The Magister (Earthkeep) (37 page)
Read The Magister (Earthkeep) Online
Authors: Sally Miller Gearhart
EARTHKEEP
TERMINOLOGY
| bailiwicks | Containment areas for offenders against society, similar in function to 20 |
| "ballbakers" | The contraband crystals, tuned electronically or by a witch, which are being illegally distributed and sometimes used to castrate violent men, particularly rapists. |
| breathshine | Creation by breathfriction and focused intent of an independent and "totable" source of light, as in the creation or rejuvenation of a glolobe. |
| breeks | A Kanshou's loose-fitting black pants of light cotton. |
| cape, cloak | A Kanshou's black cape of tekla, hanging to mid-thigh and kept folded in her subvention belt except when used for warmth, balance, or protection. Magisters wear the near ankle-length cloak instead of the cape. |
| Central Web | Little Blue's global legislative body of 15 Websters, the highest level of the planet's Legislative branch of government. (See GLOBAL GOVERNANCE.) |
| chela | A beginning Kanshou cadet. |
| com-, commu- | Referring to "communication" as in comcube, comunit, comline, com- or commuflow. |
| comfortsuit | A Kanshou's skintight bodystocking of rhyndon. |
| compu- | Referring to "computer" as in compucode, compufile, compukiosk, compupost, compusite. |
| cowl | A Kanshou's tubular neckpiece of tekla that can be spread and extended upward to cover her head for protection from weather. |
| credit system | Little Blue's primary method of value exchange, used in all metropolitan districts and in most rural areas except where citizens have opted to be a barter or gift society. Generally replaces currency used in former eras. |
| cushcar | A hovercraft that is used primarily for personal transport, such as the "solocush" (borne on only four air jets) or the "standard 24" which can seat four passengers and is sustained by 24 jets. In contrast to the cushcar, a "cargocush" is the transportation of choice for freight, and is borne on 48 jets. Cushcars have replaced vehicles powered by a four-stage gasoline combustion engine in popularity. |
| Daily Voice | The ongoing global opinion poll, offering citizens of Little Blue the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding proposals being heard by the Central Web and lower webs or cases being heard by the Kitchen Table and lower tables. One vote allowed per citizen per day. |
| dartsleeve | A close range personal weapon through which a Kanshou may blow darts laden with "sodoze." The sodoze is a neurological inhibitor that disables the person targeted within seconds. |
| demesne (duh- | The governmental sub-division of a quarter-trap, whose size and shape are determined by discussion (and if necessary, by referendum) among the citizens who are involved. |
| dreamwork | The mutual exploration undertaken by two women who are physically touching while sleeping, and in which they inhabit the same dreams, as in dreamwalking, dreamweaving, dreamwatching. |
| Earthclasp | April 12, 2044, the day that citizens celebrated the highest of Earthkeep priorities: the rehabilitation, preservation, veneration, and appropriate "use" of the Earth for citizens and for the hoped-for Return Of The Animals. Pundits and cultural analysts have since marked the day of this celebration as the turning point in the global economy from scarcity to "No Hunger, No Poverty." The day is also commonly regarded as the time at which women were acknowledged to be the uncontested leaders of socio-political affairs on Little Blue. |
| Earthkeep | The prevailing mass consciousness on Little Blue, derived in response to the disastrous events of the first half of the 21 |
| Empty Monday | The day of the Animal Exodus, the 48-hour period inclusive of April 12, 2021, when every non-human animal on Little Blue mysteriously died or disappeared. |
| Exodus | The Animal Exodus from Little Blue in which all multi-cellular animals including insects gave up their lives. No bacterial, fungiform, or plant life was affected. Phytoplankton survived. |
| flat- | Used to distinguish "regular" objects or processes from holographic reproduction, as in flatfilm, flatcopy, flatcast, flatfone, flatmap. |
| flex-car | The Kanshoubu's multi-purpose and variously-powered vehicle capable of movement on land, in air, and on or through water, usually combining only two of these capacities as in the ability to operate both vertically and laterally over land or water. |
| forcefield wraps | Spheres of energy established by set nodes and used by Kanshou in the detention or transfer of violent offenders. Different areas of the harmer's body can be quickly immobilized or released. |
| free enterprise | The encouragement of private industry or commerce under open competitive conditions, a part of Little Blue's mixed economy but strictly within the boundaries of Earthkeep priorities. A Board Of Use must deliberately grant to a commercial or industrial enterprise its use of any land, water, and/or airspace, however large or small, that is under the Board's jurisdiction. Boards Of Use may revoke any grant at any time for violation of the conditions of use. |
| gert | To fly together as Kanshou, designated as, for instance, Rhoda-Gert-Longleaf. Or a "spoon" of two Kanshou women who are able to fly together because they are or have been lovers. Applied specifically to the Flying Daggers of the Amahrery, the Femmedarmery, and the Vigilancia. |
| gift society | A community committed to the development of an economy based upon the gifts that its residents offer and receive. Central to such a society's philosophy is the individual's subsistence solely upon the largess of her/his neighbors. |
| glolobe | A source of light generated by breathshine and sustained by a pattern of ambient influx. Glolobes may be suspended in the air or carried to other locations by mindtote. |
| habitante | A person remanded to a bailiwick because of his/her violent behavior. |
| hempbrew | A tea-like hot drink made from processed hempstalks. |
| holo- | Designating some feature of holotechnology (e.g., holotech, holosize, holoscene, holoroom, holofest). |
| hovercraft | Any air conveyance, usually a cushcar or cargocush, used for public transportation or personal short-distance travel. It is powered by fusion thrust or hydrogen-enhanced photovoltaic units but kept aloft by air suspension in the form of multiple jets of air in constant pressure against the ground (or water). |
| hurtfield | Invisible electrical "fences" which surround most bailiwicks to prevent the escape of habitantes. |
| Kanshoubu (kahn-show- | The global peackeeping body, composed of Amahs, Femmedarmes, and Vigilantes. A part of the Implemental branch of Little Blue's government. |
| Kanshou ( | Peacekeeping officer or officers, either an Amah, a Femmedarme, or a Vigilante, depending upon the tri-satrapy in which she serves. A guardian or watcher. |
| Kitchen Table | Little Blue's global tribunal of nine Sifters (justices). The highest level of the planet's Judicial branch of government. |
| learntogether | A companion in study or experience, often the term applied to a life partner. |
| lonth | The lower body's balance-and-sustain point, between the second and third chakras, which with practice can be used to maintain any psychic or physical state. A kind of "automatic pilot" for spoons or gerts during long flights. |
| lovetogether | Any two people who share intimate erotic or spiritual experiences of love-making. |
| lume | Any source of light used to dispel darkness or to accent texts or drawings. An electronic pointer, as in a lumerod, lumestick, screenlume, or lumepoints. |
| magnopad | Electronic writing tablet for memoranda or brief expendable messages. The pad's magnetic field can be programmed to save data or messages for short time periods. |
| Mother Right | Feminist ideology built upon the primacy of the female, essential female values and sensibilities, the necessity of women's self-determination apart from men or patriarchal structures or processes, and the inalienable principle of a woman's authority over her own children and those of her species, exclusive of any male influence. |
| paque | By a holo-imagery system, the simulation of walls, rooms, and 3-D projections of distant views in areas otherwise transparent or without walls. Whole environments can be paqued, depaqued, and repaqued quickly. |
| plastiped | A soft, durable, and flexible polymeric compound that "breathes." Used universally as the substitute for leather, particularly in the manufacture of footwear as in a Kanshou's mid-calf boots. |
| Plenary Constitution | Little Blue's globally negotiated constitution ratified in 2057, delineating the responsibilities of Little Blue's Legislative, Judicial, and Implemental branches of government and the interrelationships of the planet's geo-political territories (e.g., satrapies, tri-satrapies). Further, the document sets out the values attendant upon the Earthkeep Consciousness and names those values as the spirit from which all legal statutes will thenceforth derive. Certain caveats attach to the Plenary Constitution, pertaining to specific indigenous cultures and sovereign communities. |
| Pr-24 | The Kanshou nightstick, modelled on the traditional Monadnock Pr-24 Police Baton. Its hard plastic is featherweight and its flexible design offers two working ends. It is, however, used primarily for restraint rather than for striking. |
| protofobe | An opponent of Little Blue's emerging proposals for Anti-Violence Protocols and Habitante Testing. |
| protofile | A supporter of the Protocols and Testing. |
| Rainbow Sunday | April 14, 2041, the day of the appearance of a double rainbow in the western sky, first sighted at Amsterdam, then globally for 24 hours thereafter, a phenomenon interpreted as a promise of the Animals's Return because of its near coinciding with the 20-year anniversary of their Exodus, but also understood as a symbol of peace and of diversity. |
| rhyndon | The material of the Kanshou's comfortsuit, automatically controlling the temperature range selected by its wearer. |
| rolling beltways | Part of the public transportation system in many large cities, powered by hydrogen-enhanced photovoltaics and consisting of both fast and slow lanes for pedestrian travel. Ordinarily coordinated with "swings," individual hanging cables that swing from rooftop to rooftop. Swings are accessed by elevators or moving stairways. |
| Rwanda Accords | Internationally endorsed compact (2028 C.E.) delineating a prisoner's rights and the limits of a detaining institution's use of force. |