Earth Government

Lore & Background

Under the Mandate's rule, Professor Arton Daghdev was convicted for his biology research and sent to the labor camp on the exoplanet Kiln. The government discovered remnants of an intelligent alien civilization there and tasked Commandant Terolan with identifying the builders. However, the reality of Kilnish life—where microorganisms infect humans and organisms hybridize into 'macro-species'—directly contradicted the Mandate's assertion that humanity is evolution's peak. To maintain control, Mandate scientist Doctor Primatt was forced to censor her reports to conform to scientific orthodoxy while supervising Daghdev. The regime viewed the complex symbiosis and parasitism of Kiln not as wonder, but as a threat requiring suppression.

In Their Own Story

Daghdev's rebellion began with his consorting with revolutionary thinkers, leading to his conviction and exile. On Kiln, he planned an uprising with fellow prisoners, but on the night of the revolt, a worker betrayed the conspirators, causing the revolution to be stomped out immediately as punishment. Daghdev and Primatt were demoted to Excursions—the most dangerous job involving teams forced to leave the compound to inspect ruins—while ringleaders were executed. During one excursion, an elephantine Kilnish animal destroyed their flier, forcing the team to march back on foot where they contracted Kilnish microbiota. This infection allowed them to connect nonverbally and subconsciously. Upon returning, they used this newfound collective consciousness to stage a successful revolt. The narrative revealed the 'builders' were not a single species but an emergent property of the entire ecosystem, which awakened with sentience powered partly by the Excursionistas' brains to destroy the Mandate's compound.

Reader's Guide

The Mandate operates as a totalitarian authority where individual deviation is met with exile or execution. Its primary function on Kiln was to extract information about alien ruins while suppressing scientific truths that contradicted its human-supremacy ideology. Commandant Terolan directed operations, relying on scientists like Doctor Primatt who were compelled to falsify data regarding the planet's hybrid macro-species and infectious microbiota. The regime utilized a caste system of laborers and soldiers, with 'Excursions' serving as both a dangerous assignment and a mechanism for control. When Daghdev and others were demoted to this role, it was intended as punishment, yet the Mandate failed to anticipate that exposure to Kilnish life would grant prisoners the ability to communicate subconsciously and overthrow them. The government's rigid adherence to orthodoxy blinded it to the emergent sentience of the entire alien ecosystem.

Did You Know?

• The Mandate's scientific orthodoxy forbade acknowledging that alien life could hybridize into 'macro-species' composed of many different organisms.
• Professor Arton Daghdev was sent to a labor camp on the exoplanet Kiln specifically because his theories contradicted the government's claim that humanity is evolution's pinnacle.
• A betrayal by a single worker on the night of a planned revolt led to the execution of ringleaders and the demotion of Daghdev and Primatt to Excursions.
• The 'builders' the Mandate sought were not a specific species, but an emergent sentience formed by the entire Kilnish ecosystem powered partly by human brains.