TECHNOLOGY & COMMODITIES
Aerodyne - Heavier-than-air craft which achieve flight through motion. More commonly, 'aerodyne' in Einheit City refers to flying vehicles which combine jet propulsion and limited anti-gravity fields to achieve flight. Smaller and usually faster than skyships, aerodynes can be simply described as planes or 'flying cars', though come in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from tiny single-seater civilian craft, to the heavy Ministry bombers used in the Species Wars. Aerodynes are most commonly used by the UniClass and, in militarized forms, the Ministry. Aerodynes do exist amongst the outer class, though are often outdated or cheap models.
AirCam - An automated airborne audio-visual surveillance drone, capable of low-speed hoverflight. Several thousand AirCams are in operation throughout Einheit City, primarily in the Toride and Midcity. Average models are typically one and a half feet long, and have a quiet whirring engine sound. They have multiple lenses to provide an array of differeny viewing methods, and a built-in miniature searchlight. As a safeguard against illegal tampering or theft, all AirCams are resistant to EMP effects, are fitted with a tiny tracking device, and may also override their E-Fluid power cell to explosively self-destruct if remotely ordered to do so. Despite being relatively cheap to produce in mass quantities, AirCams are notoriously difficult and dangerous to tamper with.
Citizen Rehabilitation Collar - Citizen Rehabilitation Collars may vary slightly in model in some cases, though virtually all include a tracking device which allows the Ministry to monitor the wearer's position at any given moment, an audio microphone to allow audio surveillance, and a small euthenaisa shot in the event that the Collar should be seriously tampered with (as a safeguard to prevent illegal removal), or be remotely ordered by the Ministry for the wearer to be euthenized if needed. Generally this is a form of what the Ministry calls corrective rehabilitation for UniClass citizens who have committed low to mid-level crimes, or exhibited antisocial/anticivil tendancies, yet are still considered to have potential to be cured of their ways in order to continue living as proper citizens. It has also been used on select outer classers in some situations. (See image here)
Collar, the - Another term for Citizen Rehabilitation Collar.
Doubleway Telescreen - A telescreen that has a connected microphone array, as well as an image-capture device, networked with other telescreens. Essentially, doubleway telescreens allow one to engage in real-time audio and visual communication with a separate party on another doubleway telescreen.
E-Fluid - The liquid which is charged and pumped by the Heart Machine to provide electrical power and fuel to Einheit City. E-Fluid is relatively simple to create in Toride refineries out of basic compounds, yet is useless until charged by passing through the Heart Machine. The Heart Machine and a small number of Ministry-only machines are the only known devices capable of recharging E-Fluid. After being charged, the fluid is pumped through a citywide network of tubes and pipes. The E-Fluid's energy is then tapped by electrical receivers as it pumps through the area, which then distribute the electrical power throughout their respective buildings. E-Fluid that has been sapped of its power charge is channeled back to the Heart Machine, where it is recharged and redistributed back into the city. E-Fluid may also be used as a basic flammable heating liquid, and has an extremely long burn life, at least 10 times that of petroleum. Once its flame has exhausted its energy charge, the E-Fluid is useless, and should either be discarded or pumped back into a Heart Machine vein and returned to the energy cycle. The Toride by far consumes the most E-Fluid, while the Midcity and Undercity receive far less, and are often subject to random shortages and dry periods. E-Fluid is slightly similar in appearance and texture to crude oil, though has a blue-ish black colour and is known to burn in unusual, often unpredictable colour spectrums.
Einheit Deco - The style of architecture and industrial design which became prominent in Einheit City's early years of construction, and endures well into the present to some degree. Einheit Deco could best be described as a fusion of numerous architectural styles heavily altered by Einheit City's unique technology, multilingual society, utopian symbolism, and with underlaying influence from the more hyper-advanced pseudo-Gothic foundational/skeletal structures left behind by the Architects thousands of years prior. Gears, pipes, vents, steel rivets, searchlights, Socialist Realism, flag standards, torches, and Unity-influenced utopian imagery are dominant themes in Einheit Deco. The design style has taken on a few noticeable differences in various parts of the city by the present age, however. The Toride has for the most part stayed true to the Einheit Deco school of design, though in increasingly monochromatic white/grey color themes, resulting in a clean, sterile industrial feel contrasted with the Toride's abundant greenery. The MidCity and Undercity lean towards more complex and layered style with only hints of the original Einheit Deco mixed into it all, mostly as a result of urban decay and improvised repairs and reconstructions, resulting in a chaotic pipe and cable-tangled slum mutation of Einheit Deco, as function-oriented constructions are built on top of existing structures without the luxury of consideration for architectural appeal.
Genetic Re-Assignment - A process of genetic re-organization, where the end result is transforming a purebred into a hybrid. By use of a Ministry procedure derived from ultra-classified Architect technology, purebreds who seek UniClass citizenship have their DNA seamlessly combined with that of another race, with the end result being a hybrid, both in genetic makeup, and in physical appearance. The process is said to be highly safe and efficient, though the treatment itself takes roughly eight days, during which the individual will be put under general anaesthesia in a genetic alteration tank in a Ministry gene center inside the Toride until their hybridization treatment is complete. During this period, their DNA and physical makeup will be changed radically, essentially making them identical to one who was born as a hybrid. Wet-wiring may also be done in order to remove certain memories, in order to better separate the individual from their previous life. Genetic re-assignment is mandatory for purebreds who seek to become UniClass citizens. After passing the initial basic requirements, a purebred will be entered into a waiting list until they are called for an appointment to a gene treatment center inside the Toride, where they will be escorted by Ministry personnel to their respective center at the appropriate time and date. However it is known that purebreds who exhibit more socially-beneficial traits (ie: job skills, age, good health, intelligence, pre-existing obedience to Unity, etc.) are given priority queue placement over purebreds who are considered less desirable, the latter of which often have to wait for several months or more before being summoned for genetic re-assignment. For this reason many of the more dedicated purebreds seeking hybridization enroll in Ministry-funded Unity education centers in order to jump-start their 'mental evolution' to make their transition from purebred to hybrid smoother, and to advance more quickly in the waiting list. Aside from seeing rather nondescript laboratory facilities before and after going under general anasthesia for the procedure, very little is known about the exact mechanics or science which go on behind the scenes of the Genetic Re-Assignment process, as the Ministry has kept much of it wrapped in deep secrecy. Only select UniClass personnel with extremely high security clearances are assigned to work with Genetic Re-Assignment. See the Classes page for more information on Genetic Re-Assignment.
Heart Machine, the - Einheit City's core source of electrical power and heating; it is housed in a ultramax-security zone at the peak of the Toride, no living individuals but the High Ministry and a few select individuals in the rest of the Ministry have ever come into direct contact with it, let alone understand its inner workings.
Hoverdyne - Vehicles which use hover engines instead of ground traction. A common type of land vehicle in Einheit City. Generally found among the UniClass, though lower-quality models are found among the outer class as well. The Ministry uses several models of militarized hoverdynes.
Informational Processing Engine (IPE) - A primitive data input and communicating device powered by a gas-electric motor. Utilizing a built-in array of levers and typewriter keys, the user may input textual data, then transmit it to an IPE or other terminal in another location, where the information is then printed out or displayed on the receiving IPE's monitor. IPE's come in a wide range of models and sizes, from portable suitcase-sized models, to extremely large super-processing engines that may take up an entire laboratory. IPE's are the most common computing devices found amongst the outer class, which generally does not have easy access to more up to date digital engines.
Skyship - The common term given for heavy airborne vessels, which achieve aeronautic lift through inertia drive or gravity-alteration field engines. Skyships saw extremely heavy use during the Species Wars by numerous cities, especially Einheit City, whose Architect-influenced technology quickly surpassed Colonial skyships in quality, while the Colonies had superior numbers. Widely varied in size, skyships could range from being agile corvette gunships 40 meters in length, to hulking 900 meter air dreadnaughts. Skyship battles were a common sight during the Species Wars. Presently the Ministry has reactivated many of its skyships to combat what it claims is a massive terrorist siege surrounding the city. Civilian skyships are common, often used to haul heavy freight from one side of the city to another.
Sky Furnaces - Ancient automated ships in permanent high-altitude flight in the planet's atmosphere. The original Sky Furnaces launched soon after the Sun's darkening several centuries ago, as a last-ditch effort to keep the planet from sinking to the temperature of space. While the world would never again see daylight, the Sky Furnaces did manage to maintain a temperature range of -45°F and 40°F in most regions, thus providing survivable (though still very cold) temperatures, and continue to do so to this day. Very little is known about the Sky Furnaces or how exactly they control temperature, since there have been few attempts to research them closely, though it is rumoured that their performance has begun to decay in recent years, for reasons unknown. Sky Furnaces vary in size and shape, though most are thought to be at least three kilometers in length. It is also thought that they may have similarities to the more advanced ancient Architect technology found in Einheit City, which suggests at a possible connection between the smiths of the Sky Furnaces and Einheit City's foundations.
Telescreen - A device that utilizes a cathode ray tube to display video on a fluorescent screen, usually accompanied by audio speakers. Telescreens are most commonly found in public places in Einheit City, where they are used as a means to broadcast news reels, changes in supply rations, and other Ministry-approved messages to the general public. Mostly found in the Toride and MidCity.
Vorhang, The - The colossal defensive wall which surrounds Einheit City. An ancient Architect Era construct, the Vorhang was refurbished and added to by the Ministry during the Species Wars, turning it into an even more formidable defense, complete with heavy gun and missile installations, and several Ministry stations. Today, the Vorhang is as heavily fortified as ever and serves as a giant Ministry installation which monitors MidCity activity and the Nightlands outside, as well as the front line against the Nightlander siege surrounding the city. The Vorhang is second to the Toride in terms of Ministry personnel and hardware found at it.
Wet-wiring - Also informally referred to as "neuro-hacking". A Ministry procedure in which an individual's central nervous system is, in very simple terms, accessed and mapped in a manner similar to an organic computer. The mind is analogized as software, while the physical brain and its neurons are analogized as hardware. Extremely little is known about the procedure outside the Ministry division which specializes in it, as it is is one of the more secretive sciences practiced by the Ministry. What is known is that wet-wiring is generally used as a means of extracting information from an individual's mind that proves too difficult to acquire through conventional interrogation tactics or questioning. Wet-wiring is also suspected to be used on those who undergo Genetic Re-Assignment during their extended period of unconsciousness, which possibly explains why the majority of purebred-to-hybrid UniClassers have very little recollection of their previous lives aside from memories which tend to result in desirable citizen traits. Previously, wet-wiring was to some degree used as a means of correcting UniClassers detected as being guilty of malignant thought, yet were still considered redeemable citizens. However the Ministry has begun practicing this less, due to the low success rate of "reprogramming" certain undesirable traits. In particular (though not a complete list) homosexuality, rebellious thoughts, and religious belief, for reasons unknown, have proven extremely difficult to reprogram through wet-wiring. Hence the Ministry generally resorts to use of the Citizen Rehabilitation Collar or other rehabilitative measures in cases where the individual in question is considered possibly salvageable, though much more severe punishments are also used to eliminate such tendancies among the UniClass population.
