T E R M I N O L O G Y

517B: A blackbox theatre with 80 seats owned by Julian Vasilica. Located in the basement of Thalassa.

Allamanda: A florist shop owned and operated by Ophelia White.

Anankai: The surviving generations of the VA++ individuals that escaped genocide at the hands of the AU. They are generally nomadic, tend toward banditry, and hate everything that the AU stands for.

Asile: A circus that is considered a terrorist organization for its repeat breaking of artistic restriction and language laws. In addition to a show that changes annually, Asile also features a freakshow with a political bend that features acts such as "The Man-Eating Anankai" and "The Astounding Withering Turbinis Girl".

Chimera Project: A project during the old war that tried to bio-engineer the perfect soldier, but instead spawned the synthetic virus Valens Atrophos.

Contra: A gang of miscreants, mostly social outcasts, whose threat level is relatively low. Most contra members do not consider themselves terrorists, though they typically dislike authority; many have been apprehended, probationed, and released for minor crimes, including but not limited to possession of marijuana, vandalism, and petty theft.

et al.: Asile's new show that revolves around cabarets and people dying.

EXCELSIOR: The largest publisher of mainstream comics in the Arcadian Union, carrying such serialized titles as Captain Arcadia and The N-Team. EXCELSIOR also publishes graphic novel spinoffs of its serialized books under its main header. EXCELSIOR also has several subdivisions: IMPRINT (on-the-edge graphic novels and artbooks), SSE (independent serials), and Shark Attack Press (other independent graphic novels).

glitCh: A graphic novel pubished through IMPRINT from writer/artist Den Vandegraft. glitCh is a surreal graphic novel that deals with a relatively mundane story told through particularly violent replacement imagery. glitCh, though acclaimed, stirred up contraversy with its two male leads.

Jane's Fix-it: A repair shop owned by Sinead, beneath which is a fairly advanced doctor's office and operating room. Was blown up in recent memory and the lot has not been reclaimed.

Magen Project: A government funded project that is attempting to find a way to synthesize a double positive to Valens Atrophos without the physical mutations or inpredictability. By inducing the onset of the Turbinis Strain and applying modern nanotechnology, this should be achieved, in theory-- but all attempts have killed test subjects. The Magen Project is also responsible for the perfection of the Nanotechnology used to enhance soldiers in Novitas.

Nanotechnology: Microscopic robots that have been developed to repair and enhance the human body.

Novitas: An elite military police force employed by the AU to control the public and enact their policy. They are fitted with nanobots, which distinguishes them from the lower ranks of the military police.

OZ: An extremely secretive collection of Cyber Terrorists under the lead led of the mysterious Wizard of the O.Z. While little is known about them they have their hands in business that stretches beyond a few tricked out computers and networks. They have been known to transmit warnings to Anankai when discovery is at hand, sabotaging Government networks and security systems before breakfast. Though they hold their independence they do not restrict themselves from other 'Terrorists' as where there is a need, they will go.

Penny Dreadful: A perfumery owned and operated by Adrien St. Croix.

Penumbra Club: A terrorist organization headed by 10 inherited seats that likes to deface public property, distribute propoganda, and blow crap up. In addition to these ten, scattered groups of 3-5 operate under the Penumbra's banner and direction.

SALTWATER: A graphic novel published through IMPRINT by writer/artist Den Vandegraft. SALTWATER is a book about a group of people who leave their sector to see the ocean. The AU deemed the graphic novel as terrorist propoganda and Den was arrested. The trial was a media circus and Den Vandegraft was acquitted after his publisher issued a public apology. SALTWATER is now an illegal publication, though copies are still in circulation if one knows where to look.

Sanctioned Post: The official AU newspaper that circulates through sectors 01-05.

Steinhardt Facility: A science facility that performs unknown tests. In reality, dissenters, criminals, and sometimes people infected by the Turbinis Strain, are sent here to be experimented on, executed, or put to work. No one comes out alive.

Thalassa: A nightclub that is a central source for Whick.

Turbinis Strain: The condition caused by a single positive to the Valens Atrophos virus. The Turbinis Strain is almost always fatal. It produces increased adrenaline which triggers increased endorphins as well as a series of other responses that allow the individual to function beyond normal human capacity-- with the drawback of sustaining great quantities of damage from the overexertion. Turbinis is contracted like any other bloodborn virus-- through blood, sex, or birth. Typically after overexertion, the subject will need to regain energy comparable to the amount of energy exerted through rest or sustenance. Someone who just ran 10 miles in 5 minutes, for example, is going to eat an entire horse and will need to rest for days on end. The disease will tear the body apart and overexert energy until the infected withers away to nothing.

ONSET
The symptoms of Turbinis Strain present differently depending on how the disease was contracted. In the case of blood-to-blood contraction, the subject experiences a seizure in a matter of minutes as the virus passes the blood to brain barrier. Seizures are typically nonfatal but in conjunction with other activities associated with blood to blood transmission (such as drug use/contamination by infected needles) have been known to cause death. Fluid to blood contamination, typically associated with sexual activity, can lead to a dormant phase in which the virus doesn't present for up to a year, at which point the subject generally seizes. Finally, inherited Turbinis Strain does not present seizures after birth but is associated with increasingly dangerous and complicated pregnancies, as both mother and child have instable metabolisms and an increased chance of overexertion.

SYMPTOMS
Turbinis is ALWAYS accompanied by the following symptoms: intermittent increases in the production of adrenaline and endorphins which, in addition to cerebral functions that are currently under observation and study, leads to deadened sensory perception (unresponsive to painful stimulii) and the ability to function at superhuman levels. Turbinis is usually (but not consistently) accompanied by the following symptoms: euphoria, elevated body temperature/fever, elevated heart rate, weightloss associated with increased metabolic process, fatigue, and a headache that is best described as a pressure on the brain. Rarer symptoms, usually occuring due to the prior list of symptoms, include dry mouth, nosebleeds, irritability, respiratory problems, recurrent seizures, cardiovascular damage, hypertensive crises, choreoathetoid (involuntary movement) disorders, cachexia (wasting), loss of vision, skin disorders/infections, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, coma, and death.

Valens Atrophos: A synthetic virus created during the pre-AU war that mutated hundreds of thousands of people. Most infected individuals were purged in a mass genocide, but those that escaped passed on their mutated genes to surviving generations.

Verona Arms: A small weapons exchange and black market dealership run by Renfield Mars. They'll do business with anyone regardless of status or affiliation.

Whick: A drug being distributed as an underground club drug that has affects on adrenaline and endorphin production. Helps to mask and relieve some of the symptoms of the Turbinis Strain. The main point of distribution is at Thalassa.