Vampires of Avonmouth: Glossary

Some of the words used in Vampires of Avonmouth reflect the political, technological and cultural changes that have occurred by 2087. This glossary is a handy way to keep track of their meanings.

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AI: an artificial ‘I’.

Beads: a collection of implants at the left wrist which act as an interface between the network and the mind; they transmit mental content known as sensa in both directions. Also see psychblood.

Beautiful Alone: an officially sanctioned period during which flesh are allowed to be offline, but only while alone in a designated cabin.

Between: the part of the planet between the poles, excluding Westaf; the region ruled by IANI.

Big Mind: the totality of data about flesh, algorithmically processed and manifested according to the fiat of IANI and the multinats.

Bod: an artificial body which an AI may operate; see bodai.

Bodai: a transitory combination of a bod together with an AI which operates it, typically replaced by another AI in time according to logistical requirements; also referred to as a “robot” in Westaf.

 

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Fab / fabrication: unauthorised enhancement of network identity or user journey; see ID crime.

Flesh: what humans have come to call themselves; also fleshren.

Fleshwork: flesh in telepathic totality, as distinct from the network.

Genpop: flesh who work for neither IANI nor a multinat.

IANI: the supreme authority, which exercises power via the network and multinats from its seat at the poles.

ID crime: any attempt by flesh to alter their identity on the network that is deemed harmful to the interests of IANI; the only type of crime.

Mental content: see sensa.

Mentalmagic: the intellectual and physical vigour that flesh possess when squatted by a vodu.

 

Psychblood: psychotropic substance under software control which serves to propagate sensa between mind and beads as the first or last leg on its path through the network.

Renegade: an unofficial hacker of the supervirtual in Westaf, who seeks to bypass the authorities and profit directly from illicit activities in the Between.

Sensa: mental content that is telepathically transmitted to and from flesh via their beads; consists of dream-like images and near-thoughts.

Squatted: (of flesh) the state of being inhabited by a vodu, after it has consumed the mind. 

Supervirtual: supernatural phenomena within the blurred domain between software and consciousness.  Also unvirtual.

Total loss of data: (of flesh) death.

Tro-tro: Westaf equivalent of an N-car.

Turing: see Church.

Unvirtual: see supervirtual.

User journey: the trace of a flesh existence in Big Mind.

Vodu: a Westaf spirit which consumes minds and which may also inhabit the body after doing so — to become a type of psychic vampire. 

Westaf: a region roughly coinciding with what was formerly West Africa; an independent state; centre of opposition to IANI; also known for illicit experimentation with supervirtual phenomena by renegades.