Little bit of light housekeeping

So here I'm going to answer a question I got from a beta reader. Something it never occurred to me might be an issue. 

No one in this story carries an equivalent of a cellphone. The secretary, Mr. Jatadar, does have the 23rd-century iPad (which apparently Star Trek does too, called a PADD, but I'm not so familiar with the Next Gen and beyond stuff; I'm a TOS/TAS baby). But there are no communicators, etc. No one is carrying the whole internet with them. Which is both futuristic and retro.

When I started this story, I knew how the computers worked. The consoles, the limits of artificial intelligence on the system, the security setup, the whole smash. I started this project way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, back in the early 1990's, before the age of cellphones and before the internet took off. So I never baked that technology into my model. And adding it in would be weird and open up a whole new can of sardines, if you know what I mean. 

But consider that everything in this world changes after 1994. That's the turning point between this reality and that one. A whole paradigm shift took place where the priorities of people, governments, and corporations went in a different direction than we did. 

I started this series before 9-11 as well. The way my world works kind of went in the opposite direction, actually... the horrific attack took place not against the West, but against the Middle East. And it was catastrophic in every single sense of the word. Next week's chapters will give you a glimpse of what that entails and the literal fallout from the shortest, stupidest nuclear war that you ever did see.

WorldNet connects the world. No one needs to take it with them; it's wherever they go. Any wall, any terminal, can connect to anyone. All the information you need is at your fingertips. Much like our world, with one great big exception: privacy.

No one can look at your private information without your consent. There are rare exceptions, including employers, but even they have only limited access. No one gets to know your school grades, only whether you passed or not. No one gets to know your job history, your medical history, nothing, without your consent. This will be important later, but it's good to know now. After all, everyone is a citizen of the Federation. What more do you need to know about them?

So anyway, that's how it all works. 

Thanks for reading. See you next week. Here, have some illustrations.

The foyer to the Guildmaster's office. That's Mr. Jatadar's desk.
Don't bother taking a seat, you won't be in here long.

and this is an approximate view of Gynnix's quarters. There should be a lounge type chair in
front of the vent but I removed it to show how little room there is. Bathroom is behind the viewer.
Not much here, but she doesn't spend much time in there.

Sheru's room across the hall, on the other hand...
got to admire a girl who loves her fabrics...

This is from a scene that may or may not occur in the future. Ijon and Gynnix reacting to
something Mr. Jatadar has to say, and I'm guessing it's not good news. From 1990 (!)

Here's the cleaned up colorized version, thanks to Craiyon.

PIcture Picture time!

 I'm actually getting views over on RR so I'm going to start posting pictures over here, for those who come over here so they have shiny things to look at. Mostly cast images and background ideas. Until I can get working on the actual GN. 

Going to introduce some of the people who have already showed up in the neighborhood.

Here's a good one of Gynnix, done many years ago by an artist named Freya. Semi spoiler in the pics but oh well, you have to read to find out what it is. I've had a bit of a change though, her eyes are blue and her skin is darker, because her mother sure ain't white. 

Here's one I did, which, yeah. Sorry it's so light. 

Here's a redo recently, and what she more looks like to me, anime style:

Finally, here's some concept images of what the Institute, and the Smithsonian below it, look like now. 

Not completely happy with it, but it's okay for now.

You thought Washington DC was a swamp before, wait till climate change takes over!

another, static view. GenAI sucks but till I can afford to hire a good design
artist to actually do the pics from spec, it'll have to do.

Above the Smithsonian rises a huge tower; pillars surround the castle and the walls becomes opaque once you clear the top of the castle. It looks like a Bridal Veil mushroom. Which looks like this:

forget the thing on the top, though. It's just the veil part over the pillar. And get your mind out of the gutter, I know what it looks like ha ha

Anyway, welcome to the end of the 23rd century! No aliens, no interstellar travel, no superpowers, and no transporters. Just regular humans doing the same stuff, different decade. Enjoy your stay, citizen!

bonus pic: the original cover I drew in 1990 back when I was going to make this a
comic book in the first dang place. Now you see why I need an artist