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Turing (Castor)
Galactography > Regions of Space > Inner Sphere
Galactography > Systems and Worlds > Systems & Worlds S - T
Galactography > Civilized Galaxy - Sephirotic Empires > Technorapture Hypernation
Galactography > Systems and Worlds > Systems & Worlds S - T
Galactography > Civilized Galaxy - Sephirotic Empires > Technorapture Hypernation
Castor- the original hexary star system | |
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| This view shows the six stars in the Castor system before the A1,A2 stars and the B1, B2 stars were dismantled to make the Turing Construct | |
Turing - data panel | |
| System: | Castor |
|---|---|
| Primary: | Dismantled; formerly Castor A1 and A2; Both were Class A white stars, 18 times as bright as Sol; separation 0.02 a.u. |
| Secondaries: | Castor B1 and B2; Both were class A white stars, 8 times as bright as Sol; separation 0.03 a.u. These two pairs of stars were separated from each other by 100 a.u. |
| Tertiaries: | (Still extant) Castor C1 and C2, also known as YY Geminorum (Metasoft colony); Both are class M red dwarfs, 0.16 times as bright as Sol. These two stars are separated from the former location of the other four by an average of 1200 a.u. |
| Total original Luminosity: | 52 x Sol |
| Distance from Sol: | 51.6 ly |
| Constellation: | Gemini |
| Region: | Inner Sphere Imperial Capital of the Technorapture Hypernation |
| Colonised | 2211 AT |
| Galactic xyz | -47.0, -6.44, 20.22 |
| Important Local Artificial Intelligences | AI overseer: Omegarapture AI's ethos: Technecstasy, the joyful unfolding of the self into cyberspace. Polity Name: The Technorapture Hypernation |
| Psyche, Art, Culture, Government and Administration | Metapsychology, Art, Culture, Society, Ideology, Language: This culture is largely derived from the old transhumanist, cosmist and techno-dionysian ideas, but deliberately rejected the omegism that came to power keterism and many other ideologies. The rejection is based on placing the development of individual quality higher than any collective quantity - in principle it doesn't matter if the entire universe is destroyed tomorrow if you have lived a rewarding life, and rewards come from self-shaping into new qualities rather than having to achieve some fixed goals. Ascending is viewed as a possible choice of self-expression, but not the only possible. Government, Legal system, Constitution: There seems to be no distinct separation between archai and normal citizenry, rather there are an indefinite number of intermediate toposophic levels. As such `government' in the most commonly understood sense of the word is not really a relevant term, at least at baseline/near-baseline levels of comprehension. |
| Economics and Local Infrastructure | Major Industries: Godtech products, plasma processing modules, nanotronics, bionanic components, ISO parts, alife templates, virtuality standards, computronium, smart matter, assorted nanofactured goods, anakalyptics, speculative simulations, aioid templates, hyperbright expert systems, metahedonic systems; Angelnetting: While angelnetting per se is not employed within the Turing volume, several of the effector systems employed by the Construct for maintenance and physical level manipulation employ similar technologies. Major Orbitals: None. While some polities maintain small to medium size 'embassy' habitats in the vicinity of the Turing volume for their own use, the Hypernation itself has no need for such structures. Travel Stargates: None. The Technorapture Hypernation does not employ wormhole links of larger then 1m gauge. All wormhole connections with the galaxy at large are via data transfer or micro-transport only. Spaceports: Not applicable. Population: unknown, possibly in the vicinity of 500 billion, Core only. Hazard Rating: 0.0 to 0.8 depending on where one goes. Visitors are strongly advised to remain in designated volumes and regions. While straying into other areas is not specifically forbidden, the Hypernation disavows any responsibility for any damage or mental/corporeal terminations that may result from contact with non-moderated processes or technologies. Visa Restrictions: Open Access at ones own risk. |
History and Background
The system of Castor was originally a multiple system of three close binary pairs of stars. Two of the binary pairs also orbited around each with a maximum distance of 21 light-hours and a period of roughly 400 years. While the elements of the co-orbiting pairs were hot A-class stars each weighing in at about twice the mass of Sol, the more distant third pair consisted of two cool, M-class dwarfs each only about one-half the mass of Sol.While first colonizing and then eventually extensively re-engineering the energy and mass rich regions around the primary binary pairs, the Technorapture Hypernation historically had little interest in the comparatively minuscule resources of the dwarf system. When a Metasoft colonizing mission eventually arrived around the third binary pair and began setting up habitats, the consensus within the Hypernation seems to have been that at least somebody would be getting some use out of the dull, little thing. A treaty ceding the system to Metasoft on the condition that they not attempt to develop the other components was quickly established and everyone soon went on about their business.
Creation of the Turing Swarm Construct
With the development of wormhole technologies, in particular the computronium wormhole bus, the largest and final(?) transformation of the Castor A and B binary system was undertaken.Using a combination of magnetic fields, metric engineering, plasma resonance dynamics, and magmatter-catalysed transmutation, the mass of the A and B binary pairs (equal to some 7.4 solar masses) was first redistributed to numerous construction points throughout the local volume and then converted into the various components of the swarm construct known as Turing.
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| This view shows the Turing construct three thousand years later as seen from the Metasoft colony around Castor C1 and C2 | |
The Turing Construct
Combined, the various elements of the Turing swarm form a distributed cybernetic habitat across a roughly spherical volume over a billion kilometers across. Much like a globular cluster, the various elements of the construct are gravitationally bound to each other and so maintain a stable equilibrium among themselves. Combined with the tremendous volume of the swarm and the use of numerous thruster units (both incorporated into the swarm structures and free flying) to provide propulsion where needed, and the Turing Swarm is a tremendously stable structure, even over galactic timescales.The majority of the mass making up Turing consists of some 2E8 lunar class processor nodes, 4.35E16 Power Spheres, and 1.25E18 Resource Nodes.
Processor Nodes
Each processor node is a computronium structure some 3000 km in diameter and massing 5E22kg. Plasma processor-based circuitry and a massive network of internal and inter-nodal wormhole links permits the entire aggregate of processor nodes to operate as a single massive computational device/cybernetic habitat while minimizing the amount of mass given over to structural support. The outer skin of each node is a complex `fly's eye' optical transmitter/receiver device used for the transmission of low priority data between separate nodes and the reception of energy from local Power Spheres.Approximately 5 solar masses of the original Castor star system have been converted into processor nodes.
Power Spheres
Of the remaining 2.4 solar masses of the Castor system, 1 solar mass has been converted into Power Spheres. When in use, each Power Sphere is a 10km diameter ball of hydrogen ice encased in a shell of magmatter-based conversion reactors and laser energy transmission nodes. Each Sphere can transmit energy to multiple locations simultaneously, or focus all of its energy on a single receiver.Typically 6 to 10 Power Spheres are located in orbit around each Processor Node with the remainder distributed in small clusters throughout the volume of the Turing complex.
Power spheres take the place of the more commonly used central star of most solar systems, but are far more efficient. The average Sol-type sun will convert only a tiny fraction of its total mass into energy in the course of a lifetime of approximately 10 billion years. The Power Sphere network of Turing is designed to provide an amount of energy equal to that of a sun but for a period of more than 14 trillion years.
Using the energy produced by the Power Sphere network, the TRHN is able to match or exceed the capabilities of even the most industrialized star system. Even the vast energy resources of a pulsar weylforge are not beyond them. It has been calculated that at full capacity, the Power Spheres of Turing could match the 100,000x Sol output of the more energetic neutron stars and maintain this rate of production for over 140 million years without faltering.
NOTE: When not in use, individual Power Spheres are simply balls of solid hydrogen ice. A common practice for some elements of the Hypernation is to carve these ice spheres into a wide variety of shapes ranging from the mundane to the bizarre to near Perfect Art status. These `ice gardens' are a popular tourist attraction among those who choose to make the relativistic journey to the Turing system.
Resource Nodes
Of the remaining 1.4 solar masses of the Castor system, 1 solar mass has been converted into Resource Nodes. Each Node masses as much as a 1km asteroid and is made up of multiple storage cells, each containing a quantity of refined elements in abundances optimized for the majority of construction projects the Hypernation deems itself likely to undertake. Approximately 10% of all Resource Nodes are optimized for the storage or production (in the case of the more short-lived elements) of materials that are less likely to be used in construction, but might still, at times, be necessary. In essence, the Resource Node complex operates as a gigantic distributed `parts bin' for anything the TRHN (or any of its member intellects) may decide to build.Typically 10 to 12 Resource Nodes are located in the vicinity of each Processor Node, with the remainder distributed in small clusters in convenient locations throughout the Turing volume.
The remainder of the mass of the Castor system (approximately 8E29kg) has been deployed in a wide variety of structures, including weylforges, exotic matter factories, amat farms, spacecraft, and reactionless drive thruster units for the maneuvering and station keeping of the various elements of the Turing system.
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Development Notes
Text by Todd Drashner
Initially published on 14 September 2004.
Initially published on 14 September 2004.
