see right through me

Red Honey // A synthetic drug, syrupy sweet and deep red in color, that enhances one's latent psionic abilities. The drug was created under the noses of the staff of the colony ship 'Gaia's Hope' by onboard bioengineers. It was first administered to Delilah Rosewood, their daughter, in an attempt to get her into the Spark Initiative by boosting her psionic potential. The drug did it's job, even "tricking" the Spark unit into thinking Delilah was more psionically apt than she really was, causing a partial rejection that damaged her memory, nerves and hearing. When taken in infrequent, small doses, it serves to creat hallucinations in the user. Some report them as abstract shapes and colors, while others report terrifying vistas and creatures. In consistent doses and paired with other mood-stabilizing and anti-psychotic drugs, it does increase psionic potential. It is considered against the ship's laws to use the drug recreationally, but it tends to get around anyway.

Gaia's Hope // A colony ship in deep space, tasked with spreading humanity across the stars after the destruction of Earth by an ancient Leviathan. Fully self sufficient, the ship stores backups of the staff and clones them when necessary. It does much the same for civilians it plants on other planets - printing basic brain functions into lab grown bodies and sending them to live planetside. This massive ship is the fifth of it's kind.

Sparks // Short for "Sparks of Hope". Incredible pieces of tech able to connect a user to the psionic network and allow them access to psionic powers. The are grafted onto the spine, at which point nanomachines invade the user's blood and bones in an agonizing process called Integration. The Spark itself is able to grow like a biological organ, despite being made of purely synthetic materials, and they eventually break through the skin of the back to create a hard metallic ridge of plating. Once they do this, they are able to grow around the body of the pilot, often simply called a Spark as well. Sparks manifest as strange armor-like carapces, appearance varying with the personality of the user as it influences the Spark's growth patterns. These carapaces function as powerful exoskeletons, allowing for great feats of strength and agility, as well as increasing the fortitude of the pilot significantly. Few people are deemed capable of even trying to meld with a Spark, fewer still survive the process. The ship requires a minimum of three to a maximum of five Sparks to be active at any given time.

Spark Initiative // A rigorous training program meant to sort the most physically, emotionally, mentally, and psionically capable humans into Spark Pilots, often shortened to Sparks. The training is intense and tackles all the mentioned fields through a series of training courses, classes on various subjects, rigorous diet and an intense medication routine, with frequent testing throughout. Very few people complete the program, though they are allowed to try again any time they wish barring outright disqualification for criminal activity or exceptional failure to perform.

Psionics // A poorly understood field in this world, currently undergoing extensive study. It has thusfar been described as the ability to use mental effort alone to externalize one's will in a physical space. It is, in reality, much deeper than that. It seems to be a connection to another dimension or plane of existence, so much so that all psionically active humans are intrinsincly linked to one another through this connection.

Psionic Network // The source of psionic power in this world - a poorly understood, interwoven tapestry of connections between the brains of psionic users and another plane of reality.

Leviathans // Incomprehensibly massive and ancient beings of various shapes and sizes, sometimes called "Star Eaters" for the unfortunate diet of stars, planets, and asteroids. One particularly venerable Leviathan is known to be responsible for eating the Earth's Sun and, subsequently, Earth itself. They are intelligent, but have refused or been unable to communicate with humans as far as anyone knows.