An explosion rocked the city walls as if a hundred mages unleashed their fury upon the peaceful people of Souls'e Province. An instant silence in the wake of the blast was nearly as loud as the noise that erupted right after as another series of explosions followed the first. Then the screaming began. Low at first, then became physical as if a wave of noise punched us all in the gut and sent us to our knees. Even the guards began running, screaming. 'The people, they... they are murdering everyone. The city has gone mad. RUN!!!'

Mag Rails rose in prominence across Eurasia after the Resource Wars ended, and remain popular vehicles on the Silk Road and in wasteland areas.

The interplanetary cruiser ISS Livingstone was launched on a grandiose mission to tour every planet in the solar system, a technological tour de force of Technodyne Heavy Industries and SmartTek Technologies. It was an over-hyped media sensation that, predictably, failed to live up to expectations.

Weaponoids are robotic weapons that intended to used by mecha or similarly large robots

Part of the New Themysciran Readiness Doctrine, there are dozens of Exalted Mothers in each of the island's major cities, each a 20 foot tall combat capable war droid.

Also known as A10s, synaptic amplifiers are both tools for cognet interface and fashion statements

GAMEOS 2.7.11+ (DEFAULT, APR 17 2016, 14:00:29)
[GCC 5.3.1 20160413]
TYPE 'HELP' FOR MORE
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
>>> Mageek
WELCOME, MAGEEK
>>> LIST
LIST WHAT?
>>> LIST FILES
ProjectX secret.txt plot_hook.txt evil_company_hierarchy.txt myplan.txt
>>> OPEN secret.txt
CANNOT OPEN secret.txt. PERMISSION DENIED
>>> OPEN plot_hook.txt
OPENING plot_hook.txt

Let the games begin...

The first documented virtual illness.

A mutation of Legionnaire's Disease, Space Sickness, or Space Lung, is a not uncommon malady of the Cosmic Era

'Again? Okay, where the hell did that come from? He's cut off, damnit!.'

A remarkable pilot in the Atlantic Federation Aerospace Force, the Cosmic Era incarnation of Audie Murphy

Dr. Carter is a well known (at least in academic circles) as an Indiana Jones-esque scholar of the occult and professor of pre-human culture, a Mars born swashbuckler in her youth, now a tenured and crafty acquisitionist.

The virtual police/help function of the CogNet

Formerly known as Annika Monroe of New Newark Arco #6

Also known as Komisar Dvenadtsat, or Agent 12

Also known as PPI or Brain Pumping.

The identification/passport/credit card of the Atlantic Federation/Cosmic Era

Tilde is a charismatic hume who works as a fixer for the hume commune on the dark side of the moon, setting up contracts between the commune and freelancers or mercenary agencies.

Biogenics, arcanotechnology, and post-genderism in the Cosmic Era

Fluorescent Alcoholic Fungus, also known as FAF, is a special kind of neural-sentient fungus, commonly found in non-hygienic taverns..

The good: You don't need light. They are very beautiful and provide a special ambience in the room.

The bad: The noise. The noise!