Zero Recall (78 page)

Lesthar (less-tar)
–
the favored intoxicating drink of Voran Jreet.  Smells like burning tires. 
Small sips will kill most other species.

Ovi – the
transparent, razor-sharp, glasslike knife that is used in every important Jreet
ceremony.  If a Jreet dies and his body cannot be returned to his clan, it is
expected that his tek be removed with his ovi and carried back to his clan for
burial.

Rravut – the
poison extruded by a Jreet’s tek.  The most powerful poison in Congress. 
Causes instant death in all living creatures except other Jreet, who only get
numbed or drunken from it.

Ooreiki-specific:

Ash/soot – a
disgusting, unclean substance

Asher – much
like ‘asshole,’ but with an aggressive, fighting connotation

Ashsoul – the
most extreme insult in the Ooreiki language.  Also translates to ‘lost one’

Ashy –
shitty/gross/disgusting/awful

Burn/burning –
used much like Human fuck/fucking

Charhead –
dumbass, someone stupid, alternatively: someone with an unclean/dirty mind

Furgsoot – bull,
bullshit, horseshit, crap, yeah right

Niish Ahymar
(nish ay-a-mar) - An Ooreiki ceremony to determine caste where a red-hot brand
is pressed into a child’s skin.  Vkala do not burn, and are then cast to onen. 
The traditional Ooreiki ceremony of adulthood. 

Oorei (oo-ray)
– the Ooreiki term for ‘soul.’  It is the name of the crystalline sphere
carried within every Ooreiki and removed by Poenian yeeri priests at their
death.  Emotional/psychological experiences throughout life change color of
crystal.  Considered to be the highest crime of Ooreiki society to harm an
oorei.

Shenaal
(She-nahl) – Mark of the Pure.  The burn left when Ooreiki niish are tested
during the Niish Ahymar.

Sootbag –
someone disgusting, unprepared, unequipped

Sooter –
disgusting, unclean person; bastard

Sootwad –
degrading, denotes disrespect, a useless person

Universal words
:

Ekhta (ek-tuh)
– Planet-killer.  The most destructive bomb in the Congressional arsenal, one
of the many great inventions of the Geuji during the Age of Expansion.  Like
all Geuji technology, the manufacture is so complex that it is un-reproducible
by any other mind, and Congress simply follows the steps outlined by the Geuji
to create it.  (For more info on the Geuji, check out ‘The Moldy Dead’ and
‘Breaking the Mold’ in The Legend of ZERO Additional Materials.)

Ferlii
(fur-lee) – The massive alien, fungus-like growths covering Ooreiki planets
whose reddish spores turn the sky purple.  Used as a unit of measurement:  One
ferlii-length is similar to a human mile.

Furg – A short,
squat, very hairy alien that is as ugly as it is stupid.  A tool-user, but too
primitive to use anything other than sharpened rocks.  Think a stocky,
2.5-foot-tall Neanderthal who breeds fast enough to replace numbers lost to
stupidity.  Darwinian law does not apply.

Furgling – A
younger version of a furg.  Shorter, hairier, and stupider than its parents.

Haauk (hawk) –
skimmer, the floating platforms used as personal planetary transportation

Jenfurgling –
One of the most blatantly stupid creatures in Congress.  An evolutionary
offshoot of furgs arriving on an island where the population underwent a severe
bottleneck and had no predators.  They delight in beating their hairy faces
against the ground and playing with their own excrement.

Kaleu – An
Ueshi pleasure-planet known as a vacation destination.  Any request will be
accommodated.

Kasja (kas-jah)
– Highest congressional war-medal.  Awarded to a very few, very highly
esteemed.  Usually comes with a three million credit reward.

Kkee (ca-ca-ee)
– yes

Koliinaat – The
artificial planet conceived of by the Geuji and funded by the Ooreiki one and a
half million years ago, to celebrate the 100
^th
Age of the Ooreiki. 
Is the home of the Regency, the Tribunal, and the Sanctuary.  It is manned, in its
entirety, by the artificial sentient life-form called the Watcher, also a Geuji
construction, who conducts all Koliinaati affairs with supreme precision.

Levren – the
Peacemaker planetary headquarters.  Also home of the Space Force Academy.

Ninety Jreet
Hells – The ninety levels of pain and unpleasantness that a Jreet warrior must
pass through upon death in order to reach the afterlife.  (See The Legend of
ZERO Additional Materials.)

Nkjan
(naka-john) – war; also: “Evil”

Nkjanii
(naka-john-ee-ay) – “Evildoer” – battlemaster

Non-sent –
colloquial/shortened way to say non-sentient, usually used in a derogatory
manner.

Oonnai
(oon-nigh) - hello

Oora (oo-ra) –
“Souled one” - sir

Peacemakers-
the governmental, semi-military authorities who are autonomous in judging,
monitoring, and policing the populace.  Their main task is to make sure nobody
has seditious thoughts, symbol is an eight-pointed star with a planet balancing
on each tip.  Their base planet is Levren, but they also maintain the Sanctuary
on Koliinaat, which is the only place on the planet that is inaccessible to the
Watcher.

Planetary Ops
(also: PlanOps) – symbol is a single sphere, half red, half blue.  Tattoo is of
a green, single-moon planet with a headcom, a PPU, and a species-generic plasma
rifle leaning against the debris ring.  The tattoo glows slightly, a
cell-by-cell gene modification that causes the tattooed skin to bio-luminesce.

Regency – The
sphere-shaped center of Koliinaat, where all the Representatives of Congress
gather to discuss new laws or political conflicts.

Ruvmestin
(ruv-meh-stihn) – A whitish, extremely heavy metal with a greater density than
gold.  The most valuable metal in Congress.  Used in Geuji technologies, esp.
nannites, like biosuits and spaceships.  Does not oxidize in air.  Mined on the
government planets of Grakkas, Yeejor, and Pelipe.  Once ruvmestin is
discovered on a planet, Congress immediately claims the planet for the common
good, removing it from the Planetary Claims Board queue.

Sanctuary – The
one area of Koliinaat—about the size of a large city block—where the Watcher
has no effect.  Was claimed by Peacemakers almost immediately after Koliinaat’s
creation, though it was originally constructed as a place for delegations of
non-members of Congress to gather to discuss treaties, trade, and other matters
of diplomacy.  Since Congress has swallowed every society it has come across,
unlike the intent of its original charter, there are no non-members to require
separate quarters.

Sacred Turn –
Time period.  666 turns.

Tribunal – The
three members of the Regency chosen to represent and make judgments for the
whole of Congress.  The Tribunal are the power-members of the Regency, usually
occupied by members of the Grand Six.  Aliphei is First Citizen, and has
maintained a seat on the Tribunal for the entire duration of Congress.  The
symbol of the Tribunal is three red circles inside a silver ring, surrounded by
eight blue circles formed into two sides facing off against each other. 

Vaghi – a
small, nuisance pest-animal that eats and breeds uncontrollably.  Once
introduced to a planet, the entire planet must be killed in order to remove
them.  Which, unfortunately, is often necessary because the vaghi leave no
vegetation or small animals behind.

Zahali
(za-ha-li) – I’m sorry

Species:

Baga (Ba-guh)–
Small, one-foot beetle-like fliers with iridescent green carapaces and faceted
red eyes like a fly.  Have
abbas
, which are the glands that produce
their infamous glue, a compound that instantly becomes whatever it touches.  Are
afraid of
miga
, their natural predators, whose wings break the sound
barrier with every stroke.  Can’t count effectively beyond 6.

Bajna (Bajh-nah)–
The ‘bankers’ of Congress.  Black, ten-legged spider-like creatures
approximately eight feet wide at rest—twenty if stretched out—who are
extraordinary good with numbers.

Dhasha
(Dah-sha) – One of the Grand Six.  Very dangerous, violent beasts with
indestructible metallic scales that shine with constantly-shifting
iridescence.  Big, crystalline, oval green eyes, long black talons, stubby
bodies, sharklike faces with triangular black teeth.  Their nostrils are set
beside their eyes.  Females are golden instead of rainbow, males have two
layers of scales, indestructible metallic on top, gold underneath.  Gutteral,
snarling voice.  Laugh by clacking their teeth together.  Grow continuously
throughout their lifetimes.

Geuji (Goy-gee)–
a form of sentient mold whose entire body structure is composed of microscopic
biological nanotubules capable of exchanging, storing, and processing
information.  If allowed to grow, they are easily the most intelligent species
in Congress, with computing capacity far exceeding every artificial machine
built by Congressional minds.  Were the creative genius behind the ekhta, Congressional
nannites, biosuits, and flowing-state ships.  Bodies are glossy black that
ripple in the light as information is passed throughout.  Originated on
Neskfaat, but were uprooted by Huouyt sabotage. 
(See The Moldy Dead.)
 
Then imprisoned by Trith betrayal. 
(See Breaking the Mold.)

Grekkon
(Greh-kuhn) – a creature that looks like a gigantic brown jumping-spider, but
with a bulbous rear that extrudes a substance that will immediately
decay/dissolve any substance, including otherwise indestructible Dhasha
scales.  As a species, do not have emotions.  A burrower by nature.

Huouyt (sounds
like: White) – One of the Grand Six.  Three-legged, ancestrally aquatic shape-shifters. 
Bleed clear mucous. 
Breja
– downy white fluff covering body.  Tentacle
legs and paddle-like arms.  Cylindrical torso, enormous, electric-blue eyes,
and a triangular, squid-like head. 
Zora
– red, wormy gills in upper
center of Huouyt heads that allow them to take the genetic patterns of another
creature.  Huouyt have a bad reputation in Congress.  They are cunning, sneaky,
adaptable, and excellent mimics.  Considered to be psychopathic by most species
in Congress.

Jahul
(Jah-hool)–  One of the Grand Six.  Sextuped empaths with greenish skin and a
chemical defense system of releasing their own wastes over their skin when they
are frightened or stressed. 
Sivvet
– the sensory organs that allow
Jahul to feel emotions.

Jreet (Jreet) –
One of the Grand Six.  Red, gray, or cream-colored serpentine warriors who
guard the First Citizen and the Tribunal.  Have the ability to raise the energy
level of their scales and disappear from the visible spectrum.  Use
echolocation to see.  Have great concave depressions in the sides of their
heads to focus sound, much like bat ears.  Believe in ninety hells for cowards,
and that each soul splits into ninety different parts so they can experience
all ninety hells at once.  Their rravut within their teks is the most powerful
poison in Congress.  Bluish blood.  Short, engine-like
shee-whomp
battlecry. 
Cream colored bellies.  Diamond-shaped head.  Tek
-
the talon protruding
from their chests. 

Ooreiki
(Ooh-reh-kee) – One of the Grand Six.  Heavy aliens a lot like boneless
gorillas.  Five hundred pounds on average.  Four tentacle fingers on each arm. 
Big brown ostrich-egg sized snake-eyes, brown legs, skin turns splotchy when
frightened.  Huge mouths.  Wrinkle their big faces to smile.  Grunting rattle
of speech.  Five feet tall on average.  Laugh by making a guttural rapping
sound in the base of their necks like a toad croaking.  Average age is 400.  Outnumber
humans ten thousand to one.  Only the Ueshi are a more populous species. 

Shadyi
(Shad-yee) – The species of the First Citizen, Aliphei.  There is only one
surviving member of this species.  Shaggy blue alien, walks on four feet,
elephant-sized, black tusks, red eyes.

Takki (Sounds
like: Tacky) – The ancestral servants of the Dhasha.  Reviled throughout
Congress as cowards and betrayers.  Purple scales, very dense bodies, upright
humanoid lizards.  Crystalline, blue, ovoid eyes.

Ueshi
(Oo-eh-she) – One of the Grand Six.  Small blue or blue-green aliens with
excellent reflexes and rubbery skin.  Aquatic ancestry.  Headcrest.

Measurements:

ST – Standard
Turns 9 standard rotations (1.23 years, 448.875 Earth Days to a Standard Turn)

SR –
Standard Rotation  36 standard days (49.875 Earth Days to a Standard Rotation)

SD –
Standard Day 36 standard hours  (33.25 Earth Hours to a Standard Day)

SH –
Standard Hour  72 standard tics (55.42 Earth Minutes to a Standard Hour)

St –
Standard Tics (1.299 tics to an Earth Minute, .7698 Earth Minutes to a Standard
Tic)

Standard
Ninth-Dig (colloquially ‘ninths’) – approx. 1.3 inches

Standard
Dig- approx. 1 foot

Standard
Rod- approx. 9 feet

Standard
Length -  approx. 4,000 feet

Standard
March- approx. 9,999 rods (90,000 feet)

Standard
Lobe- approx. 2.5 pounds

Ranks:

Multi-Specieal
Galactic Corps – Prime Corps Director

18-unit
Galactic Corps – Secondary Corps Director

3-unit Galactic
Corps – Tertiary Corps Director

Single-Species
Sector Corps –  _____(species) Corps Director  Single solid silver
eight-pointed star with a solid black interior.

Sector Unit –
Prime Overseer.  Silver eight-pointed star and four inner circles of a Prime
Overseer

Solar Unit –
Secondary Overseer.  Silver eight-pointed star and three inner circles of a
Secondary Overseer