Datasphere

Over the course of the 20th century, mankind’s engineers converged on two unique solutions to interplanetary communication. The first was was the Aggregate, a highly-controlled Communist system designed for economic planning; the other was the Datanet, a decentralized and open network for information sharing.

The two systems were wholly inaccessible to each other. Their technologies were fundamentally incompatible, and political division prevented them from being linked with several exceptions. Yet they continued to grow ever more complex, ultimately forming the two dataspheres: ecosystems of information creation and flow.

The Ternary Divide was not only a technological barrier, but a cultural one as well. By restricting communication between the two networks, the culture of the “Free World” and the Communist sphere were bound to continue diverging.

The Central Data Aggregate

The Central Data Aggregate is the information network of the socialist world, often referred to as Agregat. Designed in the 1970s to facilitate economic planning, the system was expanded numerous times to provide modern information services.

The network is made up of National Economic Nodes serving computing resources to billions of terminals across the Solar System. All data flows through the Nodes by design, to be collected and utilized by government bureaus to various ends. Access to the network is permitted by a national database of authorized devices, which must be embedded with a registered KONTROL chip.

The speed and interconnectivity of this system is unparalled thanks to its controlled design, but it is slow to adapt to technological and cultural change, and is heavily surveilled by neuromorphic systems.

Interbeacon Solsat

The Interbeacon is a statite space station positioned 0.1 AU directly “above” the Sun. Using its clear line of sight on each world and spacecraft, it synchronizes updates to the Aggregate. It is a highly strategic installation, and the crown jewel of the Union’s spaceborne networking efforts.

Teleterminal Kiosk

Teleterminals are free-access links to the Aggregate, found on every corner in the Greater Union. Originating from data entry systems at factories and farms, these kiosks permitted anyone in the Communist sphere to make use of remote computing services far before the rest of the world.

The Universal Datanet

The Datanet is the distributed and open information network of the rest of the capitalist and often democratic world. Designed to transmit data between scientists and automated systems, it rapidly expanded to fill numerous new roles. Millions, perhaps billions of unique devices host the resources that make up the Datanet.

Hundreds of protocols were designed to access various portions of the Datanet. The most notable is Redmond Inquiry, a user-facing system created by Redmond Cybernetics. Since its inception, Inquiry has often been used as an informational and contacting supplement for advertising material.

Due to its nature, the Datanet is quick to introduce new access protocols and technologies, but as a result is immensely convoluted and incredibly difficult to synchronize between worlds.

Dataframe Spacecraft

The Coalition uses dozens of large information-hauling spacecraft called dataframes to carry and synchronize copies of the entire Datanet. These run cyclically between the colonized worlds. While this method has incredibly slow communication speeds, it is cheap and accessible, capable of servicing high-bandwidth gigastreams.

Portable Teledex

Tele-indexers, commonly referred to as teledex, are miniaturized neuromorphs encased in small portable devices. Created in the USA, they eventually spread across the globe. These digital minds scour the myriad of protocols for gigastreams relevant to their user, eventually adapting to the system to their preferences.

Hikari Lightwave

The Lightwave network is a constellation of relay satellites in orbit around each world in the Solar System, ping-ponging data streams across the void. Access to the system is not cheap, but it is known to be the fastest solution built to date, created to service the Pact’s military communication streams.