What is Network?

(“Network Orientation” revision 5600109c, intelligence Tier 1.8-2.5, F-type metaphors)

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Billions of years ago, in a stagnant pool of goo, something magical occurred: your species began a journey that would be long, noble, occasionally tragic and always unpredictable. But if you had asked those original organic molecules what their descendants would accomplish, what would they have said? Surely they could not have guessed that their progeny would be so beautiful and complex. They could not have known that, without any outside help whatsoever, you would one day leave your homeworld and make contact with the greater galaxy. And perhaps most of all: they could never have suspected that one day your species would consider the most auspicious step of its existence:

Network Citizenship.

What is the Network?

The Network is the largest accumulation of intelligence in the history of the galaxy. For over half a billion years, it has enabled communication and prevented conflict between millions of species. It has provided and regulated technology. To put it in a phrase you have likely heard before: the Network tends toward order. That is why, in all that time, it has maintained nearly perfect equilibrium.

And if your species becomes a Citizen, this could all be yours.

How big is the Network?

While it is difficult to express the true size of the Network in terms that your mind could comprehend, suffice it to say that it now connects almost every member of more than one point four million intelligent species, across more than one billion star systems. In addition, for every connected Citizen member, the Network contains a multitude of auxiliary intelligences whose primary motivation is to keep things working smoothly. Though most of these intelligences are sub-Legal, they still add to the massive conglomeration of intelligence that makes up the Network.

What can the Network do for my species?

For the average Citizen species, the list of conveniences is endless. Some species feel that the most important feature is Network Standard, the common language. Others say that its primary contribution is the faster-than-light travel and data transfer available at any Network subspace tunnel. Still others appreciate the endless supply and variety of auxiliary intelligences available for every task and situation. But higher intelligences than you have concluded that the Network’s primary advantage is this:

Stability.

That’s right. The members of your species no longer need to worry about societal disruption, invasion, war, disease, and other such inconveniences. The Network has maintained technological equilibrium for longer than your people have possessed sapience, and it will be here when you are extinct. Joining the Network means joining something greater than your own species.

You’re welcome.

What should I do next?

Your species has been granted a twelve-year trial of Citizenship, with all its accompanying rights and privileges. You have been granted a temporary Tier (2.09), and your solar system has received a temporary Network subspace tunnel (six trillion ton/second capacity, coordinates attached). In addition, you will soon be receiving a shipment of approximately six billion Network prosthetics to distribute to your members. Though such a low Tier does not open the entire galaxy to your species, you will find that the millions of available solar systems add up to far more space than you will be able to explore in your allotted year.

So get out there! Visit the uncountable members of the Network! Make a friend or two. See what society can be like if it is allowed to flourish in a safe environment.

Happy travels!