What Is This Thing?

Pirayus is a serial novel released in the form of blog posts. It is the wholly owned and copy-righted work of Peter Sargent, who rights lots of other interesting things too. As you can probably tell from the first few paragraphs of chapter one, this is science fiction. In short, it is the story of an inter-galactic civilization facing a great cross-roads. Thematically, it revolves around science, religion, and the question of free will. The story spans what would be multiple volumes of physical books. Pirayus is just the name of the first volume. Future volumes will probably be separate blog pages altogether. The current volume is split into six episodes, each of which has multiple chapters.

Here is a partial synopsis. I call it "partial" because I don't want to publish too many spoilers. The following paragraphs serve to orient that reader who wants to start somewhere in the first couple of chapters. If you want to start at the latest chapter and read a more complete synopsis of everything that came before, go to The Story So Far. If you would like to start at the beginning, read chapter one instead of the synopsis.

Synopsis

A millennium in the future, humanity is at its peak and staring down its demise. Our civilization has reached across thousands of stars within the galaxy through the network of tunnels known as ridge space. Fully automated production yields goods at no cost. Our genetic engineers craft bodies to exacting standards. The most important technology is the Sorter, a digital oracle that helps people make choices about every aspect of their lives. Together these tools have made innovation obsolete. It has been years since the galaxy has seen a truly original scientist or artist or composer. This has made it vulnerable to a new threat that could end the human race.

Most people in the galaxy are fabrile, meaning that they are manufactured from the chromosomes up. By design, fabriles are immune to all the serious illnesses that plagued humans of the past. Precise control over their bodies and their environments have prevented the introduction of new diseases. However, a strange congenital illness has begun to sweep the fabrile population. Most fabriles belong to the Atropan religion and interpret the disease in light of their faith. Atropans believe that human lives are predestined and have no free will. Our ultimate goal as a race is Technogensis, an existence where humans have abandoned the final vestiges of suffering and the confines of mortality. They reason that the plague is necessary step to eliminate the last remaining imperfections. Not everyone agrees.

Some people adhere to a different faith. These Meropenes reject the authority of the Sorter and other modern technologies. They preach that humanity is not predestined and is worse of for having foresaken the advancement of science and culture. Some Meropenes are fabrile, but most are natches, or natural born persons. The more radical elements of Meropenism believe that humanity was not always alone in the universe, that that we came across an alien civilization centuries ago and eliminated it in a great war. These people search for the Lost City, which like Troy was the city of a battle in the mythological past. The Lost City may show a different future than Technogenesis, if only it can be found. When the plague strike,s the Meropenes take heart that they are not affected and that it may give hope to the preservation of their faith.

Presiding over all this is the Delian League, as system of planets dominated by Atropans. The most interesting place in the League is the planet Pirayus. It is the hub of intergalactic trade. Humans travel from star system to star system via ridge space, a tangle of space tunnels with Pirayus at its hub. Like the great ancient port cities of New York or Hong Kong, Pirayus is a never sleeping bustle of souls and a crossroads of civilization There is a saying that no one is a native of Pirayus and everyone is just passing through. Despite this, the place has developed a population of permanent residents from all walks of life.

Major Characters

On The Planet Kepler Lyra Prime

• Aaron: A fabrile and Atropan who's daughter has come down with a mysterious disease that is affecting fabrile children all over the League.
• Tabitha: Aaron's wife and a genetic engineer.
• Asandra: Aaron and Tabitha's daughter. She is in her late teens.
• Reverend Martin Thomas: A fire-breathing interpreter of the Sorter. He wants to destroy the Meropenes and reform Atropanism to a stricter version. He is an adviser to Senator Herrodis.
• Senator Herrodis: The Senator who represents KLP in the Delian Senate. Despite the fact that his top adviser is Martin Thomas, he is a moderate who wants peace between the Atropans and the Meropenes.

On The Planet Pirayus

• Lisette: A natch who works for the historical museum on Pirayus. She used to be revolutionary as a young woman, but quit the movement when her infant son died. She is now considering rejoining the effort.
• Auris: Lisette's father, who wants a resolution to the conflict through peaceful means.