Awakening (45 page)

rat-snake:
A spider creature with a rat-like head and a thorax that’s long and flexible like a snake’s.

realignment:
The first step before resetting a GEN. Realignment erases the GEN’s current identity by both wiping the annexed brain and disrupting neural pathways in the bare brain. The bare brain isn’t physically damaged by realignment, but all memories are essentially destroyed.

reset:
The process of creating a new identity in a GEN after their previous identity has been wiped away with a realignment.

scrap grass:
A grass native to Loka that is fodder for both the native droms and the genetically engineered variety.

sector:
A portion of a territory. Of the 106 sectors in Svarga, 63 sectors are defined as trueborn only (restricted to high-status and demi-status trueborns), 28 are mixed (minor-status trueborns and lowborns allowed) and 15 are GEN (GENs only).

sekai:
A hand-held reader and networking device.

sewer toad:
A small toad-like arachnid (it’s about the size of a large grapefruit) that prefers wet, dank places. It loves polluted rivers.

seycat:
A six-legged feline, about twelve inches at the shoulder, with a striped pelt and large tufted ears. Ratsnakes and sewer toads are seycats’ favorite prey. They’re very fierce and although they are sometimes kept as pets, they can never truly be domes-ticated.

shockgun:
A weapon carried by non-GEN Brigade members. It disrupts the central nervous system. Depending on the setting, it can simply incapacitate an individual or kill them.

sket:
Slang for skill set.

skill set:
A GEN’s special skill or ability. Using human and animal DNA, the skill set is genetically programmed into a GEN in the tank early in the gestation process.

Social Benevolence:
Social Benevolence, or SB, is responsible mainly for lowborn welfare. As a consequence of the lowborn insurrection in 359 (thirteen years prior to the start of Tankborn) the parliament passed laws creating Social Benevolence to placate lowborns.

steelcrete:
A processed form of plassfiber that is mixed with iron and other minerals to create an extra-sturdy material used in larger, taller structures and for especially secure places (e.g., prisons).

Svarga:
The single habitable continent on the planet Loka. Svarga is divided into five territories and each territory into sectors.

synth-protein:
Vegetable-based protein made from a soy-like legume.

tank:
The gestation tank that is used to gestate GENs in lieu of a woman’s womb. The tank is also sometimes used to correct trueborn abnormalities or injuries.

tankborn:
A derogatory term used for GENs. GENs do use this term amongst themselves.

thinsteel:
A steel-plass amalgam that can be extruded as thinly as paper yet is as strong as centimeter-thick steel.

trueborn:
The ruling class on Loka. They are born of a mother and posses varying amounts of adhikar to establish their status. The three status levels are high, demi, and minor.

warren:
The large apartment complexes in which GENs are housed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

W
riting is a solitary profession, publishing is not. I’d like to acknowledge the usual suspects, those who have helped me take
Awakening
from an idea to published book.

First, my agents, Matt Bialer and Lindsay Ribar of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. I appreciate your behind the scenes work on seeing this latest
Tankborn
installment come to fruition.

Many thanks to my editor extraordinaire, Stacy Whitman. With Stacy’s help, I transformed my characters from wimpy and confused to strong and determined. She assisted in unraveling knotty story problems and pointed out the Mack truck-sized plot holes I needed to close. I would be lost without a great editor like Stacy.

A big thank you too to Lee and Low’s marketing and publicity manager, Hannah Ehrlich. Her support in promoting
Tankborn
has been fantastic.

And much gratitude to Uma Krishnaswami for her generosity in answering my Sanskrit and Hindi language questions as I wrote
Awakening.
You’re a gem, Uma.