappearances beyond Uranus: sudden comm loss, no debris, no explanation.

See The Outer System for details on installations and He-3 operations.

Deep Space Observations (RAT)

  • RAT exoplanet survey has identified 5 near-Earth-equivalent candidates.
  • Anomalous objects detected: regular orbits, low albedo, no detectable radiation. Possibly artificial. Connection to vessel disappearances is speculated but unconfirmed.

Luna-Earth Relations

  • Resentments persist on both sides, decades after independence.
  • Earthers see Loonies as ungrateful secessionists who threatened planetary bombardment.
  • Loonies remember generations of second-class citizenship and compulsory service.
  • The UEF has never formally accepted that Luna could repel reconquest — but has never tested it.
  • Lunar compulsory service in UEF forces creates cross-pollination: contacts, experience, and sometimes conflicted loyalties.

Corporate Frontier

  • Outer system installations are effectively company towns with theoretical UEF oversight.
  • Inspections require months of travel; corporations get ample warning.
  • Research and labor practices that wouldn't survive Earth scrutiny happen routinely.
  • "Orphan corporations" from defunct nations operate in legal grey zones with unclear jurisdiction. The Aether Resource Collective is among the oldest and most entrenched.
  • Dominant corporate strategy: respectable Earth operations, questionable outer system activities.

Cetacean Politics

  • Cetaceans participate in UEF governance but humans don't fully understand cetacean internal politics — how decisions are made within their community remains opaque.
  • Only dolphins and orcas are counted in the census; other species "will not or cannot" participate. Cetacean representatives have not clarified why.
  • Some human legislators are uncomfortable with telepathic colleagues whose communication they cannot fully verify or understand.
  • A few cetaceans have become high-profile Talent researchers, bringing intuitive understanding to the field. Their contributions are valuable — and their silences on certain topics notable.
  • Mysteries — unanswered questions and hidden truths
  • Tensions — simmering conflicts that could erupt
  • Timeline — historical context
  • Talent — psionic abilities and social tensions
  • Government — political structures and tensions
  • Cetaceans — non-human allies and their secrets
  • Luna — the independent moon and its fragile peace
  • MycroftHolmes — Luna's AI and his vulnerabilities
  • Technology — what's possible and what's hidden
  • Bioengineering — genetic modification and its limits
  • ARC — orphan corporation with dangerous secrets
  • Outer System — He-3 operations and frontier installations