Glossary
Glossary items define how terms are used within stories and commentary. Glossary entries are updated to incorporate more information revealed within a story. All glossary items are available here. Browse glossary items in alphabetical order, by date published or sort them by the date they were updated.
Glossary in Alphabetical Order
N
- Neo-Pagan
Neo-paganism is a syncretic blend of practices, blending those originating from a time before the major monotheistic religions swept over the land with more modern interpretations.
(view full entry) - Networks
The networks that connect the habitats to the surface world and each other.
(view full entry) - Nguyen-Nguyen Principle
ed Nguyen and his son, Joseph of North American Habitat East, discovered two interleaving principles of quantum theory, which led to the practical application of moving through hyperspace.
(view full entry) - Non Governmental Agency
NGOs are voluntary groups or institutions with a social mission operating independently from a government.
(view full entry) - Nordic Model
The Nordic Model refers to a social welfare and economic system adopted approximately 90 years before the catastrophe by the countries making up the area of the continent of northwestern Europe. It combined capitalistic features such as a market economy and economic efficiency with social benefits and an eye towards a secure and healthy life for its citizens.
(view full entry) - Nuclear Arms Race
The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War.
(view full entry) - Nuclear War
A war that is mainly fought with the use of fissionable and radioactive materials.
(view full entry) - Nuclear Winter
“Nuclear winter” is a term coined by surface scientists about the possible effects a sizeable nuclear war could have on the planet. They predicted a miniature ice age that would envelope most of the world in freezing temperatures through the time it was active.
(view full entry) - Nudges
A nudge is an action that sets up small and seemingly insignificant events to move humanity along its chosen path; these events can be influenced by the choices made by individuals or large swathes of society as they relate to their collective lives.
(view full entry)
O
- Oath Breaker
An oath-breaker is one who has been formally judged to have violated the principles set forth in the Charter.
(view full entry) - Outer Wall
The curved wall separating the interior area from the elevators and airlifts, supporting the ceiling and providing the viewing surface for the videos that mimicked the day and night. These walls had large openings at the compass points with smaller doors along the circumference, allowing access to the travel corridor.
(view full entry)
- Pagans
A name for those whose spirituality embraces ancient and modern concepts of pantheism and polytheism.
(view full entry) - Pan Pagan Alliance
An umbrella organization for all the groups operating under a pantheistic/polytheistic belief system, organized by Alexandra Hanlon during the first Liaison Conference once she realized that every habitat had sent at least one person with poly or pantheistic beliefs and practices.
(view full entry) - Pantheistic/Polytheistic
Pantheism is the belief that a divine source and the universe are the same and that a divine source is represented in everything and everybody.
Polytheism refers to the worship of more than one deity.
(view full entry) - Personal Identification Record
Also known as a PIR or profile. A PIR holds personal data stored in systems that tracks a person from their arrival into the habitats, whether by recruitment or birth.
(view full entry) - Pharos Project
An event conceived of by the Foundation Board and executed by the NAHE Liaison Public Relations team (LPR) to happen in the days preceding the actual possibility of a nuclear exchange.
(view full entry) - Pipeline
The ground connection between all habitats, colloquially known as the round-robin network, allowed the habitats to move electronic data between them.
(view full entry) - Platform Tube
The Platform Tube, a distinctive circular platform elevator with a circumference of approximately forty-six meters (50 yards), commands the center of the habitat. It is a crucial conduit for transferring supplies and materials between different sections.
(view full entry) - Population
From the beginning, the Foundation Board implemented an unofficial restraint on the population by asking for voluntary compliance of replacement rather than growth while new residents were being recruited.
(view full entry) - Port
Common name for moving through hyperspace.
(view full entry)