Portal

                                Prologue

	I've always been something of a loner.  That's why I volunteered
for the mission.  Yet this empty world below scared me.

	We came in over Florida.  I knew it had to be Earth.  But the broad
facilities of Canaveral were nothing more than a grassy field, though the
outlines were there, and the monuments of the early launch facilities
seemed to be in good repair.  Only after we landed could I see that their
preservation was less than perfect.

	I walked around, poking into the few remaining buildings.  All were
empty and silent.  Gulls circled overhead; small animals moved in the
underbrush at the edge of the meadow; birds sang.  I found a terminal of
unknown design in a building.  Nearby was a small cap labeled with the
words "Mindlink XV3-2044,"  I put it on, but nothing happened.  The
terminal was inactive, and I could find no way to change that.  It had no
screen, no keyboard - only what I took to be holographic projection
platform, and this cap.  I'm not even sure it was a terminal.

	Gyges has been of remarkably little help.  All her expert systems,
all her powerful AI functions seem helpless.  Si I asked her to go over
ship's log.

	Our trajectory went according to program.  We approached 87.79
percent lightspeed within the first five years' subjective travel.  Then
something interrupted the program.  Gyges is unable to analyze what.  a
broad swatch of datastorage seems to have been wiped.  A proton flux? 
Magnetic anomaly?  The scoop performed according to design.  Speed
increased to 93.45 percent C, then 94, 95, 96, 97.  Time dilation began to
affect the circuits in ways Gyges could not determine.

	We never reached 61 Cygni.

	I listened to audible representations.  Mostly the hiss of
highspeed data, the shrill chatter of bits flowing in the superconducting
circuits.  Why do I do this?  I do not know.  There's nothing else to do.

	Once I thought I heard something.  I asked for slower and slower
replays.  I tried filtering and modulating the sounds.  It was almost like
music, a chant or patterned polyphony.  I moved the frequency up and down.

	I heard what I thought must be a name: Peter Devore.

	I must have been mistaken.  Yet the name was there, hidden in the
chittering data, clearly enunciated.  I listened to it over and over.  Then
I went outside again.

	It was a warm spring day.  A light breeze came in from the ocean. 
The air was clean and bracing with salt and ozone.  It was so much like the
day I had left this field (how many years ago?) that I felt a strange sense
of disorientation.  It was as if, for me, everyone and everything familiar
had vanished overnight.

	Gyges sampled all available frequencies, all available channels.

	There was no one in the world, so I lifted the ship and moved
slowly over the face of the Earth, looking for...I do not know what I was
looking for.

	Where Washington D.C. once sprawled beside the Potomac lay a
scattered parkland with ancient monuments; the Lincoln Memorial, the
Washington Monument, the Capitol building.  The Pentagon was just an
outing, a pentagonal berm covered with grass.

	In the Library of Congress building I found a map called Intercorp
world Administrative Regions Archival Hardcopy, with a date: 14 August
2077.  The map includes what appears to be an organizational chart for the
Intercorp Council and its political or administrative regions.

	I didn't recognize any names.  But I read an outline of 21st
century history.  My own departure is listed for 2004.  Monday, 24 May. 
One of the first hypersonic salt-cycle suborbitals took me up the Gyges
scoop.  It's all there.  The newsnets of the time carried live coverage of
the scoops going operational.  By the time I'd left Mars orbit, I was all
but forgotten.  So many other things seemed to be happening in the world.

	In the entry for Thursday, 5 February 2076: "Gyges 61 Cygni single
man explorer telemetry ceased as of this date.  Signal attenuation
indicates system shutdown.  Presumed lost."

	That's all.  "Presumed lost."  No effort to understand what
happened.
	
	I had no idea how much time had passed, of course.  When the ship
revived me, 200 million kilometers out, I was disoriented and puzzled. 
Later, when we swept in over the South Atlantic on our first orbit, I grew
alarmed.

	This was not the world I left, although the general geography was
familiar.  There was the hooked circle of antarctica, the Western
Hemisphere, the broad bulge of Siberia and the Arctic ice cap, but where
were the cities?  Where was the constant communications chatter?  where
were the signs of traffic and human life? The planet I was orbiting was
empty.

	Yet the system was the same.  The LP-5 colonies still hovered at
the Legrange points, but they too were silent.  The moon circled overhead,
but no voices came out of the Lunar bases.  The geosyncs and relay
satellites had certainly multiplied since I'd been gone, but nothing but
unmodulated carrier waves moved between them.

	Yesterday, I was laid into the complex hum of the first cryofield
aboard the Gyges and put to sleep.  For me it was yesterday, yet years have
passed.  I should have revived in orbit off 61 Cygni and spent a year
observing the double star.

	This did not happen.

	Gyges held me, my cryofield, and the most advanced artificial
intelligence computer Earth scientists could produce in the early 21st. 
She spoke and understood standard natural language.  She contained the
intuitive and deductive skills of countless experts in celestial
navigation, the physical and biological sciences, life support,
entertainment, and psychological adaptation.  I anticipated no problems.

	But I awoke (it seemed) moments after I'd gone into the cryofield -
200 million kilometers from Earth, inward bound - and everything has
changed.

	Manhattan is a monument.  The triangular mile-high pyramids of
midtown still stand, but they're empty.  The lower East Side is a vast field
littered with abandoned vehicles of types I have never seen.  Some of them
have been open to the seasons for years.  Brambles have grown over the
seats and thought the steering columns (at least I think that's what those
whiplike extensions from just below the left-hand window must be).  A cold
wind was blowing.

	Then, early in June, I found an entrance.

	Everyone had moved underground.  Of course that movement had begun
before I left, but I had had no idea it would be so extensive.  The world
has been reforested.

	It is very beautiful, but here is no one to talk to.  I am the last
person left alive.

	Underground is nothing but desolation.  Endless corridors where my
footsteps echo.  condensation collects and runs down the walls. 
Occasionally a gust of air shows some random action of the atmosphere
controls, so somewhere there's still power, but I have yet to find a
machine or terminal that works.  Not that I understand how to work them
even if they were active.  The lifts didn't work, and I've had to climb
access ladders or stairs.

	There is no sign of violence.  It's as if everyone had stepped out
years ago and not returned.

	The Gyges works very well on the planetary surface.  Naturally I
left the scoop in orbit, but she was designed to be rugged and intelligent.
 She sang to me as we flew over what was once the eastern United States
(recently called, from the chart, the "Northwest Alliance").  Nothing
exists but trees, as far as I can see, as far as Gyges's sensors can scan:
trees and rolling hills.  This used to be called Pennsylvania when I left,
and this was Ohio.  The Lakes gleam to the north, pale and blue.

	I landed south of Chicago.  The Loop is enclosed in a dome, the old
20th-century buildings perfectly preserved.  Everywhere else, there's
nothing but forest and meadow, river and lake.

	I walked into old Chicago.  The access lock to the dome stood open.
 Ancient computer printout littered the street.  I found a hospital on the
first level down.  There were bodies in some of the beds, the first sign of
human beings I have found.

	The bodies were mummified inside life-support tents.  They had been
dead for years, and there were not many of them.  I sat beside one of them
for hours.  I don't know what happened to them, what terrible disease they
had or why they were abandoned here in life-support that no longer
functioned.

	On the second level I found a terminal with a small ready light
burning.  Nearby I found the "WORLDNET Emergency Operating Instructions."

	The instructions tell me what to do if my mindlink is not
functional.  I don't know what a mindlink is, but I assume that it must be
adapted to my own mind, and this has never happened.  So I will read the
instructions, and then I will try to find out what has happened to the
world, where the people have gone, and if I must remain alone for the rest
of my life.

	Gyges tells me my psychological adjustment is in peril.  I have
been too long without other people.

                            WORLDNET
	
	      Emergency Operating Instructions

			** Warning **

	This document is NOT intended as a full explanation of Worldnet
capabilities or usage.  It is for emergency use only.

	For Edmond Neurotransfer contact your Local Node Edmond AI.

CONTENTS

Purpose..........................................................2
Assumptions......................................................3
Entry............................................................3
Interface Panel..................................................4
Splicing.........................................................5
Focus Line.......................................................5
Standard Usage...................................................6
Summary..........................................................6

Appendices
	A: Personal Dataspace Charts and Graphs..................8
	B: Worldnet Help........................................14
 	C: Homer Interface Tutorial.............................15
	D: Glossary.............................................16

Purpose

In event of catastrophic failure of neural I/O peripherals, this fiber
media printout is designed to help any citizen enter Worldnet dataspace.

Such catastrophic failure might include:

	* medical emergency with both personal monitor and mindlink
	  failure

	* new viral intrusion into essential grown organic
	  pico-electronics,

	* deliberate or accidental sabotage of Local Node housing or
	  traffic AI,

	* I/O detuning of a single-strand remote terminal or portable
	  datapad,

	* induced madness in a local AI, and/or

	* drastic power loss to Local Node

While Geneva Node (Central Processing Artificial Intelligence) considers
these possibilities extremely remote (<one in one billion), Intercorp
Council orders that these emergency instructions be centrally available in
hardcopy form in all Urb warrens, outposts, museum or monument structures,
medical support chambers, and Local Node housings.

This document is intended for emergency support only.  If no emergency
exists, route questions to Geneva Node via Local Node through standard
mindlink or phonic channels.

                              ***
If an emergency is in progress, please read this document before attempting
entry.
                              ***

Geneva Node requests your patience.  You are used to standard I/O
procedures working at standard speeds.  Emergency entry requires more time
and effort than mindlink or phonic drivers.

				-2-

Worldnet assumes you have access to an active terminal, are in sentient
physical condition, and are familiar with Worldnet coding procedures.

Attached to most terminal you will find one or more archaic manual input
devices.  While these devices date from the previous century, they remain
reliable and effective, if almost unbearably slow.  They go by various
names: joystick, mouse, tablet, wand, pointer, keyboard.  Whatever style
you have available for your terminal, these devices allow you to indicate,
by means of physical gesture, the options you wish to select on Worldnet.

On terminals that feature a separate pointing device, you make selections
by pointing at them and pressing a button on the pointing device.  On
terminals lacking such a device, you must use directional guidance keys on
the keyboard, a flat panel featuring rows of keys inscribed with an
alphabetic, syllabary, or ideographic hierarchy.  After highlighting your
selection by means of the directional guidance keys, confirm your choice by
pressing the long, horizontal bar (called a space bar) at the front of the
keyboard.

You may need to enter data manually through the keyboard.  Worldnet will
require little input through this archaic device, but may request your name
or DNA number.

Entry

Activate your terminal in the usual way.  For local activation customs,
consult your regional librarian or online Artificial Intelligence Node.

Worldnet will perform compatibility checks for peripheral devices.

Worldnet will offer messages regarding any transit queries or
unacknowledged files.  Remember that, as usual, you must access all
unacknowledged files before Geneva can pass on your requests.

				-3-

Interface Panel

Interface provides all citizens with limited access to the twelve standard
dataspaces, including their AI Nodes (where applicable).  Some dataspaces,
as usual, are not available at all times or are proscribed to those with
inappropriate Edmond profiles or psych classification.

The twelve dataspace icons that appear on the Interface Panel are:

CENTRAL PROCESSING (Geneva)
HOMER (Storytelling Artificial Intelligence)

PSYCHOLOGY (Psychological profiles of individual citizens)
EDMOD (Individual Educational Modules, aptitudes, and programming)
LIFE SUPPORT (Psysiological data; time-stamped data not available with
older peripheral I/O)
WASATCH (Genealogies since around 2010, Utah region, Western Alliance)

HISTORY (Short accounts of significant events)

MILITARY (Proscribed)
PSILINK (Proscribed; located Wallace Urb warrens, Kansas Region, Western
Alliance)

SCITECH (Science and Technology)
GEOGRAPHY (General maps and data)
MED10 (Medical information)

As indicated, these dataspaces are divided into five general areas:
Communication and Control (Homer and Central Processing); 
Personal (Psychology, Edmod Life Support, and Wasatch); Historical
(History); Proscribed (Military and PsiLink); and Scientific and Technical
Information (Scitech, Geography, and Med10).  On some terminals these areas
may be color-coded.

				-4-

Splicing

Splicing into dataspaces is simple, even if you do not have mindlink or
other neurolinking I/O.  Depending on the type of terminal in use, merely
center the selection you want in the Interface window or point to the
dataspace you wish to enter.  Then press the button or space bar, as
required.  Worldnet will allow you to enter the dataspace provided you have
clearance and the dataspace is available.

Once in a dataspace, you may move around using your pointing device
(joystick, mouse, etc.).  Moving through file menus or option icons should
highlight the current available choices.  Highlighting means the color of
the selection will change, usually to black and white or reversed colors.

There is a data line at the top of the screen.  This line tells you what
the current selection will do if you press the button or space bar, as
required.

Entering a file brings up the text for that file.  By moving the pointing
device up or down, selecting the up and down arrows to the right of the
text, or using directional guidance keys, as required, you may page through
the file.  To exit the file, use a mouse-type device to select the focus
(see below) in the lower left of the screen, press the button on a
joystick-type pointing device, or press the space bar on terminals lacking
a pointing device of any kind.  You may bring any available graphics to the
foreground by selecting them in the normal fashion.

Focus Line

The bottom of each dataspace screen gives you important information, such
as how deep you are into the dataspace.  The first box from the left
contains the hierarchy of levels you have traversed.  Selecting this box
moves you back up one level.

The square box next to the first one is the place-saving option.  Selecting
this will preserve your place in whatever field you are currently
exploring, should you wish to leave the terminal for a period of time.

				-5-

The next box offers a way of interacting with an Artificial Intelligence
Node in the system.  Most often, this box signals if the AI has a message
for you.  What icon appears in this box will depend on what your task is. 
As an example, assume that you are using Homer as your guide AI.  Homer's
icon will appear in this box.  Selecting it will take you to whatever
message Homer may have for you.  Sometimes Homer may flash, indicating an
urgent message or request.

The final box on this line returns you to Interface.  Selecting this option
takes you directly to the Interface panel without your having to travel
back up the hierarchy through current dataspace.

Standard Usage

It is a good idea to spend some time practicing with these older I/O
devices.  They are slow and clumsy, offering none of the subtlety, speed,
or emotional overtones of current I/O systems.

Try moving around the dataspaces: page through files, bring up graphics,
and so on.  Soon you will discover that, while they are not as effortless
as mindlink or even phonic drivers, these devices are relatively easy to
use and will suffice when more acceptable methods are unavailable.

Summary

Worldnet is here to serve you.  If you are dissatisfied with service or
have suggestions or thoughts for service improvement, please leave open
file messages at Geneva Transfer point either for Intercorp Council
consideration or for CP AI action.

And remember, be patient.  This is an emergency situation.  Local Node AIs
are undoubtedly already at work correcting whatever has gone wrong.  You
can help by informing CP of the situation.

				-6-


                            Appendices

	A: Personal Dataspace Charts and Graphs
	B: Worldnet Help
 	C: Homer Interface Tutorial
	D: Glossary

				-7-

A: Personal Dataspace Charts and Graphs

Worldnet's personal dataspaces (Psychology, Edmod, Life Support, and
Wasatch) present data-intensive graphic information in both
realtime-inductive and static modes.  Under emergency conditions, such
graphic data presents static lifetime-averaged data and is presented for
informational purposes only.  The following is an explanation of all
personal dataspace graphic presentations.

WASATCH

Wasatch presents genealogical information, complete only since circa 2010. 
The dataspace Leyden Jars and crystal storage occupy an ancient mine in the
Wasatch mountains in the old Utah Region of the Western Alliance.

The following graphs will appear in Emergency Mode:

Core Intelligence (horizontal bar graph).  Late 20th-century and early
21st-century research suggested four core and several ancillary IQ areas. 
In personal dataspaces, including Wasatch, Core Intelligence offers
standard reference positions of relative standing in the four cord
intelligence areas.  They are:

	* LING.  Linguistic IQ.  Sensitivity to the meanings of words,
	  grammar, rhythms, and inflections of the spoken and written
	  language.

	* MUSIC.  Musical IQ.  Ability to discern meaning and importance
	  in a set of pitches rhythmically arranged.

	* ART.  Artistic IQ.  Ability to represent mental imagery on
	  canvas or in clay, due to developed spatial orientation and
	  bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.

	* MATH.  Mathematical IQ.  Ability to skillfully handle long
	  chains of reasoning and create mathematical patterns of ideas.

Psysiology and ESP (horizontal bar graph).  Four areas are represented:

				-8-

	* ESP.  Extra-Sensory Perception.  Still little-understood and
	  proscribed science (see regulations and access codes regarding
	  use of Psilink dataspace) of psychic senses outside the known
 	  range of physical.  ESP has been closely correlated to high
	  spatial skills and thalamus activity.

	* FAT.  Fat-to-weight ratio.  Percentage of body weight that is
	  fatty tissue.

	* SLOW.  Slow twitch muscles.  Percentage of muscle mass
	  conditioned for endurance and stamina.

	* FAST.  Fast twitch muscles.  Percentage of muscle mass
	  conditioned for bursts of speed and strength.

Family Tree (tree).  Will provide names of ancestors back over two
generations.  Scrolling through initials puts names into the data line
beneath the tree.

PSYCHOLOGY (Psychological profiles of individual citizens)

Psychology offers graphic information in the following areas:
Emotional, Personal Growth, and Core Intelligence.

Emotional (horizontal bar graph)
	
	* MATR.  Maturity.  Developed sense of awareness and acceptance
	  of oneself as a person.

	* HOST.  Hostility. Aggressiveness misdirected against others, one
	  sign of immaturity.

	* SELF.  Self-esteem.  Self-worth that grows out of a developed
	  sensitivity to others' modes, motives, and intentions and an
	  awareness of one's own maturity and emotions.

Personal Growth (partition bar graph)

	* GROW.  Personal Growth.  Measure of maturity rate over time of

				-9- 
	  school-age subjects.

	* INTR.  Introspection.  Intrapersonal intelligence: awareness of
	  self and access to one's own feelings and emotions.

	* COMN.  Common sense.  Reflection of logical and mechanical
	  knowledge as well as interpersonal skills.

Core Intelligence (See WASATCH).

EDMOD (Individual Educational Modules, aptitudes, and programming)

Edmod offers information in those areas important to well-directed
educational and social development under the Intercorp Council Educational
Development Program (Directive Reference #238212Sigma).  These include
Intrapersonal, Memory, Logic, and Core IQ.

Intrapersonal (partition bar graph).

	* SPAT.  Spatial orientation.  Capacity for visual imagery and the
	  mental manipulation of objects in three-dimensional space.

	* BODY.  Bolidy-kinesthetic.  Developed fine motor control and/or
	  skillful object manipulation.

	* SOCI.  Social adjustment.  Interpersonal intelligence,
	  sensitivity to the feelings and motivations of others; an
	  expression of innate leadership talent.

Memory (horizontal bar graph).

	* ATEN.  Attention span.  Measure of intensity and duration of
	  intellectual focus and concentration.

	* SHRT.  Short-term memory.  Measure of rote memorization skills,
	  with no consideration for later retention.

	* LERN.  Learning curve.  Measure of the speed with which one

				-10-

	  can become familiar with and use a new concept or skill

	* LONG.  Long-term memory.  Ability to understand, integrate, and
	  retain concepts and skills and recall and use them over time.

Logic (partition bar graph).

	* MATH.  Mathematical IQ.

	* DEDC.  Deductive reasoning.  Ability to reach conclusions from
	  numerous apparently unrelated facts.

	* INDC.  Inductive reasoning.  Ability to prove the steps needed to
	  reach a stated conclusion from certain starting parameters.

Core Intelligence (See WASATCH).

LIFE SUPPORT (Psysiological data; time-stamped data not available with
older peripheral I/O)

Life Support graphic information is based on continuous realtime personal
monitor data archived in Local Node Housings.

Blood Pressure (planeline graph/sec. vs. press. Hg).

	* SYST.  Systolic.  Peak blood pressure as the heart contracts.

	* DIAS.  Diastolic.  Blood pressure when the heart muscle relaxes
	  and the ventricles snap shut.

Temperature (planeline graph/sec. vs. percentage from base).

	* FACE.  Face temperature.  Changes in face temperature reflecting
	  changes in mood.

	* EXTR.  Peripheral temperature.  Reflection of sympathetic
	  nervous system or emotional response.

Respiration + GSR (planeline graph/sec. vs. 108M/208M/308M/BASE/RSPS).

				-11-

	* GSR.  Galvanic skin response.  Skin conductance; shows emotional
	  response when sweat glands are activated.

	* RESP.  Respiration.  Measure of breaths per minute.

Heartrate and EEG (planeline graph/sec. vs. 33%/66%/ONE/1008/2008).

	* HR.  Heart rate.  Increases in proportion to the need for
	  oxygenation, resulting from both emotional response and increases
	  in muscle activity.

	* EEG.  Electroencephalogram.  Measures electrical activity in the
	  brain according to the following waves and their general
	  parameters:

		DELTA <4cps - asleep
		THETA 4-8cps - drowsy
		ALPHA 8-13cps - relaxed and receptive
		BETA >13cps - alert

	These measures represent very general conditions.  Theta, for
	example, is associated with high levels of creativity, alpha with
	light meditative state.

Glycogen Metabolism (planeline graph/sec. vs. -25M|-10M|1MM|5MM|15MM).

	* BGLU.  Blood glucose.  Glycogen, used to power muscle
	  contraction; stored in muscles and liver; controls blood sugar
	  levels.

	* PHOS.  Phosphorylase.  Inhibits glycogen synthesis, which brings
	  the glycogen metabolism full circle.

	* INSN.  Insulin.  Increases liver capacity to synthesize glycogen.

	* GLON.  Glucagon.  Increases blood sugar levels by stimulating
	  breakdown of glycogen in liver, as epinephrine does in muscles.

Neurotransmitters (planeline graph/sec. vs. -25M|-20M|-15M|-10M|-5M).

	* ACET.  Acetylcholine.  Mediates nerve impulse travel across

				-12-

	  synaptic cleft; electrically excites motor end plates during
	  normal parasympathetic muscle activity.

	* EPIN.  Epinephrine.  Related during a sympathetic "fight or
	  flight" response; stimulates glycogen breakdown in the muscles
	  preparatory to action.

Hormones (planeline graph/sec. vs. -25M|-20M|-15M|-10M|-5M).

	* ENDO.  Endorphins.  Analgesic harmones released from
	  pituitary-regulated pain response.

	* THYR.  Thyroxin.  Regulates physical growth and oxidative
	  metabolism.

Tension Level (planeline graph/sec. vs. 20HZ|40HZ|60HZ|80HZ|100HZ).

	* MASR.  Masseter.  Jaw muscle.

	* FRNT.  Frontalis.  Forehead muscle.

	* CORG.  Corrugator.  Eyebrow muscle.

	* DEPR.  Depressor.  Muscle at the corners of the mouth.

NOTE:  You may also get oscilloscope readings in certain instances, usually
through Central Processing.

				-13-

B: Worldnet Help

There are some things that you need to remember as you attempt 13 access
Worldnet through a manual or keyboard interface:

1) Because it is not possible to communicate the quantity (or quality) of
information through a screen, as it is through a standard mindlink, the
data files open to citizens using emergency procedures are limited to those
relevant to the subject at hand.  Your coordinating AI will control the
flow of information to your terminal.

2) Most AIs demand that you read an entire file before releasing additional
significant data, although they may make exceptions under extreme emergency
conditions.  The message line at the top of your screen will let you know
when you have read the entire file by displaying NO MORE.  You should read
each file through to the end.

3) To remind you which files you have read, your AI will place a checkmark
alongside the file name in each of the dataspace directories.

4) Since you have entered this tutorial, you have discovered that you
access various areas of the screen by pointing to the area and pressing the
button on your pointing device.  This activity should allow you to access
all needed data files until such time that the mindlink and/or other
interfaces become re-activated.

5) Your AI will attempt to anticipate which file you would like to enter
within each dataspace by entering the directory with that file in the
correct position to be immediately accessed.

Please exercise patience with this archaic form of computer interface.

				-14-

C: Homer Interface Tutorial

As you begin to communicate directly with Homer (your coordinating AI),
there are a few things you should know about the interface:

1) The yellow button at the bottom right of the screen will become a direct
link to Homer.  You may access the AI directly at any time.  If you are
having a problem, you may receive some help - in any case Homer will have
something to say.  These storytelling AIs always do.

2) Homer will flash the access button whenever it has something important
to communicate.  Please return directly to the main Worldnet menu and then
to Homer dataspace whenever this happens.

3) Whenever you are having trouble and don't know what to do, return to
either Central Processing and/or Homer to see if additional files have
opened.  If not, return to each of the dataspaces to be sure that you have
read all of the necessary files completely.  Remember, necessary files that
have been read have checkmarks next to the file name.

During emergencies, only the Current file is activated.

				-15-

D. Glossary

AEF: Antarctic Expeditionary Force.  Sent by Regent Sable when Protector to
invade and control Antarctica.

Agrobotics: Robotic agriculture dominated by early AI picoelectronic. 
Solved all world nutrition problems.

AI: See Artificial Intelligence.

Anomaly: The Anomaly is probably a black hole complex 19 light years from
Earth in the direction of Vega.

Ants: Colloquial term for the citizens of Antarctica.

Artificial Intelligence: A thinking construct, originally based on complex
"expert system" software, later grown as picoelectronic circuits of great
complexity, and finally grown in crystal tanks.  AIs, as they are called,
are local quasi-intelligent monitors that control information traffic or
perform other managerial tasks.

Axion Equations:  The Axion Flux was hypothesized in the late 20th century
to explain the so-called "missing mass" of the universe.  Axions were found
to be highly energetic massless particles available in interstellar space
for propulsion purposes.

BioCybernon: Late 20th-century corporation which designed and built early
biopsych tanks, meditation chambers, and inductive education programs.

Biomonitor: Provided by law to all citizens, biomonitors recorded and
archived physiological and emotional information about the subject. 
Provided medical and life-support functions.

Core Crystals: Similar to the older "core memory", core crystals
represented the central storage in long-term AI memories.

Crystal Tanks: Seed and nutrient support tanks for growing AI crystals.

ENC: Elite Neutralization Corps, the policing arm of the Intercorp Council.

				-16-

Heuristic: Technically, the self-teaching method used by many AIs; a form
of learning from experience.

Holo: Short for holographic, a three-dimensional imaging technology common
from the early 21st century on.

Induction Sensorium: The entire sensory modality in the brain (as opposed
to the sense organs themselves).  Technologies for inducing sensory
experiences directly in the brain were discovered in the early 21st
century.  See Inductive Composition.

Inductive Composition: Composing for the inductive sensorium.  See Mozart.

IR Nightvision Thermography: A form of remote sensing of infrared thermal
radiation used by Worldnet and biomonitors to track human and animal life
on the Earth's surface.

LN Cells: Liquid Nitrogen, the most common independent power source during
most of the 21st century; provided clean, safe power to vehicles and other
machinery.

LP: Legrange Point, where Earth and lunar (or solar) gravity cancel one
another; LPs provided gravitationally stable locations for the so-called
"Elpie-Five" colonies in space.

Megalips: Ancient computer term; referred to millions of logic instructions
per section.

Meldslats: Laser-fused mineral substance commonly used for underground
construction, flooring, and walls.

Mindlink: Most common method for communicating with computer systems by the
mid-21st century.  Mindlink provided direct neural input/output with
Worldnet using inductive techniques.  See Neural Induction.

Mozart: The artistic application of Neural Induction.  See also Induction
Sensorium.

Neural Induction: The technology for creating sensory experiences directly
in the brain.

				-17-

Nuerophage Weapons: Applications of neural induction that numbed, damaged,
or destroyed neural pathways, causing confusion and, in the case of
Mindwars weapons, eventual death through genetic disease.

Node: A local nexus in the Worldnet system, usually holding its own AI.

Portal: Name given by Peter Devore to the energy vortex phenomenon near the
Anomaly that allowed migration into the Realm.

Proscribed DB: Some databases on the Worldnet are proscribed to certain
personality profiles for educational or security reasons; Military and
PsiLink are examples.

Psion Equations: The original mathematical models for psychic functioning,
described in the 1990 by Dittmore Seminole Gadd.

Realm: The hypothetical reality of eleven-dimensional space-time beyond the
Portal.

Realtime Experience: Induced experience that is both a) real, not composed;
and b) taking place concurrently in some remote location.

Realtime Relay: Method of transferring Realtime Experience through space.

Sigma State: EEG readout indicating deep trance, not ordinarily covered by
biomonitors.

Tailored Helpers: Genetically manipulated animals, usually primates, used
for menial tasks; a short-lived enthusiasm in the early 21st century.

Urbs: Urban areas, composed of a complex of warrens, usually following the
nomenclature and locations of previous surface metropolitan areas.

Warren: Underground city with ready access to surface parks, either
remotely through sensing or directly.

				-18-

Worldnet: The worldwide computer and data network, composed of millions of
AIs, Nodes and satellite relays.

				-19-

			       PORTAL

			Loading Instructions

Apple IIe and IIc Computers

1. If you have one, connect a joystick to your computer.

2. Turn on your computer and monitor.

3. Insert the Portal diskette labeled Contains Side 1 and 2 in disk drive
   1, label side up, and close the disk drive door.

Amiga Computers

1. Turn on your computer and monitor.

2. When so instructed, insert the Kickstart diskette in your disk drive.

3. When instructed to insert the Workbench diskette in your disk drive,
   insert the Portal diskette labeled 1 in your disk drive, label side up.

Atari ST Computers

1. Turn on your computer and monitor.

2. Insert the Portal diskette labeled 1 in the internal disk drive, label
   side up.

3. After the diskette loads, click twice on PORTAL.PRG.

Commodore 64 and 128 Computers

1. Plug a joystick into port 2 of your computer.

2. Turn on your computer, disk drive, and monitor or TV.

3. If you have a Commodore 128, type GO64 and press RETURN.
   When the prompt ARE YOU SURE? appears, type Y and press RETURN.

4. Insert the Portal diskette labeled Contains Sides 1 and 2 in your disk
   drive, label side up, and close the disk drive door or latch.
   Type LOAD "*",8,1 and press RETURN.

IBM PC, PCjr, and Tandy 1000 Computers

1. Connect a joystick, if you have one, to your computer.

2. Boot your computer with DOS.

3. Insert the Portal diskette labeled 1 in disk drive A, label side up,
   and close the disk drive door or latch.  With the A> prompt on the
   screen, type PORTAL and press RETURN.

Macintosh Computers

1. Insert the Portal diskette labeled 1 in your internal disk drive, label
   side up.

2. Turn on your computer.

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         DOCS PROVIDED BY  -+*+-THE SOUTHERN STAR-+*+- for M.A.A.D.                                                               
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