Five Earths, All in a Row

[Prince Charon]

May 21: In Dp-Japan, a large number of people high up in the government and military (which somewhat overlap) die in numerous 'accidents, which several others are personally 'invited onwards' by the Emperor ("You have disappointed me. You may use the garden.") In Inp-Japan, the government announces a reorganization and expansion of JAXA, 'to better operate in the changing environment of space in these times.' Though the expansion seems to mostly involve transfers of personnel from the Self Defense Forces, and the reorganization involves many existing employees receiving 'security' training, uniforms, and IJN ranks, the government denies that JAXA is being militarized (while unofficial sources point out that Article 9, Section 2 says nothing about space forces, specifically) - after all, the majority of employees are still clearly civilians. While the Inp-USA had been quietly encouraging Inp-Japan to simply drop or loosen Article 9, this compromise was far from what they were expecting.

May 23: On Inp-Earth, DARPA begins 'back-burner' R&D for a hypothetical prototype battleplate. Conservative estimates project construction to begin before the end of the 21st century... on the Dp-Earth calender. A failed attempt to reverse-engineer some of the lightsabres that were loaned to DARPA results in reproduceable blaster technology, firing a directed plasmoid into the target. The design and 'process' (ritual) is licensed to both Republic Defense Industries and Starship Enterprises (where they are called 'disruptors' (though some Trekkies insist that a disruptor is an entirely different weapon with an occasionally similar visual effect) or plasma weapons - which at least has the virtue of being accurate), as those companies have the greatest concentration of people capable of producing them. Bolts and vortex rings of electrically-charged 'cold' plasma provide less-lethal settings. On Stp-Earth, a third-rate mystic botches a summoning spell and summons an internet spirit from Inp-Earth. Hilarity ensues.

May 26: Further improvements in imaging software allow a number of quite strange things to be seen on the nearby Earths: on Fa-Earth, between two rivers in former Gallia Belgica Prima, there is a nation that appears to be in a state of suspended animation, including even the domesticated plants and wild animals (Ambassador mírchArthur confirms that something like the legend of Sleeping Beauty is occurring there), while in what we would call Russia and Siberia (and to a lesser degree, in Scandinavia), bear cavalry (ursalry?) seems to be in use as elite shock troops; such is also seen in North America, along with mastadon cavalry (which are rather more common, and are also used as beasts of burden). Meanwhile, on Clockpunk Earth, centauriod clanks are visible, along with strange wind-up aircraft, and other bizarre constructions. The Papal astronef remains docked at Ostia, but no other evidence of the crew or passengers can be seen.

May 27: Inp-Spain announces a delay in the commissioning process for their new submarine class, as the subs with have 'wings' and reinforcement added, making them the first heavier-than-water hydrocraft. They will also be the first submarines to possess supplementary fusion reactors. Most of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are promoted to five-star rank, the exceptions being the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. There is some debate on what the Space Force's five-star rank should be, but it is eventually agreed that General of the Space Force works well enough, for now.

May 31: As promised, Greece and Greek Cyprus exit the Eurozone, both using the new Greek drachma, though businesses in both are also permitted to accept British pounds sterling (and are more inclined to do so, for reasons of greater stability). Many British tourists begin booking holidays in either or both nations over the summer, just as planned (no, that was not the only reason they chose British currency, just an intended side-effect).


With thanks to Lord Khuzdul on SB.com for Turkish translations.

'Eugenics' on Steampunk Earth/Earth Three: The first successes in this area happened in about the 1830s and '40s, when pregnant women took small amounts of Haversham's Enhancer, or a derivative thereof, and discovered years later that their children had an unusual degree of focus and creativity naturally, more-so than children they had without taking the Enhancer - though the psychic aspects would very rarely manifest before puberty (those who took too much had children with the sort of problems you'd expect from the children of women who drank large amounts of scotch and absinthe while pregnant, though they still manifested the psychic abilities around puberty). The fact that this worked lead to more experiments in the same vein, leading to small numbers of 'New Men', 'Eugenic Races', or, 'Eugenies'. The oldest known Haversham Eugenie, a woman named Katherine Evans (nee MacLaren), was born in 1832, and each of her five children show Haversham traits, as do her fourteen grandchildren. The oldest non-Haversham Eugenie, an 'Alpha' named Wilton Thompson, is now twenty-three, and has a wife (Mary, also an Alpha) and two children (George and Stephanie), who already show some Alpha traits at ages four and three, respectively.

Experiments in permanently enhancing already-born humans and animal with non-psychic abilities have had little success.

Crunch:

Available Eugenic Race Templates on Stp-Earth:
Alpha (GURPS Bio-Tech, p66), first born in April, 1856
Brownie (Bio-Tech, p68), first born in 1857, rare due to appearance
Ishtar (Bio-Tech, p66), first born in 1859
Orion (Bio-Tech, p67), first born in 1861
Avatar (Bio-Tech, p69), first male born in 1862, first female in 1864
Helot (Bio-Tech, p67), first born in 1864
Metanoia (GURPS Transhuman Space p116 and Tranhuman Space: Changing Times p48), first born in 1866
Drylander (Bio-Tech, p70), first born in 1869
Selkie (Bio-Tech, p71), first born in 1870, rare due to appearance

The names are those in the books, and are the same in the International Register of Eugenic Races (first published 1876), though the Helots, Metanoias, and so forth will not be published for a few years, yet (they aren't considered a 'race' until they produce viable offspring, and there are some who say they shouldn't be considered a race until the offspring also prove fertile). Havershams aren't considered a Eugenic Race. The gaps are intentional, as this only lists successful templates. The GM is free to add a few that, for various reasons, are considered unsuccessful (or are successful but still secret, or successful and known, because it's your game).

The total population of non-Haversham upgrades is less than a thousand, world-wide, but is growing, now that the Alphas have proven fairly successful. Once the Alphas and others have grandchildren, the population will likely explode, and not just on Stp-Earth.