In GAIN We Trust – Part II

The World of Spherean – Worldbuilding and Lore for a Novel in Progress

Welcome to another episode of The World of Spherean!

Thanks, everyone for being here, and a warm welcome to all new subscribers.

This week we have another update from Spherean, my work-in-progress dystopian novel, set on Future Earth. As mentioned in last week’s FotoFriday, going forward, I’ll focus on providing progress updates on the novel.

The Spheres that protect the last of Earth’s civilisation are failing. Scientist Hein Sorenson has found the solution and gets entangled in a web of cybertheft, corruption, and murder that leads to the destruction of one of the Spheres. A race against time unfolds to ensure the survival of the human race.

The first thing I did this week, was to re-read the last three chapters and edit Chapter Nine. Progress, thus, has been minimal in terms of new word count, but this is necessary work, at least for me, so I can continue where I left off, without much difficulty.

I had planned to write during my vacation in July, but I don’t need to tell you how that went, I guess. I did look at an empty page from time to time but in the end, it stayed empty and upon our return, we had aquatic issues to deal with, among other things.

Now it’s time to hunker down and get the second half of the draft done. Scrivener has this nice feature, that tells you all you need to know in terms of targets, time left, word counts and all that. Now, I’ll go and write the rest of today’s session target.

Scrivener – Show Project Targets Feature (+1032 words for this post, not tracked)

Mode of Transportation

Last time, we met Kay Occamore and his Quantum Levitation pod, the Omni TRX. This time, instead of talking about characters, or where we currently are writing-wise (past the dreaded midpoint), we’ll do a little exploration of some background aspects of the world these characters inhabit.

We know that Felice and Bosso have vehicles, that match their personalities, while others use more generic or public transportation, or a personal taxi, like the JCab.

Generic being the keyword here, generic, modular, functional, efficient, one might say boring? Not at all. What would generic transport for goods and people look like in this GAIN-driven futuristic setting?

The GTM

Here are a few early concepts of the Generic Transport Module (GTM). A four-seat passenger cabin and a heavy load container, all using the same base.

GTM 4-seat passenger cabin v1

GTM Heavy Load Container v1

And here are some images of the GTM v2:

GTM v2

Now, within the novel, these won’t be featured prominently, at least not so far, but such details matter when thinking about the world you create, down to the last blade of grass, even if it’s artificial grass, or especially then.

The way people and goods get moved around, without polluting the artificial atmosphere within the Spheres is an essential part of building a believable world, where readers and viewers can suspend their disbelief.

Trust in GAIN.

The Generic Transport Module (GTM) powered by QLev technology will get you to your destination safely. By boarding a GTM you agree to provide part of your neural processing cycles to the GAIN network for the duration of the transit. Free public transport is just a thought away!

That’s where the fun is, isn’t it? Thinking about all these details, giving them substance, visualizing them, even if it’s only in your mind, or with a video.

Are all these details essential for readers to read and know about?

Maybe not. Maybe they don’t need to know how everything within the Spheres has to be recycled and repurposed, or where all the food comes from. Maybe it’s better not to know, esp. considering the strong odour emanating from the biochemical reactors producing the protein sludge that forms the basis of all food, including the much-loved Spherean classic beverage: Teeka.

Bioreactors are already used today in the food industry in miraculous ways.

Through selection or genetic reprogramming, microorganisms in an intelligent bioreactor can produce a variety of food ingredients such as proteins, vitamins, enzymes, aromas, pigments and fats. It is already possible to produce cheese from milk proteins that have never been in contact with a cow.

Yes, yes. We’ll have Cheesy Puffs long after the last cow is gone, by then we may want to worry about other things than unhealthy snacks, though.

But that’s just it. You start thinking about all those little details, going down so many rabbit holes, it’s fascinating, at least to me it is. Coming up with ways we may try and repair or recreate the ozone layer in the future, once it is gone… maybe not enough for the whole planet, but enough for 42km wide Spheres.

Ozone generators can create ozone artificially by means of extremely high voltages or by means of UV-light. Both methods involve the decomposition of the oxygen molecule. This causes oxygen radical formation. These oxygen radicals can bind to oxygen molecules, forming ozone (O₃).

Forty-two-kilometre-wide Spheres? What? How? Well, that’s something for another time. It can work… you have to suspend your disbelief and trust in GAIN.

If you found this content interesting, you may also like “In Gain We Trust – Part I.”

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Credits

Pod Designs by Master of Pods: Joe Reeve.