(http://www.shridesk.com/image.axd?picture=2012%2F10%2F293832_341875529222144_149642245_n%5B1%5D.jpg)
So, New Eden. A fuckton of years into the future, massive amounts of space travel, countless cultures and planets necessitating all manner of weird and alien technology and we... well, we kind of walk around with smartphones, smoke tobacco (which is dying out in real life) and generally roleplay as if we're in real life with whoosh spaceships somewhere up above. Our portrayal of the fantastic technology that'd be commonplace in New Eden is pretty much nowhere to be seen in neither our roleplaying nor our fiction. We tend to go for swords and smartphones and directly to space magic nanites because why be original, amirite? I do the exact thing myself so it's not some sort of waggly finger, it's just how it is.
Let's change that up a bit.
New Eden is bound to have all manner of crazy tech, simply because of the demands of the cluster. We live in hard vacuums, all manner of weird and alien planets with all manner of climates, fauna and diseases and all kinds of weird shit! We dive into wormholes and treat FTL as if it's mundane. New Eden is probably filled with spectacular tech that our characters take entirely for granted. It's time we explored that a bit.
The "Indistinguishable from Magic" fiction prompt will last for one month, September to be precise, and I will reward at the very least the winning entry with a shiny ship + random fittings suitable for their character. Depending on both my finances and the quality of the entries, I might also provide a little shiny for second, third or whatever places I feel have earned it. To qualify, write a piece of fiction containing one of the following (it does not need to have center stage, but it needs to be fleshed out and part of the story):
* Medical technology available for baseliners, commonplace in New Eden but uhmayzing for us real-lifers.
* Technology related to the procurement, growth, creation or transport of food in space. Commonplace in New Eden but.. you get the drift.
* Technology related to extreme climates/conditions on alien worlds, commonplayadyadya...
* Technology related to every day communication/connectivity available/commonplace for baseliners, amazing for oh you get it already.
* Technology related to surveillance and control on board spacestations, commonplace for are you still reading this stuff?
Entries can not use:
* Spess Majix (Nanites!)
* Weapons tech.
* Capsuleer tech.
* Cloning.
* Not just an infodump/schematic. It must be a story.
Bonus Points:
* No references to PF/In-game tech, but remaining within the bounds of already known technological limits.
* Emotional impact of the story.
* New and interesting settings.
* Believable and interesting technobabble.
* Usage of futuristic but currently theorized technology done correctly.
* Hard Sci-Fi earns you major bonus points.
Time limit:
One month from now (30th of September)
Where/How:
Post your story here in the fiction forum or on your blog or whatever, but make a post in this thread with your entry linked so I don't have to browse a month of posts here and elsewhere to find it. I will just like last time be the sole judge and jury, but this time around I'll try to determine the top three entries rather than just one winner. As usual this means I'm terribly biased and will a) Be disqualified myself and b) People I'm friends with in-game will probably have a slightly lower chance of winning because I'll over-adjust in my attempts at being objective. That's just how it is. Bribes and making the whole thing about Minmatar superiority will of course help you immensely.
So, get to writing folks. The topic is technobabble. Go.