The Polysentience is a network made up of all kinds of data designed by the Freespacers to be their semi-omnipotent network. This data is written in three different kinds of data formats which make up the building blocks of the Polysentience's cyberspace network and determine how the data is viewed and interacted with. Different formats make different realms within the Freespacers' cyberspace, although they all coexist with each other in harmony and can be accessed from one to the other.
| “Why should I spell it out, when I can show you the meaning behind the word in the first place? Even the most precise language created by the vastest supercomputer in the galaxy could not fully translate any given concept conceived. To leave language behind and seek out the pure essence of what is conveyed, that is the path to understanding the universe in its entirety. Why teach our young with anything less encompassing?” – The Art of Never Again, Chapter 127: Fixing the Human Condition |
The raw data format is just a databank or stream of data that can be accessed directly by any individual's brain. Unlike standard interfaces popular among other species, this type of format does not present itself in visual, audible or tactile sensory form; at least, not from an objective point of view. Instead, the information is downloaded directly to the brain in the form of raw, abstract, interpretable data. Much like reading a book and creating a strictly imaginary visual or audible memory, the raw data downloaded into the brain is highly malleable to user interpretation and creativity.
For example, a simple .rdf file of a man sitting on a bench can be remembered by users in different ways. One user may claim the man was wearing a jacket sitting in a bench in the middle of a snow field. The other may claim the man was male robot, sitting on a bench in front of his workbench inside his ship, getting ready to engineer some kind of machine. The more specific the file is, of course, the less differences there are between user interpretations, though there will always be significant differences, none-the-less.
Interaction with and through this kind of data is often very subtle: like thinking ideas and receiving random, unexpected feedback from your own thoughts. Much like telepathy, this kind of format is capable of being accessed while doing other things and is a somewhat common form of communications between Freespacers. The raw data format is, though highly used in Freespacer society, an advanced format in Polysentience cyberspace and as such covers only 23% of the Polysentience. This format is also often called the 'schooling format' by Freespacers, as it is the most common way of using Passive Teaching unless a very direct, objective input is required.
| “Since the earliest inception of our species the Polysentience has always been with us, believe it or not. Sure, at the time it was just a bunch of 2-dimensional screens tied together by a couple of hundred servers only accessible by pseudo-analog, manual interfaces, but it was from these beginnings that they evolved into much greater versatile software. Now we can access them even while we sleep. Still, we cannot forget our first networks, our first realms of cyberspace. A hundred years ago, our forefathers chose not to delete them that we may learn from our past and keep our traditions close to our hearts. Today, we still use them, and a hundred years from now our future generations will not regret leaving the roots of the great Overmind there in the bare for all to see.” – Servercoder Sage Eight Eight 88-3419-5525 The Art of Never Again, Chapter 637: But Above All Else, Know Thy Network |
Audiovisual graphic is the most traditional cyberspace format, its roots coming from eras unknown. This format does what it implies: it allows the user to interface with the data through the use of visual and auditory senses accessed directly from the brain, with visual being the main focus and the auditory being secondary. When accessed it produces a floating screen that can be viewed in front of the user, who can customize the screen's opacity, size, options and accessories. Auditory feedback is only given based on what kind of data the user is viewing (videos with audio data, for instance, or listening to music).
Interactivity with this data format is basic, but requires far more attention than interacting with raw data files. Audiovisual sensory graphic realms often consist of text forums, article sites, video upload and live stream sites, radio broadcasts, and any other audiovisual-related activities. The audiovisual graphic format is the most basic and versatile of the formats, as it is compatible with manual interfaces such as touch screens, keyboards and a varied array of pseudo-analog mediums. Because of these attributes the format makes up 35.6% of the Polysentience.
| “The tungsten floor might be cold and hard, the room might be lonely and small, outside there might be nothing more than a deep, vast, white-dotted black, and the silence might be drier than your lips; but always remember that the beach is just around the corner.” –The Art of Never Again, Chapter 544: Dreamsmith Virtual Engineering |
Virtual reality is the most advanced, second-most used format by the general populace in Freespacer society. The Virtual Reality format is, in essence, a second living place for Freespacers, one where commodity is abundant and instantaneous, where everything looks perfect, and where one can experience all the senses to their fullest. Here one can look however one desires, be as strong as one desires, be as healthy as one desires, even be whatever one desires. Virtual Reality allows for an infinite number of experiences and entertainment programs that Freespacers take full advantage of. Be it deadly tests unable to be performed in the real world for fear of massive destruction, instantaneously meeting up with light years-distant friends, experiencing what it's like to be an animal, or simply lounging in the middle of space without worry of death, Virtual Reality allows Freespacers with the full glory of freedom without any consequence whatsoever.
Some Freespacers go as far as to completely forget about the real world, spending their lives within a virtual reality matrix working as programmers for virtual entities, places and a myriad of other things. Others use it for practicing outside the real world; others still use it as a means of face-to-face communication. Regardless of how it's used, according to popularity votes, Virtual Reality for Freespacers is the #1 way of interfacing. Because of this, Virtual Reality Input realms cover 41.4% of the Polysentience.
While Polysentience Virtual Reality is such a vastly fulfilling universe, it also has its flaws. It can only be accessed by direct, wired body-to-machine connection, and requires the full attention of the Freespacer accessing it (as it uses all the senses of the body for interaction). A lot of the multiplayer entertainment programs are also highly addictive, and can sometimes ruin a Freespacer's motivation to work for extended periods of time. Because VR can emulate itself and other forms of format sites, convincing VR realms can cause reality dementia, where the Freespacer is not sure what's real and what isn't anymore from overexposure to Virtual Reality. On the plus side, Freespacers consider Virtual Reality to be the best tool available for training, as Freespacers often lose fear of death because of their diminished sense of reality and Virtual Reality is known to prevent many Freespacers from falling into depression.
| “Long range sensors indicate we have only traversed less than 1% of the galaxy. According to our best codespinners, the Polysentience's cyberspace has grown to be at least as big as the amount of galaxy we have traversed thus far. Imagine, then, how much bigger a place we will make the universe once we have traversed all the galaxies we have yet to set foot on.” – The Art of Never Again, Chapter 637: But Above All Else, Know Thy Network |
These kind of realms, although highly used, are rarely used for anything more than passive learning for infant Freespacers and passive learning in general. They are rarely used for creative stimulation and even more seldom so for entertainment. Here is a brief list of raw data realms commonly used in the Free State:
Audiovisual realms are commonly visited to read up on news, information of any kind, or for entertainment. As they are easily created and very versatile, there are millions upon millions of different audiovisual realms.
Also called 'The Book', The Art of Never Again is thought by many to be the very first realm within the Polysentience. It is an immense encyclopedia divided into loosely categorized chapters, its contents ranging from trivial articles like 'how to shape lichen tattoos', academic articles about other races, all the way to purely philosophical articles. This realm is constantly being updated, added upon, and revised by practically all Freespacers. Above all, it is the most visited realm in all the Polysentience.
A popular site in Freespacer society. It is a channel that is constantly streaming news going on in different fleets across the Free State as well as generally useful information. News include anything from new spatial anomalies discovered, scientific breakthroughs, political surveys and even trivial subjects regarding pop-culture like the latest in famous VR games and stories. Also comes with its own forums and livefeed chat.
A site that streams all things regarding audiovisual entertainment: music, picture galleries, videos, among others. High quality 2D movies and series channels are common, as are radio stations. It comes with its own forums and livefeed chat.
Popular .asg realm that was originally simply a forum where Freespacers looked for other Freespacers with specific trades and talents for assistance, but turned into a trading hub as well. A fleet's worth of volunteer pilots ensure The Hub's trades and transportation of individuals is accomplished within established time frames.
Trying to get a full list of all the virtual realms available would be almost impossible. 'Spacers are constantly building and deleting data from the virtual Polysentience, adding their own private servers and removing them at a whim. All realms have laws which have been programmed as such by the creators, and these work as the realm's 'laws of physics'. It is how the realm normally reacts to interaction unless otherwise altered, which requires much skill among the Freespacers. However, even if someone manages to somehow hack into the master server and alter these laws, regulars will fix the damage and keep the realm running as per usual. Its in bad taste to change the laws of a server without the consent of the local majority.
Laws: Static Environment. Disabled Freebuild. No Aggro.
Welcome to the Polysentience Virtual Reality Lounge! Also known as 'The Lounge' (or, derogatorily, 'The Noob Lounge'), the PolyLounge is the Virtual Polysentience's default entrance and index, like a starting 'homepage'. It is an expansive, clean metal room filled with thousands upon thousands of circular columns, benches and what seem to be circular dark-blue colored pads around these gigantic columns colloquially called 'teleporters', which are used to access other Virtual Realms (for the less experienced; any experienced Freespacer can access the VR Realm index .asg and just choose another location at will), placed around the columns in tens. Between these columns are large, circular balconies floating above a shallow sea under which a glass floor looks out into space, connecting the columns through metallic bridges, commonly with a tree or some type of garden in the middle, and curved benches surrounding it both facing inwards and outwards. Floating above the tree or the garden is a translucent square with a number on it, which ranges from 1 to 5000.
The PolyLounge is a common meeting place for all Freespacers that want to meet up if only to talk. While its common to see all kinds of Freespacers in this realm, the most common kinds are young ones, ranging from 6 to 10 year olds which have just come out of the nursery and are becoming acquainted with the Virtual Polysentience. The rest of the age groups have usually already assigned a new entrance or 'homepage' since having entered the Polysentience's VR cyberspace for the first few times.
Lounge 2500 is the most frequented lounge in all of the PolyLounge. As such, many conferences, public speeches, conventions, concerts, trade (job) fairs and other reunions are made here. When any major event happens in the Free State, Lounge 2500 and its surroundings will always be found full.
Laws: Alterable Environment. Enabled Freebuild. No Aggro.
A network of transparent bubbles that contain different environments, each with a different number on it. Each bubble has a slightly different habitat to the other: one might be a tropical desert, the other might be a tropical beach with a wide, sandy, shallow gulf and many tall islands jutting out of it, another might have a snowy pine field. The bubbles are connected via tubes made of the same impenetrable material, sometimes hidden, sometimes in clear sight, though they may be far above at the top or near ground level at the sides. All biodomes are floating across an artificial replica of space, patterned at odd angles. There are no artificial wild-life other than passive plants. A standing structure or two can usually be found at either near the center of the bubble (where the spawn points usually are) or at key landmarks. The weather in the biodomes can change periodically, from clear dusky skies to gray rainy ones.
Paradise 9 is a place for Freespacers to relax, to drown their sorrows, or simply to have fun. It is an infinitely large virtual spa, with all kinds of machines that grow out of the ground that cheer visitors up and offer virtual drinks, food, directions to popular places within the realm, among other amenities.
At first it was the single effort of one Freespacer that decided to exploit the Alterable Environment law, it later became a community-wide effort to make an urban section for Paradise 9 made from virtual alterable materials obtained from the virtual environment. The physics of the realm are very similar to those of real life, and as such it allowed the construction of urban areas across several biospheres within the realm. Today Stonedigger's Town covers Paradise 9 Spheres 803 to 1503 and expanding, known as a popular community of miners, engineers and programmers who love building structures.
Lobby Laws: Static Environment. Enabled Freebuild. No Aggro. Aggrodome Laws: Alterable Environment. Enabled Freebuild. Aggro.
The ultimate battle simulator for the fight-hungry warmonger. The PvP Aggrodome uses data based on the Mindware user's body and produces viable statstics. The Dome is a realm that many Freespacers visit to learn self-defense, hacking warfare and other practices that require aggro. The Aggrodome has a series of enclosed, static environment, no aggro lobbies where one can select which battlefield one wants to participate in. A series of different battle types are available, from which a single party or two parties negotiate and choose, and then proceed to fight in the arena. The aggrodome will create virtual avatars and run them with pre-programmed reactions and tactics for single parties, or simply produce weaponry and battle types for the two parties to fight, and changes the battlefield depending on the options agreed to.
There are several places where mods are created for a broader variety of match types. From leading starship fleets remotely to leading starship fleets from inside a starship, all the way to primitive warfare using stone axes and wooden clubs. All of these and more are included in PvP AggroMod lobbies.
Laws: Alterable Environment. Enabled Freebuild. Aggro.
BlaQue is an infamous place within the Polysentience which many Freespacers are either excited or weary about. BlaQue Realm consists of a infinitely-sized ship of indeterminate size, with several hallways and halls and biodomes much like a standard Freespacer Mothership. The hallways, halls and biodomes seem to be endless, and they never stare into space, though there are continent-sized halls within the ship that might as well be the outside. Within its many winding halls and biodomes, many mischievous, experienced hackers and programmers lurk, and this is where the BlaQue becomes challenging and treacherous. In this realm, the general rule is the better a programmer and hacker you are, the higher your tier, and everyone and everything else under your tier are your virtual toys. Remotely changing virtual avatars, hacking mindware, and other such annoying, intrusive activities are commonplace in the BlaQue; never anything lethal, mind you, but always extremely embarrassing or psychologically hurtful, or just outright painful sometimes (since Aggro is on).
Here programmers battle wits and codes, and anything goes. Here, the inverse of the rest of the virtual realms happens: if any hacker tries to place any laws, the users instantly delete them and counterattack. The BlaQue Realm is something of general controversy among Hacker Cultists. Most of them agree the realm is a great place to practice their skills, but they generally regret that it is so volatile and filled with scum that pick on newbies.
With all the expert hackers and programmers hanging around in the BlaQue Realms, Virtual Reality modifications are the norm. Tucked away into a wall near a spawn point in the BlaQue lies a club that thrives in virtual body modification. While everywhere else in VR cyber sex is not beyond the common 'spacer, experiencing outlandish fetishes that could not be performed in real life is Club Fetishia's particular intoxicating expertize…
The BlaQue Realm is a place of no law. This makes it a perfect meeting place for the less-accepted organizations within the Free State. The Pirate's Bay is a huge virtual cargo hangar filled with thousands of crates, never used, but a great landmark for space pirates and radical organizations that pick on the other empires. Since the genocide of the Freespacer race, however, the Bay has become much more crowded. Many underground organizations are beginning to form, and the area has become highly popular to those in the know.