Idahobeef

SIME/GEN TERMS

Ancient: A human of the time before the Sime/Gen mutation split the species.

Arensti: The most famous regional Fair type of competition in Nivet Territory. A product which wins the Arensti is guaranteed commercial success.

Attrition: The state a Sime reaches when near or at death from having consumed all the selyn (life energy) in his system.

Augmentation: The increase of a Sime's selyn consumption to increase strength, speed, or heat production.

Border Patrol: The official guards of the Sime/Gen Territory borders. Both the Sime and the Gen governments mount such patrols, but with different duties. The Gens patrol to keep the Simes from raiding out of the borders and to prevent newly changed-over Simes from crossing in-Territory, the Simes patrol to welcome such newly changed-over Simes escaping the Gens, and to keep Gens from escaping from Sime Territory, or to keep Gens from raiding into Sime Territory.
                  
Changeover: The sudden maturation of a child into a Sime adult, at puberty. The process usually takes less than a day. At the climax of changeover, the newly developed tentacles burst from their sheaths along the Sime's forearms, ready to absorb selyn from a Gen. Only children who are going to be channels know they will go through changeover. Other children do not know if they will be Sime or Gen.
                  
Channel: A type of Sime able to take selyn from any Gen without killing and later give that selyn to a Sime to satisfy need and prevent the Sime from killing.
                  
Choice Auction: A sale of Gens who will make the best kills.
                  
Collectorium: The place where channels collect selyn from eager, volunteer Gen donors who are unable to serve a Sime's need directly but who wish to support Simes so they don't have to kill to survive.
                  
Companion: A Gen who has attained the Householding office of Companion by serving the personal need of a channel.

Controller: The definition of this office changes during this novel. At first, it refers to the Householding officer who constructs the transfer, collectorium, dispensary, and infirmary schedules of all the channels and Companions within the House. Klyd becomes the first to hold the office of Tecton Controller, responsible for interHouse scheduling as well as dealings with nonHouseholders on behalf of the Tecton.
                   
Dar: A Householding devoted to the martial arts.
                   
Delicate: A type of renSime doomed to die young from transfer abnormalities and resultant systemic degeneration. They exhibit a characteristic "stutter" stutter" in certain transfer situations and have an abnormal sensitivity to trained Companions.
                   
Disjunct: A Sime who has killed a Gen at least once, usually in First Need, and then, within the First Year after change- over, has broken the addiction to the kill and come to live on channel's transfer.
                   
Disjunction: The process of becoming disjunct.
                   
Dispensary: The place where channels dispense selyn to renSimes in need.
                   
Distect: The loosely knit subgroup of the Tecton composed of Householdings that have chosen Gens to lead them and who espouse the philosophy that Hugh (Valleroy) ambrov Rior is beginning to evolve: that in any transfer situation, the Gen is responsible for the outcome.
                   
Donor: An untrained Gen who donates selyn through the channels.
                   
Duoconscious: The state or "level" of consciousness in which a Sime can both read selyn fields and access the five ordinary senses. It is the most common state.
                   
Entran: A malady some channels suffer when prevented from working at channeling selyn. It is characterized by painful cramps, and ultimately—in the higher order channels—by total loss of control of internal selyn circulation.
                   
Establishment: The point in physical maturation when a child's body "establishes" production of selyn, and the child matures into the adult Gen.

Eyeway: A trail along an old roadbed laid out by the Ancients to be impossibly straight as far as the eye can see.
                  
Farris Mutation: A secondary mutation whose origins are lost in history. The First Channel, Rimon Farris, was the son of a famous Genfarmer, Syrus Farris (see FIRST CHANNEL). In the time of the founding of the House of Zeor, it was noted that, by discarding all the data on the Farris channels, some very useful rules could be generalized from the data on channels. And so the Farrises were recognized as a separate mutation following rules of their own, required to use the surname Farris as a medicalert designation regardless of whether they were related to Rimon Farris. As the fame of the Householding Farrises spread, others not of that mutant class dropped the use of the Farris surname, those of the Householdings in self-defense against being mistakenly treated as a Farris, and those of the junct community for fear of being associated with perverts.
                  
First Kill: the first intake of selyn a Sime experiences after changeover, when the Gen taken from dies. This sets the standard of excellence for the lifetime, and can be overridden but never wholly expunged.
                  
First Need: The experience of lack of selyn that occurs immediately after the breakout of tentacles at the culmination of changeover. Only channels can exert any self-control at this moment, and then only if they have conserved selyn throughout changeover so that they are not in attrition.
                  
First Transfer: The first intake of selyn a Sime experiences after changeover if that intake does not involve killing a Gen. The new Sime may receive selyn from a channel or a Companion. It sets the standard of excellence for the rest of that Sime's life, and for a channel is thus all important as it is this experience that is called upon to evoke satisfaction in the renSimes later served.
                  
First Year: The year immediately following changeover when the Sime's learning rate and ability to adjust emotionally soar. To become truly proficient, channels must be trained in First Year. A junct cannot disjunct after the extraordinary pliability of First Year wanes. Gens also experience an increase in learning ability and emotional growth at this time, but since they have not developed a new sense, it is not so dramatic, and Simes tend to ignore it.
                
Fosebine: A mild medicinal preparation made from mutated plants which appeared at about the same time as the Simes themselves. It is used as a general analgesic, but is the specific for transfer shock and transfer bum.
                
Freeband Raider: Vagrant and migrant Simes who live a horribly dissipated lifestyle, banded together in order to conquer small Gen towns or caravans and kill the Gens—not one a month, but as often as they can evoke need in themselves. Becoming jaded on ordinary kills, they begin to seek ever more grotesque means of tormenting their victims to produce emotional highs in themselves. They rarely eat, and generally die within five years of changeover. Fortunately, a side effect of their lifestyle is low fertility.
                
Frihill: The House that has made archaeology their business, and thus resurrected much Ancient technology.
                
Gen: An adult human whose body produces selyn but whose metabolism does not consume perceptible amounts of selyn.
                
Gendealer: A Sime who makes his living from buying and selling Gens.
                
Genfarmer: A breeder of Gens who uses his stock to farm enough land to feed them. A good Genfarmer will raise surplus food to sell.
                
Genrunner: A Gen who captures other Gens or children out-Territory (in Gen Territory), and sells them to a Sime contact at the Territory border. Or, conversely, a. Sime who deals with such a Gen.
                
Gulf: The small southeast Territory which has only two Householdings, Carre and Keon.
                
Gypsies: Any of the many tribes of wanderers who refuse to acknowledge Territory borders, yet keep strictly to themselves. They do not raid in Gen Territory, nor claim government-supplied Gens in Sime Territory. Their tribal structure, social order, and culture are unknown, for outsiders are unwelcome. However, some tribes have been friendly with certain Householdings for many generations and have been known to trade with those who respect their privacy. Legends of gypsy doings border on sheerest fantasy.
                  
Household: A sovereign living group constructed around a Sectuib, the best channel in the House, and consisting of up to several hundred Simes and Gens who pledge to a unifying virtue and work together at the Householding business.
                  
Hyperconscious: The state or "level" of consciousness in which a Sime is aware only of information coming through the senses peculiar to Simes. In hard need, most Simes cannot achieve any level but hyperconsciousness. The junct term is "hunting mode."
                  
Hypoconscious: The state or "level" of consciousness in which a Sime is aware only of information coming through the ordinary five senses. Simes often comment that it is like becoming a child again—or a Gen. Being forcibly re-leveled to hypoconsciousness can be frightening or even debilitating.
                  
Imil: The Householding specializing in fashion design.
                  
In-Territory: Inside the borders of a Sime Territory where the laws and customs are made by Simes.
                  
Junct: Joined to the kill. It is the state of being addicted to killing Gens.
                  
Keon: The Gulf Territory Householding pledged to Freedom and specializing in commerce. (See the novel, AMBROV KEON by Jean Lorrah, DAW 1986.)
                  
Kill: The term reserved to designate the ruthless stripping away of a Gen's selyn in order to produce a penetrating sensation of pain counterpoint to the pleasure of repletion.
                  
Killbliss: The extreme pleasure a junct Sime craves at the apex of the kill experience.
                  
Laterals: The tentacles on the sides of each arm which have little strength because they are composed mostly of nerve tissue. These are the organs through which a Sime draws selyn from the Gen. All four laterals must be in contact with the Gen's skin in symmetric pairs—usually on the Gen's arms—and a fifth contact point must be made, usually with the lips.

Licensed Raiders: Simes licensed by the junct Sime government to raid out into Gen Territory and sell the captured Gens to the Genfarmers and dealers. A wise Sime Territory government keeps the activities of the licensed Raiders below the point at which the Gen army will respond with counter-raids. To do this, they must operate a Pen system, dealing in domestically produced Gens.
                 
Lortuen: A condition of profound and virtually unbreakable transfer dependency reinforced by both psychological and physical sexual love between a male Sime and female Gen who are matchmates.
                 
Low field: The condition of a Sime or a Gen when selyn supplies are depleted and the body does not generate a very strong field. In a Gen, this condition is invigorating and healthful; in a Sime, the edge of death.
                 
Matchmates: A Sime/Gen pair in which the Gen's basal selyn-production rate matches the Sime's basal selyn- consumption rate. Matchmates may or may not be of opposite sexes. One of the classic locked-transfer dependencies (Lortuen/Orhuen/Torluen) can occur only if the pair has engaged in some selyn flow contact. Locked dependencies which cannot be broken short of death are mere romantic legend until the advent of the higher order channels who can have both their selyn systems matched and mated.
                 
Nager: The life energy (selyn) field of a human being, perceptible to Sime senses.
                 
Nageric: Of or pertaining to a nager.
                 
Naztehr: An intimate form of address among Householders.
                 
Need: The urgent demand a Sime experiences when his selyn reserves are running low.
                 
Need Cycle: The natural cycle a Sime experiences between one intake of selyn and the next. To a Sime each day has its own character. The most prominent features of the cycle are Transfer (or kill), post syndrome (lasting up to 72 hours), turnover, need, hard need, and attrition. The total length of the cycle varies, with 28 days being the most common healthy length. A transfer or kill may be taken at any time after turnover, which will rephase the cycle, though that is not healthy and is resisted by all except Freehand Raiders.
                    
New Washington: The capital city of the huge northern Gen Territory which has struggled to keep the Ancient traditions and has thereby united many sovereign Gen city-states.
                    
Nivet: The Territory which amalgamated with many other small Territories to form a strip of Sime controlled lands across the middle of the continent and containing enough arable land to support a large number of Genfarms.
                    
Nonjunct: A Sime who did not kill in First Need and has never killed.
                    
Orhuen: A condition of profound and nearly unbreakable transfer dependency between a Sime and a Gen of the same sex who are matchmates but not lovers.
                    
Pledge: The act of committing oneself to a House.
                    
Porstan: A beer the Simes favor.
                    
Post Reaction: Immediately following transfer or kill, a Sime becomes hypersensitive to the ordinary senses as well as to the emotions which have been locked away by need. Any intolerable emotional pressures will be released at this time, and it can be marked by crying fits, elation, depression, or—in its healthiest form, by sexual excitement. Companions often find that their own rhythms fall into sync with the channels they serve, and they often speak of experiencing post-syndrome with the channels. However, this becomes pronounced enough to measure objectively only among the highest order channels and Companions.
                    
Primary System: The selyn transport system within a channel which functions as a renSime's system does—to support the channel's own metabolic functions. It is also used to control the channel's Secondary System.
                    
Psychospatial Orientation: The Sime sense through which a Sime discerns his placement in the universe. It is connected to the Sime's internal clock which measures selyn consumption and the hours of life left, and seems to have evolved to assist a Sime in hunting Gens. Orientation can be disrupted by moving an unconscious Sime without expert selyn field management.
                  
Releveling: The process by which a Companion adjusts the sensory level, (i.e. hyperconscious, duoconscious, or hypoconscious) of the channel he's working to.
                  
renSime: Any Sime who is not a channel.
                  
Rior: The first House founded by and built around a Gen Head of Householding, or "Sosectu," Hugh Valleroy ambrov Rior. Its pledge is to spearhead the drive toward the unification of humanity.
                  
Ronaplin: The substance secreted by the ronaplin glands located on the Sime's forearms beneath the laterals. It lubricates the laterals and conducts selyn.
                  
Ruined Lands: The south-central area of Nivet Territory which has been turned into an and zone of loose dirt blown by scouring winds because of a combination of a long drought and irresponsible farming by nonprofessional Genfarmers looking for a quick profit.
                  
Secondary Transfer System: The additional nerve system that characterizes the channel, used for the storage of selyn which can be delivered to renSimes to satisfy need.
                  
Sectuib: The best channel in the House; the channel who best exemplifies in his life and person the virtue to which the House is pledged, and who thus is the House. In the early days, the Sectuib was also the owner of record of all the Gens in the House, and all of its material assets, for purposes of dealing with junct law. The Sectuib is the one whose judgment prevails because the House members have recognized the Sectuib's judgment, not as infallible, but as representing their own.
                  
Selyn: The energy that sustains life. Ancients both created and utilized that energy within their own bodies. The mutation that split the Ancients into Sime and Gen assigned the creation of selyn to Gens and the utilization to Simes.
                  
Semi-junct: The lifestyle adopted by juncts who abjure the kill, knowing that their resolve will periodically desert them and they will kill. The experimentally established minimum kill-cycle for a junct is one in thirteen, though few ever manage such a level of discipline. The less often a junct kills, the more abhorrent the kill becomes, yet the more ardently is it craved until the conflicting psychological and physiological forces debilitate and eventually destroy the person. Semi-junctedness is not a stable lifestyle.
                    
Shen: One of the most common Sime expletives. Literally, it refers to the shock of interrupted transfer. It exists in six main degrees. In order of increasing intensity, they are: Shen, Shendi, Shenoni, Shenshay (which refers to transfer abort backlash), Shenshi, Shenshid. There is a milder degree than pure Shen, Shuven, and a more intense degree than Shenshid, Shidoni, which refers literally to death by attrition (or Shedoni which in some dialects refers to execution by attrition). In some societies and at various times in history, Shidoni has been the one word never spoken aloud.
                    
Shiltpron: A musical instrument invented by Simes to be played with fingers and tentacles. It can be modulated in either audio or nageric ranges, or both at once. A skilled channel playing the shiltpron can use an ambient Gen nager to control the level of consciousness of nearby Simes. Nageric modulation even by a moderately skilled Sime player can produce intoxication in Simes. Some Companions can learn to modulate the shiltpron in the nageric range using their own body's fields.
                    
Showfield: The illusory nageric projection of a channel's systems to simulate a state other than his own true state. For example, to a renSime in need, a channel may appear as a Gen in order to give the renSime transfer.
                    
Sime: An adult human whose body does not produce selyn but whose metabolism runs on selyn as a Gen's metabolism runs on calories.
                    
Simelan: The language spoken by Simes which reflects their sensory perceptions of the world.
                    
Sosectu: The Gen Head of Householding. A House which pledges through a Sosectu has no Sectuib. The Sosectu is not an office with as firm a tradition as that of Sectuib, yet much of the definition of Sectuib can be applied to Sosectu.

Tecton: During the course of this book, the definition of Tecton undergoes a significant change. At first, Tecton refers to the organization of Householdings in Nivet Territory—a loose union for mutual support in a politically hostile world. The early Tecton keeps two headquarters---one in the East Capital of Nivet, Konawa, and one in the West Capital, Capital itself. In these two major cities, the Tecton speaks to the junct government of the Territory on behalf of all the householdings of Nivet. To be a unified voice for fiercely sovereign and very scattered Householdings, the Tecton imposes standards of behavior on the member Houses, and the member Houses - send representatives to each of the two major centers. It also maintains communications among the, Houses, disaster funds, training schools, and central archives. Funding comes from required membership contributions by the Houses, as well as voluntary contributions by the more affluent Houses such as Zeor. Later, the Tecton becomes the de facto government of the entire Nivet Territory in order to make treaties with foreign powers and impose domestic order.
                
Tortuen: A condition of profound and virtually unbreakable transfer dependency reinforced by both psychological and physical sexual love between a female Sime and male Gen.
                
Transfer: The process by which, without killing, the Sime absorbs selyn from a Gen or from a channel.
                
Transfer Shock: A condition of nerve-burn that can occur in either Sime or Gen under certain types of transfer dysfunctions. It is characterized by a burning headache that spreads down the neck and spine, often accompanied-by nausea—or in extreme cases, by heart failure. Fosebine is the specific which not only alleviates the symptoms but also promotes healing.
                
Trin Tea: A suffusion made from the leaves and stems of the trin plant, a plant mutation which appeared at about the same time as the first Simes.
                
Turnie: A derogatory term used by out-Territory Gens to designate an out-Territory Gen who has made an alliance with Simes based on self-interest or promises of personal protection. A person who has sold out his group to the enemy for personal gain.
                 
Turnover: The point in a Sime's selyn consumption cycle at which half the selyn is used up. Each Sime experiences it as the activation of his primary phobia or his image of death. The quality of the turnover experience depends on the quality of the prior transfer and the immediate availability of a willing Gen or channel. Before turnover, need is only a memory; after turnover, need captures the waking attention with increasing urgency, gradually blocking out all other considerations.
                 
Unlicensed Raiders: Simes who live in Sime Territory and poach on Wild Gens out-Territory, without being properly licensed. The Sime Border Patrol can sometimes be bribed to overlook such offenses, but generally such activity is frowned upon because it provokes the Wild Gens to counter-raid, choosing law-abiding citizens as their targets.
                 
Wild Gens: Civilized Gens who live outside Sime Territory without Sime control of breeding or activities.
                 
Wild Killer Gens: Gens who Establish too far in-Territory (in Sime Territory) to make it across the border into Gen Territory, and instead hole up in Ancient ruins and live by am- bushing passers-by, becoming as much animals as the Freehand Raiders.
                 
Zelerod's Doom: The point at which Simes run out of Gens to kill, then die in attrition.
                 
Zeor: The first Householding, dedicated to Zeor, "excellence," and making its primary living in the textile industry. It is headed by descendants of Rimon Farris, the first channel, in unbroken succession, and they have all upheld the vision of the unification of humanity.
                 
Zlin: To perceive by Sime senses, reading selyn fields or nageric interactions. A Sime can zlin only when duoconscious or hyperconscious. When hypoconscious, the Sime can only see, hear, taste, smell, or touch, using the senses the Sime has in common with Gens.