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Miracle City
Galactography > Regions of Space > Middle Regions/Hinter-regions
Galactography > Systems and Worlds > Systems & Worlds M - N
Sophonts > Xenosophonts
Galactography > Systems and Worlds > Systems & Worlds M - N
Sophonts > Xenosophonts
Long-abandoned Ancient Alien City-World | |
 Image from Anders Sandberg | |
| Miracle City is one of the most famous marvels of the Serpens region, a planet encrusted with fractal buildings extending far into orbit. They are maintained using self-regulating xenotech, leaving the billions of inhabitants free to pursue their manifold goals. | |
Type MV5 red dwarf
RA 18.25 hrs
Dec 5.81 degrees
Distance from Sol 1730ly
Reached 8830 AT
This world was first reached by a Gerkeltoss ship in 8830, although there is evidence that an Interstellar Frontiers Group mission visited several thousand years earlier than this date. Due to a period of turmoil in the Serpens Region many records were lost.
Miracle City is an ancient planet/megastructure apparently built by a long-disappeared xenosophont species that may have transcended and vanished into artificially constructed universes of their own creation long ago. Due to the ability of the structures to completely regulate and revise themselves, the actual age remains unclear (estimates range from 50 million to two hundred million years), but it appears that the megastructure has been sequentially discovered and more or less continuously inhabited by several interstellar xenosophont civilisations, each of which has discovered and inhabited it and in turn transcended. However the City was deserted when Terragen explorers first arrived.
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| As seen from orbit, Miracle city resembles a fuzzy ball of constantly changing shapes and hues | |
Some of the ancient habitats on this world retain alien artifacts that were left here by long-vanished civilisations; most are inactive and enigmatic, but a very few still contain retrievable data which is the subject of intense study. Some such artifacts can be reactivated only by the presence of a member of the species for whom they were originally constructed. On occasion the Terragen scientists engaged in the study of these artifacts (and their transapient overseers) have managed to spoof these mechanisms and make contact with the databases within.
One habitat, deep within the fractal cloud, appeared to have been configured to support members of the Muuh race; when a team of historians belonging to that species was brought to Miracle City they were able to reactivate the devices in that location, but could not understand the language used. After many decades of study (but only a few subjective years to the Muuh) some of the data was deciphered, and the Muuh were able to study it. They report that the Muuh who lived here fifteen million years ago did not make their own way here, but were brought by some other entity; who this entity may have been, what its intentions were, cannot now be discerned.
Travel: The nearest stargate nexus point is at TYC 548-64-1, an STC GateNode located 78 lightyears away. From there a relativistic shuttleliner leaves every 6 months. Inflight time duration is 26 years. Full inflight facilities, including an excellent virchlibrary and delicious Skiilwsnnii cuisine, are provided.
 Image from Anders Sandberg | |
| Miracle City often changes colour and texture for unknown reasons. | |
Distances to various locations in the Serpens Reach;
To Skiiws'nnii 216 LY
To Vinculum 51 ly
To the Cooperative Venture 84 ly
To the Sparks (IC 4756) 211 LY
To Nearest Stargate TYC 443-1690-1 78 ly
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Development Notes
Text by Anders Sandberg
Additional material by Steve Bowers (2017)
Initially published on 19 August 2000.
Additional material by Steve Bowers (2017)
Initially published on 19 August 2000.
