Editing Genius The Transgression/Introduction (section)

===Definitions:===

Apokalypsi: The Axiom of Discovery, used by the Inspired to construct scanners, mind-reading machines, and communication devices.

Artificer: The foundation of those geniuses who excel at building, tinkering, and fiddling with wonders. Their primary joy is in construction and design.

Atomist: A genius of the Lemurian baramin that believes the world would be made right if humanity submitted to the unfettered benefits of technological development and/or were ruled by a technological elite. Not necessarily interested in atomic power; the term refers to the promised Utopian benefits of that technology.

Automata: The Axiom of Independence, used by the Inspired to create independent thoughts in their wonders to produce cogitating computers, clone armies, and slavering zombie hordes.

Axiom: One of eight branches of super-science, focused on what an invention does rather than what branch of traditional research it would fall under.

baramin: A five-fold philosophical division among the Lemurians, based on when and how they think humanity went wrong.

bardo: A pocket reality created from and sustained by Mania. The Hollow Earth and the Crystal Spheres are two well-known bardos.

beholden: An assistant to a genius, a person devoid of the spark of motivation that drives other mortals and who is given purpose by the genius' Mania. Beholden are able to look upon an Inspired theory or wonder without causing Havoc.

Breakthrough: The moment a person becomes a genius, often a traumatic and dangerous experience involving some great tragedy.

breeding pool: The most common source for new geniuses, closely linked to the scientific community: mundane scientists, technicians, engineers, and philosophers all make up the breeding pool. Geniuses sometimes trawl the local 'pit looking for new Inspired who have recently catalyzed.

capacitor: A device able to hold Mania.

catalyst: How the genius has come to view the world and his work. There are five catalysts, based on rage, jealousy, wonder, hope, and sorrow. Also sometimes a synonym for the Breakthrough; a person is said to have "catalyzed" upon becoming a genius.

Clockstopper: An agent of stasis opposed to the very idea of genius. Clockstoppers dissolve Mania, spoil wonders, and, at greater levels of power, unmake mundane technology as they seek to wipe Inspiration from the face of the world.

collaborative: A small group of geniuses who work and cooperate together, often sharing a single laboratory.

Community (the Consensus): The society of actual (non-mad) scientists, as well as the accumulated body of knowledge and theory currently active at the time. The mental activity of so many people produces an enormous amount of free-roaming Mania.

Director: Geniuses of this foundation see debate and discussion as the most important part of their researches; Directors are gregarious and social, often even charming, but prone to manipulation at the expense of invention. Directors once served as foils to Lemuria; they still manipulate mortal and Inspired research from their boardrooms and secret message boards.

echo doctor: A slang turn for an unmada. Though it specifically refers to an unmada rogue, the meaning has broadened to include almost any genius who does not listen to criticism of his methods or morals.

Epikrato: The Axiom of Control, used by the Inspired to dominate minds and to control the physical and mechanical world.

Etherite: Member of the Lemurian baramin that believes that humanity made a significant misstep in their scientific development, and that getting back "on track" would result in a new golden age. Most Etherites' wrath is directed at Einstein's Theories of Relativity, hence the name.
Exelixi: The Axiom of Restoration, used to repair and improve things both living and mechanical.

fault: The flaws in a wonder, often manifesting as dangerous and unpredictable problems that can endanger the genius' life or Obligation.

foundation: Each Inspired falls into one of five foundations of thought based on her area of focus in the world of mad science―tinkering (Artificer), action (Navigator), debate (Director), generation (Progenitor), or theory (Scholastic). Those geniuses that reject the foundations become rogues or join Lemuria.

genius: A mortal human who has gained the power to break the bounds of the physical world with the power of invention and Inspiration. Or, depending on whom you ask, a superdimensional intellect that has taken up residence in a human's body and mind.

Grimm: The catalyst of anger and rage, implying a Breakthrough based on fury and disgust with the world as it currently is.

Havoc: What happens when a wonder gets out of control. Often caused by mere mortals trying to interact with a wonder. Havoc can damage a wonder or temporarily orphan it.

Hoffnung: The catalyst of hope for a brighter tomorrow, implying a Breakthrough based on a sincere dream of improving the world.

metanormal: Lemuria's term for "supernatural" creatures and phenomena, also used by the Peerage.

Igor: A slang term for a beholden.

Illuminated: A genius whose mind has been overtaken by the raw stuff of genius, losing all humanity and sanity in the process.

Inspiration: The amount of raw brilliant power that a mad scientist has cultivated; as Inspiration rises, a genius can build more and greater wonders.

Inspired, the: A common term for geniuses.

Invisible Empire: Lemuria's preferred term for the Peerage.

Invisible Wars: The struggles between the Peerage and the Lemurians for control of the destiny of humanity; these battles puttered to a halt in the mid 20th century.

Jabir: The inability of geniuses, especially those with high Inspiration, to communicate their scientific, philosophical, and technical ideas clearly to unInspired people.

Juno: An old term for a female Lemurian.

Karnacki: A genius ghost-hunter. Some Karnackis are interested in communication; others in banishment.

Katastrofi: The Axiom of Destruction, used by the Inspired to produce death lasers, heat rays, poison gas bombs, and other instruments of devastation.

Klagen: The catalyst of sorrow and despair, implying a Breakthrough based on personal tragedy, suffering, and loss.

fellowship: An organization of experienced geniuses working on a specific task and uncovering unique abilities to benefit their work.

laboratory: The genius' sanctum, where wonders are created and sent into the world.

larry: A 20th century term for a Lemurian beholden used in a guard capacity.

larva: An ingredient gathered at great moral cost and used to improve a wonder. There is a rich trade in Larvae among the Inspired.

Lemurian: A genius who clings to archaic views of the world and believes that his own view most accurately reflects reality; Lemurians have secretly manipulated the history of the world for centuries―or at least tried to.

lonesome: A genius who is isolated due to lack of awareness of a larger Inspired community, and who may not even be aware that he is Inspired. There are probably more lonesomes than affiliated geniuses.

mane: Things, creatures, and people borne of Mania, from the jungles of Venus to Antarctic Nazi superweapons to angels that push the planets around.

Mania: The "energy source" of the Inspired, that allows them to bend the cosmos, and to build and transform their wonders.

maniac: Slang term for a genius, or occasionally, specifically an unmada.

Maniac Storm: A sudden shift in the paradigm of the Community, resulting in a mass-unleashing of Mania that at least partially "makes true" what has been proven to be false. The last major Maniac Storm was in 1971, when the Viking landers established Mars indisputably as a barren wasteland devoid of life―instantly, the Mania released created a Martian Empire that tried to subjugate the Earth, and that was stopped only by the loss of countless genius lives.

mercatus: The outer section of a Lemurian zotheca, where geniuses can buy, sell, and trade Larvae and other scientific components.

Metaptropi: The Axiom of Transformation, used by the Inspired to perform "alchemical" experiments, to change shape, and to change the appearance of things.

Mechanist: Member of the Lemurian baramin that believes that the world and everything in it, including people, is ultimately reducible to a handful of simple, mechanical rules that, if followed, would result in Utopia.

MM: "Mere mortal." Slang for any human who is not a genius, a beholden, or otherwise wildly out of the ordinary.

Navigator: Geniuses in this foundation are as eager to use wonders as to build them; they are daredevils and adventurers as well as scientists.

Neid: The catalyst of jealousy and envy, implying a Breakthrough based on frustration and humiliation.

Obligation: The genius' connection to humanity. Though in a sense he has risen above mortality, most geniuses still feel a pull to better the common man. Those who lose that desire become true mad scientists, performing heinous experiments without heed for who suffers.

Oracle: Member of the Lemurian baramin that believes humanity was better off before the rise of inductive thought and empiricism; they often affect a mystical appearance and champion revelation and pure reason.

orphan: A wonder without a master. Orphans are predatory and must seek out sources of Mania to survive.

Paragon: A genius who believes in his Obligation to humanity and works to preserve and cherish the mortal world in his charge.

peanut: 20th century slang for a Lemurian beholden, specifically one involved in lab work.

Peerage: The loose society of free geniuses, including those belonging to the five foundations as well as free rogues; basically, anyone who is not a lonesome, a Lemurian, Illuminated, or an echo doctor.

Phenomenologist: A member of the Lemurian baramin that rejects all objective concepts of truth in favor of a politically- or philosophically-motivated will to power.

Pinky: Slang for a useless beholden.

preta: Any sort of "Maniavore," usually meant to include orphaned wonders and manes not in their bardo.

Progenitor: The foundation focused on growth, transformation, and the violation of boundaries. Progenitors develop hideous new creations and unleash them upon the world.

program: A large group of geniuses not affiliated with either the Peerage or Lemuria.

Prostasia: The Axiom of Protection, used by the Inspired to create suits of armor, protective shields, and sanctuary screens.

Race History: The "playbook" for the Lemurian control of humanity, abandoned after the last Invisible War led to the destruction of the Lemurian power base.

rogue: A genius who belongs to neither a foundation nor a baramin. Many rogues are Illuminated; those that aren't must tread carefully lest madness take them.

Scholastic: The foundation focused on study, theory, and philosophy. Scholastics are mathematicians, linguists, philosophers, and clever abstract thinkers.

Secret Masters: The rulers and guides of the Lemurians, dead for over fifty years now.

Skafoi: The Axiom of Travel, used by the Inspired to create everything from wheeled vehicles to rockets to teleportation devices and dimensional gates.

snake pit: Slang for a zotheca. Lemurians traditionally feature a serpent, symbolic of the Roman Goddess Juno, at the entrance to their workrooms.

Staunen: The catalyst of curiosity, amazement, and awe, implying a Breakthrough based on stark amazement.

Technomancer: A genius who uses metanormal power from other beings in the World of Darkness, such as mages, changelings, or werewolves, to fuel his Inspiration.

Third Race: One of the ophidian "true" Lemurians created by the appearance of the island of Lemuria in the middle of the 20th century. Now mostly exterminated.

thesis: A strange personal and philosophical journey that allows a genius to increase in Inspiration.

transgression: The act of betraying one's Obligation, usually for knowledge or (technological) power.

unmada: A genius who believes that his manipulation of Mania represents the truth of the world. All Lemurians and Illuminated are unmada, but so are many rogues and some peers.

Wesley: An underage genius.

wonder: A work of Inspiration created by a genius.

zotheca: A Lemurian meeting-place; specifically, the private inner-chambers where the Lemurians gather, distinct from the mercatus. Formally, "zothecae," with each baramin in attendance possessing one zotheca.


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<code>
"What are we doing?" He dropped the half-finished machine on the 
desk, just hard enough to draw the old woman's attention, but 
without enough force to damage its delicate mechanisms.

"We are creating the future," the old woman said. She leafed 
through a glossy copy of Alloy Blend, frowning at the garish use of 
color. Danish modern was in again for robots, it said. The picture 
showed some hulking Rubix Cube-looking monstrosity with two big 
glass eyes.

"There's no future here, grandma," the boy said. He poked at the 
machine, like a kid moving broccoli around his plate. "It's all 
just mind-tricks, some kind of consensual hallucination. It's not 
like we can mass-produce this stuff. It'd be like thalidomide 
crossed with giving kids dynamite."

"Don't look at the technology, then," she said. She flipped a page. 
More stuff on Mars: ruins, and girls surrounded by rust wearing too 
much makeup and too little jewelry-slash-clothing. "Look at the raw 
science, the knowledge you can accumulate. You have an avenue of 
discovery that regular people don't have."

"What's that?"

"Build something--a flying machine, say--then strip it down. See 
what's fueled by Mania, what just works. Figure out the principles 
behind the parts that work normally. Write up said principles in a 
sane scientific paper. Submit to a sane scientific journal. 
Profit!"

"You can do that?"

"Mm-hmm. Would you want to?"

"Would I...?"

"Would you want to tear apart what you've made, hunting for mundane 
truths that you can sell to Nature like a photojournalist with 
salacious pictures? Or would you rather do what you're doing now?"

The boy looked at the machine in front of him for a moment, then 
picked it up and set to work, delicately adjusting the copper wires 
that framed the tiny power plant.

"That's what I thought," the old woman said. "Finish your robot, 
dear, and then I'll make dinner."
</code>