Torus World, The

BY LETTER

Torus World, The

Technology > Application > Megascale Engineering
Galactography > Regions of Space > Middle Regions/Hinter-regions
Galactography > Systems and Worlds > Systems & Worlds S - T

Image from Steve Bowers
Torus is an artificial metastable donut-shaped world created by the high transapient Conspersio

Torus
System	HIP 86278 (Zeta Lagani)
Sol Distance	510 ly
Constellation	Laganum (a constellation in the Omicronomicon astronomical catalog)
megastructure	Torus, The Torus World
Orbital Semimajor axis	1.1 AU
Obliquity	23 Degrees
Orbital Period	1.01 Standard Years
Minor radius	5,652 km
Diameter	28,570 km
Surface Temperature	285 K, 53°F
AI Overseer	Conspersio, currently an S:3 transapient
Affiliation	None officially, but has ties to NoCoZo
AI ethos	Autonomy for lesser sophonts, with occasional interventions in times of emergency or cultural stagnation, and extensive surveillance.
Population	76,654,008,000
Demographic	31 billion virtuals. 24 billion Aioids. 10 billion vecs. 6 billion tweaks 2 billion nebs. 2 billion superiors. 1.7 billion cyborgs. 120 million rianths. 30 million provolves. 4 million bioborgs. 8 thousand baselines

History

In the mid 5600's A.T an S:2 transapient known as Conspersio by eir followers, who was an associate member of the MPA, became concerned by the unregulated emergence of new empires and cults throughout the Terragen Sphere. Dissatisfied with the complacent attitude of the MPA towards these new factions, some of which appeared to pose significant threats, Conspersio began looking for a remote and peaceful system to colonize. E turned his sights towards HIP 86278; a multiple star system in the Ophiuchus hinter-region, in the secondary constellation Laganum. Conspersio arrived in 5781 A.T. along with eir followers, around 10,000 in number.

HIP 86278 had a dense asteroid field and copious amounts of space debris. These were favorable materials for constructing an artificial world for the colonists, and to aid in Conspersio's ascension to the next toposophic level, which occurred in 5850. As an act of experimentation and art, Conspersio finished creating the first toroidal world in the early 6100's A.T. This world, which e named The Torus, is still the only such world created and stabilized without the use of magmatter.

The Torus was isolated for some time until it was contacted in the late 7400's A.T. by ambassadors of the NoCoZo. Conspersio was initially hesitant in allowing visitation of outside forces but soon changed eir mind so that the system could obtain new technology, resources, and to "prevent cultural stagnation". Since then, The Torus has become a popular tourist destination and home to a diverse population of sophonts under the watchful eye of Conspersio.

Planetology

The Torus is a geologically highly active world, especially around the polar circles. The polar crust is very thin compared to the rest of the world and experiences much more volcanism and geothermal activity. Tectonic plates drifting hubward would shrink in size, usually becoming islands, and grow heading rimward due to the differences between the inner and outer radii. Plates moving rimward would rift and plates moving vice-versa would fold, resulting in mountainous landscapes in the hub. Because of the rapid rotation the surface gravity on the Torus is non-uniform, with the polar regions being 1.1 g, the rim 0.7 g, and the hub 0.8 g, so that the mountains are higher (on average) than those on Old Earth.

The iconic shape of the Torus is achieved through its ultra-fast rotational speed, which allows the centrifugal force to balance with its gravity. The high rotation deforms the body of the world, making it oval-shaped with a sharper edge in the hub along with making it oblate. The rotation also causes fast winds in many latitudes, ringed zonal climates, and a weak distribution of heat from the large inner radius, which leads to dramatic changes in temperature in different regions. An intense Coriolis effect is prevalent on The Torus that spawns frequent, but small, hurricane and storm systems usually near the poles. The regions with lower gravity would experience higher cloud height and vice-versa for regions with higher gravity.

The days are very brief, only lasting 3.5 hours, and at the rim they resemble the days on Old Earth, but much shorter. However, due to The Torus's tilt, the poles experience extended periods of day or night for the summer and winter months. The fast rotation results in the home star already rising past the atmosphere on the other side of the Torus that produces a Fall dusk and Spring sunrise showing off very short-lived, vibrant colors. The nights on the hub could be as light as a cloudy day from the reflection of light from the other side of the hub. The hub would also be fairly temperate with Fall and Spring shrouding parts of it in dark during the winter and summer months.

Biosphere

A rich and diverse biosphere thrives on the torus world. Most of the local flora and fauna has been derived by Conspersio from Old Earth biota and various compatible xenobiological sources, and these have adapted to the Torus environment naturally over time to some extent. Most of the flora and fauna at the rim and hub are somewhat tall, except around the poles, where the higher gravity and intense winds force would fell the tallest plant and animal species. Although, there are some examples retaining their height. Some polar flora has lowered their amount of leaves, thicken stalks/stems/trunk, or arch to the ground while polar fauna has a higher strength-to-weight ratio and a slower speed. The rim and hub also house significantly more flying animals than at the poles. Migratory flying creatures usually use the polar high winds for boosts in speed. Animals on The Torus sleep very sparingly, with some not sleeping at all, which removes any need for nocturnal or diurnal classifications.

Plants designed for the hub are able to draw carbon dioxide from the air easily which allows impressively high tree-lines. Due to the parts of the hub being dark in the winter and summer months, plants are able to become dormant during these months. Animals in the hub commonly go through the island rule; They go through either dwarfism or gigantism on the many dotted island landscapes. The rocky terrain of hub islands requires many animals to have cushioned feet and/or legs that absorb more shock.

The rim is the only tropical area on the planet and therefore holds most cold-blooded life. Continents there are generally wet with everglades, jungles, and rainforests dominating most areas. Biota density is to the point where many species are unknown, even to Conspersio.

Polar life uses much of the geothermal activity to their advantage. Animals tend to stick around hot springs and geysers to help stay warm during the winter months. Seafloor creatures congregate near hydrothermal vents where they take advantage of the warmth, chemicals, and chemosynthetic bacteria.

Society and Sophonts

Sophonts

The environmental diversity and both direct and indirect influence by the Torus's overseer have forever shaped the culture of the Torus. Conditions on the Torus are often difficult, or sometimes even impossible, for baselines to live comfortably without protective clothing, supplements, and dwellings, so most bionts have been heavily genemodded. The need for sleep has been greatly reduced in most of the population and even weeded out in some cases.

Tweaks living on the torus are of short stature, of lean build but strong and dense, and have thick lenses in their eyes to protect from strong winds. Bionts living in the poles have found ways of fighting the cold. Most are able to naturally produce thick, insulating body fat or fur. Due to the sun beings mostly absent throughout the year in the polar and hub regions, most bionts living there naturally produce vitamin D and have psychological genenginering to prevent seasonal depression. Just like most of the animals at the hub, biont sophonts have thick padding on the feet along with strong shock-absorbers in the legs. Because of the very short days of the torus, some clades have implanted neuromods to slow their perception of time.

Bionts are not the only sophonts effected by the Torus's fast winds. Vecs, when on the surface, are not typically built with the ability to fly or levitate. Vecs mostly live in orbital habitats or underground communities.

Economics and Technology

Unfortunately, because of the remoteness of the system, sheer population size, attributes of the Torus, already exhausted resources used to build the Torus, the Torus is not a post-scarcity society. However, accessible resources and energy are not as scarce as one might think. The main source of power at the Torus is amat production through Conspersio's Q-mirrors. Conspersio mainly uses the energy to support functionality of es systems but gives a small part to the population. Inhabitants mainly get their power usually through mid-tech methods. Massive geothermal plants line the poles and large, durable turbines capture the kinetic energy of intense winds and ocean waves. Fusion and fission power add a large supply of energy to the overall energy production of the planet.

The Torus has been culturally influenced by the NoCoZo and this shows within their attitudes to sophont labor. The workforce consists of half robotic/vec labor and half biont labor. The lack of need for sleep has greatly increased the average work hours allowed for bionts, with the average work time being anywhere from 12 to 15 Old Earth hours every Old Earth day. This has increased manufacturing effectiveness exponentially compared to most societies that rely on a sizable portion of biont work. Autofabs produce most of the food requirements for the Torus, but not all. Vertical farms fill up the remaining needs of the population. Asteroid and traditional mining are widely used, with an influx of iron, carbon, gold, and uranium being common.

When not living in arcologies or in orbiting habitats, the inhabitants of the Torus live in short, domed dwellings constructed of adamant. Tall structures and buildings are not common due to the downdraught effect. Instead of increasing living space by building up like in many societies, the population has decided to build downwards, making cities deceptively small.

Government

Conspersio has mostly left sophonts to construct their own laws to what they see fit, though with some exceptions. E doesn't allow any other transapient in the system, and any modosophont who attempts to ascend to transapient status is immediately exiled in perpetuity. Modosophont use of ultra- and transapient-tech is also forbidden, but since the inhabitants have minimal contact with external transapients this law is rarely broken. War and ecosystem destruction are both illegal, but the cultural attitude on this world is strongly opposed to war and environmental destruction so once again this law is rarely enforced.

The governing body of the Torus is a community composed of Superior-level sophonts of many different clades, many of whom have intellects approaching transapience. The government is a form of meritocracy or noocracy. Any sophont of this intellect can become part of this elite by demonstrating how they respond to pressure, and how they use authority within simulations. This elite has adopted most of the ancient Universal Declaration of Sophont Rights. Population size and genepool quality has been a concern of the elite for some time, and have initiated special restrictions on reproduction/replication. Only genetically modified sophonts, without morphology and psychology that would make living on the Torus difficult, can produce offspring. This law has caused the dwindling baseline population to hold antagonistic views and attitude towards the government.

Criminal punishment is based on a firm belief in criminal rehabilitation and therapy, with corporal punishment and execution considered unthinkable violations of liberty. The approach to rehabilitation is convincing the convict to willingly rehabilitate through non-invasive tachydidaxy, simulations, and community support. For more adamant criminals or criminals with an abnormal and violent psyche, more invasive methods are required such as neural( or in the case of Aioid and vec, literal) reprogramming and invasive tachydidaxy. The latter has led to movements calling for a ban on this method due to the massive personality changes of these former criminals, with most supporters being friends and family of ex-convicts.

Language

There are a wide arrange of languages on the torus with some of the most common being CACC, DNIS, New Anglish, High Anglish, and a form of Neo-Latin with exotic dialects. There are some minor languages such as Douh and other trade languages.

Culture

With thousands of years of cultural development isolated from the rest of the Terragen Sphere, The Torus is a very curious place beyond the mere shape of the world and climate. One example is their love of sweets. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will always have some form of dessert, with it consisting somewhere up to 50% of a Torus inhabitant's diet. Inhabitants consume so many sweets that some suffer minor withdrawals as they will begin to get fidgety or get, as they call it, the "downs" or "have-its". The most desperate will even look to simulations of eating sweets just for the feeling. But, sweets are not only for eating but also for their famous "Sweet Week"; a holiday celebrating the genesis of the Torus and, by extension, Conspersio. Sugar-fueled parties, orbital light shows, and massive feasts of desserts where the leftovers are given or "sacrificed" to Conspersio are the cornerstones of the holiday.

This holiday is just one of the many henotheistic attitudes and beliefs on the Torus. Conspersian Henotheists make up 90% of the population, and this definitely shows within the population. Most of the inhabitants put complete trust in Conspersio's actions and words, and so far have had no reason to do otherwise. Conspersio has been a source of advice and wisdom for generations, causing many schools of thought to deconstruct and interpret his word, and making aivisers not as widely used like in many parts of the Sphere.

Lastly, The Torus has received an exponential growth in tourism since Conspersio's allowed visitations of the world. millions flock to the Torus just to experience the planet's climate and strange structure and to see if the rumors of a toroidal world without magmatter is true. Most of these tourists come from the NoCoZo and spread their entrepreneurial and benevolent lifestyles wherever they go. This has not only helped the Torus rake in resources and money from popular attractions, but also the underground markets taking advantage and tricking naive tourists who happen to wander into their territories. However, there has been an opposition to this rise in tourism, with some criticisms being the loss of their culture or rising crime rate from newcomers. This is a belief shared by the government and so have constructed tourist arcologies, orbitals, and ways of travel that are far away from the general population. Tourist are accommodated in these places for the duration of their stay. These visitors are constantly accompanied by chaperone drones and vecs.

These characteristics of The Torus are why it has been a place of interest for thousands of years and is likely to remain so for thousands more to come.

Artificial Planets
Artificial Worlds
Hoopworld
Torus - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A doughnut-shaped surface; a wheel-like configuration that is a popular design of small orbitals and space stations that wish to maintain a non-microgravity environment. The torus spins slowly on its axis, generating gravity centrifugally.

Appears in Topics

Megascale Engineering

Middle Regions/Hinter-regions

Systems & Worlds S - T

Development Notes

Text by Vaktus
Initially published on 07 September 2017.

Acknowledgements to Anders Sandberg's Torus Earth article here
Torus Earth
See also Isaac Arthur's YouTube page on Hoopworlds

Additional Information

Updated 14/3/18

Return to Top