When he did become involved in the political arena, it was only at the urging of his old friend, High Executive Toradicus. In direct contrast to his grandfather's beliefs, Prengal Surina became a spokesperson for centralizing power in the Prime Committee. The current system of L-PRACGs pledging support for the oversight of the Prime Committee largely owes its existence to the lobbying of Prengal Surina and the hard-nosed politics of Toradicus.
Prengal lived the last decades of his life in quiet seclusion at Andra Pradesh, remaining neutral in the great battles between big business and government during the term of High Executive Par Padron. He died in year 185 of the Reawakening.
Unlike his predecessors, Marcus Surina did not seek a life of scientific achievement. He spent much of his youth disavowing the wealth and 'decadence' of the Surinas in Andra Pradesh and the creed that was his ancestor's namesake. Marcus became a drifter and adventurer out in the orbital colonies, where records were scarce. He had much wider experience in the world than either Sheldon or Marcus, and in his time he gambled, piloted starships, formed L-PRACGs, and ran a number of reputable and disreputable companies.
Marcus originally entered the science of teleportation as an investor. TeleCo was one of many pet projects he funded with Surina money. He had very little scientific training and only became involved in the development of the science after several of the principal players resigned from the project over frustrations with his management.
It was at that point that Marcus Surina experienced an epiphany of sorts and devoted himself to perfecting the science of teleportation. He made up for lost time by delving into the research and development processes with more single-mindedness than any of his predecessors. By the end of the century, Marcus had transformed himself from a playboy and dilettante to the leading scientist and entrepreneur of his age. His passion for teleportation fueled the fortunes of TeleCo and, indeed, the entire economy.
Marcus spent the last decade of his life in a feverish struggle to perfect teleportation. He became a public spokesperson and pitchman, not only for his own technology, but for the bio/logics industry in general. He engaged in a great public struggle with Len Borda, the newly appointed high executive of the Defense and Wellness Council, over the dangers of the project. Their dispute remained unresolved, however, when Marcus died suddenly (along with many of his top advisors) in a shuttle accident in the orbital colonies.
Rumor and innuendo attributed hundreds of illegitimate children to Marcus, who allegedly was an incessant womanizer. Whatever the truth of those claims, he left only one legitimate child and heir, a daughter, Margaret.
The only child of Marcus Surina, Margaret has assumed the family mantle as Bodhisattva of Creed Surina; the professorial chair at the Gandhi University held by every Surina since Sheldon; and head of the various family investments. She also founded the Surina Perfection Memecorp, but its aims and goals remain unknown at the present time.
APPENDIX E
ON THE MULTI NETWORK
Society has experimented with any number of virtual communities, from the primitive text environments of the World Wide Web to the sophisticated pleasure worlds of the Sigh. But none has achieved such widespread acceptance as the multi network.
A multi projection is a virtual body that 'exists' in real space. While the multied body is only an illusion created by neural manipulation, it can interact with real ('meat') bodies in a way almost indistinguishable from physical human interaction. In order to achieve such verisimilitude, however, the architects of the multi network have had to limit many of the freedoms taken for granted in other virtual communities.
The multi network depends on two key components: (1) the trillions of microscopic bots that process and relay sensory information to the network, and (2) neural OCHREs that manipulate the mind into 'seeing' the sights, 'hearing' the sounds, and 'feeling' the sensations of the network.
Similarly, those who interact with multi projections allow neural manipulation to trick the mind into believing the virtual bodies are present. Participation in the multi network is not optional in civilized society. Even unconnectibles such as Islanders and Pharisees are required to wear so-called 'connectible collars' so they can interact with multi projections.
Thanks to the advances in nanotechnology that have occurred since Henry Osterman's time, multi bots are lighter than air and only molecules thick. They carpet most of the earth and populated colonies in concentrations high enough to provide sensory information almost anywhere a user would want to go, but still diffuse enough that their presence is undetectable to the naked eye.
Developments in subaether transmission have enabled multi to follow humanity to the moon, Mars and the orbital colonies.
Because multied bodies are merely illusions of the mind and do not have physical substance, their interactions with the physical world are governed by a strict set of unbreakable rules. Some rules simply repeat the constraints of nature (e.g., a real person cannot climb on top of a virtual body). Other rules are arbitrary decisions that have been hammered out over the years by a succession of governmental agencies.
The guiding principle of multi/meat interactions is that they should be as 'real' as possible. In an ideal multi experience, it would be impossible to determine whether the user was present in the flesh or in multi. The multi network, unlike other networks, does not allow for any 'improvements' on the human experience. Thus, a multied body contains all the warts and blemishes the actual human body does; multied bodies cannot fly, change shapes, or perform feats of inhuman strength; and they are clothed in the same garments as their real bodies.
Occasionally, things happen in the 'real' world that cannot be reconciled in a virtual environment. One can throw a stone 'through' a multi projection without incident. Larger discrepancies typically result in the automatic cutting of a multi connection.
As the ubiquity of the multi network has grown, society has largely adapted. Most doors and windows are capable of accepting and responding to multi commands. Auditoriums and meeting spaces generally have amenities for both types of audiences.
The verisimilitude of the multi network is what has kept it safe during the decades it has been in widespread use. The network has built-in safeguards that will automatically cut a connection in cases of extreme pain or duress. Because its rules are so rigid and the chance for mishap so small, the Defense and Wellness Council has fiercely blocked any attempts to liberalize the network rules or allow other virtual networks to participate in public space.
Because of the high potential for danger in letting multi projections connect anywhere on the network, the network's governing bodies insisted early in its existence that entry points on the network be restricted.
Entrances must occur in specially designated 'gateway zones.' This is to prevent users from projecting to unauthorized locations, into the middle of a wall, or into some other obstruction. Most homes, businesses and public places these days are equipped with gateway zones that allow apparition onto the multi network, but it is not uncommon for restricted or sensitive locations to limit gateway zones to a central location.
A user must be standing on a specially designated red tile square to enter the network. If that physical contact is interrupted, the connection is immediately cut. Given the obvious security risk of leaving one's body unattended, multi squares typically occur only in private residences or in heavily guarded public locations (multi facilities).
One can exit the multi network instantaneously from any spatial coordinate. Under pressure from the Prime Committee, the network administrators also developed a special device called a 'disruptor' to allow authorities to cut multi connections. The Defense and Wellness Council later augmented the basic disruptor design to allow certain bio/logic code to flow into a multi projection.
