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Deep University, The
Galactography > Other Major Polities, Empires, and Meta-Empires > Deeper Covenant
Culture and Society > Cultural Factors > Institutes
Culture and Society > Cultural Factors > Institutes
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| The Deep University forms a ring of connected habitats around the Brown Dwarf Gond | |
Founded in 4321 in a newly built habitat ring in orbit around the Gond brown dwarf, the Deep University has since then spread to have departments in four other systems. The Deep University is a part of the Deeper Covenant, and was originally created by anti-transapient intellectuals to provide a place of learning isolated from the transapient powers. Thus the original university was placed in an isolated system as far from the nearest wormhole gate as possible, while still connected with the rest of the universe via the beamrider network.
While the original founders were anti-transapient, they opened the university's doors to any sophont interested in joining, though transapients and Superiors (as defined by the founders) were prohibited from entering the university grounds. The university received an influx of intellectuals who looked forward to conduct research in a purely pre-su environment. Given the mental restrictions in relation to the higher intellects, the professors mostly concentrated on such areas as philosophy, art, and lower toposophy, though such professors as Harnst Merdingdoch and Vac12 delved into areas of physics that the higher intellects seemed to have neglected. In 8432 at. professor Barnabadatoch Him 3rd released what the gatekeeper Early Mind announced was the second best explanation of wormholes provided by a nearbaseline.
In 6721 the university opened the doors to a new department catering for Superiors. The department was isolated from the rest of the university, but allowed for free cooperation between the base sophont and su scientists. Through its first three and a half millennia all information between the universities intersystem departments, and the Known Net was relayed over the beamrider network. In 7721 the university accepted the gift of four nanoscale wormhole links from the self-claimed independent S4 Pat 4o4, to connect its departments to each other and the known net at lightspeed. In 9221 Pat 4o4 offered another wormhole to connect the newly established branch in Ceylonia with the rest of the university. The five S3s, Early Mind, Cybernetic Overload, Terry Hatchet, Neuromancer, and Glittering Bridge, which control the wormholes, mostly keep their thoughts to themselves, though if asked, they can usually be persuaded to offer their opinion on the various works that pass through their holes. Still, some of the more anti-transapient professors still use the beamrider network to avoid "transapient meddling".
Though most of the faculty acknowledges that in reality it is little safer from transapient meddling than any other institute, it does pride itself with the title "The Prime Independent Sophont University of the Core". As far as any commentator can determine, no professor in the institute is affiliated to any transapient or Sephirotic empire, and the staff takes great pride in that. Such diverse transapients as the Solarian Bright Dawn Bright, the Version Tree's Imaginary 8 Times 8 Squared and the independent Pat 4o4 have proclaimed themselves advocates and guardians of the university's autonomy.
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Development Notes
Text by Thorbørn Steen
Initially published on 12 July 2007.
Initially published on 12 July 2007.
