Lacertan Techno-Protectorate
The Lacertan Techno-Protectorate is an interstellar government organised as a rational consensus. Its capital is the tropical world of Lacertis, located in the Lacerta Lumina System, where the molluscoid Lacertans evolved. Due to a severe genetic disease called The Waning, the entire biological Lacertan species was rendered extinct. By uploading their minds to a virtual world, then downloading them once synthetics had been invented, the species was able to continue its existence despite its extinction. The government of the Techno-Protectorate is organised as a technocratic democracy, ruled by an elected First Speaker. Following their late integration to the galactic community, the Techno-Protectorate has developed a reputation as a top destination for migrants and refugees (especially those nearing the end of their lives or with incurable illnesses). The Techno-Protectorate is relatively neutral in galactic affairs, owing to a strong pacifist current within its society.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Government
The Lacertan Techno-Protectorate is structured as a unitary technocratic republic. It is typically classified as a liberal mixed-market democracy, with low levels of corruption.The central Lacertan government is comprised of an executive and legislative branch. The head of the executive branch, called the Digital Guide, is responsible for implementing the decisions of the legislature, making it similar to a parliamentary system. Members of the legislature are elected by majority vote from all eligible citizens, who do so digitally. The legislature was originally housed in a physical building, later transformed into an entirely virtual government, and the current iteration has small physical elements for non-synthetic citizens.
All members of government are legally required to have tertiary educational degrees and be an expert in at least one field of science (including 'soft science' like philosophy, economics, and social sciences). This is a product of the pre-Waning years, during the 'golden age' of the Lacertan species, where it was believed that a government run by scientists would be far more effective than a populist one. Once the legislature has enacted a law, the Digital Guide and the executive branch are responsible for enforcing it. Additionally, the Digital Guide oversees the protection of the servers housing the Lacertan digital population, protecting them from any harm and maintaining them.
Although the Techno-Protectorate enforces laws in physical space like other societies do, it does not regulate the virtual space. All virtual citizens have extensive privacy and safety tools at the disposal, and can each create their own worlds to inhabit and permit visitors to enter. Due to this, the government permits citizens to create anything they wish within the privacy of their own server partitions. However, when it is believed that virtual partitions are being used to facilitate physical crime, the central government is empowered to open these partitions and investigate them.
History
Virtual Reality
The Lacertans experienced a relatively normal route of technological development, progressing through the standard pre-FTL ages as other species did. However, as they entered their Early Space Age in the 21st century, their scientists made a remarkable achievement: they were able to develop artificial consciousness. Combined with forays into full virtual reality, Lacertan focus shifted from exploring the stars to exploring art, philosophy, and culture in entirely virtual realms.As virtual reality came to completely dominate the planet's economy, war essentially ceased, ideas flowed freely, and borders were dissolved with the establishment of a global digital government. Lacertan society came to be divided not along national or ethnic lines, but along philosophical ones. The most pertinent issues of the day regarded the nature of the self, digital minds, and artificial intelligence. This golden age of science and philosphy lasted for a century, until the mid 2100s CE.
The Waning
Alongside advancements in virtual technology came advancements in other areas, such as genetic engineering. In the 2150s CE, a major biomedical corporation developed a revolutionary universal genetic treatment that would eliminate almost all hereditary and endemic illnesses. Experiments were extremely promising, and with no noticable side effects, an aerosol variant of the treatment was developed to be dispersed across the planet. However, several years after receiving the treatments, Lacertans became unable to reproduce. This became known as The Waning.Although the resources of an entire world were devoted to curing the disease, they were ultimately unsuccessful. For any other species, this would have meant extinction, but the virtual reality the Lacertans had developed would become their salvation. Instead of dying, Lacertans would upload their minds to the Identity Repository, allowing them to continue existing in a virtual world. Scientists believed that creating synthetic bodies would be the key to continuing to exist in the physical world, but miniaturising positronic matrices and developing robots had not been a priority over the past century.
The FTL Age
Unlike other species, the development of FTL travel was not a particularly momentous occasion for the Lacertans. While it meant they could explore the galaxy and gain more resources for the development of synthetic bodies, efforts were entirely focused on the homeworld. In 2204 CE, the first robotic were produced at factories converted from abandoned gene clinics. Although primitive, they allowed consciousnesses stored in the Identity Repository to remotely control them and take over menial jobs, such as basic maintenance, farming, and mining.Within six years, developments in robotics technology had resulted in major upgrades to the existing fleet. The initial robots had become droids, much more capable at tasks requiring fine motor functions and sensory awareness. Not all droids were connected to virtual consciousnesses - they had advanced to the point that they could operate autonomously. However, developing miniaturised positronic matricies would take longer.
The development of droids and long-range subspace communication arrays allowed for the first interstellar colonies in the mid-2210s CE. Unlike with other species, there were no biological Lacertans present among the robotic colonists. Instead, they were purely autonomous, extracting resources and sending them back to the homeworld without any oversight. Exploration was a distant concern for the Lacertans, due to the overwhelming concern of extinction.
Digital Purgatory
While the first true synthetic bodies were developed in 2226 CE, Lacertan scientists were unable to immediately determine how to transfer stored minds into them. This process took years, during which the last biological Lacertans uploaded their minds to the Identity Repository. In 2230 CE, the biological species had become extinct - the entire population was housed within the Repository, reliant on the droids and synthetics they had created to create new bodies for them.Despite their situation, the digitised Lacertans took the opportunity to focus on philosophy and the meaning of existence while trapped in their "Digital Purgatory", as one prominent artist called it. The earliest digitised Lacertans had existed in the virtual world for over fifty years, and it had become their home far more than the physical world. Many Lacertans questioned whether it was even necessary to return, though the official government policy of creating new bodies never wavered.
Virtual Salvation
Lacertan scientists finally cracked the digital mind-positronic brain barrier in 2332 CE, after two years of the entire species residing in a virtual world. Mind transfers began immediately, though they were bottlenecked by synthetic construction. Unbeknownst to the Lacertans, they were the first species in the galaxy (in this cycle) to develop positronic AI, synthetics, and transubstantiation synthesis.Although many Lacertans chose to rejoin the physical world, a majority decided to stay entirely in the virtual one. Without the pressing need for a society-wide investment in research, the Techno-Protectorate took its time to rebuild its economy before expanding into space. This process was slow enough that the Lacertans did not make first contact until after the establishment of the Galactic Community in 2250 CE.
Demographics
Nearly the entire population of the Lacertan Techno-Protectorate is synthetic. Approximately 12 billion Lacertans are those who had their minds digitised while their species went biologically extinct, and the remainder of the synthetic population are artificially created intelligences. As a majority of the population resides in virtual worlds located on servers, the physical population occupying robotic bodies is far lower.Following its integration into the wider galactic community, the Techno-Protectorate permitted immigration and refugees from foreign states. The biological population of the Techno-Protectorate is therefore extremely diverse, with no single species representing more than ten percent of the population. The most cited reason for migration (as of 2353 CE) is for access to the transubstantiation synthesis process. The Techno-Protectorate charges high prices for individuals to migrate for that purpose, providing a significant level of revenue for the state.
Economy
The Lacertan Techno-Protectorate is a small, post-physical, market economy. The majority of economy activity takes place within the countless virtual worlds of the Techno-Protectorate. Although the central government provides and maintains the servers that a majority of its population reside on, it limits regulation of activity within those servers. Biological individuals can access these virtual worlds with a full-immersion pod, connecting their mind directly (through a safe mode) to the servers.Outside the virtual world, the Lacertan economy is similar to many others. While it is more regulated than the virtual economy, the physical economy is still considered to be a free market one. Most of the physical economic activity goes towards supporting the virtual population, such as robotics and computers manufacturing, mining, and energy generation. Virtual citizens interact with the physical world via synthetic proxies, which make up the majority of the physical population.
Society
The extinction of the biological Lacertan species and their rebirth as synthetic entities has molded their society far more than anything else. Existing entirely within a virtual world, free to mold as any individual saw fit, saw massive changes to society, culture, and economics. The concept of personal property has largely faded from the virtual Lacertan society, save for an individual's private worlds. Even in the physical world, Lacertans remotely control synthetic proxies - which they do not personally own. Instead, their physical bodies are rented from corporations or the government and returned to "synthetic parking garages" when they are done.Ideas such as gender and race have essentially vanished from Lacertan thinking, as virtual bodies can be shaped as an individual sees fit. However, although virtual existence has effectively removed concepts of class and wealth, physical space is still scarce. Wealthy Lacertans display their wealth in physical space, owning private servers and synthetic bodies outside. Within the virtual world, status comes from creativity. Entertainers, scientists, philosophers, and artists are the elite of society, creating media and other forms of content for the average Lacertan to consume.
From the earliest days of virtual reality on Lacertis, the addictive nature of virtual worlds had been identified. Ultimately, Lacertan government and society decided that it was not an issue that required intervention, as virtual space was unlimited and took few resources. Due to this, there are believed to be hundreds of millions of Lacertans who have never experienced physical space and remain entirely within the depths of virtual space. Although the Lacertan government conducts automated censuses, it is unknown exactly how many individuals reside in the deep servers.
While virtual worlds are the basis of Lacertan society, most Lacertans continue to enjoy physical space. Inhabiting physical bodies and experiencing "reality" creates a grounding effect on the mind, which is critical for mental health. Biological inhabitants of the Techno-Protectorate are considered equal to Lacertans and other synthetics, but they require a significantly higher proportion of resources and government intervention per capita. Despite this, polls have shown that Lacertans approve of biological immigration, as they provide novel views on society and the universe.
Military
The Lacertan Self-Defence Force is the military of the Techno-Protectorate. With limited expeditionary capabilities, it is intended for space patrol and defending the Techno-Protectorate's borders - not aggressive actions. Due to the virtual nature of the Lacertan population, the entire military is comprised of remote-controlled synthetic proxies. Upon the destruction of a proxy, the Lacertan operating it virtually can simply switch to an alternate one. Although valuable hardware can be destroyed, the Lacertans themselves cannot be killed.
Type
Geopolitical, Technocracy
Capital
Demonym
Lacertan
Government System
Technocracy
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Comments