Spacer's Guide to the Sphere

The veracity of the following document is routinely disputed, as despite the most meticulate investigation no single individual fits all (or even remotely close to many) of the declared dates and times. Indeed, some appear to have been impossible. Problematically though for the dsmissal of the 'Spacer's Guide to the Sphere' as generally fraudulent or a compilation, all the information contained therein is factually correct. Furthermore, to the consternation of many national intelligence services updated versions of this widely-distributed file contain information of a somewhat sensitive nature, often before official disclosure.

INTERPOL, the CIA and the Guójiā Ānquán Bù (Ministry of State Security) have offered a bounty for any information that leads to the contact and/or arrest of the author of the Spacer's Guide to the Sphere.

ZOCU

Haraway's World

Haraway's World is one of the weirder ones going. Not because of the biosphere - though that's pretty weird - but because of the people. I hardly need to tell you since everyone knows, but Haraway's World is all-women. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it? Well, it is until you realize that except for the ones in the capital and spaceport of New Rekjavik, Harawayans are sexist bigots. They're also almost fanatical militarists and convinced of their self-important. Comes from fighting and winning against EU troops not once but twice and being saved from the inevitable massive sledgehammer of retaliation by providence in both cases, I guess.

They've also got a genetic caste system going on. Originally it was meant to give the colony a broad spectrum of innate aptitudes and ensure everyone worked together, but these days it's seeming like more and more of a failed experiment. The Reds (I'll get to that) finally got some form of equality but there's been a lot of backlash, though quietly. Advances elsewhere in the Sphere are also starting to show the Harawayan color system for what it is; an impressive achievement of late 21st century biotechnology, now outdated by cultural shifts and technological improvements elsewhere.

So, the colors. Each of the 'castes' are color-coded, which represent their aptitude. Here's a brief guide.

Reds

The reds are the buff angry working class of Haraway's World. They're not as strong as an Atlas upgrade but have a bit better neuromuscular reaction time. Invaluable in the days of a colonial startup, their physical strength and endurance meant they pretty much ended up doing manual labour for the past century. The government's done a lot to improve their lot but Red Ghettoes are still common in all the cities.

Oranges

Not technically a caste, Oranges is the Harawayan classification for bioroids. It's telling that they're chromatically higher than Reds . . .

Yellows

Ever talked to an Omoikane upgrade and realized how smart they could be? Well, Yellows are like that but even moreso. The downside is that it's like talking to a computer. Creepy.

Greens

Greens are kinda the Harawayan equivalent to Ishtars. Amazing people skills. As a result, Greens pretty much run things on Haraway's World; nobody likes to admit it, but they're the ruling class.

Blues

Blues are amazingly quick-witted and clever. Best con artist I ever knew what a Blue. A lot are just ditzy artist types though, writing poems and essays justifying the Color system and trying to keep the Reds from rioting.

Violets

Violets are . . . unique. Instead of having some sort of super-keen physical or mental upgrade, they've just got an amazing immune system and one that filters out the heavy metals and toxins from the more primordial parts of Haraway's biosphere. They tend to live in the frontier areas, so they're pretty redneck to you North American types. Most of 'em heven't even seen a man before. Doesn't stop them from occasionally getting curious when they visit the big city though. If you do take one up on her offer, wrap it up. You're not gonna get a disease and she's not gonna get preggers, but their bodies excrete the toxing and heavy metals through their bodily fluids. It goes away after a day or two, but if you have the misfortune of making time with one just in from the deep bush . . .

Let's just say my lips and a couple more important parts of my anatomy were numb for the next day.