The Technocracy

An Introduction to the (New) Technocracy

The Technocracy is a single-iteration Power with a futuristic bent. Situated in Veil 100 North, the Technocracy was Created on 7 February SY120 by Andrew de Lacy, with the help and prompting of Rallissa, the Aurellian Goddess of the Years. She firmly believed that he had been hard-done-by by the powers-that-be who decided that he shouldn’t be allowed to Create the Power in the centre of the Inside (in contrast to the the pre-Lighthouse Timeline). The fact that their decision was related to wanting to avoid bringing the Machine into being was less important to her than the fact that he was denied the choice. She even arranged for him to have access to a previously undiscovered Jewel as the focus of the Creation (before returning it from whence/when it came). Unfortunately, in some respects, both attitudes ended up being valid to some degree.

Because nature abhors a vacuum, on its establishment, fundamental links were forged between the Nexus on Technocracy Prime (usually just called Prime) and New Oceania, on the opposite side of the hemisphere, leading to the co-Creation of a version of the Machine tied much more closely to New Oceania. This development appears to have been aided by the fact that both worlds boast inherent veins of Godstone.

Since the Power was Created, the Aurellian God of Communications has worked with Sysdaemon Lucy, the Controlling Consciousness of the Nexus Power, on aspects of the Power with respect to interfacing with the Technocracy Data Centres both Inside and Outside, and making the wealth information within the Datastream available to all. This allows seamless communications across Technocracy Prime, and contact between Prime and Seconde, on the Ouside. The latter was never available in the pre-Lighthouse Timeline.

Since SY154, Andrew has effectively moved Outside to Seconde. As a result, while there is contact between the two Iterations of the Nexus, the day-to-day running of Prime has fallen to his daughter, Helena-Maria Latz, who is bringing her own stamp to the place. Despite the switch in their relative positions, as Creator of the Nexus, Andrew is considered to be the Prime Technocrat and Helena-Maria the Secondary Technocrat.

Technocracy Prime

Technocracy Prime runs at a similar rate of timeflow to Sable and the Reich, although the year is a longer 600 20-hour days, split into 20 x 30-day months. It is home to roughly 200m souls. As the name suggests, It is primarily a technological world. That said, magic is functional, if often less efficient than the technological alternatives, except with respect to accessing the Datastream. Unlike Elementis, where the level of technology is high but understated, Technology Prime embraces the technological, resulting an archtypal cyberpunk-style feel to the world.

Prime comprises one major archipelago comprising a chain of landmasses totalling around 150k square miles in area (c.390k km2). Oceans extend beyond the landmasses before reaching the boundaries of the world about a two hundred miles from the islands. At the heart of each of the islands of the archipelago there are ranges of mountains which average 3-4,000ft (900-1,000m) over much of their area, but rise precipitously towards a series of major volcanic peaks that reach as high as 12,000ft (c.3,600m). Although there have been occasional eruptions of these, for the most part they are kept in a dormant state by technology developed on the world. All the agricultural land on Prime is located in these mountainous interiors, irrigated by a series of rivers of varying sizes that make their way down to the sea.

Two moons light the night sky, although the exact celestial mechanics of how they move are hard to quantify.

Given the volcanic activity across the chain, geothermal energy is the norm across the world, both within the cities and in the agricultural towns and villages in the interior. The abundance of relatively cheap power means that nowhere on the world is without electricity. On top of that, the standard of living across the world is relatively high, even in the rural areas, with education and healthcare available to all who wish it, as long as they are willing to be registered with the Technocracy Authorities. Urban employment is usually within the technological, industrial and medical concerns based in those cities, as well as the extensive civil service that supports the World Government.

Transport between the cities is by either high-speed rail, often travelling on the ocean floor, or VTOL aircraft. For those who wish to get from one place to another even faster, there is a Technocracy Guild of Pilots, run by Guildmaster Mark Madison, which uses the ATS, bringing instantaneous point-to-point transport to the Technocracy. Within the cities themselves, there is a mixture of both public monorail transit and individually-owned aircars. There are also ground cars, although ground transportation is slower due to the traffic involved, and life at ground level is rather less neat and tidy than up in the heights.

There is a portion of the population that has turned its back on life in the cities, in favour of the more relaxed rural life. Many of these are either involved in agrictural endeavours, or live in the communities that serve the rural areas in the interior.

Prime City

Pretty much the whole of the 2,700-mile (c.4,350km) coastline of the largest island in the chain, Fuascailt Island, is made up of a single urban sprawl called Prime City. This is home to as many as 50m people: roughly a quarter of the population of Technocracy Prime. The other islands also boast a number of extensive cities, although they are dwarfed in comparison.

Prime City is divided into a number of different districts by the many rivers that flow through it on their way to the sea. These areas vary from massed skyscrapers to more open parkland with expensive, extensive residences for the wealthiest and best-connected of its citizens, although in reality, the former much outnumber the latter.

In the most overdeveloped of these skycraper areas, ground level had developed a more seedy demi-monde, and lower-level residences are usually occupied by those who don’t wish to be on record with the Technocracy Authorities.

Government

Technocracy Prime is divided into a number of Prefectures, each with individual councils and parliaments dealing with the day-to-day running of their specific areas. These deal with local issues, but are subject to the overall World Government, based in Prime City. This central government makes the laws which are in force worldwide, and co-ordinates with the individual Prefectures to make sure that the world runs smoothly. While remote communications are the norm, there is a central Parliament Building, where representatives from across the world meet in person twice a year, for sessions lasting between two weeks and a month, depending on how much business needs to be concluded.

Helena-Maria Latz is the President of the Technocracy Parliament. She also has a small group of Councillors, with stronger links to the Nexus than the majoirty of the population, who help her keep things running on a day-to-day basis. When her father was still living on Prime, these included Joachim Berger and Martin Carragher. Since Andrew moved Outside, however, only Joachim remains on the Council, as Martin is primarily based on Seconde.

Personal Technology

Given that geothermal energy is the norm across the world, the abundance of relatively cheap power means that nowhere on the world is without electricity. The combination of this with the futuristic level of computer and AI-based technology, means that everyone on Prime has access to the Datastream, with its wealth of information and entertainment.

The Datastream is the heart of Technocracy life, for education, employment, retail and government, and is available to all who are registered with the Technocracy Authorites (which is probably 95% of the population). It can be carried with them at all times, either through ocular implants or hand-held units. Users do, however, have the ability to kick the constant flow of data into “sleep” mode, if they need a break from it.

In addition, there are Datastream terminals in the majority of residences and places of work, as well as public spaces.