The public face of the Heirotus eugenics program. A genetically modified sub-race of metahumans, Addicaines have been engineered to be faster, stronger and smarter than average metahumans. Common enhancements include eidetic memory, photographic reflexes, greatly enhanced healing ability, etc. While the most public role of the Addicaines is Heirotus corporate security and special ops, not all Addicaines are designed for combat. The program has forked into several sub-"series," each of which is designed with a focus on a specific ability or talent. A and B series Addicaines, for example, were designed to maximize the potential of Navigator genes, the F series focused on carbon computing applications, and the M and N series have focused specifically on psionic abilities.

0. The space "outside" reality, which becomes progressively "denser" the deeper a Navigator submerges into it. Distance traversed in Am becomes exponentially greater in Prime. A Navigator in a submerged vehicle circumvents lightspeed and relativity laws, traveling "faster than light" from the perspective of any Prime observer. Actual FTL "speed" is a factor of the vehicle's velocity, the AEI of the region of space, and the depth a Navigator is able to submerge their consciousness (and by extension, the vehicle) to. The majority of Navigators can travel to depths of 0.5 - halfway between reality and 0, where reality can still be clearly perceived by the Navigator - with ease. Submerging to greater depths is possible with a combination of skill, intense training, and genetic ability, but every Navigator has a hard limit they're mentally incapable of submerging past. For John West this limit is 0.2. For Naomi Houston, this limit is 0.41.

A measure of background ethereal energy, which Navigators, hermeticists, psionicists, and martial artists of myriad traditions are able to harness and channel. The AEI is a constant 1.0 throughout the majority of charted space. Regions with a low AEI, such as The Great Sinkhole, are greatly disfavored by psionicists and Navigators, as it takes ten times the effort to affect a tenth of the attempted task.

Also "Annexed Reality." Any Veil-accessible parallel universe accessible from a Prime planet. The vast majority of planets, moons, etceteras do not have an Annex. Of the worlds that have Annexes, almost all are habitable, or were habitable at some point over the last quarter million years. Most Annexed worlds have only one or two Annexed realities hanging off of them. In the case of multiple Annexes, access is incremental - one cannot get to Terra 3.0 from Terra 1.0 without passing through Terra 2.0. Academic research has concluded that all human and metahuman settlements on Prime originated from some level of the settlement's local Annex, leading to the conclusion that the Annexed realities have something to do with the destruction of the First Galactic Civilization, which disappeared without a trace over 200,000 years ago.

The Sabrosa's FTL drive. A Heirotus-developed FTL system that synthetically reproduces the Transition abilities of a Navigator using a combination of hardware, software, and organic components. Unlike a sentient Navigator, a BTS can't get "lost" in Am, and is not subject to the perceptual limits that keep Navigators from submerging below 0.2. The drive works by transitioning from Prime to a depth of 0.0000001 in an instant, staying at that depth for up to three seconds, and then transitioning back in nanoseconds. Unlike a conventional Navigator, the BTS requires extremely time-consuming pre-transition calculations to fold the ship accurately - and these calculations are required regardless of jump length, be it a few AU or the fifth generation BTS maxmium range of 500 light years. In the process of transitioning, the drive rapidly consumes vast amounts of energy, the excess of which is then violently expelled when the ship returns to Prime. If calculations are even a little bit off, a transitioning ship can vaporize other vessels, orbital platforms, or large chunks of rock.

Cross-Veil Transceiver. Any paired (Am/Prime) or triplicate (Prime/Veil/Annex) set of communications hardware with the transceiver crystals in perfect alignment across all reality layers. While no specialized hardware is required, manufactured CVTs contain complex gyroscopes and weather-proofing systems to keep the components in alignment.

Formula C9H13N, a miltary-grade amphetamine used by Naomi Houston and Greymalkin. Also used by the United States Air Force.

Galactic Standard Date or Federal Standard Year, where 0 is set as the foundation date of the first extra-planetary human colony. Terran Common Era dates can be calculated by subtracting 1399.

Federal Survey ID number for Sol. Terra is GSV-368.3 and Luna is GSV-368.3.1. All planetary listings exist only in the Heirotus and Templar survey databases.

A roughly 300 cubic light year area with an average AEI of 0.05, marked as a Hazard To Navigation on all modern star charts. The majority of Navigators are incapable of transitioning any vehicle larger than an EVA suit in such a low AEI. The Great Sinkhole is not the only sinkhole on the charts, but it's the largest by a volume of some 280ly. The star GSV-368 is approximately 140ly from its inner edge.

Holt Rischmann Device, an organic construct that quantifies the probability and perceptual influence an individual exerts on their environment. Also known as the "magician detector" or "biomagnetic wand." It is possible to spoof the device with a combination of training and intense concentration. Such "spoofers" always read lower than their actual rating, never higher. The HRD scale ranges from 0.01 to 4.18 and is also used as the reference scale for the Ambient Energy Index. The device can detect strong signals at great distances - a surge or spike above 3.1 will register on an HRD up to a thousand kilometers away, while an entity emanating at 1.0 must be within line of sight of the device to register. Heirotus has combined QAR technology with HRD principles to build a high-spectrum HRD with a range of hundreds of light years.

The survey vessel that found Terra. There has been no contact with the ship since updated maps were transmitted back to Heirotus.

A type of Heirotus carbon computer. The model aboard the Sabrosa is Ikon-57.

Any individual with the genetic ability to transition a harnessed vehicle into Am. A navigational "harness" is a silver alloy mesh that surrounds the vehicle on all three axes, which amplifies and extends the Navigator's abilities. The harness is typically metahuman-accessible from the bridge or specialized compartment of a vehicle, and bears a strong resemblance to bicycle handlebars. Any Navigator with any degree of ability can transition a vehicle of any size so long as the vehicle is harnessed; extremely strong Navigators can transition smaller vehicles (such as the Barghosa LIV-238) by making physical contact with a section of hull. Note that while any individual can eventually master the ability to transition up and down the annex, Navigators are the only individuals that can transition between Prime and Am.

Can refer to either the Interstellar Computer Network or to any localized node utilizing the same equipment, typically carbon computers for high-volume data processing and FTL communications supported by silicon computers that handle basic information processing. Round-trip time on Network communication from Terra to the nearest beacon is 30 hours; Terran computer equipment can access the local Network via a proprietary TCP stack.

The Really Real Reality. The "bottom" of any Annex and the only reality with Am.

Quantum Analogue Relay. At present the only means of realtime zero-latency FTL communication. Developed by Heirotus and first tested in 599, the technology is used internally and is not available to the public or to the Federal Government.

A common term for the Planetary Am. The space "above" a Prime world and "between" Annexed realities. The Veil has nearly all of the properties of Am with the following exceptions : A Veil exists only inside a planetary gravity well, and the "zero point" of a Veil is either Prime or the annexed reality "below" the starting point. Only a few planets have a Veil, and almost all of them are either inhabitable, or were inhabitable at some point in the past.

Officially, a system of screening, testing and Real World Experience education, also known as the "Factor Nine Protocols*", developed by the Templar as a longterm experiment in jump-starting those deemed capable of significant causality influence. Unofficially, a low-budget attempt to achieve some of the same goals as the Heirotus Eugenics Program. A major implementation of the WGP was executed on Terra in the mid 590s, using intelligence gathered from infiltration of the public education system.

The results of the Waking God Protocols were extremely varied, ranging from null reaction to hallucinations and insanity- and, in a few cases, success. Those who Awakened as a result of exposure to the stimuli of the experiment are referred to by the Templar as "Lords of Chaos", "Chaos Magicians", "Wild Talents", or (derisively) "Rush Jobs"- terms describing the capability and complete lack of experience and discipline of the members of the experimental group.

The program drew an immense amount of flack from the Templar Hierarchy due in part to the fact that one of the major elements of the experiments was the complete ignorance of the subjects that they were being tested. Repeated violation of this element - a core control condition of the Protocols - resulted in several dismissals and a few high-profile resignations.

The Waking God Protocols were suspended indefinitely in 600.10, pending review and analysis of the subjects.

* The WGP progam is referred to as "Factor Nine", "Nine", or "Ninety" in polite company. The name stems from a body of scientific and theurgic data amassed by the templar during the 570s, the sum total of which is known as the Factor Eight Program.

The capability of manned interplanetary travel, used as a base metric for the overall technological level of a civilization. Terra was a Zero Level civilization between 1969 and 1972 CE, but has since regressed to a sub-Zero Level.