wastelandmux (original) (raw)

Language
There is one common language to the Wasteland. New arrivals get “taught” this language when their clone is implanted with their old body's memories. The process overwrites their old language, which makes it transparent to the clone... they rarely realize they aren't speaking the language of their homelands.

Science
Science in the Wasteland is fairly well developed, being quite similar in level to our own. There are some notable exceptions. Bioscience in the Wasteland is considerably more advanced than our own. High energy science (fission/fusion, particle science) is significantly less so. Electronics are somewhat less developed than our own, but as the natives use magic to accomplish some of the same goals, their resulting skill with circuitry and sophisticated electronics actually turns out to be better in practice than our own.

Magic
To the Natives, magic and science aren't distinct things. Instead, what is called “magic” is simply the patterning of natural phenomena by an enlightened mind. Magic doesn't violate science, it just modifies it. With sufficient aptitude and training, a Native can trigger effects such as telekinesis, compulsion, explosions, energy control, etc. This is typically done through the use of spells, which are nothing more than patterns to direct the enlightened mind in controlling the environment. It is similar, in fact, to the way an enlightened person can control their heart rate and respiration through mental focus and chanting.

Magic performed by new arrivals, so-called “high magic”, does not always follow the laws of science. Some mages can ignore conservation of matter and energy, for example. Such abilities were always theoretically possible for the Natives, however they never realized this and never developed such skills.

Sorcery is also possible in the Wasteland. To simplify, sorcery is the ability to perform magic without relying on a formula (a magic spell). A sorcerer patterns their mind on demand instead, tapping into the “source” of magic. Sorcery tends to be slower than magic spells are, and of course it's much more flexible, but it's also more dangerous in terms of the possibility of unintended consequences.

When a new arrival enters the Wasteland, their mind adapts to the local magic. If they learned to control magic in a particular way before, after some time they re-learn how to use magic. This process is automatic and unconscious. After perhaps a week, a new arrival should be able to use most or all of the magic they had in their old worlds. It's similar to what happens when a person wears mirrored lenses that force them to view the world upside-down. After a week, the brain compensates and “flips” the world so they view everything right side up. In the same way, the mage learns to tap into the new world's magical field.

Magical Interference
So-called “High Energy” science and “High Energy” magic tend to interfere with and disrupt each other. Magic can interfere with the more powerful aspects of science, and likewise science can interfere with highly powerful magic. Normal science and normal magic, the relatively low power versions of either, tend to work just fine without interference. Users of strong electromagnetic fields and powerful spells need to be wary of certain areas.

Areas of high magic in the Wasteland, nodes of magic, tend to disrupt high energy science. In particular, high-energy weaponry and shields tend to not work near magic nodes. Similarly, extremely strong magic such as that found at nodes (or cast by the most powerful spellcasters) tends to interfere with delicate electronics or similar things that rely on scientific energies. The effect isn't enough to make a robot self-destruct, for example, but it can glitch that robot's control and logic at times.

There are also areas which have been shielded from magic. As powerful magical fields can disrupt science, the natives have set up areas where the flow of magic is limited. Magical energies are diverted away from those zones where particularly sensitive scientific devices must be used. In such “science nodes”, magic is weak. A creature relying on magic will be uncomfortable or even harmed in such a zone. Magical spells and sorcery will be greatly weakened in such places, and while it's impossible to completely block all magic from a given region it's possible to render the magic so weak as to be entirely useless.

Note that internal energies (mostly chi/ki, but including electrical and electronic systems) tend to be unaffected by either a science or magic node. Such energies tend to only be disrupted when that energy is used at a distance. In fact, both science nodes and magic nodes tend to interfere with other forms of energy when used at a distance.

In summary:
- Magic users can use little to no magic in a science node. Their magic may also suffer interference by high energy science outside a science node.
- High energy science does not work at a magic node. High energy science may also suffer interference by powerful magic outside a magic node.
- Internal energies are fine in most places, however they tend to suffer some disruption when used at a distance around either a science or magic node.

Alternate worlds/dimensions
Scientists and technicians of the Arc find other worlds in other universes or dimensions, and open up a portal to that world. Because of a technical limitation, only nonliving material may travel through this portal. Anything living attempting to do so ends up non-living on the other side. Organic samples can be passed just fine without problems, but life can't.

When the technicians find a suitable world and locate a suitable target for transfer, they use a probe device to take a genetic sampling. They then grow a clone using that genetic sample. More tricky is the process of memory retrieval. Genetic sampling is typically easy to do without detection – the probe resembles nothing so much as a biting insect native to a particular world. Memory extraction can be done when the target sleeps, or upon a recently dead target. Recently deceased targets are typically a little easier, as there's less concern about the process being interrupted partway through.

The memories are used to enhance the genetic sample and condition the clone. The process involves sophisticated magic, but the scientists are quite good at the procedure now. In effect, the clone has the full memories of the original. In addition, the clone has the same training, muscle development, scars, etc. as the original. It's literally as if the clone lived through everything the original did, just in a much shorter period of time and on a different world.

Memory Duplication
Scientists in the Arc can fairly easily update the memory copies they keep for each new arrival. Most Natives and Outsiders know they can extract memories from the memory chips of a deceased clone (hence the restriction against destroying the head) or by bringing a live clone back to the Arc for a harmless update procedure. Few, however, know that's not the only way they can update memories.

The scientists can (and do) sometimes use the same methods used to copy memories from the original to update memories from a clone instead. Usually this is done with the clone's knowledge and permission – basically a “save game” type mechanism. Sometimes this is done without permission, if the scientists decide for whatever reason that they need to get a “backup” of a significant event.

The practical outcome of this is that, to the chagrin of some, clones CAN be restored even if the memory chip is destroyed. The memories won't necessarily be up to date, but the clone is not automatically out of action either.

In some rare cases, clones can receive memories from their original even after their arrival in the Wasteland. In this way, characters in an ongoing series may receive new powers, abilities, psyche traits etc. These MUST be applied for, and the player should have a good reason for the change besides just wanting a canon update! Players looking to do this should also consider a possible non-canon weakness or psyche trait to indicate that their new memories don't entirely mesh with their experiences in WastelandMUX.