Red Boston (City)
* - A Martian city in the English-Speaking Coalition. It's the site of a
major ATC facility.
* - Isis received her orders from Bradley and Rouhaus at the Red Boston
facility, implying that it was home to, if not HQ, then some very important
corporate facilities.
* - The Red Boston ATC facility is actually mostly an excursion jumpoff
point. It's mostly hangars and office space, but considering Bradley's
importance in the organization, it's likely to assume that most high-profile
missions and other such things pass through Red Boston.
* - After ATC1, the Red Boston facility was expanded to include barracks,
research labs, a few restaurants, and a holding cell for 24s. This is likely
due to the large reconstruction effort required after the NeoHippie attack
that more or less levelled the place.

Richard Bradley
* - Director of the Red Boston ATC facility (ATC1)
* - Tall. Usually dressed in a smart, conversative business suit.
* - A typical businessman. He and Rohaus often work together with a good
cop/bad cop sort of deal. Speaks fairly formally and doesn't appear to think
much of "military types". Calm and polite, but speaks slightly circuitously.


Jaime Rohaus
* - ATC Military officer with the rank of General.
* - Stocky build. Wears a military uniform complete with various medals.
* - The yang to Bradley's yin. Exciteable and direct, every inch the
self-made military man. He appreciates talent when he sees it and regrets it
being wasted. Puts faith in "soldier's intuition".
* - Thinks Chako is a bloodthirsty lunatic, which tells you something about
Chako.


Isis Tsukitomi
* - Originally a tactics and melee combat instructor at the ATC facility in
Red Atlanta. She served as intrusion and close combat support for the Europa
team. Her initial ATC rank was Lieutenant.
* - Is considered level-headed, calm, and trustworthy by ATC. Was given the
initial side mission of recon regarding alien races, alongside three other
teams sent to Jupiter's moons.
* - A swordswoman. She often wears a katana with her uniform.
* - Despite her casual demeanor, she has a good grasp of military procedure
and discipline.
* - She was born on Earth, but her family moved to Mars when she was young.
* - Has an only sister named Karen. Her parents became NeoHippies when she
was 17, and it is presumed they died during the Hippie Scouring of ATC1.
* - During ATC1, Isis lived in Red Atlanta, in the Suburb. Her address was
444 Evergreen Terrace. However, upon fleeing the city she set not only her
house but (relatively accidentally) most of her neighborhood on fire. As of
ATC2 she lives in a large manor in Kyoto on Earth, and 444 Evergreen Terrace
is home to a starscraper.


Chako Styrina
* - Commander of the Europa team, and combat specialist.
* - Her initial rank was Lieutenant, First Class. The Cube promoted her to
Captain midway through ATC1, and by the time ATC2 starts she has been
promoted to General.
* - Unlike the other combat specialists, she does not have a preferred
weapon, since it would be impossible to narrow one down out of the multitude
attached to her suit.
* - A bloodsporter, though she mostly gave it up once she signed on with
ATC. Her nickname among other bloodsuit types is "Choker".
* - Originally from Twilight City, which explains a lot.


Tim Larson
* - Technician assigned to Europa team. As non-military personnel, he did
not hold a military rank.
* - An expert not only in mechanics and engineering, but also computers and
data technology.
* - Is a self-described cook, though in the course of ATC1 he never actually
cooks anything, unless coffee counts.
* - Also damned handsome. After the events of ATC1, he pursues a successful
movie career, even playing himself in "Halfway to Europa".
* - Tim is actually quite famous in the annals of ATC Maintenance's history.
It even led to him meeting his future wife, Bethany, a maintenance tech at
ATC Red Atlanta.


Illyana Ivanova Aliyeva
* - Scientist assigned to Europa team. As non-military personnel, she did
not hold a military rank.
* - A paraplegic, though able to move through the aid of an exo or a
wheelchair. She later regained the use of her legs thanks to the AllDrug.
* - Illyana speaks with a noticable Russian accent.
* - Shortly after the Europa Team returned from opening the Messenger,
Illyana went quite insane in a manner similar to Masterson, fleeing Isis'
house. When Chako and Isis found her shortly thereafter, she was quite dead
in a seriously gruesome fashion; whoever had killed her was taking advantage
of the AllDrug's permanent regenerative properties to make her suffer quite
a lot, right up to being hung upside-down in an alley while she tried to
regrow a head. It's more or less assumed that the "original" Illyana had
already died by that point.


Benny Masterson
* - One of the original Europa Team grunts. His preferred weapon and initial
rank are unknown.
* - During the initial Hippie attack on the Europa Team, he panicked and
fled. Sadly, he tripped, was knocked into a canyon, and not heard from again
for a long time.
* - He was found later on a Venutian gas mining station, and then shipped
off to ATC, appearing quite insane. Somehow he escaped and intercepted the
team at the heart of Earth's Messenger, giving them a cryptic set of
warnings about the Game, then disappearing.
* - Masterson was possessed by the Cloud, another AI in the form of a nanite
swarm that was quite crazy. He caused chaos on Mars shortly after the Europa
Team took down the Beans and returned with Rondure, but was eventually
killed by them thanks to the 'vaccine' Tim, Vernon, and Ronnie developed.


Johnny Wedge, Harry Biggs, Shirley McAldhel, Charley Bronson
* - The rest of the original Europa grunts. None of them survived the
initial Hippie assault in the first session.


Lisa Koez
* - An ATC solider. She fights with two swords and has won a number of
interplanetary kendo tournaments. Her initial rank is Lieutenant Colonel.
* - Originally assigned to Europa Team, for some reason she never showed
during the initial deployment.
* - Once they returned, however, Lisa was assigned as the Europa Team's new
commander. This didn't last long, as during the assault on the Pastrami
Cradle to reclaim the Messenger, Lisa went missing and was never heard from
again.
* - She is apparently very attractive, though during her entire tenure with
the Europa Team only her face was ever seen.
* - A bit crude and highly demanding, Lisa is kind of a jerk. She is a
military woman to the core. Chako didn't seem to like her, perhaps because
two like magnetic poles repel.


Wilson Lewis
* - Dropship pilot for ATC. He is not military and thus has no rank. He was
comissioned to fly the Europa Team to their destination.
* - A large, muscular black man with a solid build.
* - His nickname is "Wintergreen", because he is "the coolest pilot around".
The name of his ship, Raging Peppermint, is an extension of this.
* - Is fond of card tricks, and is actually a friendly, charming
conversationalist, likely because the Peppermint is low on frills and he has
to entertain himself somehow.
* - Lewis isn't very popular with ATC Maintenance, after beating them in a
dropship repair contest at an unspecified time.


The Raging Peppermint
* - An old-style but sturdy and reliable ATC interplanetary dropship. Its
pilot is Wilson Lewis, aka "Wintergreen".
* - Like others of its type, the Peppermint is blocky and sparse but
servicable. Other than the cockpit, the two rows of exo-sized transport
seats, and a small engineering monitor room, there's not much there. There's
an airlock for loading or unloading cargo in a vacuum.
* - Exos are an atypical cargo for the Peppermint. The journey to Europa was
thus slightly cramped.


Astreroid Cyrus (#562J45K)
* - A lone asteroid far outside Jupiter's orbit. It's approximately one and
a half days from Mars to Cyrus at the Peppermint's cruising speed, and
another 2-3 from there to Europa.
* - Charlie was waiting for the Peppermint here, for reasons unknown.


Charlie Fulzen
* - A sniper and reconnaisance expert assigned to Europa Team. His initial
rank is Lance Corporal.
* - A genial and laid-back individual. His preferred weapon is a large-bore
exo-class autofire rifle. He also consistently used an energy spraygun.
* - Has a bit of a Southern twang to his voice.


NeoHippies
* - Anti-corporate rebels/terrorists who kill, maim, steal, and otherwise do
bad things in the name of peace and love.
* - As a group, they're not terribly intelligent, nor are they very good
fighters. Most of what they have was either stolen from corporate
scientists, cobbled together from spare parts, or a 'gift' from the Bugs.
* - Most NeoHippie forces were wiped out by the Europa Team in 2064 in a
series of sorties in Red France.


Europa
* - A moon of Jupiter. It's covered almost totally in ice.
* - The bodyslide bowl the Sleythin sent to Earth alongside the messenger
landed on Europa, but was buried under considerable ice movement over the
years. The Europa Team discovered the bowl in 2064 by following a 'line'
carved into the ice while taking shelter from Hippie bombardment.
* - In session 8, Isis and Chako both mistakenly refer to the moon as Io.


Bodyslide Bowls
* - A teleportation technology developed by the Sleythin. Bodyslide bowls
are perfect hemispherical indentations in the ground, with a further
triangular indentation in the bowl. They're powered by three colored
crystals placed into a mechanism found in a nearby pedestal.
* - Bodyslides involve some sort of nth-dimensional slip technology that can
transport people from one place to another across multiple tens of thousands
of light years in an instant. However, the process is very disconcerting
physically and mentally.
* - Shaana'na implies that a failed or blind (or both) bodyslide can have
considerably dire consequences, ranging from being millions of miles off
target to simply teleporting yourself right out of existence.


Trichlorodisoflourimonosulfiquadratetrisilicon
* - The mineral Illyana was sent to Europa to sample and retrieve. It was
also what the activation crystals for the bodyslide bowl were comprised of.
* - This is the actual (Earth) scientific name for the general 'power
crystals' used by the Sleythin. Shaana'na indicates that the particular
mineral is actually an energy form shaped into a crystal matrix. The AllDrug
is another type of this general category of crystal.
* - It appears a number of times on the Sleythin homeworld, including a
massive obelisk in the City of Refuge that appears to have been powering the
entire city. When the Bugs simply melted it with their acid-like secretions,
the entire city went dead.


Sleythin (Planet)
* - A planet quite distant from the Sol system (17,907 light years). It's
unknown how many planets are in the Sleythin solar system.
* - However, it is known that Sleythin has thirteen moons. One of them, the
thirteenth and brightest, is purple. One of them is so huge and dense that
the tidal fluctuations it causes cancel out an entire gravity, knocking the
average down to 2Gs. However, Sleythin's moons rotate quite rapidly.
* - On that note, Sleythin's gravity is at its worst triple Earth's (3Gs).
However, during times of alternating lunar tidal stress, this can go as low
as 2Gs.
* - The Sleythin day has 30 hours in it.
* - Sleythin has at least two suns. One is a red star, and one is actually a
blue star. This (along with the environmental destruction) may account for
the much higher average temperature of the Sleythin climate (around 90-110
degrees F aboveground), which in turn supported the development of native
cold-blooded life forms.
* - Sleythin's aboveground atmospheric composition as of the arrival of the
Europa team was 53% nitrogen, 30% oxygen, 10 % methane, and 7% helium, and
unbreathable by humans. Belowground, plantlife add enough carbon dioxide
into the mix (about 1%) to make the air at least tolerable to humans.
* - Most of Sleythin's ecology at the start of ATC1 is in ruins thanks to
the concerted efforts of the Bugs. What hasn't already been destroyed is
almost certainly burned to the ground when the Bugs attack between the
team's first and second visits with a highly potent napalm-like substance.
* - Almost all of the native inhabitants left live in the City of Solitude,
behind the Gate of Ages, which is itself found in the City of Refuge.


Sleythin (Race)
* - A race of hexapedal sentient lizards with two forearms. The native race
of planet Sleythin.
* - They are actually quite a large race compared to humans, and their
center of gravity is considerably lower because of Sleythin's high g-forces.
They are also considerably stronger than humans as a result.
* - It's practically impossible to tell male and female Sleythin apart
without actual biological sensors. Most indivudals in general are
distinguished by their crests.
* - Sleythin breathe mostly methane, but can survive in an Earth-like
atmosphere, and vice-versa for humans. They are amphibious, and most of
their clothing designs are heavy cloth designed to retain water. They sleep
in jacuzzi-like "sleeping basins" to retain moisture.
* - The Sleythin have a caste system, with the lower castes performing
menial or service tasks and the higher castes performing specialized tasks
like government and research. The warrior castes, forbidden for eons by the
Lawgiver but revived by the Army in Abstentia, appear to exist slightly
apart from the caste hierarchy.
* - Most Sleythin are pacifists to whom the nature of violence is more or
less foreign. The recent rise of the Army in Abstentia and the movement of
some younger Sleythin to Mars appears to be changing that slightly.


Sleythin Tree
* - Native flora to Sleythin.
* - For all intents and purposes, it's an arboreal version of the tentacles
from various Lucasarts games without the hostile intent.


Krellyns
* - High gravity-adapted dog-like beasts. Native to Sleythin. They have
"shoulders like Mack trucks", likely due to the high gravity.
* - They are clearly predators of some form, although the complete
devastation of Sleythin's ecosystem suggests that they can survive on
practically anything. Otherwise they'd have died out a long time ago. This
also brings up the possibility of them being omnivores (they're clearly not
built to be herbivorous).
* - According to Illyana's analysis, they breathe methane, which is also why
they don't show on the normal biological sensors of ATC suits.


Sleythin Outdoor Display Terminals
* - Found outside the City of Refuge. They seem to be the equivalent of a
Sleythin road sign.
* - The terminals resemble giant bladeless blenders. Illyana and Tim used
them to decode the Sleythin written language, to an extent.
* - Charlie accidentally detonated one upon examining it further. Most of
those found near the sleeping basins outside the City of Refuge dome were
irreperably damaged.
* - The displays work a bit like neon lights, projecting and refracting
lights through activated xenon.


Sleythin Sleeping Basins
* - Round depressions in the ground not unlike bodyslide bowls, but smaller.
* - They are presumably filled with water for the amphibious Sleythin to
sleep in so they may keep moist while unconscious. All of the basins found
aboveground on Sleythin by the Europa Team were broken. Some were filled
with water that had long ago become stagnant.
* - Taluun`tzo, at one point, made do with a broken fountain in Twilight
City when a sleeping basin of some kind was unavailable, with no obvious
detrimental effects.


Mural Gate
* - The entrance to the City of Refuge dome. It was a condensed version of
the history mural found in the descent stairwell to the actual city, and
powered by three of the ever-present
Trichlorodisoflourimonosulfiquadratetrisilicon crystals.
* - Upon opening it, the team noticed a strange pink manifestation of light
which was never quite explained. Charlie felt "something strange" when it
happened, but never elaborated further.
* - The mural gate was in bad shape. There was every indication that
something, likely the Bugs, tried to opening it by force. It didn't work.
However, the team left it open on their way offplanet, and the returning
Bugs simply waltzed into the City of Refuge, more or less destroying it.
* - The gate was keyed to a particular series of Sleythin phonemes said in
sequence. To that end, it had a built-in "speak-n-say", as Tim put it, which
produced the sound for any Sleythin symbol drawn in the air in front of it.
Illyana used it to produce the words necessary to open the gate.
* - The specific quotes to open the gate reads as follows: "Tenali'shal
slenash'anche'upe / Langee'sihr'sahr / Karee'ka / Nashal'na / Socra'na /
Chezar'calr'ke te Stelee'calr'ke / Shetl'she". They did not appear to need
to be read in any particular order, but Illyana read them thus: 4 / 7 / 6 /
2 / 1 / 5 / 3.
* - Thus, the entire keyphrase reads, in order, as follows: "Socra'na
Karee'ka Shetl'she Tenali'shalslenash'anche'upe Chezar'calr'ke te
Stelee'calr'ke Nashal'na Langee'sihr'sahr". Other than Karee'ka, Nashal'na,
Socra'na, and Shetl'she being the names of historically important Sleythin,
not much else is known about the exact translation.


The City of Refuge
* - Probably the last even remotely intact Sleythin city on the 'right' side
of the Gate of Ages. It is close to the bodyslide bowl where the
preprogrammed bowls sent to other systems deposit visitors.
* - The actual city is about 1000 feet underground. Above it is the ruined
dome where the Mural Gate is located. The cave itself is larger "than any
Martian colony" as of the 2060's, and was both so high and so deep the
team's sensors couldn't plumb the exact depths.
* - The City is powered mostly by
Trichlorodisoflourimonosulfiquadratetrisilicon crystals of varying sizes,
including a rather massive power obelisk. Many of the crystals had died out
over time, and the city itself was in a state of sad disrepair.
* - Almost every building in the City was dome-shaped, and made of local
stone. Most were, as previously stated, crumbling or worse. Only a few
buildings remained standing, including the maintenance depot the team found
and the Science Museum.
* - The only route into the City was the Historical Stairwell, which told an
expanded version of the historical mural found on the gate. The Stairwell
was more or less destroyed by Bugs after the team left Sleythin.
* - As was, in fact, the City of Refuge. However, once the Sleythin emerged
from the City of Solitude, they rebuilt the City of Refuge as a base from
which to start reclaiming their homeworld. Threnody and Kataki Tsukitomi
lived among the Sleythin in the rebuilt City for a year as teenagers.
* - The main power source for the City is the various power obelisks, but
there is also a fusion reactor (possibly more than one) a few miles below
the surface for emergency power; the various robots (specifically, Prag-9
and the last iBot) were running off it when the Europa Team returned.

Guide Speakers
* - Nanite-enhanced robots with a considerable language database. They
looked like small stereo speakers with multiple legs.
* - The speakers merge with foreign technology via nanites, and proceed to
(somewhat invasively) decode and then reconfigure language-processing
software to translate the Sleythin tongue. Tim was the first victim (against
his will), but Illyana and Isis willingly accepted them. Tim and Illyana
were rather fond of them, but Isis found them "more than a little
unnerving".
* - Although this is a very handy feature, they were apparently built as
tour guides for the Historical Stairwell.


Historical Stairwell
* - The escalator leading down from the dome cliffside to the City of
Refuge. Considering the distance travelled, it's quite long (1000 feet high
and likely longer on the diagonal).
* - The Guide Speakers are designed to pick up embedded audio at certain
points along the escalator's path matching with the murals painted on the
ceiling above it. They present a "mightily abridged" history of the planet
Sleythin.
* - If the tour is to be believed, the Sleythin equivalent of "Before
Christ" is "BCH": "Before the City of Heaven". The mural starts at 1000 BHC
and counts it way upwards. ATC1 takes place roughly 8700 years *after* the
City of Heaven.


Jeynalthe Valley
* - Where the earliest records of Sleythin language were found, dating to
roughly 1000 BCH. The mural goes on to imply that the Jeynalthe Valley is
thus the "cradle of civilization" for the Sleythin race.


(Great) City of Heaven
* - A structure built by Karee'ka and the Jeynalthian Sleythin around 1 BCH
(roughly). It is without question the Jerusalem or Rome of Sleythin. The
City was carved directly out of mountain rock and was, presumably,
absolutely enormous. It became the seat of the empire named Tholdeka.


Karee'ka
* - 3 ACH (Born), 62 ACH (Died)
* - The "Great King" and founder of the City of Heaven and the Tholdeka
Empire.
* - The Sleythin consider him to be the 'best' King in their racial history.
He put a great emphasis on learning and development, including instituting a
research grant system. He also united most of the western Sleythin continent
under his banner in a short amount of time.
* - Although the Sleythin year compared to the Sleythin life expectancy is
not totally clear from the presented material, Karee'ka appears to have had
a very short life for a Sleythin (59 years). The cause of his death is
unknown.


Nashal'na
* - A philosopher of the Tholdeka empire, circa the early 1000 ACH era. He
was known as "The Knower".
* - He is apparently responsible for laying the foundations for the study of
not only all sciences, but also morality and philosophy. He wrote over 400
books on his own in his lifetime.
* - His rival was Socra'na, though the mural implies that this was a
friendly scholarly rivalry, as they both corresponded frequently and also
wrote two quite exhaustive books together: "The Natural World" and "The
Spirit Realm".
* - Along with Socra'na, he's credited with most of the groundwork for the
"golden age" of Sleythin.


Socra'na
* - A scientist of the Tholdeka empire, also circa the early 1000 AHC era.
He was called "The Doubter".
* - A learned critic, Socra'na dedicated his life to playing devil's
advocate to the greatest thinkers of his time, for the most part his rival
Nashal'na.
* - He was apparently as prolific an author as Nashal'na, producing over 400
books, not counting the two he wrote with his rival.
* - Together with Nashal'na, Socra'na is considered one of the key figures
in the development of the Sleythin golden age.
* - In her report to ATC regarding the initial Europa mission, Isis noted an
amusing similarity between Socra'na and Socrates which was totally lost on
her superiors.

"The Natural World"
* - A book co-authored by Nashal'na and Socra'na.
* - Although the content is unknown, it can be inferred that it was a text
on physics and other hard sciences.


"The Spirit Realm"
* - A book co-authored by Nashal'na and Socra'na.
* - The content was not specified by the mural, but it's reasonable to
assume that it's a treatise on morality and philosophy.


Golden Age of Sleythin
* - An era stretching from roughly 1100 ACH to the Satalshe invasion of
4615.
* - Other than being hallmarked by an increase in learning and discourse,
not much else is known about the Golden Age, except for the reason it ended.


Tholdeka
* - The empire founded by Great King Karee'ka in the Jeynalthe Valley around
1-10 ACH.
* - Other than the fact that is was an enlightened place that persisted for
over 4600 years, not much else remarkable is known about the Tholdeka
Empire.
* - Its capital was the City of Heaven.


Satalshe
* - The civilization of the eastern Sleythin continent. It invaded Tholdeka
in 4615 ACH, sparking the Great War.
* - After their loss in said war, Satalshe was subsumed into the world
government by Tholdeka in 4720.
* - Other than facts relevant to the war, not much is said about Satalshe.
It's quite probable, given the other historical records of the Sleythin
world culture (including the Museum of Recent History in the City of
Solitude), that the Satalshe were written out of history as a revisionist
effort by the Tholdekans.


The Great War
* - 4615 ACH to ~4720 ACH.
* - A conflict between the western Tholdeka Empire and the eastern Satalshe
people.
* - By the mural's account, Tholdeka had the war pretty much in the bag the
whole time due to superior armaments and a hasty but effective naval strike
into the unnamed Satalshe capital. However, the mural's history has a
revisionist ring, and thus actual events may have transpired differently
than presented.
* - At the end of the war, the unnamed King of Tholdeka merged both nations
into a world government in 4720.


Shetl'she
* - 4812-4900 ACH.
* - Known as "The Lawgiver", and likely the Sleythin who Pragmatic-9 refers
to when speaking of the Lawgiver.
* - A learned rebel, he developed both a rigid and detailed system of
government and a detailed ethical code in response to rampant corruption and
moral excess among the world government of the time. His rebel faction was
called the Liberators.
* - Among his other talents, the Lawgiver was apparently an eloquent speaker
without compare, and a highly competent debator.
* - Before the orb in which Shaana'na lived was erected, that plaza was home
to a giant statue of Shetl'she. He has an almost messianic status among the
Sleythin even up to the current era.


The Liberators
* - Shetl'she's followers. A rebel faction that sprang up between 4800 and
4900 ACH.
* - Despite the somewhat violent-sounding name, their coup was entirely
bloodless thanks to Shetl'she's masterful diplomatic skill.
* - Other than the founder, there are no other members of particular note
mentioned.


Lawgiver's Code
* - The code of laws and ethics penned by Shetl'she. It has served as the
foundation of Sleythin culture for over 4200 years.
* - The core set of laws is based on 108 principles, but each one is so
complex that there are over 20 explanatory volumes for each one.
* - Shetl'she's system of government called for three bodies of politicians,
though the names and functions of each are not specified by the mural.


Power Obelisk
* - A central structure in the City of Refuge. It was topped with an immense
power crystal.
* - Inside it was a room controlling power distribution to parts of the
city. An array of interlocking beams can be repositioned to change the power
distribution, as Tim found out when he powered on the district closest to
the obelisk.
* - By the time Europa Team returned to the City, Bugs had more or less
melted the obelisk to slag. As a result, the City was unpowered when they
arrived.


"Spiders"
* - The smallest type of Bug, used mostly as footsoldiers.
* - Like all bugs, they're a silicate life form. They're white in color and
resemble seven-legged spiders. The average Spider is a foot in diameter.
* - They secrete a greenish liquid with acidic properties but which Illyana
insisted is not actual acid. Prag-9 mentions that it's the same thing they
used to dissolve the Obelisk and it did considerable damage to exosuits even
through minor contact, so it is considerably caustic.
* - Spiders are highly aggressive and attack in packs or swarms, depending
on the situation. They appear to be subordinate, according to Vernon's
research, to the next highest level of Bug ("Crickets").
* - Like all Bugs, Spiders appear to be connected to a demi-hivemind
controlled by the Pyramid.


Sleythin Repair Robots ("iBots")
* - Robots created by the Sleythin for basic repair functions on a wide
range of equipment. They're "organic"-looking designs with no visible head
and colored highlights, with many arms.
* - The sleek and somewhat "cheerful" design prompted many to dub the model
"iBots".
* - Unlike the guidebots, iBots had very limited AI and thus spoke in
halting, basic, but functional Sleythin. Despite their limited intelligence,
iBots had what might be termed a fetish for new technology.
* - iBots subscribe to a decidedly Marxist work ethic.
* - When the Bugs retook the City of Refuge, many of the iBots the Europa
Team found were destroyed. One survived by hiding behind a tool rack.
* - Despite being more than a little bizarre, they're highly effective
little workers with considerable ability to adapt to new technologies,
including Charlie's damaged chameleon skin system, which they recognized
right off the bat.
* - Curiously, the happiest word in the iBot vocabulary appears to be
"shuffleboard".


Guidebots
* - Artificial beings created by the Sleythin to guide visiting races
through the City of Refuge. They look like small spheres with some
distinctive markings, most notably two optical sensors which give the
impression of 'eyes' (they blink off and then on again when the guidebots
'blink').
* - Guidebots have considerably more sophisticated AI than the iBots, due to
their role as tour guides. They have a high-level translation program that
reads a being's alpha wave activity in response to a presented image to
produce the correct word.
* - Each individual Guidebot's personality is based on a core characteristic
from a set of 12. There's 12 of each type, for a total of 144 Guidebots. Of
the 12 types, only a few are mentioned (Effluent, Pragmatic, Sycophantic,
and Poignant) and of those only Effluent and Pragmatic were actually met.
They don't appear to always get along; Pragmatic-9 thinks most of the other
personality types are jerks.
* - There's an effect called "pollution of personality" that affects
Guidebots who stay with any group of visitors too long. According to Prag,
this usually means being put in Hibernation-9 status (permanent power
cutoff) afterward. As of the middle of ATC1, the only City of Refuge
guidebot not in some hibernation state is Prag himself. The Europa Team took
him back with them.


Effluent (also: Effusive, Efflusive)
* - One of the two guidebots assigned to Europa Team. It led Chako and the
others around the Gate of Ages. His call number is not given.
* - His personality type indicates someone who likes to talk, which is more
or less true. Effluent is a bit of a snob and his feelings are hurt easily.
* - He doesn't like to let people see Shaana'na, for some reason. Shaanaa'na
thinks the bot has a loose screw since he asked specifically for people to
be let in to see him, but being inside the time distortion he can't exactly
do anything about it.
* - To that end, he is also a rotten liar. Even Chako saw right through him.
* - It's probable that after the Europa Team left, he was put in short-term
hibernation, which became long-term (possbily permanent) hibernation after
the Bug attack.
* - Nobody was really that sad to see him go, either.


Pragmatic-9 (also: Prag, Prag9)
* - The ninth unit of the Pragmatic guidebot type. He led Isis around the
Science Museum.
* - As the name suggests, his base personality is calm and indifferent, even
a little crude at times. He is more direct than other guidebots. After the
Europa Team take him back to Mars, the pollution of personality effect that
would normally earn him permanent termination is quite pronounced.
Surprisingly, whatever he picked up from the entire group made him much more
normal than the team itself.
* - He volunteered to wait for the Europa Team after the Bug attack in the
hope that they would return. Upon hearing that he would likely be put in
permanent stasis once they were through the Gate, Isis insisted he come with
the group, and then asked the Egg if he could come with them to Mars.
Considering his value as a translator, cook, and in one case emergency
substitute pilot, it was not an unwise decision.
* - Prag is considerably more philosophical than other Guidebots, or so it
seems. He appears to have spent considerable reflection on the passage of
history, the actions of the Sleythin, and the nature of artificial
intelligences. Thus his emotional responses seem a little more genuine than
average, although this may be the "pollution of personality" effect.
* - The Sleythin inside the City of Solitude consider him a relic. Prag
finds this depressing; Tim and Isis get fairly defensive about it as a
result. Tim takes offense to the term "relic"; he implies instead that Prag
is a "timeless classic".
* - Stuck on Mars with very little to do in the Annual Fruitcake, Prag took
up cooking. Surprisingly, he ended up being one of the best chefs on the
planet. He eventually opened up his own successful chain of bistros,
Pragmatic Grille.
* - The hologram guides in ATC facilities past 2070 or so are actually based
on Prag's original guidebot programming. They even move in a similar
fashion.


Time Distortion Orb
* - A large structure built as a home for the Last Living Sleythin. It
stands in a central plaza near the Gate of Ages where a former statue of
Shetl'she the Lawgiver used to be. A ring of decomissioned exosuits more
than 3000 years old faces the site.
* - The structure itself is basically a dais with a large (several 100'
high) orb atop it. The orb itself is held up by numerous statues, and orb
appears to be rotating and filled with a marbly pink/purlish substance.
* - In actuality, the whole setup is more of a gateway than anything else.
Touching a pillar inside the dais allows access to a space-time distortion
in which Shaanaa'na lives.


City Central
* - The generic term for the eight AIs that control the City of Refuge. Most
guidebots and other references leave off the individual call number and
simply refer to their local AI as "City Central".
* - Each City Central is responsible for a particular geographical area, and
all the subordinate machines and intelligences there, including the
Guidebots.
* - According to Prag, City Central gets its information and commands from
the Egg. All eight City Centrals are beyond the Gate of Ages, implying they
have some sort of ability to communicate with the guidebots and other
subordinate mecha through the dimensional gate, possibly through a modified
ITT system.
* - There's every indication that the City Centrals were kept in the dark by
the Egg as much as the guidebots were kept in the dark by City Central.


Messengers
* - Hollow asteroids about a mile across. The Sleythin sent them to more or
less any system they knew of that had some form of intelligent life in it.
* - Inside the Messengers were, according to Prag, a grab bag of goodies,
including translator equipment, images and video, and directions to the
bodyslide bowl's drop location in that system. They also contained a large
amount of the AllDrug, and a key to the Gate of Ages. Much to the Europa
Team's irritation, it also contained a pair of "synthetic" Spiders the
Sleythin included to test the mettle and ability of anyone reaching the core
of the Messenger itself.
* - Earth's Messenger was apparently found quite a while ago by ATC, but
successive attempts to open it all failed. At the time of ATC1, it was in an
asteroid colony orbiting Saturn.


AllDrug
* - A potent medicine developed by the Sleythin. It used nanites to rewrite
physical forms on the genetic level, allowing for the repair of any and all
physical defects. Some was included in the Messengers. The AllDrug's
physical form is essentially the same as the power crystals: energy bound
into a crystalline matrix. It looks like rough green quartz.
* - Illyana used the AllDrug to repair her legs, and regained the ability to
walk for roughly four days before she was killed by Benny Masterson.
* - To hear it told by the Egg, AllDrug was a colossal mistake. It has
serious drawbacks. Taking the AllDrug drove Illyana quite insane, for
starters, but it also had the gruesome effect of giving her regenerative
abilities right up to the nerve damage level, meaning that any particular
'part' of her would eventually regrow into a clone given sufficient time;
it's suspected that this is where Masterson's army of Illyana clones came
from.
* - Using the AllDrug causes a huge initial surge in body temperature (from
the uncounted nanites all working on genetic code simultaneously). 

Shanaa'na
* - The "last living sleythin". He resides in the space-time distortion orb
at the center of the City of Refuge, near the Gate of Ages.
* - A generally good-natured sort. When the Sleythin went into solitude, he
volunteered to stay behind and meet guests.
* - Shanaa'na was, apparently, one of the foremost scientists of his era,
though which era is "his" anymore is up for debate.
* - He has a thing for crossword puzzles. He is almost always "just about
done" with one. Given the nature of his existence it's possible he's been
one word away from finishing the same crossword puzzle for close to a
millennia.
* - There's a possibility that Shanaa'na was involved in the bodyslide
experiments in 7825 ACH that were responsible for the Bugs discovering the
Sleythin. He was almost certainly involved in planning the dispersal of the
Messengers.
* - He is rather amused by the intense drama of the human existence, likely
because he is functionally immortal and bores easy.
* - He is also a big fan of plant-water.


Plant-water
* - A Sleythin steeped plant-based beverage. It tastes like sassafras and is
served warm.
* - Almost all of the Europa Team members tried and liked it, as Shanaa'na
was a big fan and kept some handy. Isis didn't trust it enough to try it,
but her son Threnody is quite fond of it, ironically.
* - The translator program parsed it as "tea". By the time of ATC2, most
humans call it "plant-water" instead.


"Crickets"
* - Medium-sized Bugs. They're controllers to Spiders, or so Vernon claims.
They look like huge upright crickets, colored white, with an extra leg
sprouting from their heads.
* - They appear to be more intelligent than Spiders and don't travel in
packs. They are capable of speech, but it basically sounds like what you'd
expect mandibles to produce; that is to say, mostly clicking and buzzing
sounds.
* - Unlike spiders, they use weapons. The Crickets Charlie and Isis killed
outside the Gate of Ages were carrying high-quality (by human standards)
energy rifles. Unlike Spiders, they do not bleed or secrete anything highly
acidic.


ATC Special Investigative Group on Anomolous Scientific Phenomena (AKA
SIG-ASP)
* - A special research and development division of ATC created to deal with
paranormal or unexplained scientific matters, usually technology.
* - The number of departments in SIG-ASP remains uncharted, perhaps to the
benefit of everyone involved. The ones with the best funding and
consequently the broadest range of projects appear to be Anomalous
Technology and Xenology. A few other departments are named, most notably the
Dimensional Technology lab.
* - During ATC1, SIG-ASP is headed by Frederick Montague. Shortly after
Rondure's restructuring of the department, Vernon Marcus took over the
position.
* - At the time of ATC1, SIG-ASP's active research employee count was close
to 700 people. They employ a number of support personnel, including a cordon
of ATC Military who oversee defense and security in the Foxhole. The total
employee count was thus probably closer to 800 or 900 people.
* - And every single one of them is certifiably insane. The average SIG-ASP
employee is a dedicated anachrophile with access to high technology
development labs and with rather flexible project goals. This combination
is, as the Foxhole shows on numerous occasions, pretty damn dangerous.
* - SIG-ASP's second director was Waldo Xarcam the 14th. He is responsible
for the addition of the Foxhole's lobby.


Frederick Montague
* - The director of SIG-ASP during the time of ATC1.
* - Unlike the vast majority of his colleagues, Montague appears to be at
least halfway sane. His behavior during the Europa Team's debriefing gives
one the impression that he was chosen for his patience alone. He may not be
an actual scientist.
* - Considering the demands of the job, it's very likely Vernon didn't have
the chance to get out the words "Thank you" before Montague had handed over
the keys, was over the horizon line, and accelerating.

Steven Skipowski (AKA "Skip")
* - SIG-ASP's head of Xenology during ATC1.
* - A nutcase. Of the three directors who interviewed the Europa Team, Skip
was the most insane. He is clearly the type of researcher who never leaves
the lab, and thus has the social skills of a deranged wolverine.
* - Can be remarkably petulant when he feels slighted, even when the person
doing the slighting outranks him.
* - A few of Skip's comments make it fairly clear that he's not well-liked
by his coworkers, but it doesn't take a genius to figure THAT out.
* - It's unknown what happened to him after ATC1. He appeared to be ready to
retire, but there's a distinct possibility that Chako or Isis found and
killed him instead, safe in the knowledge that no jury would convict them.

Eric Reed
* - The head of Anomalous Tech during ATC1.
* - A very businesslike individual, he is also refreshingly normal for a
SIG-ASP employee. He's a little less personable than Montague, but is
nowhere near as crazy as Skip.
* - The Cube implies that Eric actually inherited his position from Vernon,
who lost it at some point for an undefined reason, though this is merely
conjecture.


Karen Tsukitomi (AKA Karen Miyahara)
* - Isis' sister and Threnody's aunt. She is the second of two Tsukitomi
children.
* - Unlike her sister, Karen wasn't very athletically inclined, but was a
child prodigy in a number of scientific fields. Once her parents joined the
NeoHippies, she was raised by Isis until she was old enough for ATC's head
start program for advance students, when she moved to Red Boston to study.
* - Once she graduated, she accepted a position as a medical researcher in
one of ATC's facilities in Red Osaka. She met and married a wealthy man from
old Earth money, Jun Miyahara. They currently still live in Red Osaka.
* - Oddly, while Isis inherited her father's looks and martial talent, she
got her mother's bad temper. Karen takes after her mother, physically and
mentally, but is considerably more genial than her sister. They don't talk
that often, but Karen and Jun have given Threnody a place to stay in their
home numerous times. She gets along with her nephew quite well, likely
because he's a little easier to get along with in general.
* - According to Isis, one of Karen's hobbies is biopaleontology,
specifically of large sea mammals.


Red Atlanta
* - Martian city in the English-speaking Coalition.
* - Most of ATC's central administration is done from Red Atlanta, as it is
the home of SIG-ASP, and by extension of the Cube and then Rondure.
* - Red Atlanta has two distinct faces: the pristine residential and
corporate areas, and the I-zone, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, or at
least scum.
* - There was a large fire which consumed a number of homes in Red Atlanta
in 2064. The cause is still unknown to everybody but the Europa Team and
their associates.
* - Isis was a citizen of Red Atlanta, and the ATC facility there was where
she worked before being reassigned to Europa Team. Illyana also had a home
in Red Atlanta.
* - Supposedly, Red Atlanta has an excellent publc library.

Marco Bennetson (aka "Slipstream")
* - A combat instructor at ATC Red Atlanta, and Isis' predecessor. She took
over his position when Marco was transferred to Ganymede for special
operations.
* - He's a good fighter (he couldn't have gotten his job if he weren't), but
he is also a moron.
* - Marco resents Isis, mostly because she did a better job than he did and
was much better liked. He took steps to make her job as miserable as
possible at every turn.
* - Isis described him as "walking scar tissue", which ended up being more
or less accurate. He apparently has very poor dental hygiene.
* - Despite being older and having been in the service longer, Isis
outranked him, putting his likely rank at either Sergeant or Corporal.


Bethany (AKA Bethany Larson)
* - ATC Maintenance employee.
* - She's a Tim fangirl to a degree bordering on the psychotic. Other than
that, however, she's fairly normal, and clearly a very talented mechanic.
She also knows how to pilot a skimmer.
* - Bethany has a thing for all-nighters. Her coworkers simply call her B.
* - Has a very high weirdness tolerance, which is fairly understandable.
* - After ATC1, she and Tim are married. It's unknown if she kept working,
or was content to stay at home thanks to Tim's movie career.


Broom Closet BCC-1701-F
* - A normally inocuous broom closet in the ATC Red Atlanta facility.
* - In addition to cleaning supplies, it also has a Persian rug. The door is
keyed to the IFF signal of a select list of exosuits and won't open
otherwise.
* - The rug is actually a high-speed elevator leading to the Foxhole. It's
activated by pushing one of the brooms totally upright.


The Foxhole, version 1 (circa 2060s)
* - A colloquial name for SIG-ASP's central research facility, located in
Red Atlanta. It's accessible only by high-speed elevator from Broom Closet
BCC-1701-F.
* - Cogent (or perhaps, more accurately, "cohesive") description of the
Foxhole is impossible, as the building is not what one might call "static"
in design. It is a many-layered facility that starts three miles under the
Martian surface and continues considerably deeper. Most floors are dedicated
to a particular specialty field or department, and most offices on a given
floor maintain consistency of decor with each other.
* - As of ATC1, SIG-ASP was divided into five sections, according to the
lobby monitor:
1: Command Center
2: Grand Entryway
3: Anomalous Technologies
4: Barracks/Commissary
5: Variable environment labs, including the Anomalous Materials lab
It's possible that the Satellite Lander game accessed from button six was
just a cover for the Dimensional Technologies lab on the bottom floors, but
it's equally possible that whoever made the lobby map was simply a lunatic
with too much free time.
* - The Dimensional Technologies lab is on the bottom floor. It is actually
quite tastefully decorated, in a New England old money snob sense. Isis
commented that it certainly did seem extradimensional, "by comparison".
* - The Foxhole is full of monitors. They are essentially 24-7 blipvert
machines ala Max Headroom, although most fit themselves to the program
working on the floor. For example, the lobby showed a mishmash of things,
but the barracks consistently showed the director's cut of "Full Metal
Jacket".
* - Security is quite unorthodox in the Foxhole. Retinal scanning and voice
recognition are standard, but the methodology is not always the obvious eye
reader/microphone setup. Oftentimes the key phrases for voice recognition
are nonsensical phrases or obscure cultural references per the whim of the
designer.


Vernon Marcus
* - SIG-ASP technician and member of the Europa Team. His specialty is data
processing, programming, and computerized intrusion, among other things. He
is not a military officer, and thus has no military rank.
* - Relatively unflappable, on the whole, when it comes to the new or
unexpected. One would suspect that extended stays in the Foxhole can do that
to a person.
* - Not exactly a fighter. Like Tim, he was included in the roster for
scientific and engineering support.


"Bob Jones"
* - The head of SIG-ASP's Dimensional Technology lab as of ATC1. Since
everyone working in said lab is called "Bob Jones", there's no way to know
what his real name is.
* - He affects the same Leave it to Beaver personality quirks that dominate
the DimTech lab's decor: he smokes a pipe, talks about a loving wife Vernon
doesn't even *have* (and therefore her non-existent begonias), and dresses
in tweed. Otherwise, though, he's relatively normal.
* - Bob seems a little afraid of Chako and Isis, though this is not
unexpected.
* - In ATC2, Vernon appears to have taken over DimTech personally, so it's
unknown what became of Bob afterward. It's possible he and his wife retired
to the suburbs with what we hope is only a metaphorical 2.5 kids.


Jury-rigged Bodyslide Bowl
* - A stopgap measure created by ATC (specifically, the Dimensional Tech lab
in SIG-ASP) inside of three days based on available sensor data shortly
after the return of the Europa Team from Sleythin for the first time.
* - It works... to a point. The alignment is a bit off. Thus passengers
spend a certain degree of time inside the dimensional void through which
bodyslide bowls make things pass. Said dimensional void is basically
starless black matte, though images of what is purported to be cosmic truth
are visible out of the corner of one's periphery, as though they're avoiding
the viewer.
* - Said secrets apparently involve seedless muskmelons, because the GM is a
huge dork.


Asteroid 105 (AKA Artemis, Pastrami Cradle)
* - An asteroid presumably orbiting Titan, a moon of Saturn.
* - Home to the Pastrami Cradle, and thus Earth's Messenger.
* - Half of it was hollowed out by ATC and used as a remote research
facility, much like a miniature Dyson Sphere. It has a lab section and a
residential section. The horizon curves up rather than down.
* - A combination of artificial lighting systems and weather simulation
gives the place a "sky". The "light bar" serving as the sun is about two
miles above the residential section. It's actually a central tube about a
half mile across and close to 40 miles long or so (possibly longer), covered
in warm lighting panels.
* - The Messenger is in a ten mile wide central room full of scaffolding
near the center of the light tube. Illyana snuck in using the light tube's
ventilation shafts.
* - Asteroid 105 was more or less totally levelled by the NeoHippies shortly
before the Europa Team arrived to defend the Messenger. It's unknown if
there were survivors, but it seems unlikely.


Mark Sherman (AKA Fishwater)
* - A NeoHippy and one of the squad leaders of the force that attacked the
Pastrami Cradle.
* - He has the dubious honor of being one of the only named NeoHippies ever
mentioned. Isis pumps him for information on the NeoHippy attack and, once
she gets it, kills him.
* - He just wanted to find himself. Aww.


Earth's Messenger
* - As with all other Messengers, it's a mile-wide asteroid sent by the
Sleythin and containing a lot of interesting things. As of ATC1, ATC has it
and has been studying it inside the hollowed-out asteroid Artemis at the
Pastrami Cradle.
* - Access to the inside is via a 50' by 50' door that ATC could not manage
to open even with the use of a low-yield nuke. The Europa Team, resourceful
bastards that they are, managed to open it. Analytical sensors simply didn't
see the thing at all. Visual sensors occasionally detected certain
lattice-like distortions in the door frame. The initial door was opened by
directing the four fundamental forces at particular areas of the
latticework.
* - The second door involved hitting a moving 'lens' with a laser of some
form.
* - The third door was opened by inserting a properly-sized chunk of the
AllDrug, a vat of which was located in that very room. It was here that
Illyana used the AllDrug to cure her paralyzation.
* - The fourth door's lock was a holographic RNA "puzzle".
* - The fifth door opened when Tim made a line on an interactive star map
from the location of the Messenger to Europa.
* - The sixth door was guarded by two "fake" Bugs that were automatically
revived via the AllDrug (they originally looked like piles of rock). These
were supposed to be chained, but over the eons the chains had rusted to
nothing. Defeating them opened it.
* - Inside the final room were two things of note: the Key to the Gate of
Ages, and Benny Masterson, who taunted the team about how little they knew,
then vanished.
* - The fate of the Messenger after ATC1 is unknown. Presumably ATC still
has it, somewhere, unless the Sleythin demanded it back. It may be in a
museum.

Dr. Chebychev
* - A researcher working on opening the Messenger. Illyana hacked his
password out of the system to get ATC's data out of the computers set up
around the door.


Black Bean
* - A mercenary working with the NeoHippies and the Bugs.
* - All that's ever seen of the man is his face, which is broad and
pig-nosed. He was bald.
* - Clearly the muscle of the Red Bean/Black Bean duo, his immense suit was
black and heavily armored. His main weapon was a large graviton hammer. It
also had the ability to independently d-shift.
* - It's very probable that like Red Bean, he had to give something up in
order to obtain the power that he did. The implication exists that after his
upgrade before the Hippies attacked Mars directly, his actual human body was
more or less gone. He tells Isis, on the Pastrami Cradle, "There's more of
me fake than real, girl."
* - Sarcastic, brash, not too bright, and a total sociopath. He is smarter
than his compatriots, but was easily duped by Isis and Charlie's
diversionary tactic.
* - His goals simply seem to have been to fight, and nothing else.
* - Like Red Bean, there's the hint that he knew more about the Game than he
was letting on.
* - Died in a rather spectacular blaze of glory during the Europa Team's
counterattack against the Hippies, having been blown to bits by Chako's
ridiculous Alpha Strike.


Red Bean
* - Black Bean's partner and a mercenary working with the NeoHippies and the
Bugs.
* - Only his face, a lean one with cruel features, was ever seen.
* - The brains of the duo. Quite literally, in fact, as his suit provided
him with some sort of psionic power, or possibly an amplifier for latent or
weak psychic powers. Regardless, Red Bean had telepathy, telekinesis, and a
variety of other psionic skills. He implies that his powers are actually a
result of mental tampering by the Bugs ("They put you to sleep, open up your
head and look around. Heehee!").
* - Red Bean's suit was built for speed rather than power. It was red,
sleek, and had a pair of wings on the back. There were no obvious armaments;
he apparently relied solely on his powers for attack and defense. It had
some sort of electrostatic auto-defense. Like Black Bean's suit, it could
d-shift on its own. The helmet, for lack of a better word, "sparkled".
* - Whereas Black Bean was violent and crude, Red Bean gave the considerable
impression that he was just flat-out insane. He laughed at just about
anything, including his own demise. Red Bean thought of the entire affair as
a game, though if his battle on Mars is any indicator, he becomes a little
crazed when it looks like he's going to lose.
* - Red Bean knew quite a bit about the Game and a variety of other
clandestine topics. He refers to himself (and possibly Black Bean) as one of
the Bugs' "Chosen".
* - Surprisingly, Tim took down Red Bean in mental combat, but only after
Vernon had worn him down. Red Bean seemed surprised at how strong Tim and
Vernon were.
* - Died on Mars when Isis stuck her sword through his stomach, or perhaps
when Chako hurled his suit into the distance and it went up in a rather
fascinating display of why matter and anti-matter shouldn't mix.
* - For some reason, Tim derisively referred to him as "Red Fart".


Key to the Gate of Ages
* - An unremarkable crystal object similar to the power crystals found on
Sleythin. Other than being the key to open the dimensional field that
separated the City of Solitude from the rest of the universe, it had no
particularly interesting features.


Krissy Hunter (AKA Krissy Styrina)
* - Chako's roommate, then 'wife'. 'Mother' of Katrina Hunter.


TrucksBeWe
* - A Red Atlanta-based truck rental company. Their rates are quite
reasonable and they'll even deliver the vehicle, within reason. The truck
the Europa Team rented to move into the I-zone was a TrucksBeWe truck.
* - The company colors are purple and green, ala Swiffer.


Honest Stan's Used Ship Emporium
* - A used ship dealership in one of the Red Atlanta I-zones. As is standard
for used vehicle lots, it is a garish, shiny nightmare run by a
profit-driven, hyperactive pathological liar with the fashion sense of a
potted cactus.
* - The lot is mostly hacked-together lemons and junk, but for the cautious
shopper there are actually a few good buys at Stan's.
* - The sister business (literally) to Honest Stan's is Irene's Docking.


Honest Stan
* - Owner of Honest Stan's Used Ship Emporium. Brother of Irene.
* - That really is his name. He changed it.
* - A pudgy, hyperactive psychopath hellbent on selling anything and
everything he possibly can. The type of individual who is not smarter than
you, but is convinced he is anyway.
* - It's unclear if he's just a gung-ho salesman or a pathological liar. It
might be both.
* - He wears suits of the most god-awful colors imaginable, and generally
some sort of insane hat. When the Europa Team came to buy the Flying Brick,
it was a sombrero.


Irene's Docking
* - A docking and storage facility for spaceships in one of Red Atlanta's
I-zones. The basic setup is like a giant shelved warehouse with moving
platforms to get things where they need to go.
* - It's run by Irene, where "run" is defined as "casually watched over by
chain-smoking nutjob from a photomat booth".
* - Sister business (literally) to Honest Stan's Used Ship Emporium.
* - The Flying Brick was located in dock R6-F4-S17: row 6, floor 4, slot 17.

Irene
* - Owner of Irene's Docking. Sister of Honest Stan.
* - A chain-smoking, antisocial middle-aged hag. She monitors everything
that goes on at the docks from a plexiglass booth not unlike a photomat.
* - Spends most of her workday watching porn.
* - Her voice is like a belt sander running on sheet metal.
* - Does not like Vladimir Canberra/"Kookaburra". Then again, she doesn't
seem to like anyone in any way.
* - Basically, she's a bitch.


HomeBiltBitz
* - Wholesale parts dealership in one of Red Atlanta's I-zones. Generally
handles bloodsuit and exo work, but also deals in ship parts. Owned by a man
named Marcus.
* - Has what might be considered a thriving black market parts trade on the
side.


Marcus
* - Owner of HomeBiltBitz. A swarthy blonde with a thick Eastern European
accent. His speech is peppered with German.
* - As one might expect from a black market parts dealer, he is discrete,
prompt, and charges some really absurd fees. However, he does procure
high-quality goods on demand, so the price is usually worth it.
* - He thinks Irene is a bitch, which is proof of his sanity a thousand
times over.


Mozingo Orangutan
* - A bar across the street from Honest Stan's Used Ship Emporium.
* - It's a total dive, as one might expect from the neighborhood, but if
Chako, Charlie, and Isis' visit was any indication, it's fairly quiet for a
dive. Then again, the jukebox was full of bullet holes.
* - The bartender is a giant of a man named LEFTY.


LEFTY
* - Bartender of the Mozingo Orangutan. An absolutely enormous hulk of man.
Naturally, he speaks in a high-pitched voice ala Mike Tyson.
* - Not a terribly responsible or hygienic person, but he has a realistic
personality with the kind of amused detachment common to bartenders
everywhere.
* - He wears an eyepatch over his right eye, which is likely either gone or
unusable. His left eye is usually so squinted one can't tell if it's even
open.


BudMiller
* - The fusion beer of TEH FUTURE.
* - It probably tastes just as nasty as either of its progenitors.


The Bleeding Mark
* - A bloodsuit bar, probably one of the bigger and more established ones.
It's in one of Red Atlanta's I-zones, the same one as Honest Stan's.
* - The outside decoration isn't much to speak of: a battered tavern sign
and the remains of bloodsport suits. There's also a sign boasting that the
bar serves over 7000 types of alcoholic drinks, and 3 non-alcoholic ones.
* - Inside the Mark is set up on a four floor system with a multi-tiered bar
in the center stretching from the ground to third floors. Wherever there
isn't bar area, there's tables with the exception of the dance floor on the
first floor (which extends vertically all the way up to the ceiling). The
fourth floor has no bar, is all tables, and the walls are soundproofed.
* - The usual crowd is fairly rowdy. The bouncers (there are many of them)
carry stun batons and other electroshock devices for the real troublemakers.


Kary
* - Bartender on the second floor of the Bleeding Mark. A short, thin woman
with blue hair and a face full of studs.
* - She is fairly typical bartender fare, although her place of employment
has given her sharper instincts and considerably quicker reflexes than the
average bartender.
* - Is a longtime friend of Chako's from her bloodsuit days.


Basher Tourney
* - A bloodsuit tournament. Beyond the fact that Chako probably participated
in one of them in the past, nothing else is known about it.


Vladimir Canberra (aka "Kookaburra")
* - Freelance ship pilot. The Europa Team met him at the Bleeding Mark
shortly before leaving to return to Sleythin.
* - A mostly unremarkable-looking individual except for his trademark WW2
bomber jacket. He has brown hair which is usually fairly messy, and is
somewhat stubbly.
* - Speaks in a remarkably thick Russian accent.
* - Usually found in the company of his astrogation aide, Lenin.
* - Crude and somewhat irritable, Vlad is nevertheless an excellent pilot.
He stuck with the Europa Team even after their return from Sleythin, though
this was partly due to what must have been an obscene retainer offer from
the Cube.
* - He hates Irene. Irene, in turn, hates Vlad back.
* - There is every indication that Vlad had some sort of smuggling or other
illict business going on the side, as one of his conditions on the Europa
trip in the first place was being able to use the Brick for his own ends
while the team was away.
* - It's not known what happened to Vlad after the team took down the Cloud
and the Cube. He likely returned to freelancing.


Lenin
* - A kookaburra, the type of bird known colloquially as the "laughing
jackass".
* - Vladimir Canberra's partner. Lenin was apparently raised by space
gypsies and is a first-class astrogation expert. He draws on star maps with
chalk held in his beak.
* - Has an absolutely ungodly-sounding squwak likened by more than one
person to "demons from hell cackling".
* - Is bizarrely fond of Tim, and followed him around whenever possible.
* - His favorite alcoholic drink is the whiskey sour.


The Flying Brick
* - A refitted, used ship. It was a medium-class decomissioned ATC cargo
cruiser.
* - Purchased at Honest Stan's Used Ship Emporium. Under duress.
* - After considerable expenditure of money and time, the Brick was turned
into a more or less spaceworthy second home. It had 5 major areas,
consisting of the following:
* - Bridge: Fairly standard windshield and chairs setup. The walls are dark
burgundy to match the shag carpeting. Most of the instrument panel is oddly
labelled. Once Vladimir was hired, he decorated the bridge with World War II
memorabilia.
* - Common Room: The ship's "hub". It has basic lounge-type appointments
(everything bolted to the floor), including a kitchenette and entertainment
system. The only seriously out of place item is the disco ball. The color
scheme is cool colors with some yellow.
* - Crew quarters x6. Each of the five Europa Team members at the time the
Brick was refitted had their own room with a particular, individual style
(Vernon and Tim's were highly computer-focused; Charlie, Chako, and Isis had
more combat-themed decor). The sixth room was left open for the pilot, but
whatever Vladimir did to his quarters was never fully described.
* - Storage. Just as it describes, mostly cargo space. There is also a
highly-abused Dance Dance Revolution 47th Mix machine.
* - Tech Staging/Map Room/Medbay. The most impressively outfitted area of
the ship. A mostly open area that was made into a sort of combined
technology space. The landing ramp also opens onto the room, as well as
having the storage units for exosuits. The predominant motif is chrome.
* - The ship is very light on armaments; it wasn't built for combat. There
is a single long-range turret for dealing with suit-sized targets, as well
as a "virus cannon" that infects a single larger target (like a ship or a
building) with a highly potent nanovirus, disabling it totally. However, the
virus cannon only had three shots initially, and at least one was used
before the Brick was retired.
* - The paint job is "Makes It Go Faster Red". Thus the name.
* - The Europa Team used the Brick to their own ends well into the end of
ATC1. Once the team disbanded, the Brick was decomissioned and donated to a
museum of recent history.


NeoHippy Ships
* - Much like their suits, NeoHippy ships are cobbled together from more or
less anything that appears to be handy, with parts ranging from old fenders
to what appeared to be a blender of some sort.
* - The melange of parts is their biggest weakness. Charlie managed to down
two Hippy ships simply by shooting out the bridge's observation window.


Bug Ships
* - It's not totally clear what Bug ships really are. They are either a core
of rock surrounded by Bugs with an outer hull made to resemble a
conventional but odd-looking ship's form, or they simply project the image
of a "normal" ship over the rock to facilitate interaction with the
NeoHippies.
* - Either way, they're creepy.
* - Despite the alien nature of the technology, the only Bug ship ever
encountered appeared to be susceptible to the Brick's virus cannon.
Presumably Chako's shot at the ship's "core" killed the crew.


Extrasolar Sleythin
* - The Sleythin did in fact attempt a number of missions outside their own
star system, either through bodysliding or other methods.
* - However, none of them ever reported back despite almost a millennia
passing since they left. Most Sleythin presume they've been dead or lost for
quite some time.


The Gate of Ages
* - An extradimensional barrier separating the City of Solitude and its
pocket dimension from the rest of the universe. The access point for the
gate is right behind the Time Distortion Orb where Shanaa'na lives.
Inserting a Key found inside a Messenger opens the gate.
* - Guidebots and City Central insist only a "level 4 Magistrate" can open
the gate; this is likely a front of some kind, as the only things that
appear to be able to open the Gate from the City of Refuge side are the
Keys.
* - When in use, the Gate appears as a large ripple of solid green about ten
feet in diameter. Unlike bodyslide bowls, there is no side effect to
transport. It shuts itself automatically after it is passed through.


Sleythin Gate Defense Cannon
* - A huge energy cannon with a 40' diameter barrel. The Sleythin Army in
Abstentia keeps it pointed at the Gate to deter hostile intruders.


Gyor'carl
* - Sleythin and Third General of the Protectorate Army in Abstentia. It is
generally assumed that Gyor'carl is a female, though this is not exactly
100% certain.
* - Gruff and taciturn. She has the itchy trigger finger typical of military
Sleythin in the City of Solitude. Naturally distrustful toward strangers
after many run-ins with considerably more dangerous races.
* - Most of the Europa Team didn't really like her that much. Isis actively
hated her, though this seems to stem from Gyor'carl's treatment of Prag-9
more than anything else. Even other Sleythin (well, non-military ones)
consider her crude and barbaric.


Sleythin Protectorate Army in Abstentia
* - What basically amounts to a large Sleythin peasant militia formed of
disaffected youth. The ranks number around 16,000 soldiers.
* - The Army was formed as a result of the Army in Absentia Protection Bill
(revision 162), which was practically forced through the system by the
Council of Youth but allowed by the High Council in order to avoid
alienating the young Sleythin of the city.
* - They mainly concern themselves with defending against any races coming
through the Gate, though once the Human/Sleythin first contact was made a
few detachments (including Taluun'tzo's) were involved in the war against
the Bugs on the outside.


City of Solitude
* - The last refuge of the Sleythin race, located in an extradimensional
pocket beyond the Gate of Ages.
* - Prag's information from the Egg put the estimated population at 2
billion, and the acreage at 45,000 square units of Sleythin measure (likely
something approximating an acre or two).
* - A considerably impressive place, which is absolutely massive. The
tallest buildings intersect with the roof of the cave a great distance
above.
* - Matter for nanite construction is brought in through a "pipeline"
installed when the city was founded.


Appletato
* - A Sleythin fruit. The actual common or taxonomic name is not given. It
resembles an apple that has eyes like a potato.
* - According to Tim's extensive scan, the appletato is, quote, "delicious,
nutricious, and high in dietary fiber".
* - Appletatoes do not have a single fixed flavor. Rather, each bite
presents a new and different taste than the last. The maximum number of
potential appletato flavors is unknown, but among the list are: a sweet
tomato, watermelon, and "pineapplelike". Appletato cores taste more or less
like dirt.


Nanite allergy (aka Nanite flu)
* - Allergic reaction to intense nanite density with varying levels of
severity. The body, unused to the sudden influx of foreign bodies, goes
haywire with histamine and immune reactions.
* - Some beings simply sleep it off their first night, while others show
more pronoucned symptoms and can be knocked out for days. Most of the Europa
Team weren't heavily affected, but Tim and Isis were almost out for an
entire day as a result; Leky'cho's intervention helped in a quick recovery.
* - Among humans, symptoms can incldue: abdominal pain, sore throat,
coughing, sinus headaches, nausea, swelling or itching of affected areas,
and tiredness. The nausea can result in the nanites being thrown up as a
silvery fluid.
* - Generally, the only treatment is an anti-nanite drug to ease the nanite
density (and reduce the effect of symptoms) and rest until the body adjusts.


Leky'cho
* - House physician to the Sleythin Council. Of indeterminate gender. Has a
very distinct design tattooed on his/her crest, which is fairly large.
* - In general, is the type of scientist who is eager to study new things
and thus can be somewhat scatterbrained in his/her excitement. Seemed highly
interested in studying human physiology.


Sleythin clothing
* - In general, Sleythin clothing falls into two types: functional and
decorative.
* - Functional clothing is worn more or less everywhere, and is made of a
heavy, porous fabric not unlike insulating material. It's designed to hold
water and keep the Sleythin moist.
* - Decorative clothing is made from lighter materials with rough
similarities to cotton, denim, and silk. The predominant colors are earth
tones, and most clothing is either robes or bodysuits.


Museum of Recent History
* - A small building in the City of Solitude. It is really nothing more than
a small theatre. When they Europa Team visited it was entirely empty, but
they also showed up in the middle of the night.
* - The actual 'program' consists of a nanonic puppet fluid which
continually reforms itself into various scenes from the city's history. The
first event is the City's creation in 7745 ACH. Other major events include
the perfection of nanotechnology (7746) and the creation of the Army in
Abstentia (7790).
* - The history was short and decidedly uneventful; the Europa Team
suspected it was doctored.


Mano'kash
* - A member of the Sleythin High Council in the late 7700's.
* - As a method of protest, he ingested an immense amount of nanites in a
suicidal attempt to destroy any records of weapons, armaments, tactics, or
other war-related data from the City of Solitude in total once the Army in
Abstentia Protection Bill was passed. He asked for his ashes be spread
across the city upon his death as the delivery vector.
* - Mano'kash would likely be saddened to know that the entire stunt was
essentially futile, as the Egg more or less allowed it to happen.
Considering the Egg had more backups of that data than Mano'kash could count
in a lifetime, anyway.


Sleythin High Council
* - The ruling body of the City of Solitude and by extension the Sleythin
race in general. 


Fighters against the Enemy
* - The Sleythin title for the Europa Team. It was given to them in their
roughly four-minute audience with the Sleythin High Council.

Egg, The
* - The largest Sleythin AI, and the single one capable of ITT. 
* - The egg, unsurprisingly, is shaped like an immense Egg. It is covered
with largely meaningless lights, piping, wires, chrome, and gears. 
* - As a distinctly alien AI, whose moral compass did not preclude him from
cultivating the Sleythin like so many pea plants, the Egg came off as
arrogant, annoying, and egotistical. 
* - Since later exposure to the Sleythin people has proved them to be quite
likable in the general, it's rather possible that the Egg is actually
arrogant, annoying, and egotistical.
* - The Sleythin either don't seem to know or don't seem to care about the
Egg's manipulations.

Cube, The
* - A human AI, hidden from the species for a hundred years before the Egg
revealed his existence to the Europa Team in an effort to get them to
cooperate with The Game.
* - The Cube was originally a product of IBM, circa 1964. His construction
is a secret, as is how the necessary complexity for AI was achieved with the
technology of the time. When the company was forcibly broken up in 2013 due
to monopoly laws, the Cube became property of a subcompany, which eventually
became Andressen Tofu Corp (ATC).
* -