History

Time and Setting

The happenings of this fictional universe take place within the Milky Way galaxy, in a time period roughly 100,000 years in the future. The exact timeframe is unknown. Synths were created in the Outer Rim, by ancestors of the same multi-species civilization they inhabit today (with "today" being this far point in the future). Time within the Outer Rim civilization is measured in standard years, which, despite the Sol system not being part of the Outer Rim territory, is the amount of time it takes Earth to orbit around its sun. It is unknown to the inhabitants of the Outer Rim whether Earth still exists, or if it was destroyed during The Great Reset, but Earth's theoretical rotation and position around its sun are still used in form of a standardized unit in which the passage of time is measured. The calendar used is based on The Great Reset, using the time of the Reset as year 0. Years before the Reset are referred to as BR (Before Reset), while years after are referred to as AR (After Reset). 1000 years after the Great Reset would therefor be written as "1000 AR".

Every following section of this page is from the point of view of historians living in the Outer Rim during the Pioneering Period, ca. 2440 AR.

Before Reset

Only fragments of knowledge are left about the times before the Great Reset, due to large parts of the galaxy remaining unexplored after the collapse of civilization. The mysteries of the past are only slowly becoming unraveled, as more of the galaxy is re-explored and lost ground is examined for clues. What is known is that the majority of the Galaxy had been colonized by a pan-galactic civilization originating from the Sol System. This civilization is referred to as the Sol civilization. It did not have a singular name for itself, since it consisted of a multitude of powerful factions, nations, empires and groups of interest, each of them with their own identities and names. The exact relationships between these factions and their nature are lost to time. It is to be assumed that the civilization went through times of war, times of peace and various shades of strife inbetween until the Great Reset ended it all, leading to the extinction of the vast majority of all species and much knowledge being lost forever.

The Great Reset - Year 0

The Great Reset refers to a cataclysmic event that almost led to the extinction of all life in the galaxy. The exact cause of the event is unknown, as well as its exact nature. The event's epicenter was calculated to have been the Sol system. Since the strength of its destructive force seems to have tapered off around the edges of a circular zone that encompassed almost the entire galaxy. The only systems not affected were the systems on the outermost edge of the galactic disc, furthest away from the epicenter. All signs point towards an event that lasted for 2 to 3 hours. Not much is known about the nature of the Great Reset, aside from that it affected biological life only and seems to have been highly infectious. It is speculated that it may have been an infectious disease, although it is unknown how any disease could spread across the entire galaxy within a few hours. One hypothesis suggests that a variation of a gray goo event may be to blame. The only survivors were either located on underdeveloped colonies in the outer rim of the galaxy or within colony ships on their way to these colonies. The only reason these colonies were unaffected was their distance from the epicenter.

The Great Reset is a topic of great controversy and disagreement among historians and scientists, due to the mysterious nature of the event and the lack of any evidence to justify either of the many theories about it. Among the many hypotheses, there are a few that appear more likely to be true than others, even if speculation is involved.

Galactic pandemic hypothesis

The hypothesis that the Great Reset was a viral pandemic potent enough to kill all life within hours. A pandemic seems like a good explanation for large populations dying off, but leaves unexplained how this pandemic could have spread over almost the entire galaxy in a circular radius over the course of hours. Proponents of this hypothesis argue that it should be possible to generate viruses remotely through the use of biological replicators, like bio-3D-printers. The Sol civilization had the technology of FTL communication, letting them communicate over distances spanning the entire galaxy instantly. This could theoretically allow for the control of biological replicators across the galaxy. If all of them are given the order to print viruses all at the same time, this could theoretically lead to the spread of viral infection among the population.

The fear that the pandemic hypothesis may be the correct one is one of the reasons why so few expeditions to ruined planets have been undertaken thus far. There is a fear that archeologists who dig around Sol civilization ruins could bring back dangerous biological material that could cause the same extinction event to happen all over again.

Grey goo event hypothesis

The hypothesis that the Great Reset was caused by a grey goo event. A grey goo event is a theoretical event in which nanomachines keep replicating themselves infinitely and consume all matter around them, ultimately resulting in all matter being transformed into nanomachines. It is hypothesised that the Sol civilization was easily advanced enough to routinely use nanomachines in their day-to-day affairs. This makes it a possibility that they developed nanites with self-replicating capabilities, which were programmed to consume biological matter such as food waste and other materials to turn them into compost. A programming error could possibly result in nanites targeting living biological matter instead. They could also be generated through the use of replicators, allowing the spread of these nanites throughout the galaxy. This event could have happened either as an accident or through malicious actions.