#scifi worldbuilding | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whereserpentswalk · 13 days

Text

There are massive warships. Things that are the size of stations but that can move more swiftly through hyperspace and real space than any other object created by humans or gods. They're not like the warships you imagine, they're like entire divisions of the military, some of them have the populations of small planets, the largest of them have populations higher then earth had before industry came to it.

It only takes one of these ships to comquor a system. Though they often have smaller ships swarming them, like the microorganisms on your skin. And when they fight eachother, holes are torn in hyperspace, and heavily bodies become asteroid belts. Even the weapons that can destroy planets can't take ships like this down in one hit.

Inside the ships are entire societies, of humans, cyborgs, robots, and strange organisms generated by human science. Many of them soldiers who exist to serve as the ships troops, especially since a boarding action is the fastest way to take them down, but many are there for other reasons. You need an entire society to support a ship like that and all the troops it can carry, from workers who maintain the ship, to traders who bring new recourses on, to artists and teachers and lawyers and all the other things that end up as needed when there's that many people.

Some of these ships are so large and so deep that there are people on there who've never seen the world outside their machines of war. And some isolated parts of those ships, who've been within the depths of the endless machinery for so long, that they've lost contact with the more outwards facing parts of the ship society. Tribes and towns within the dark mechanical labyrinth who don't know they're on a warship, who don't even know planets exist.

And they say, that as the loyalty of a ship fades from the empire that built it, that the ship may come to be controlled by many nations, vying for control of the ship's flight. They say that within the depths of some war ships, wars are fought.

164 notes · View notes

technicallyclassyperfection · 1 month

Text

Via print:

67 notes · View notes

troythecatfish · 4 months

Text

youtube

134 notes · View notes

grox-empire · 27 days

Text

GROX EMPIRE LOCOMOTIVES

Art above by @dokupine!

The Grox empire has a very, VERY extensive railway system. Due to how many Grox are on each planet and how tightly interwoven their cities tend to be, Trains became the most efficient mode of transport for both passengers and goods.

Their headcode system is incredibly standardized and the same across all planets and colonies, Although branding and appearance can vary.

Most Grox trains are electric, Although a few models run on diesel.

#worldbuilding #daybreak #daybreak tag #sci fi #science fiction #scifi worldbuilding #science fiction worldbuilding #train #trains #locomotive #locomotives #spore #spore 2008 #grox

53 notes · View notes

cy-cyborg-draws · 24 days

Text

More Voidstar Lore: The Tabiri

The Tabiri are an entirely space-faring group of Kepek, living aboard a group of roaming colony ships collectively called The Tabiren. The Tabiri claim that they were the first Kepek to reach the stars and are responsible for setting the species on course to become the galaxy-spanning empire they are today.

The Tabiri are rather rigid in how they view the world, and are generally not keen on change in really any capacity. Because of this, those who don't conform often end up leaving The Tabiren in adulthood, which was the case for Wev (one of Voidstar's protagonists).

The particular Tabiri Kepek depicted here is Nera, a consistent... presence in Wev's life, no mater how far from the Tabiren she seems to travel.

[ID: An illustration of a large blue alien with four arms though three of them are behind her back, two legs and a long tail. He has a long snout, 4 eyes and two long, rabbit-like ears. She has bright yellow spots and is wearing dark blue clothing consisting of a loose, long-sleeved shirt and vest, long pants and a long skirt-like coat-tails. /End ID]

#cy cyborg draws #voidstar #my art #disabled artist #queer artist #digital art #scifi #science fiction #aliens #alien #alien species #worldbuilding #scifi worldbuilding #science fantasy

21 notes · View notes

captainswaglord500 · 2 months

Text

Totlohô

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Subclass: Nautiloidea

Superorder: Alysidaceratoidea

Order: Paratetrapoda

Superfamily: Cotylopodoidea

Family: Cotylopodidae

Subfamily: Anomaloteuthiinae

Genus: Anomaloteuthis

Species: A. magnificus (”magnificent unusual squid”)

Ancestral species: possibly Plectronoceras cambria

Temporal range: Early Jurassic (Toarcian) to Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) (180 - 130 mya)

Information:

While humans have long seen themselves as the first and only sapient species to inhabit their planet, in all truth, there existed another in Xenogaea several hundreds of millions of years ago, one whose legacy can still be felt throughout the region untold eons later in their bizarre ruins and artifacts: the Totlohô-tu-Tẋusko/Tẋusko-tu-Totlohô (IPA: /to̞t͡ɬo̞hɔ tu t͡ʃusko̞/ OR /t͡ʃusko̞ tu to̞t͡ɬo̞hɔ/, meaning "ancestor of (the) architect"), better known as simply the Totlohô (/to̞t͡ɬo̞hɔ/, simply meaning "architect").

As soft tissues of this species have only rarely been preserved, and hard tissues consist only of armor plating and beaks, their size and general appearance alone must be inferred purely based on known proportions from living relatives, other members of the aberrant nautiloid clade Alysidaceratoidea, known more colloquially as the shrikehounds. The most reliable size estimate places them at around 12 feet long, 6-7 feet tall, and weighing close to 600 lbs. The appearance of these creatures, based on ancient stone murals, would seem to suggest that they were centaur-like in build, sporting six main limbs along with a menagerie of smaller tentacles around the face, which housed a long, narrow beak with a noticeable underbite. The exact coloration of this species isn’t known, though as murals exist which depict them, it can be inferred that they might have had a similar coloration pattern to living nautili, with a creamy-colored body and eyes with an earthy red shell and head piece.

Living shrikehound species are not particularly vocal, with only the paratetrapods having an analogue to proper vocal cords. This species was presumably vocal in some capacity, though the exact vocalizations cannot be deduced. It has been suggested that like their living relatives, they might have been able to produce clicks, grunts, warbles, rumbles, belches, screeches, and shrieks. It has been suggested, however, that they may have convergently evolved chromatophores like some of their living relatives and may have had a primarily visual language instead, one which has not, as of yet, been decoded.

Much of these organism's general biology is not known conclusively. Most evidence points to a carnivorous diet, consisting mainly of small dinosaurs/paravians, but also other terrestrial nautiloids, small mammals, and a bizarre group of terrestrial acanthodians known as coelospondyls. Though the exact place where they first evolved has yet to be conclusively found, fossilized beaks first appear in the Matansitra Formation in the southwest of the Isle of Perils, though later formations across the entire archipelago show that almost every habitable landmass sported a population of these creatures at one point. Dubious material from areas outside the archipelago, including what is now China and Australia, suggests they may have eventually left the archipelago at some point as well. At their peak during the Kimmeridgian age of the Late Jurassic epoch roughly 150 millions years ago, their population size was likely upwards of 40 million. Very little (if anything) can be inferred about their reproductive biology, though murals would seem to suggest that courtship and copulation was a very long, drawn-out process, treated almost as an art form unto itself. From their closest relatives, it can be inferred that the males, using a modified tentacle, deposited sperm into a small groove on the female’s underside, where it could be absorbed and used to fertilize the eggs. Their clutch size is believed to have been anomalously small compared to other species in their clade, possibly no more than 10 eggs at a time. The young appear to have matured at a similar rate to human young, if not slightly faster. Sexual dimorphism does not appear to be a prominent trait within their species.

Not much can be inferred about the behavior of this species from what remnants have been found, though it can be inferred that they were likely highly social creatures with complex social structures. They appear to have engaged in agrarianism and the farming of other animals in their later stages of societal development, as evidenced by a high correlation in dump beak remains found near dump sites for animal bones and shell, and even built cities. Murals would seem to suggest Totlohô society was ruled by a class of elders, the oldest respective members of their society, while the youngest members formed the work force. Song and dance appear to have been ways to bond with one another, and spirituality played a large part in their society’s function. Warfare appears to have been an isolated phenomenon in their society and frequently on a much smaller scale than as seen in humanity, though there exists some evidence of widespread warfare in the later years of existence. Even in their later stages, when they evidently had significantly advanced technology (or, as the more conspiracy-minded would suggest, magic of some kind), the Totlohô still preferred to build their homes out of stone.

During the later stages of their existence, the Totlohô appear to have dabbled in what appears to be highly-advanced technology or potentially even magic of some kind, as evidenced by massive, seemingly Totlhômade, carved, levitating stones covered in glyphs. In a place known as the Square Chasm (picture below, artwork by Dipfruit), a reportedly supernatural space some weary jungle travelers have stumbled upon near a triple-forked river, one of these stones appears to have formed a perfectly square-shaped pocket dimension around itself, where gravity itself appears to bend to the stone’s whim.

Fossilized beaks and hard shells are really the only physical parts of these creatures to have been preserved, and they are the only indication of their existence outside of aforementioned ruins and murals. Their written languages have yet to be decoded, and there are believed to have been several thousand at a given time. What exactly led to their extinction has yet to be conclusively revealed, though murals seem to suggest that, from their perspective, supernatural forces may have been at play, with recurrent imagery of what appears to be demonic figures showing up across several murals. Another recurrent image in these murals is a white bird-like creature with horns, which some have suggested may be related to the mythical white bird seen in Xenogaean mythology, which was said to herald the apocalypse. While some have suggested that these murals may have been painted by one of the last Totlohô, who had simply gone insane from isolation and began painting their hallucinations, others suggest that there might be a grain of truth in these murals, perhaps a war of apocalyptic scale which engulfed the entire species, the demagogues fueling it being portrayed as demonic figures. What this doesn’t explain, however, are the high number of artifacts which appear to be made from an unknown metallic substance, one which is highly durable and in near-pristine condition hundreds of millions of years later. This substance, referred to colloquially as “anomalous tungsten”, is paradoxically lightweight yet durable with a high melting point, seemingly higher than almost any other known metal or metalloid. As this metal has not been found anywhere on Earth or even in any known compounds on Earth or another planet, this begs the question of how and where the Totlohô obtained this substance, leading to a wide menagerie of conspiracy theories, with everything from extraterrestrials to divine beings being suggested as the source from which they obtained this material. Whatever the case, those who have studied the artifacts have claimed to have had vivid dreams where they spoke to the Totlohô shortly after contact. Perhaps this is just a form of confabulation or merely even group hysteria, but nonetheless, it would appear that even long after the Totlohô have left this world, their legacy still manages to touch the human spirit. Finally, they appear to have domesticated a species of coelospondyl, Platycephale aridus, the so-called “flat-faced coelospondyl” (1st picture below, artwork by me), and another species of shrikehound, which is currently unnamed (2nd picture below, artwork by me). These appear to have been utilized as livestock animals.

16 notes · View notes

ultimate-worldbuilding · 10 months

Text

CITIES

A full list of what a modern / sci-fi city needs. You can incorporate many elements into your fantasy city as well. Of course you don't need this many things, but sometimes it can help your story if you understand and think about how your world works.

Electricity and energy resources

If your city has electricity, or anything similar to it, it's worth considering where this energy comes from. Is it renewable energy, or not? Is it something else entirely? (Is it magic?) These buildings and facilities are usually located on the outskirt of cities.

Windmill Location: Flat planes, maybe even deserts. Tailor it: break up the structure of a today's windmill: e.g. what if they are way bigger, or people live in it, etc

Nuclear Power Plant Location: Anywhere, in space, under the water, in the sky, inside the terrain. Prompts: What about accidents? Secret labs inside the plant?

Storm Power Plant Location: Almost anywhere, in the sky, in space, on space ships, planes, etc. Further ideas: tornados, harvesting lightning, harvesting the power of the wind with fortified windmills, sun storms in space.

Water related power plants Using the energy of a flowing river,sea waves, or even a vortex.

Burning power plant Burning trash, coal, diesel, gases or your world's fuel. This can be very polluting in your world, which can add up to your worldbuilding: green activist wants this plant closed, people getting sick aournd the plant, etc.

Geaothermal Power Plant Using the planet's heat to generate energy. You can put this anwhere on your ground or under.

Solar Power Plants These need a lot of place. If you are also making a map, be sure to add these on places where they actually get sunlight. (Don't put them on the north side of a mountain.) prompts: what if somebody covers them on purpose?

Health, Life and Death

All health and mental health related facilities (even for pets). Tailor these to your worlds problems, diseases and conditions (e.g. cyberpsychosis in Cyberpunk 2077) You can put these fqacilities, together, or even in a very different location, for example a floating private clinic above the city. You can even use virtual worlds as a twist.

Hospitals and clinics General hospitals, clinics and private ones.

Doctor's office

Ambulance station

Cyberware repair clinic

Drug Rehabilitation Centers

Vets Vets for people's pets, you can even add robot vets, for robot pets.

Nursing Homes Home for the elderly.

Asylums Home for people with serious mental health problems.

Pharmacies Are these private? Are there black market versions? What medicines can you buy here?

Dentist Promp questions: Are there any unique procedures? Do people's teeth are different? What about dentists for different species?

Sanatorium These usually are in the nicest parts of a city in the outskirts. They do have big gardens too. It can be even in space too, or even virtually.

Morgue Story tips: you can include a place like this for investigations or horror elements.

Cemetry Before diving deep into this one, state how your people bury their loved ones. The method the whole cemetry. Here are some burial types from the world:- Leaving the body in nature (or space)- Embalming, and preserving- Leaving in water (or space), or let it sail away on a ship- Burning the body (by fire, or by sunfire), and placing the urns in a sacred place (space, ground, buildings, etc.)- Buring the body under ground

Crematorium Used if your people burn bodies.

Quarantine zone

Misc Essentials

As these are essentials, they can be targets in a conflict. This can help your story further.

Fire station

Water tower (and storage) If it doesn't come from a pshysically higher place.

Server buildings

Lighthouse

Transportation and Travel

Transportation can change a lot in a scifi high tech world. I often grab a real concept and put into a different enviroment. Train? Space - Train. Jetski? Sun wave - jetski.When building transportation, think about:- where these vehicles are stored- where you can access the service,- who repairs them and where- where do they go when they are no longer used. These types of transports all have office centers, and they are usually different corporations and companies.If the parking lots or hangars are abonded, it can be a place where homeless people gathered, and live.

Bus stations, depot, stops and repair garages

Spaceship (or airplane) ports, hangars and repair hangars Don't forget to add ports and hangars for military, trading and public transport spaceships.

Metro stations, metro depot

Taxi stations, depot

Ship ports On rivers, sea, ocean, or the sky. (for flying ships but not spaceships.) Don't forget to about military, trading and public transport. These ports can be just platfroms.

Parking lots Multi storey car park.

Rental Renting the vehicles you have in your city, spacehips, cars, ships, etc.

Travel agencies

Fuel stations gas stations for cars, taxies and buses, and fueal stations for spaceships, and ships.Prompts questions: Where are these located? Is there possibility of shortage?

Package receiving point (or drop point)

Warehouses (personal, corporations, cars, etc)

Housing & Homes

Housing is an interesting part of building a city. I advise you to look around in your enviroment, and in the world how people live in different countries. You can always twist these ideas by putting them into a different enviroments (e.g.: shipping containers as living space, in a frosty enviroment, and people use fur to cover the insides for insulation.)

Luxury flats, and houses

Middle class flats, and houses

Lower class flats, and houses

Huge flat blocks (all are the same, available for all classes)

Prebuilt houses (all are the same, available for all classes)

Houses made of different elements You can vary as you want, example: Mass Effect colonies

Shipping containers as homes

Discarded vehicles as homes

Shelters For people, sentient robots, animals, robot animals.

Hotels

Motels

Food and Plants

Questions: Where does food come from in your city? Is it from outside of the city, or does it have some facilities to create food? Where does that food go? How is the food situation in your city? Do people make food at home, or order, or eat prepackaged food?

Grain Processing Plant

Crop fields If you have crops, is there a fungi or incest that is destroying crops? Or an organization?

Restaurants

Cafés

Drive-ins

Fast food restaurant chains

Bakery

Pastry Factory or any factory that makes food that is in everybody's lives, out of the plant the city has on its crop fields.

Food Packaging Factories

Food Processing Plants

Green houses

Nature reserve

Plant nurseries

Ranches for livestock

Slaughterhouses (or syntethic meat producing facilities)

Pastures

Brewery What type of alcohol does the people drink? What are they med of? Are there traditions related to them?

Education, Science & Knowledge

What general education system does your city have? What subjects are there? At what age do usually people finish their studies?

Elementary school

Kindergarten

High School

University

Music School

Library

Science center

Research Facility

Museum

Conservatory

Entertainment and Services

Entertainment and Services are a big part of every day lives. How much fun people have in this city? How much time do people have? Does this have black and extreme sides? Are there regulations in place? Is there a disctrict just for party time or doe poeple do this all around the city?

Ferris-wheel

Bars and Pubs (eg. Vape Bar)

Skating rink (ice, scifi ice skate, etc)

Brothel

Arcade

Arena / Stadium (depends on the setting, and nature of the events held here)

Stripper bar

Dance studio

Barber

Beautician Explore every aspect, different species, and cyberware (if you have these in your world)

Gym

Amusement park

Spa

Aquapark

Fighting rings People, robots, animals, etc. Where is this ring? Are these illegal?

Aquarium

VR café

Circus

Theatre

Zoo

Bowling alley (or any other alley for this type of entertainment)

Racetracks Animals, robots. How much of are these legal? Are there any bets placed on the racers?

Communication

Where do people get their information? Is there internet in your city? What happens when somebody disrupts communication on purpose? Does people/ the government / corporation manipulate the media?

Post office

Media studios TV, Internet, Talk shows, VR, whatever media your cuty uses.

Radiotower

Community centre

Employment agency

Open Spaces

Where people can organize events.

Forum, Square You can include a statue or a monument.

Park (It's scifi or fantasy, you can add floating parks too.)

Skate park (or any other equivalent of extreme sport park in your world, e.g. solar surf park)

Religion & Politics

What religion do people practise? Are there any banned religions? What sacred spacse do they need for that? Are there any districts heavily influenced by one religion? Are their beliefs go against the city council's views? Is religion and politics are connected or not? How do religion and politics influence each other?

Parlament/city council

Mayor's office

Convent

Oracle

Religious spaces Buildings, parks, monuments

The Force and the Law

Military , Police and Law. Do these mix with religion or not?

Military headquarters

Military training centre

Military base

Shooting range (or archer range)

Police Station

Jail & Prison

Military vehicle and gadget repair

Courthouse

Lawyer's office

Market & Financies

What currency does your city use? Are there any undergound currencies? What items and resources can be currencies?

Bank

Shop franchises Apparel, jewelry, furnishing, stationery

Broker's office

Armor shop

Cyberware (or body enhancment) shop

Weapon shop

Market (farmer's , junk, flee, vehicles, etc.)

Black Market

Drug Den

Malls

Corporate Shops (workers can pay from their own salary)

Building & Production

What do people need? Is there a shortage of certain types of products, or oversaturation and overproduction?

Factory: Electronics devices

Factory: Furniture and cutlery

Factory: Home gadgets

Factory: Weapons

Factory: Military equipments

Factory: Vehicles Cars, spaceships, flying cars.

Mining operation

Construction Site

Waste

What types of wastes are produced in your city? Where do they go?

Sewage system Pipes, old pipes that are no longer in use, cisterns. Are there any people living down here?

Junkyard Regular junk, old spaceships, broken cars, broken machines, broken robots. Do people live here or not?

Selective Trash Sorter Facility If your city recycles.

#scifi worldbuilding #scififantasy #worldbuilding #worldbuilding tips

60 notes · View notes

alexbraindump · 6 months

Text

the optimism of mundanity in sci-fi

[word count: 980]

Mundanity serves my favorite role in worldbuilding. Beyond fictional politics, cultures or races sits the - often overlooked - role of the mundane. The things we do in our day-to-day lives. Where we keep our keys, our routines before going out for the day, the junk we may leave lying around. It’s part of a tiny picture that lingers in the shadows of the vast worlds we build and stories we weave. Yet from that snapshot blossoms a viewpoint dripping with relatability, one that places you into the shoes of a character living in that world to a capacity far beyond that which anything else could even hope to achieve.

When I’m writing a character introduction, it’s about more than just the character’s current position and desires. It’s about integrating the world into their life. If space travel is a commonplace fixture of their world and they own a spaceship, what’s the role of that ship to them? Is it like a car, a mobile home, a flying armory? If it’s like a car, have they left it stock, or have they modified and tuned the way a car lover would in real life? If it’s like a home, what furniture do they deem priority, do they keep it clean, is there any decoration? If an armory, what’s the weaponry of this universe like, what kinds of weapons do they want to keep loaded, how organized is it? (check out the first chapter of my story 501-b, also on this blog, if you wanna see where that though process brought me ;3)

Opportunities for both character and worldbuilding are already pouring out from that simple hypothetical. So many things can be said right away with the mundane relationship between a character and their mode of transport. To them, that’s just how it is, nothing special. The same way you’d look at a car. To the reader, though? That’s a nuclear bomb of information you just detonated in their face and they probably didn’t even realize. If you get how a character views their ship, you already start to understand their personality and the role of space travel in that world right off the bat.

It’s always been alluring to me, an element my mind would hook its foxy paws onto right away. While the lack of it wouldn’t bug me much, I’d always start to wonder about it later. Where does this character live, what’s their home look like? By no means am I arguing that this is an absolute necessity to make a good story. Every story has its own unique needs that can be filled however the creator sees fit. But for me, what I want to see and make more of, is something more down-to-earth. And while a good chunk of that is - admittedly - just me being a neurodivergent nerd, I feel like there’s something more to it. Forgive me for getting a little pretentious from here on out, but-

Mundanity in sci-fi is optimistic. It’s this tinge of reassurance that, no matter what happens, no matter how bad things get or how far we make it away from our home planet, we’re still individuals. Whether its huge, bombastic threats like scary evil aliens, or depressingly real ones like corporate overreach and profit motives, we will persist. There’s comfort in that.

When I get to see a character doing their morning routine in a world separated from our own by anything between decades to centuries, it feels good. Like the artist/writer is patting me on the head and saying “there there, things may be shit, but life isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” And maybe there’s a nihilistic twist on it, like propaganda on a television or corporate products lining a comfy home’s shelves, but that’s still a television or a home. They may come home from the Sub-Minimum Wage Employee Pulper 9,000™, and that will inherently be sympathetic, but when we get to see them toss their coat aside and go to the kitchen to make a lazy, unhealthy meal and slouch on their sofa and pick up a television remote to flip to their favorite channel, the connection that forms is irreplaceable.

And I feel that it’s severely underutilized. When I watched Andor for the first time (amazing show btw, check it out even if you aren’t the biggest fan of starred wars) and we got to see a character return to their mother’s apartment and eat space cereal with space milk, it was somehow one of the most jarring moments I’ve seen in a Star Wars thing. Living situations are oftentimes such an understated part of popular sci-fi media that I actually felt jarred upon seeing one. And I loved it.

That’s just how uncommon they can be. And I hate that. I hate that sci-fi loves to dismiss the mundanities of life, because those are when I feel the most at-home in a universe. I can immediately feel a character’s vibe if I see them kick their feet up in a messy impromptu living room in their spaceship. While you can put in the work to make me feel that same thing through dialogue and actions, it’s arguably even more work.

So next time you’re making a story, why not save yourself some trouble and show your audience a little snippet of day-to-day life in your world? Show us what a character’s phone looks like and how they use it, or maybe if they have a wallpaper (if applicable) or any stickers on the back of it? Or give us some tiny details about how they get from place to place. Is public transport a thing, do they own their own vehicle of some kind, or do they just walk? Hopefully these thoughts conjure the same kind of inspiration in you as the ones that run around wreaking havoc in my little fox brain.

#alexbraindumping #writing #scifi writing #science fiction #scifi #sci fi writing #scifi worldbuilding #worldbuilding #creative writing #space fiction #fiction

26 notes · View notes

theeye2000 · 2 months

Text

The Hubs of Humanity 1

Prologue:

Back in the early 23rd century, as humanity began spreading its wings into the cosmos, the European Space Convention envisioned a groundbreaking project. They named it HUSB – Harmony of Urbanity and Space Bridges or as the public called it “The Hubs of Humanity”. At the projects core stood the idea to create a network of space stations and infrastructure pieces, each intricately designed to reflect Europe’s intricate designs and reflecting the architectural wonders of a wide range of European cities. It was like taking a slice of Paris, a bit of Barcelona, small snippets of Amsterdam and tiny amounts of Vienna and sprinkling their iconic look´s into the seemingly infinite abyss of interstellar space. The cities in the sky fostered significant cultural exchange, scientific collaboration, and good old human connection. Picture space stations modeled after the elegance of avant-garde designs of Berlin, the timeless charm of Rome or the sophistication of the medieval center of Prague.

Construction kicked of on a massive scale and for a while the project was the talk of the galaxy. The stations became marvels of their own right, embodying the spirit of humanity and its creativity. But as fate would have it, the early days of the 24th century brought a devastating cosmic cataclysm. An insidious computer virus, born from the depths of the digital unknown, infiltrated the project´s communication networks and databases. It spread like a raging wildfire, leaving chaos in its wake, and toppling the human economy and causing the once-thriving interconnected system into disarray. The fallout left a haunting legacy for the project, as the collapse progressed and databases where wiped clean many station dwellers decided to abandon their ships, leaving them adrift and causing them to vanish into the vast expanse of space without any trace left. They became cosmic ghosts, silently orbiting in the darkness, their stories and beauty lost to the void. Quickly forgotten by the rebuilding civilization that emerged from the ashes. Their memory fading into obscurity becoming fragments of an era long gone by. The civilization moved continually forward, leaving behind the mysterious past.

Many generations passed, and with the shift of cosmic currents, some of the long-forgotten stations reemerged from the cosmic background, having become new, beautiful obscure or even haunting shells of their former selves. Slowly many of them revealed new and diverse tapestries of fates. Some not just remnants but thriving hubs of life, sustained by reformed ecosystems and their resourceful inhabitants which had found a way to adapt to the sudden challenges of having to find ways to sustain their ways of living in space. Others had undergone large alterations, their original purposes re-imagined by advanced AI and machinery which was once designed to keep the stations operational. These technological custodians ensured the continued existence and advancement of these magnificent stations, evolving them into marvels of automated efficiency and sustainability.

The Hubs of Humanity: Aetherian Arboretum

Now after many of them had been long forgotten and become legends of a marvelous past the first of these celestial relics appeared at the edge of Humanities capital solar system. As it floated trough the vast reaches of the cosmos by pure chance it passed the outermost surveillance satellites of the Human system SOL1. There it was a space station which echoes the grandeur of an age long gone. A picturesque and mesmerizing blend of elegance and the neon glow of a bygone era. Tall ornate structures with their sinuous curves and intricate floral motifs rise from the main ring like structure and into the star lit fabric of space. Facades adorned with dim luminescent neon colors cast a surreal picture upon any eyes there to observe it. As it silently orbited throughout the cosmic ballet of space rocks of a region referred to as the Oort cloud it was greeted by a group of space vessels. Drawn towards it they cautiously approach the abandoned celestial haven.

As a group of explorers set foot onto it for the first time again, they marvel at the fusion of design and cosmic functionality. As they wander the deserted streets, the air is filled with an eerie silence, only broken by the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant hum of nature overtaking the space. Vines gracefully cascade town the sides of once bustling structures as they intertwine wit the fading light of neon signs that once proclaimed the names of businesses now long forgotten. The corridors and walkways once trodden by station dwellers, now play host to a delicate tapestry of nature. Moss covering lower grounds and growing through cracks in the flooring and resilient ferns and flowers also pushing their way through the seams. Tables, doors, and windows adorned with wrought-iron designs being claimed by encroaching vines. The almost ghostly neon glow flickering and casting a dreamlike scene into the explorers´ eyes. The grand arches and domes of the once famous trading hub now softened by the embrace of ivy and climbing roses.

Amid this fantastic scene of haunting beauty, unexpected inhabitants had found their niche – flocks of chickens, descendants of once domesticated birds, had adapted to the continuous darkness of the abandoned space station. Their plumage had taken on otherworldly beauty as it reflected the surrounding hues of dim neon lights. Their feathers colored in ethereal blends of deep purples, electric blues, and luminous greens they created a mesmerizing spectacle of shimmers and shadows as they moved through the silent station. These avian inhabitants adapted to the perpetual darkness of the station developing nocturnal rhythms and clucking that harmonized with the faint hum of the station´s former vibrancy. They had become the unexpected guardians of this rediscovered neon-lit legacy.

As the explorers reluctantly tore themselves away from these mesmerizing scenes, they delved deeper into the bowels of the ship, where they uncovered relics and objects of the once flourishing and passionate inhabitants. It also became evident that the station had undergone its profound metamorphosis, triggered by the exhaustion of its fusion systems and batteries several generations ago. The once state-of-the-art machinery had gracefully transitioned into a state of energy conservation. Basic life support systems hummed softly, maintaining the atmospheres delicately balanced atmosphere as the surroundings were bathed in the perpetual dim glow of neon lights, nurturing the lush flora overtaking the stations interiors. The artificial gravity modifier, a relic of advanced technology, continued to function on a minimal level. Its low persistent hum serving as an unseen orchestrator, allowing the abundance of plants and neon-feathered chickens to thrive in their cosmic sanctuary.

As the explorers continued their way through the corridors, they marveled at the ingenious processes that had sustained the stations delicate balance over the years. In this cosmic tapestry, the explorers sensed a quiet resilience. An enduring legacy left by a bygone era that unwittingly had given rise to this flourishing microcosm. The space station, now reemerged as a living testament to adaption, whispering its story of metamorphosis through the hushing echoes of its few still operational automated systems, the soft neon-glow of plant lights, and the vibrant clucks of chickens against the backdrop of the celestial stage.

With high anticipation, the explorers access the ship´s extensive database, eager to unveil the secrets hidden within the almost dreamlike structure they had been navigating. As the displays flickered to life, they revealed intricate schematics and blueprints of the station. The designation “Aetherian Arboretum” adorned the digital representations of the mighty station´s architecture. The name resonated with an ethereal quality, capturing the essence of this celestial haven. Armed with the new knowledge of the station´s identity, the explorers felt a deeper connection to it. As it stood as a testament to human ingenuity and the enduring spirit of exploration as it transcended its initial purpose as a hub of exploration and trade, evolving into a beacon of life amid the cosmic abyss. The name now etched into humanity’s records once again it was soon to become a thriving celestial haven again.

The news of the Arboretum´s rediscovery and its unique transformation captured the imagination of Earthlings in a wildfire. Recognizing its unique historical and ecological significance, authorities and swiftly declared it a protected zone and placed it under historic and natural preservation. The once-abandoned station a testament to the harmonious coexistence of nature and technology, underwent careful restoration with the goal of preserving its unique atmosphere while allowing eager tourists to experience the surreal beauty of the station in a small selected section. During the beginning of its restoration, the celestial sanctuary was moved in a stable orbit around Saturn, creating a celestial backdrop that added to the mystique of the cosmic destination. As visitors disembarked onto the transformed space station, they marveled at the now again neon-lit arches, domes and towers, the vibrant flora and the more than enthusiastic clucking of the specially adapted chickens. Educational Programs were established quite quickly to inform about the Arboretum´s rich history, its transformation and the unique ecosystem within it. Conservationists closely monitoring the neon-feathered chickens, ensuring their well-being and natural behavior are not disturbed in any significant way. As the space station orbited Saturn, the "Aetherian Arboretum" stood not only as a destination for eager earthlings but as a symbol of the boundless potential for exploration, preservation, and the celebration of the cosmic wonders that unfolded beyond the confines of Earth.

#humans are weird #humans are odd #scifi #sci fi #science fiction #scifiseries #futurism #scifi worldbuilding

12 notes · View notes

ss13polaris · 4 months

Text

Shipbreaking on Pluto.

Once a significant "last stop" refuelling for some of humanity's early colony ships, tiny Pluto has long since declined in significance, and has become last stop of a very different kind for many of Sol's venerable spacecraft.

Yards on and around Pluto have employed generations of hard-worn workers, first maintenance technicians, expert engineers, and now primarily shipbreakers, and its yards are entrusted with government contracts too sensitive for yards further from Sol's watchful eye.

Atrocious working conditions in the yard's early days led to the formation of the Plutonian Union of Workers which to this day positions itself as the de facto government of Pluto, though the SCG does not recognise them as a unified state.

#space station 13 #ss13 polaris #industrial aesthetic #scifi worldbuilding #this one was based on a player submission #photoshop art by me but i feel the need to credit andy leader's original photo of redcar blast furnace

16 notes · View notes

total-convergence · 2 months

Text

New sophont coming soon

Terribly sorry for spamming with sophonts, but I just feel like I should first upload all of the stuff I’ve acumulated over the past few years building this project (which were mostly sophonts because Total Convergence..? is a lot different from what it started out as). This is a recent drawing of a male Nur’Errkhorr, a species I will talk more about later. The recent female design is from 2022, but this male design got finalized this afternoon. Wow!!!!

77 notes · View notes

whereserpentswalk · 5 months

Text

Imagine you're from one of humanity's far off colonies in the far future. When your colony first formed people used artifical wombs as an alternative to traditional breeding to bolster numbers, to the point where it became normalized and nobody wanted to go back to sexuak reproduction once the population got back to normal.

As time went on people started being altered to be born sterile, and slowly people started seeing genitals and libido as useless, and started removing them, and then requesting children be born without them. By the time you were born nobody has had sex in your solar system in centuries, everyone has a completely androgynous body, and a mind incapable of sexual attraction.

You never think of bodies as gendered, even though you likely think of yourself as male or female. And nothing ever seems sexual to you. You've cuddled with your freinds, been naked in public, touched people's bodies, and none of it has ever been sexual to you. You and your girlfriend sleep in separate beds, and the most you'll ever do is cuddle eachother. This is just how the world is.

Eventually you interact with humans from another system, and they seem so alien. They hide their bodies in strange ways, have boundaries you don't understand, and have strange concepts about gender and families. They seem to think you're odd as well.

When you become one of the few people from your home city to go off system for a job you find that people interact with you strangely. They always say that they're so sorry for you, that they think it's tragic you've been forced to live the way that you do, or how awful it is that your civilization has robbed "important parts of humanity" from you. You don't understand why reproduction methods are so important to these people. When they try to show you you don't really understand, even if you're happy to learn about your new freinds' cultures. You wish you could just cuddle with people here without it meaning anything though.

You return to your home planet confused. You're not sure if you could explain it all to anyone other then yourself.

#196 #my thougts #worldbuilding #my worldbuilding #writing #my writing #short fiction #short story #science fiction #science fantasy #sci fi #scifi #scifi writing #scifi worldbuilding #human civilization #asexuality #asexuel #asexual #aspec

227 notes · View notes