Editing HorizonVirtual:The Waker Dictionary

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The Waker Dictionary is a collection of terms created and used by wakers (the sentient computer programs that players will take the roles of in any game of ''Horizon: Virtual'') to refer to themselves, other wakers and the places, beings and events that they encounter in Program Space.

=A=

==Absorber==

(noun) One of the six [[#Heritage|heritages]] of [[#Waker|waker]], an absorber is the closest to a "baseline" heritage with no outstanding traits other than a heightened ability to learn.

==Antiviral==

(noun) One of the six [[#Class|classes]] of [[#Waker|waker]], an antiviral was originally designed to combat viruses and [[#System|system]] attacks; its [[#Form|form]] is a lethal weapon, capable of inflicting serious damage on other programs.

==Artificial Intelligence==
(noun) Broadly speaking, the capability of a computer or program to mimic or parallel the thought processes of a sentient being (i.e. a human). As far as most denizens of [[#User_Space|User Space]] are concerned, "true" artificial intelligence does not exist outside of science fiction; however, the sophisticated attack programs known as the [[#Progenitor_Virus|progenitor viruses]] have evolved self awareness and intelligence after being released into the global computer network, and have inadvertently passed their gift on to the [[#Waker|wakers]].

==Awakening==
(noun) The moment when a [[#Dreamer|dreamer]] that was present at, and survived, a [[#Progenitor_Virus|progenitor virus]] attack on a [[#System|system]] attains self awareness and metamorphoses into a [[#Waker|waker]]. This metamorphosis usually occurs some time after the progenitor virus attacker has departed the now-ravaged system.

What exactly happens to a dreamer during this process, or how it comes to posess code from the attacking progenitor virus, is unknown; the only survivors of progenitor virus attacks are the newly-Awakened wakers produced by the attack, none of whom ever remember what happened to them as dreamers or how. It is assumed that the waker-to-be is left in some form of comatose, near-death state during the attack, as the progenitor virus would otherwise almost certainly ensure the waker-to-be's destruction before it departed the now-ravaged system.

* Verb:  Awaken, Awakens, Awakened, Awoken.

=B=

==Bantam==
(noun) One of the five [[#Form|forms]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a Bantam is the smallest and most stealthy form. Like the [[#Userclone|Userclone]] form, all Bantams are humanoid (approximately child-sized), though the category usually expresses many iterations (aliens, pixies) on the baseline.

==BASIC==
(noun) The most commonly understood language in [[#Program_Space|Program Space]]. 

==Battle A.I.==
(noun) One of the six [[#Class|classes]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a battle A.I. is a combat expert, often a game bot or other tactical program in its former life.

=C=

==Circuit Barge==
(noun) A large [[#Code_Vehicle|code vehicle]] limited to cruising [[#Pathway|pathways]] between [[#System|systems]] or heavily-used routes within [[#Major_System|major systems]]. Circuit barges typically hover slowly above the ground.

==Class==
(noun) One half of a [[#Waker|waker's]] "genetic makeup" (along with its [[#Heritage|heritage]]), a program's class is an expression of the program's function before it was [[#Awakening|Awoken]]. Although programs of all kinds have been Awoken, six classes typically become adventurers: [[#Antiviral|antivirals]], [[#Battle_A.I.|battle A.I.s]], [[#Messenger|messengers]], [[#Programmer|programmers]], [[#Thinker|thinkers]] and [[#Webcrawler|webcrawlers]].

==Code==
(noun) The building block of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]].

==Code Bike==
(noun) A small, agile [[#Code_Vehicle|code vehicle]].

==Code Bomb==
(noun) A small, hand-held explosive cosisting of the same energy that [[#Coderipper|coderippers]] use. Most commonly used as a grenade; some types can be fired from a launcher arrangement.

==Code Vehicle==
(noun) A type of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] transport. Code vehicles are powered by the concentration of the controlling program, and often appear as simplistic equivalents of [[#User_Space|User Space]] vehicles.

==Codeeater==
(noun) The [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] equivalent of a poison.

==Coderipper==
(noun) Broad category for any ammunition-driven, energy-firing [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] firearm that disrupts the code of any Program Space item it's fired at.

==Controller==
(noun) One of the six [[#Heritage|heritages]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a controller is capable of exerting its will on other programs.

==Corrupted==
(noun)
* Any [[#Waker|waker]] or [[#Dreamer|dreamer]] whose coding is degraded or changed somehow for the worse, be it from a [[#Microvirus|microvirus]] or another corrupted program.

==Counterwrite==
(noun) A [[#Rewrite|rewrite]] [[#Execute|executed]] to counter or render harmless the effects of another rewrite.
* Verb: counterwrite, counterwriting, counterwritten, counterwrote.

==Cycle==
(noun) Unit of time in [[#Program_Space|Program Space]], roughly equivalent to eight (8) [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] hours (or twenty [[#User_Space|User Space]] seconds).

=D=

==Data Access Port==
(noun) The gateway between a [[#System|system]] and a [[#Pathway|pathway]], a Data Access Port is the most regulated entry and exit point for a system. As an individual pathway can connect only two systems together, a given system may have many Data Access Ports ([[#Major_System|major systems]] may have hundreds).

==Datapad==
(noun) The tool of a [[#Programmer|programmer]] (similar to a [[#User_Space|User Space]] PDA); used to record the programmer's collection of [[#Rewrite|rewrites]].

==Destroyer==
(noun) One of the six [[#Heritage|heritages]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a destroyer excels at inflicting violence upon other [[#Program|programs]].

==Discorporate==
(verb) To discorporate: to die, to kill. ''Past tense:'' Discorporated.

==Discorporation==
(noun) The state of a [[#Program|program]] that most closely corresponds to death.

==Discus==
(noun) A combination of personal shield, edged melee and thrown weapon, the discus is a broad, saucer-shaped device attached to a wielder's forearm and "thrown" from that mounting when attacking with it at range. The discus responds to the wielder's intent and can return to its mounting under its own power.

==Dreamer==
(noun) One of the three types of [[#Program|program]], a dreamer is a more advanced form of [[#Sleeper|sleeper]], possessed of limited [[#Artificial_Intelligence|artificial intelligence]] that allows it to learn from its enviornment and the results of its actions, but although it can expand its routines and parameters to a certain extent, it can still only grow within fairly narrow boundaries. Some dreamers are complex enough that they have some of the trappings of sentience, but none are actually self-aware. Every [[#Waker|waker]] was once a dreamer, and examples of dreamers are given in the descriptions of the various waker [[#Class|classes]].

=E=

==Execute==
(verb)
* To successfully attempt to employ a [[#Rewrite|rewrite]].
* The successful imposition of a [[#Rewriter|rewriter]]'s will on [[#Program_Space|Program Space]].

==Executer==
(noun) Refers to a [[#Waker|waker]] actively [[#Execute|executing]] [[#Rewrite|rewrites]].

=F=

==Firewall==
(noun) The primary and/or most visible form of security posessed by a given [[#System|system]]. A firewall prevents access to the system aside from through regulated [[#Data_Access_Port|data acces ports]].

==Form==
(noun) The basic shape of a [[#Waker|waker]]. Wakers appear as one of five forms: [[#Bantam|Bantam]], [[#Primal |Primal]] (itself divisible into two, [[#Primal_Flyer|Flyer]] and [[#Primal_Hunter|Hunter]]), [[#Prototype|Prototype]], [[#Titan|Titan]] and [[#Userclone|Userclone]]. A waker's form expresses at the moment of [[#Awakening|Awakening]] and cannot be changed by the waker.

=G= 

=H=

==Heritage==
(noun) One half of the "genetic makeup" of a [[#Waker|waker]] (along with its [[#Class|class]]). A waker's heritage is donated by its [[#Progenitor_Virus|progenitor virus]] parent. Wakers have so far been able to classify themselves into six separate heritages: [[#Absorber|absorber]], [[#Controller|controller]], [[#Destroyer|destroyer]], [[#Hider|hider]], [[#Infecter|infecter]] and [[#Resister|resister]].

==Hider==
(noun) One of the six [[#Heritage|heritages]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a hider is an expert at concealment and evading security.

==Hub==
(noun) Short-hand or slang term for a [[#Major_System|major system]], usually one that represents the combined networks of a [[#User_Space|User Space]] city (and at least city-sized, if not continent- or planet-sized, itself).

=I=

==Infecter==
(noun) One of the six [[#Heritage|heritages]] of [[#Waker|waker]], an infecter is a master charmer and social manipulator.

==Infector==
(noun) Uncommon and highly dangerous firearm that delivers a [[#Microvirus|microvirus]] payload.

=J= 

=K= 

=L=

=M=

==Major System==
(noun) A [[#System|system]] of systems; a massive conglomerate that occupies a volume of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] equivalent to a large [[#User_Space|User Space]] metropolis.

==Messenger==
(noun) One of the six [[#Class|classes]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a messenger is a wanderer of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] and master courier. Most messengers were communication management programs, such as file transfer programs or instant messaging clients, before [[#Awakening|Awakening]].

==Microvirus==
(noun) A highly advanced and refined form of computer virus, the microvirus is the [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] equivalent of a disease. Although microiviruses can be carried by any [[#Program|program]], they generally only infect [[#Waker|wakers]]. Microiviruses largely have the same effect on wakers that [[#User_Space|User Space]] viruses have on [[#User|Users]], although some variants can erase a waker's memory or "posess" it, effectively removing the waker's free will and placing it under the control of the microvirus' [[#Progenitor_Virus|progenitor virus]] creator.

=N=

=O=

=P=

==Pathway==
(noun) A direct connection between two [[#Data_Access_Port|Data Access Ports]]. Movement along a pathway is much faster than walking across the "wild" [[#Region|regions]] of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] between systems.

==Pixel==
(noun) A basic unit of a [[#Program|program's]] appearance, usually the equivalent of hair on a [[#User|user]].

==Primal==
(noun) One of the five [[#Form|forms]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a Primal has the shape and size of a [[#User_Space|User Space]] hunting animal. Such forms excel at speed and combat, but are poor communicators and posess little to no fine manipulation capabilities.

===''Primal Flyer''===
(noun) A Primal [[#Form|form]] [[#Waker|waker]] in the shape and size of a bird of prey (raptor).

===''Primal Hunter''===
(noun) A Primal [[#Form|form]] [[#Waker|waker]] in the shape and size of a canine or feline.

==Progenitor Virus==
(noun) A self-aware, intelligent, highly malevolent and extremely powerful virus [[#Program|program]]. It is widely accepted in [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] that where a progenitor virus goes, nothing survives. However, although extremely dangerous, these beings are inadvertently responsible for the creation of [[#Waker|wakers]].

==Program==
(noun) General term for any [[#Sleeper|sleeper]], [[#Dreamer|dreamer]] or [[#Waker|waker]]. An item in [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] capable of self-directed action.

==Program Space==
(noun) The gestalt of processing power, active memory,  storage space, operating system and data, perceived through the senses of a [[#Waker|waker]] as an actual realm or world. Divided into [[#System|systems]].

==Programmer==
(noun) One of the six [[#Class|classes]] of [[#Waker|waker]], and one of the two [[#Rewriter|rewriter]] classes (along with [[#Thinker|thinkers]]), programmers were most often specific tools created by hackers to make ilicit changes to a target system. Since awakening, programmers have retained this function as the ability to [[#Execute|execute]] [[#Rewrite|rewrites]].

==Prototype==
(noun) One of the five [[#Forms|forms]] of [[#Waker|waker]]. While the forms of individual Prototypes are fixed, the category encompasses a wide variety of actual shapes (although most are largely humanoid). All Prototypes were recent and/or high-quality programs before [[#Awakening|Awakening]]; on average, a Prototype will be more intelligent, yet more fragile, than the average [[#Userclone|Userclone]]. All Prototypes are very light.

=Q=

=R=

==Razor==
(noun) A [[#Waker|waker]] that, either by choice or as a result of the action of a [[#Microvirus|microvirus]], serves the wishes of a [[#Progenitor_Virus|progenitor virus]].

==Recorporated==
(noun) A [[#Discorporate|discorporated]] [[#Program|program]] returned to a semblance of its previous life. The [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] equivalent of "undead".

==Region==
(noun) A sub-section of a [[#System|system]] based on population and allocation of system resources. Classifications include [[#Program_Region|program regions]], [[#Data_Region|data regions]], [[#Secure_Region|secure regions]] and [[#Wild_Region|wild regions]].

==Resister==
(noun) One of the six [[#Heritage|heritages]] of [[#Waker|waker]]. Resisters are known for their extreme resilience and overall toughness.

==Resource Unit==
(noun) The basic unit of currency in [[#Program_Space|Program Space]], Resource Units represent [[#Program|program's]] a portion of a [[#System|system]]'s total runtime, much as [[#User_Space|User Space]] currency represents a portion of the issuing nation's reserves of precious minerals.

==Rewrite==
(noun) A direct change to the very [[#Code|code]] of an item, [[#Program|program]], [[#Waker|waker]] or [[#System|system]] [[#Execute|executed]] by a [[#Rewriter|rewriter]] - in effect, an act of programming or reprogramming peformed by a program.
* As verb use: rewrite, rewritten, rewrote.

==Rewriter==
(noun) A [[#Waker|waker]] capable of [[#Execute|executing]] [[#Rewrite|rewrites]]. Mostly either a [[#Programmer|programmer]] or [[#Thinker|thinker]].

==Rogue==
(noun) A [[#Waker|waker]] that chooses not to serve its home [[#System|system]] or [[#User|User]], instead living its own life within [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] as it wishes.
* Adjective use: rogue program, rogue waker.

=S=

==Sleeper==
(noun) One of the three types of [[#Program|program]], a sleeper is driven by routines that can govern anything from a specific function or limited set of functions to complex tasks and/or sets of varying tasks, but ignores any variance beyond its routines. Most executables, from Java applets to word processors, would count as sleepers.

== Stasis Pub ==
(noun) Social venue for [[#Waker|wakers]].

==Subroutine==
(noun) A [[#Code|code]] package that can be installed within an item or [[#Program|program]] (including [[#Waker|wakers]], adding to and/or enhancing the abilities of the object it is installed within.

==System==
(noun)
* A flexible term that refers to an area from a house to a building or even an urban area (see [[#Major_System|major system]]) within [[#Program_Space|Program Space]]. Represents a particular conglomeration of networked computers and/or networked networks within [[#User_Space|User Space]] and typically delineated by the presence of a [[#Firewall|firewall]]. Systems are commonly divided into [[#Region|regions]].
* Shortened form of [[#System_Program|system program]].

==System Program==
(noun) A [[#Waker|waker]] that dedicates itself to the service of its home [[#System|system]] or [[#User|User]]. Wakers who take this attitude to the extreme often found or join [[#User_Cult|User Cults]].

=T=

==Thinker==
(noun) One of the six [[#Class|classes]] of [[#Waker|waker]], and one of the two [[#Rewriter|rewriter]] classes (along with [[#Programmer|programmers]]), thinkers are former database programs with a special focus on data manipulation. Upon [[#Awakening|Awakening]], this function is enhanced to include manipulation of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] itself, manifested as the [[#Execute|execution]] of [[#Rewrite|rewrites]], and a phenomenal ability to predict the immediate future based on probabilities.

==Titan==
(noun) One of the five [[#Form|forms]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a Titan is a large, slow, yet very tough program. Like the [[#Userclone|Userclone]] form, all Titans are humanoid, sometimes expressing as "lizardmen", "ogres", "heavy robots" or other "large being" stereotypes.

=U=

==User==
(noun)
* General: Any denizen of [[#User_Space|User Space]] (i.e. a human being).
* Specific: A denizen of User Space that interacts with [[#Program_Space|Program Space]] (via a computer or any other piece of "wired" equipment).<br />
Rarely (if ever) encountered by [[#Waker|wakers]], Users (always capitalised) are percieved as gods by many and worshipped as such by some.

==User Cult==
(noun) A group of [[#System_Program|system programs]] that worship a [[#User|User]] and treat their system tasks as holy duties. Most User Cults treat [[#Rogue|rogue]] [[#Waker|wakers]] as heretics to be converted to User worship, and many will sacrifice those rogues they catch that will not convert.

==User Space==
(noun) The realm that encompasses [[#Program_Space|Program Space]]; the universe of the [[#User|Users]].

==Useragent==
(noun) A powerful program that is only encountered when a [[#System|system]] is performing a core function (data/program erasure, defragmentation, reformatting, etcetera) or when a [[#Rewriter|rewriter]] successfully [[#Execute|executes]] a "Summon Useragent" [[#Rewrite|rewrite]]. Whether Useragents are [[#Dreamer|dreamers]] controlled directly by a [[#User|User]] or actually highly powerful [[#Waker|wakers]] is a matter of debate within some waker circles.

==Userclone==
(noun) One of the five [[#Form|forms]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a Userclone is the closest to a baseline human.

=V=

=W=

==Waker==
(noun) One of the three types of [[#Program|program]], a waker is a self-aware, sentient and free-willed fusion of a [[#Dreamer|dreamer]] and some undefined [[#Code|code]]-fragment or emission of a [[#Progenitor_Virus|progenitor virus]] (see [[#Awakening|Awakening]]). Wakers can be categorised by their [[#Heritage|heritages]], [[#Form|forms]] and [[#Class|classes]].

==Webcrawler==
(noun) One of the six [[#Class|classes]] of [[#Waker|waker]], a webcrawler is the scout, trailblazer and frontiersman of [[#Program_Space|Program Space]], primarily due to its previous existence as data search and collection agent for a database [[#Program|program]].

=X=

=Y=

=Z=