The Ferristian Interstellar Public Database

[Snake]

The first volume of entries into the Ferristian Interstellar Public Database will discuss, in order, the language, history, biology, culture, and territory of Ferristian citizens as it exists on 1st Z-tick, 1st Y-tick, 1st Local Radsecond. For the convenience of our cosmic neighbors, The Ferristian federal government has aligned this date with the first day of 1 ABT.

The Language of Tomken

Tomken was a digital language engineered during the first thousand years of Ferristian history. After initial confirmation of non-Ferristian life, it was adapted to allow species other than the cybernetically-modified Ferrisitian natives [Referred to as Amicem internally] to perceive it without needing to learn the sign language it originated from. Information on the signed variation is currently in private records but may be released into this database at a future date.

Verbal Tomken can be written using the standard Terran alphabet [known as English in many communities]. Its phoneme inventory is as follows: a, e, i, o, u, m, p, f, v, t, ty, ts, s, z, r, ch, zh, sh, y, ny, k, h, and '. Deviations from English pronunciation include the following: e is pronounced as /ɛ/; i is pronounced as /ɪ/; a is pronounced as /æ/; ty is pronounced as /c/. It should also be noted that unlike in English, the pronunciation of vowels does not change based on their location in a word or proximity to other letters.

Amicem will generally communicate in Digital Tomken when speaking to and amongst one another. However, we understand that some individuals are uncomfortable with cybernetic or physical augmentations in general. Therefore, to encourage interspecies communication, we have updated Amic implants to immediately convert their ‘speech’ to Verbal Tomken if they need or want to speak to non-cybernetics. We are also working on adding English-Tomken translation software to the implants.

Tomken has spread, along with our magnificent populous, from its beginnings on our humble capital station to the many systems of the Ferrisitan Federation. The discovery of other stellar nations gives us the wonderful opportunity to not only continue to spread our language to other intelligent beings, but even more importantly, to welcome and assimilate other languages into our own database. We have already decompiled English, and look forward to analyzing the languages of the other peoples of Sector A1-0.

[Snake]

The first volume of entries into the Ferristian Interstellar Public Database will discuss, in order, the language, history, biology, culture, and territory of Ferristian citizens as it exists on 1st Z-tick, 1st Y-tick, 1st Local Radsecond. For the convenience of our cosmic neighbors, The Ferristian federal government has aligned this date with the first day of 1 ABT.

History of The Ferristian People

In the year 2947 BBT, a star now known as Teshar experienced a supernova, leaving behind only a black hole and fragmenting the Venterran ringworld research outpost. A small 30,000 kilometer segment of the outpost survived (total area 6,000,000 square km), being quickly abandoned but retaining power through ambient radiation from the black hole. In 1602 BBT, a probe from the outpost, having collected a substantial number of biological specimens and technical information from around the sector, docked with the segment and deactivated, releasing the specimens onboard.

The more intelligent species quickly began to reverse-engineer some of the tech from around them, allowing them to survive on the abandoned segment. Robotic augmentations partially replaced their need for oxygen with electrical power, and also allowed them to communicate digitally, rather than through the rudimentary sign-language they had initially developed. Genetic advancements allowed them to wrangle the uncooperative genes of various species together. These developments left them more resembling one other than their original species, resulting in the development of a single term to refer to them all: “Amicem”.

Roughly 200 years after the unification of the Amicem, many began to gain interest in leaving Ferristia to look for information about the Venterrans. Advanced FTL technology eluded them, but within 30 years, primitive spaceflight had been achieved. During the early years of interstellar travel, before the discovery of FTL travel, a colonist’s consciousness was stored in a chip called a ‘cortical stack’ while their body [called a ‘sleeve’ while not in use] were put in cold storage until the seedship reached its destination.

Stacks were abandoned once the first FTL ships were created in 903 BBT, leading to a boom in interest in colonial efforts. More than 40 dozen systems have been explored since the discovery, with almost 50 planetary colonies therein. So far, 6 of these colonies have grown large enough to be considered regional capitals, each administrating roughly 32,000 square lightyears. The following is a list of these colonies, their founding year, and the year of their ratification as regional capitals (both BBT): Tresh - 395 - 158; Mots - 78 - 31; Vu’un - 248 - 106; Svor - 497 - 345; Anyu - 150 - 103; Aru - 457 - 259.

[Snake]

The first volume of entries into the Ferristian Interstellar Public Database will discuss, in order, the language, history, biology, culture, and territory of Ferristian citizens as it exists on 1st Z-tick, 1st Y-tick, 1st Local Radsecond. For the convenience of our cosmic neighbors, The Ferristian federal government has aligned this date with the first day of 1 ABT.

Amic Physiology

Amicem are a techno-organic species, with what biological components they do possess being carefully engineered to synergize with their mechanical components, and overall improve their general quality of life. Amicem get their nutrients through an intravenous nutrient solution, which contains metals. This allows them to ‘grow’ their cybernetics through specialized proteins naturally generated in the body. Additionally, they have significantly reduced need for oxygen, as a capacitor-organ stores excess energy for emergency use.

The first Amicem did not have many cybernetic augmentations, and those they did where implanted after outside the birth. In addition, their biology was much less optimized for survival. Over time however, as the preexisting genetic technology advanced, the Amicem realized the potential of their biological expertise, and slowly accumulated more and more improvements to their physiology. One of these improvements, the ‘metal growing’ described before, allowed them to use cybernetics without the need for surgery.

Amic erotic stimulation and procreation are unrelated processes. Amicem are ‘born’ after a few months in an artificial womb, at which point they possess only basic sensory, cognitive, and vital organs and components. During adolescence, between ages 6 and 12, they grow augmentations, both organic and cybernetic, as their brain develops to handle them. After this transition, individuals often customize their enhancements as they grow into different social roles, and gain new interests and hobbies.

Although we do encourage augmentation in species we encounter, Ferristia neither condones nor practices nonconsenual conversion, except only to prevent immediate death or in similar emergencies. In fact, Ferristia takes pride in our accommodation of other sentient creatures through our enhancements, even those outside our borders. Although we have reached the limits of our territorial expansion, Ferristia hopes to one day share its improvements to quality of life to the rest of the sector.