M Fnord Wrote:"Dad... maybe it's you."
"No, no I don't think so..."
- Gil and Klaus Wulfenbach Kohran and Noah Anderson, in conversation, 20XX.
Yeah, yeah... some things change, some things stay the same.
Characters - some of this is Mal's, some of it is mine:
Noah Scott Anderson: First businessman to successfully gain a presence in space, by using the expedient of hiring experts instead of trying to do the work himself. His holding company owns the L5 Bernal Sphere Stella Via, where he makes his residence. (Wild rumors say that he's considering building and moving into a private space station, but nobody's that rich.) Also owns Stella Via Trading Company, which does big money with the Convention. Dabbles in AI design, created a half-dozen infomorphs which he then gave morphs and adopted as his children. Currently worried about his eldest AI girl, who’s vanished into the Convention. Never married.
Jake Hansen: Noah Anderson's right-hand-man, "CEO" to Noah's "President." Very busy, but not so busy that he doesn't have a social life. Known to sponsor zero-g gynmastics teams and zero-g ballet companies. Married to Miyuri Fujiwara, a cyberneticist who he met at one of the Anderson family get-togethers.
Megan Anderson: Not-particularly-famous, Megan is the owner and head chef of a successful high-class restaurant in Luna City. On good terms with her genius daughter Eimi and wealthy brother Noah, but their schedules give them few opportunities to get together.
Eimi Anderson: Daughter of Megan Anderson and the late Shinichi Yamaguchi (and niece of famed businessman Noah Anderson), Eimi holds a graduate degree in cybernetics from MIT. She and her uncle were the first to successfully use the "handwavium" technology to create a cybernetic intelligence. Lives with her mother in Luna City, where she's out from under the shadow of her uncle (and casting a pretty big shadow of her own in the infomorph community). Divorced, no children, not currently in a relationship. Introduced her classmate Miyuri to Jake Hansen.
Sora Anderson: The aforementioned first CI, designed by Eimi with personality coding by Noah (including personality components of the anime characters Sora Naegino and Sora Hasegawa). Competent space engineer; developed a bunch of open-source improvements to standard spacecraft designs. Decided that her talents were going to waste working inside the inner system & has joined the "rebel alliance" - currently working on the other side of the Gate with a group of technical pacifist Fen terrorists.
Kohran Anderson: Probably the most famous infomorph/handwavium specialist in the system. One of Noah's children, coded as a technical genius. Developed the stutterwarp FTL engine which has been put into use colonizing Alpha Centauri.
Amelia Anderson: The first known infomorph to completely reject both the "net-connected cyberspace" and "humaniform morph" infomorph lifestyles, Amelia's hardware is one with her spacecraft body... whichever spacecraft that happens to be at the time. Sometimes calls herself "The Ship Who Seeks," but never tells anyone just what she's seeking. Currently earning the purchase price of her own spacecraft by working as a shuttle pilot on the Benjamin Franklin / Stella Via "milk run." (For those scoring at home, Amelia is Yayoi's counterpart in extra-techy Fenspace, sort of.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012