Her Brother's Keeper: A Story of Alpha Centauri

Glossary

Familial Relation Terms

Aftercomer - the term used to refer to an individual’s artificial twins which have yet to be birthed. An individual’s followers in their own Geneline.

Blooddaughter - a Mother’s ‘natural born’ female child. Most middle-class and upper-class families only have one of these per matFam.

Brother - the term by which a person refers to a ‘natural born’ male bore by the same Mother.

Dame - a term referring to a former head of a household. This is usually the current Matriarch’s Mother.

Father - the name by which one refers to the man married to their Mother.

Forerunners - the term used to refer to an individual’s artificial twins which have been birthed in the past. An individual’s precursor in their own Geneline.

gee-emm - a gm

Geneline - this refers to all of the artificial twins of a Sister who have yet to be birthed. What a person accomplishes (or does not accomplish) in their lifetimes is directly related to the probability that additional members of that Geneline will be birthed. Those members of a prestigious Geneline automatically receive additional education and privileges from High School age until they complete their higher education. These individuals are then expected to accomplish the same level of achievements as their Forerunners.

geneMother - the person from which one’s Geneline sprang. The accomplishments of one’s GeneMother are commonly used as a strong indicator of an individual’s, and thus their entire Geneline’s, potential.

geneSister - a female who shares the same gm as the individual in question. While finding a geneSister is uncommon, due to the sheer number of eggs harvested during a woman’s early adulthood and the practice of artificial twinning, it is not unheard of.

gm - 1. a female’s GeneMother. This abbreviation is normally only used inside of an individual’s name and is reserved for people whose GeneMother was a member of the 1077 female colonists in the First Wave or one of the 1080 female colonist of the Second Wave. Thus having a gm in one’s name gives that individual an incredibly good pedigree.

A person who has gm in their name, a gene daughter of one of the initial colonists.

Great House - a term used to refer to a direct blood descendant of one of the Founders, or one of the original 1077 female colonists. Membership in such a Great House is held via the line of eldest Blooddaughters. As a result, there are only 1077 Great Houses on the planet.

House - ones combined matFam and patFam.

Initial - The first member of a Geneline. Being an Initial is a large responsibility because what a person accomplishes (or does not accomplish) in their lifetimes is directly related to the probability that additional members of that Geneline will be birthed.

Junior or Junior Wife - a woman married to one’s Father but who has not yet had children of her own. This may either be to the woman’s young age (being married and becoming pregnant before the end of one’s education is frowned upon), lack of fertility, or due to the terms of their marriage contract (some Houses require that a woman serves as a Junior Wife for up to 7 years before having their own Family to make up for a lower dowry, etc.)

Keeper - a Sister who protects one of their brothers’ virtue while out in public. As a result, they never leave their assigned brother’s side while outside of their matFam’s compound.

matBlood - genetically related to someone through both the Mother and Father. A full sibling. This is quite a rare occurrence except in the working class.

matFam or Fam - collective term for Sisters, sisters, and Brothers born by the same mother. The equivalent of one’s immediate family in the early 21st century USA. One’s maternal family.

Matriarch - the head of a House. The senior most Wife.

Mother - the name by which one refers to the woman who bore them.

natural born - the genetic offspring of a Wife and her Husband. These embryos are created in the Labs by combining the egg and sperm of the two parents which were harvested when they were at the peak of fertility in their late adolescence. The sex of the resulting child is left up to chance.

Opportune - a naturally conceived child made outside of wedlock / before marriage. A Mother with an Opportune is highly regarded in society because she somehow managed to get access to an unrelated male to have a child with them.

patBlood - genetically related to someone through the Father. A half-sibling.

patBrother - the term by which a person refers to a ‘natural born’ male belonging to another of the Father’s wives.

patMother - the term by which a person refers to another of the Father’s wives.

patFam - collective term for Sisters, sisters, and brothers born by the same father. The equivalent of one’s extended family in the early 21st century USA. One’s paternal family.

patsister - the term by which a person refers to a ‘natural born’ female belonging to another of the Father’s wives.

patSister - the term by which a person refers to a female born to another one of their Father’s wives. PatSisters are raised as part of one’s extended family and are treated much as first cousins are in the early 21st century USA.

secMother or second Mother - a patMother who helped to raise a given child while still a Junior wife. Next to one’s Mother one’s secMother is considered to be one’s closest caregiving relative. In many households secMothers who do not have children old enough to help out running their own households get help from the children that they were secMothers to until their own children are old enough to help out.

sister - the term by which a person refers to a naturally conceived female born by the same Mother.

Sister - the term by which a person refers to a female born by the same Mother but who is not genetically related to themselves. Sisters are the product of cloned embryos implanted in the womb of their Mother. Sisters are raised as part of one’s immediate family.

son - a Mother’s ‘natural born’ male child.

Terminus - the term used for an individual whose life was so disappointing that they become the last member of their Geneline. In these cases, the remaining cloned embryos are thawed and disposed of. Terminus is also used as an extremely derogatory insult, so insulting that it has caused murders and assaults to occur when the insult was uttered in public.

Wife - a person married to one’s Father.

womb-mates - two Sisters who were both carried by their Mother at the same time. Similar to fraternal twins womb-mates tend to have a special bond since they were born at virtually the same time and then grow up with one another.

Historical Terms

The Chosen - the three colonists from the First Wave who were chosen to join the crew for the return trip back to Earth. These three were the creme of the crop of already outstanding colonists. Over the centuries the Chosen have almost become the equivalent of demigods in the folk tales and legends of the colonists.

The First Wave - the term used for the first two ships to arrive for the colonization of Cooper’s World. It is sometimes used to refer to the Founders as well.

The Founders - the 1077 original colonists from the First Wave of ships.

The Second Wave - the term used for the second two ships to arrive for the colonization of Cooper’s World 57 Terran years after the initial colonization. This happened in Colonial Year 71.

The Uprising - the male civil rights movement led by descendants of the Second Wave colonists 90 Terran years after the colony was originally founded. This occurred in Colonial Year 112.

Linguistic Terms

-chan - a term added to the end of a female’s name as a young male’s name as a form of affection and endearment, just as it was used in the Nipponese Empire on Old Earth.

-dono - a term added to the end of a person’s name who is considered one’s equal in upper-class society, just as it was used in the Nipponese Empire on Old Earth. This term is usually only used by the rich and powerful on Cooper’s World.

-mouto - short form of imouto, the Nipponese word for younger sister.

-neechan - short form of oneechan, the Nipponese word for older sister.

-otōto -Nipponese for younger Brother.

-sama - a term added to the end of a person’s name who is considered one’s superior, just as it was used in the Nipponese Empire on Old Earth.

-san - a term added to the end of a person’s name who is considered one’s equal in normal society, just as it was used in the Nipponese Empire on Old Earth.

bokken - a Nipponese practice sword, traditionally made out of hardwood and usually curved like a katana.

brocon - a Nipponese term meaning a sister who loves her brother in a romantic sense, usually used as an insult.

gohan - Nipponese word for rice, it can also refer to one of the three daily meals.

imouto - Nipponese for little sister.

kami - Nipponese word for a god or goddess. These can range in power from that of minor guardian spirits to Amaterasu, the Omi-kami herself. The Goddess of the sun to whom all of the kami pay homage.

katana - a Nipponese curved steel sword traditionally associated with the samurai.

kendo - the way of the sword, the Nipponese term used to refer to a martial art utilizing the sword.

kitsune - The Nipponese word for fox. In Nipponese mythology, it can refer to an exclusively female non-human race that is incredibly gifted in shapeshifting. As kitsune age, they grow another tale for every Earth century that passes. A nine-tailed kitsune is said to have the power to fight a kami head-on. They are considered to be a form of yokai.

kyūketsuki - Nipponese word for vampire. Considered to be a type of yokai.

naginata - a traditional Nipponese weapon similar to a Western polearm. It consists of a long hardwood shaft with a weight on one end and a long blade at the other. The blade is sharpened so it can be used not only for thrusting but also for slashing.

Nipponese - of or related to the people of the Empire of Nippon, one of the three Great Empires that make up the Grand Alliance on Old Earth. The word is made up of the words Nippon (the name of the empire itself) and -ese, from the end of the now-archaic word Japanese (an English term for the people of that nation which was used up until the end of World War Two.)

Okaa-san or Okaa-sama - Nipponese word for Mother.

oneechan - Nipponese term for an older sister.

oniichan - Nipponese term for an older brother.

onmyōji - a Nipponese term referring to a person possessing mystical powers over nature and the world around us. A rough translation would be a mage.

sandoitchi - the Nipponese word for sandwich.

Sensei - the Nipponese term for instructor or teacher. On Cooper’s World, it is used almost exclusively for martial arts instructors.

shinai - another type of Nipponese practice sword, this type being made out of bamboo.

tanuki - Nipponese term for a racoon-dog. In mythology, it can be used to describe raccoon-like shapeshifters who love to play pranks on humans and other non-humans alike. In some tales, they can even become invisible and visible at will. They are considered to be a form of yokai.

yokai - a Nipponese term used to describe a large number of non-human and non-divine races capable of many magical feats. Most have a much longer lifespan than humans, except for the tanuki who are lucky to live 50 Terran years.

Scientific / Technical Terms

’lock - an airlock.

a-cent-a - Alpha Centauri A. A G2 class yellow dwarf very similar to the Sun. It is slightly more massive and brighter than Alpha Centauri B.

a-cent-b - Alpha Centauri B. A K1 class orange dwarf slightly cooler and less massive than both the Sun and Alpha Centauri A. This is the star that Cooper’s World revolves around.

aech-too-ohh - water, H2O

cee-emm - a centimeter, a cm.

com’ - a communicator. Similar to a modern cell phone, but utilizes mini-satellites and not cell towers.

emm - a meter, an m.

see-ohh-too - carbon dioxide, CO2.

kay-emm - a kilometer, a km.

ohh-too - oxygen, O2.

portable - a device similar to a modern tablet with a large screen, but with the processing and graphics power of a modern supercomputer. High-end portables can produce a holographic projection of a keyboard on which the user can type normally.

vid’ - video, the equivalent of streaming video services on Cooper’s World, similar to television

Temporal Terms

Alterday - the period of the day on Cooper’s World where a-cent-b is below the horizon and a-cent-a is above the horizon. Depending on where a-cent-a and a-cent-b are in their orbits the light of Alterday is between 1,200 and 1,600 times as bright as the full moon is on Earth. This is the equivalent of a very overcast Mainday.

Colonial Year - a period of 335 Cooper’s World days. For reference that comes to 293 Earth days.

day - a period of 24 hours on Cooper’s World. This is a period equivalent to 21 hours, 2 minutes, and 7 seconds on Earth.

days of the week - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat’day.

Fall Quartanoctis - the first day of Fall. On the Quartanoctis the Night makes up 6 hours of Cooper’s World’s rotation. After the Fall Quartanoctis, the Night gradually becomes longer until the Longanocte.

hour - a period of 60 minutes on Cooper’s World. This is roughly equivalent to 52.5 Earth minutes.

Equidies - the first day of Summer. It is the day of the Cooper’s World year on which there is no night because both a-cent-b and a-cent-a are both alone above the horizon for 12 hours apiece.

Longanocte - the first day of Winter. It is the day on Cooper’s World where the Night is 12 hours long. On this day a-cent-a is directly behind a-cent-b and thus there is no Alterday.

Mainday - the period of the day on Cooper’s World where a-cent-b is above the horizon.

month - a period of either 28 days or, in the case of Feb’ry, 27 days.

names of the months - Jan’ry, Feb’ry, March, April, May, June, July, Aug’st, Sept’ber, Oct’ber, Nov’ber, Dec’ber.

Night - the period of the day on Cooper’s World where neither a-cent-b nor a-cent-a are above the horizon. On the summer Equidies, there is no Night because a-cent-b and a-cent-a are each above the horizon for 12 hours apiece. However, on the Longanocte the Night lasts a total of twelve full hours.

Spring Quartanoctis - the first day of Spring. On the Quartanoctis the Night makes up 6 hours of Cooper’s World’s rotation. After the Spring Quartanoctis, the Night gradually becomes shorter until the Equidies.

Year - a period of 335 Cooper’s World days. For reference that comes to 293 Earth days.

year - a Terran year, 365 Earth days.