TEXT: ®
  An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS
  ®
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  Stock #37-6708
  Version 1.0 – February 2010
  Written by JAMAIS CASCIO, PHIL MASTERS, KENNETH PETERS, 
  PATRICK SWEENEY, and JON F. ZEIGLER
  Edited by PHIL MASTERS
  Illustrated by MARCIO FIORITO
  2101, FIRST QUARTER
  TM
  TM
  
  Back in 2002-2003, the background for Steve Jackson
  Games’ Transhuman Space hard SF setting was expanded by
  a series of reports from that solar system’s leading news
  source, Teralogos News (Fifth Wave, p. 64), distributed
  through an e-mail mailing list. Since then, this rich collection
  of setting details, local color, and potential scenario seeds has
  only been available in the form of a little-known raw text file.
  So we’ve decided to do something about that. This is one of
  four free PDF files that collect those reports.
  The dates on each report are a bit of stylistic detail, related to
  the real-world dates on which the posts were originally distrib-
  uted. Don’t take them too seriously as setting canon; after all,
  Transhuman Space doesn’t have a fixed future or “metaplot.”
  The incidents described in these reports can occur whenever
  suits your own campaign.
  – Phil Masters
  ABOUT THE EDITOR
  Phil Masters is the author of Transhuman Space:
  Changing 
  Times,
  Transhuman 
  Space: 
  Shell-Tech,
  Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 1-5, and a chapter in
  Transhuman Space: High Frontier. He has also worked on
  countless other GURPS products, including GURPS Castle
  Falkenstein, The Discworld Roleplaying Game, and GURPS
  Y2K, and on products for other companies.
  INTRODUCTION
  2
   INTRODUCTION
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  Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
  GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
  begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
  About GURPS
  GURPS System Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON
  GURPS Line Editor ❚ SEAN PUNCH
  Transhuman Space Line Editor ❚ PHIL MASTERS
  e23 Manager ❚ STEVEN MARSH
  Page Design ❚ PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT
  Managing Editor ❚ PHILIP REED
  Asst. Managing Editor ❚ MONICA STEPHENS
  Art Director ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
  Production Artist ❚ NIKOLA VRTIS
  Editorial Assistance ❚ JASON LEVINE
  Prepress Checker ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
  Marketing Director ❚ PAUL CHAPMAN
  Director of Sales ❚ ROSS JEPSON
  GURPS FAQ Maintainer ❚ –––––––
  VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
  2101, FIRST QUARTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Search for the Oldest Living Human. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  A Monstrous Ego? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Too Much to Swallow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Esperante Executive Assassinated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Gaza Desalination Plant Goes Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Triplanetary Lines Offers Discount Mars Rates . . . . . . . . 4
  Traveler’s Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Record Attendance at UN General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Divad Blasts to the Finish in 
  Mars-Earth Plasma Sail Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Noted Philosopher Turns Isolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  InVid Review: The Tempest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  CONTENTS
  
  SEARCH FOR THE
  OLDEST LIVING HUMAN
  MUMBAI, India/Teralogos: January 8, 2101
  Producers of the popular CenturyQuest! interactive video
  show have announced a search for the oldest living human
  being. When located, this individual will be offered a multi-mil-
  lion-euro contract for exclusive interviews and the publication of
  a biography. CenturyQuest! producers invite men or women
  who can prove that they were born before January 1, 1960 and
  have never undergone cryonic suspension or nanostasis to con-
  tact them at oldest_human@centuryquest.marwari.co.in.
  CenturyQuest! has been published on a weekly basis since
  March 16, 2096 by Marwari Digital. It combines reporting on
  genetic upgrades and geriatric medicine with human-interest
  stories on the super-elderly. Current ratings indicate that it
  reaches approximately 50.6 million viewers per week.
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  A MONSTROUS EGO?
  TOKYO, Japan/Teralogos: January 21, 2101
  Reclusive director Kansuke O is said to be considering hav-
  ing a semi-sapient bioroid “monster” created to star in his next
  slinky. Yokose Studios recently signed O to direct the next
  release in its popular Kyoryura series of giant monster produc-
  tions. Previous installments in the series have been InVids that
  relied on digital effects or cybershells to create the monstrous
  star, but O now reportedly favors a fully live-action slinky pro-
  duction starring a living Kyoryura.
  “If Kyoryura lives, slinky technology will enable fans to
  actually experience the action as if they were the monster,”
  said Yokose spokesperson Akiko Tomizawa. “Kyoryura X is
  the true, ultimate, realization of Kansuke O’s vision.”
  Plans for a slinky version of Kyoryura have been in the off-
  ing for some time. According to Yokose insiders, O only reluc-
  tantly gave up his initial plans for a full-sized version of the
  100-meter-tall Kyoryura due to liability and practical concerns,
  agreeing to an elephant-sized monster instead.
  “Biotech Euphrates is the most likely contractor,” said
  Tomizawa. “Although we’re also talking with Avatar. It
  depends on where we end up shooting, since ideally we’ll want
  to grow it locally. We intend to record the monster’s scenes in
  an indoor set in either one of the Huygens City domes on Titan
  or a lava tube complex on Luna: Kyoryura is bipedal, and in 1/7
  Earth gravity he’ll be able to walk upright or jump without
  worrying about the pesky square-cube law.”
  – filed by Patrick Sweeney
  TOO MUCH TO SWALLOW?
  THE COMBS, Mare Frigoris Industrial Zone, 
  Luna/Teralogos: January 27, 2101
  “When I realized what had happened, I was giddy at first −
  then I got mad!”
  When lunar geology graduate student Beth Shang stumbled
  across what appeared to be alien artifacts in a previously unex-
  plored lava tube in Mare Frigoris, she was stunned. So were her
  classmates from the University of Melbourne, on Luna for a field
  research trip. Excited (and skeptical) messages were flying
  across the web even as the artifacts − a series of black, diamond-
  fiber pillars − were discovered. Equipment and personnel were
  rushed to the site from Luna City and even Earth. Unconfirmed
  reports had the Prime Minister of Australia being awakened to
  be told the news, and the JSDF/ADF Lunar Composite Force at
  Tranquility preparing to secure the site for the PRA.
  “I was there when Dr. Howard removed the last pillar, and
  we found the Don’t Eat That! sign under it,” continued Beth.
  “My first reaction was to laugh, and look for the cameras. Like
  pretty much everybody, I enjoy Don’t Eat That! on InVid when-
  ever I can catch it. I just never expected to be the butt of one of
  their pranks.”
  Don’t Eat That! is the enormously popular InVid hidden-
  camera prank and game show hosted by former KT Event lead
  singer Min Volume. In a typical episode, hidden InVid cameras
  record a series of increasingly outlandish pranks played on an
  unsuspecting victim. When the victim realizes what’s going on,
  he or she can play games − typically involving messy sub-
  stances − for cash prizes.
  2101, FIRST
  QUARTER
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  3
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  3
  GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Transhuman Space, Teralogos News, “2101, First Quarter,”
  Pyramid, e23, and the names of all  products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, 
  or used under license. Transhuman Space: Teralogos News – 2101, First Quarter is copyright © 2010 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. 
  Some art © 2010 JupiterImages Corporation. All rights reserved.
  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this material via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, 
  and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage 
  the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
  
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  4
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  4
  The Don’t Eat That! episode for January 26 was different,
  however, in that the producers spent upwards of $8 million to
  artfully conceal plausibly alien items in a fairly inaccessible
  part of Luna. One of the producers has a relative in the U.
  Melbourne graduate program, and learned of the upcoming
  expedition. Inspiration struck, and the Don’t Eat That! team
  scrambled to set up the prank in time. 
  “We honestly never realized it would go that far,” claimed
  Don’t Eat That! producer Saito Aki. “We’d never done some-
  thing on that scale, we didn’t know it would spiral out of con-
  trol like that.” 
  Don’t Eat That! has been hit with a $50 million bill from the
  University of Melbourne, which is trying to cover the costs of
  their rapid deployment to the site. The producers are still in
  discussions with their lawyers as to whether to comply with
  this demand. Other damages, however, will be harder to repair. 
  “For a brief moment, I thought the universe was suddenly
  much more exciting than we had believed, and that we’d finally
  discover some sign of alien life in the cosmos,” said Beth
  Shang. “Now, I’m just kind of sad that the height of human civ-
  ilization is a stupid game show.” 
  – filed by Jamais Cascio
  ESPERANTE
  EXECUTIVE ASSASSINATED
  LAGOS, Nigeria/Teralogos: February 3, 2101
  Acting on an anonymous tip, police found the body of cor-
  porate executive Henrik Muller in a back alley this morning.
  Muller was discovered bound with cufftape but otherwise
  unmarked. The cause of death was determined to be massive
  nervous damage due to “scrambler” nano. “His cerebral cortex
  had been reduced to a featureless jelly,” said Dr. William
  Gemade, medical examiner for the Lagos municipal police. “If
  he had any plans to become a ghost, I’d say they were deci-
  sively ruined. The worst part was that he was probably con-
  scious when the process began.”
  Muller, who was reported missing on December 26, was a
  senior executive with Esperante Enterprises, a Lagos-based
  corporation specializing in development projects in poor Third
  Wave nations. Esperante Enterprises has long come under
  harsh criticism from human rights advocates for its alleged
  cooperation with corrupt local regimes and exploitation of
  local workers. While Esperante is a major employer in many
  developing nations, it mainly employs unskilled VT workers,
  who follow rote instruction from their virtual interfaces, which
  are not owned by the workers but rented to them.
  Lagos police reported that they had received an anonymous
  email, routed through Free Net, from an individual claiming to
  be Muller’s killer. The email denounced Esperante Enterprises,
  and promised further direct action “on behalf of the victims of
  global capitalism.” At present, authorities are treating the
  death as a politically-motivated murder.
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  GAZA DESALINATION
  PLANT GOES ONLINE
  GAZA, Palestine/Teralogos: February 10, 2101
  Palestinian President Muhammad Al-Hamedi was present
  for the dedication of the Gaza Desalination Station, calling it
  “a major step toward the true independence of the Palestinian
  people.” 
  Built largely with funds from the Islamic Caliphate and
  Israel, the fusion-powered plant has been plagued by accidents
  and delays. All of that was forgotten during today’s celebra-
  tions, as the plant operated smoothly on its first day online. By
  the end of the day, engineers reported that 52 million liters of
  Mediterranean seawater had been purified and pumped into
  the Gaza distribution system. 
  The new plant is expected to end freshwater shortages in
  the Palestinian Enclaves, especially once a trans-Israel fresh-
  water pipeline is completed later this year. Israeli officials
  expressed cautious optimism that the new pipeline would
  reduce cross-border tensions. “Water rights have always been
  a point of contention between Israel and its Palestinian neigh-
  bors,” said Israeli Prime Minister David Gould, a guest at
  today’s ceremony. “The progress of civilization is about ending
  such conflicts by replacing scarcity with plenty.” 
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  TRIPLANETARY LINES
  OFFERS DISCOUNT
  MARS RATES
  ISLANDIA, L4/Teralogos: February 18, 2101
  In an expansion of their successful TransMars program,
  Triplanetary Lines is reassigning two of their newest Meizi-
  class passenger space vessels − Zubatka and Golden Swan − to
  the Earth-Mars passenger route. The two vessels have been
  recently refitted with additional passenger accommodations
  and are expected to reenter service on March 10, 2101. The
  additions to the Earth-Mars route underlines a new strategy
  for the company, which had previously concentrated on high-
  margin cargo transports.
  “Since the Mars space elevator became operational,
  Triplanetary Lines has seen steady growth in the Earth-Mars
  passenger business. This has far outstripped our expectations,
  and we are working to give it more attention,” said Juan
  Cabrillo, Triplanetary Lines President and CEO. “The move of
  these two vessels to the TransMars route will further reduce
  our already-low prices and further cement our growing lead in
  this important market. We expect the current one-way econ-
  omy ticket price from Earth HEO to Mars LEO to drop 7-10%
  by the end of this year.”
  For a brief moment, 
  I thought the universe was
  suddenly much more exciting
  than we had believed . . .
  
  Triplanetary has been aggressive in breaking the near-
  monopoly enjoyed by rival Mars Interplanetary, establishing
  generous long-term shipping contract with brokers and
  expanding their network of freehauler affiliates for charter
  transport to the Main Belt and the rest of the Deep Beyond.
  Their liberal management policies regarding bioroid and AI
  rights have landed them several high-profile government con-
  tracts with the EU and they enjoy considerable clout with the
  independent Farhauler’s Guild − although at the expense of
  profits compared to the more aggressive cost-cutting actions of
  Mars Interplanetary.
  “Our expansion of Earth-Mars passenger service is an excit-
  ing opportunity for those planning to make an interplanetary
  trip,” Cabrillo stated. “Triplanetary Lines’ commitment to
  value and integrity has never diminished and our customers
  and partners can continue to rely on us as we move into the
  22nd century. As new vessels are added to our growing fleet we
  will further diversify our offerings and increase our presence
  both on Mars and the outer solar system.”
  – filed by Kenneth Peters
  TRAVELER’S TALE
  COLUMBIA STATION, 
  Earth Orbit/Teralogos: February 25, 2101
  They gave Sven Egilsson the Fergus Memorial Award for
  travel writing last week. Normally, the ceremony is held in
  November, but they had to wait this time; Egilsson insisted on
  collecting it in person, and that meant that he had to come
  half-way across the system to Columbia Station. It may seem
  good of them to delay things just for him, but given what he
  won it for, it was fitting. And when I asked to interview him, he
  insisted on meeting me in person, too, and I couldn’t argue.
  That is why I’m sitting in a Columbia Station bar, drink-
  ing locally brewed beer, when everyone starts staring at the
  doorway. After all, you don’t see many non-humanoid cyber-
  shells in bars, and Egilsson’s custom ’shell is an arachno-
  phobe’s nightmare, with limbs which switch between use as
  legs, arms, or sensor masts seemingly at random, and a heavy
  casing that looks like it’s been sandblasted and then tinted
  with unearthly acids. Which, in fact, it has − on Mars and
  Venus, among other places.
  He scuttles across the room to me, asks what I’m drinking,
  then pauses before announcing that he’s downloaded the fla-
  vor model from the Web, and yes, it tastes good to him. For a
  radical transhumanist personality upload − a ghost − Egilsson
  seems awfully attached to the experiences of flesh. 
  Which is somewhat the point here. Egilsson is a traveler
  who believes in doing things the old-fashioned way. When he
  wants to visit another planet, he doesn’t just have himself
  beamed there, or even sit in orbit and teleoperate a tourist
  cybershell; he goes down in person, in the same cybershell
  every time. (Which is why it has to be a custom model. In fact,
  it’s probably the toughest, most versatile cybershell you’ll meet
  outside the U.S. Army.) And he doesn’t power down while he’s
  in transit, either; he travels by fastliner, and mingles with the
  other passengers all the way. 
  You may gather that Egilsson is quite rich. Believe me, travel
  writing doesn’t pay well enough to support all that. So I ask him
  why he bothers, when he could just as easily sit at home on a
  very secure mainframe with a virtual harem, and download all
  the slinky records of other places that he might ever want. 
  At which, a small screen pops out of the cybershell and displays
  the face that belonged on his old body, which smiles. 
  “I’m interested in making the most of reality,” he says, “not
  in escaping from it.” 
  >>This is a free sample from our popular magazine channels.
  For the full interview, in InVid or slinky format, please subscribe
  to Teralogos-People.<<
  – filed by Phil Masters
  RECORD ATTENDANCE AT
  UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
  GENEVA, Switzerland/Teralogos: March 5, 2101
  Attendance of member nations at the United Nations
  General Assembly in Geneva has reached 42% this week, as
  nations send delegates to attend the ongoing U.N. Conference
  on International Aid. The last time attendance in the General
  Assembly rose above 40% of member nations was in 2084,
  when members of the Transpacific Socialist Alliance called for
  an emergency session to discuss the Pacific War. Since the UN
  began publishing attendance statistics in 2063, the average
  proportion of member states attending General Assembly ses-
  sions has been about 32%.
  “I’m quite encouraged,” said U.N. Secretary-General Rajiv
  Pandya in a public statement. “That so many member states
  have chosen to attend a non-emergency session demonstrates
  that the United Nations Organization is far from irrelevant in
  today’s world. Humanity needs a place in which to discuss
  and resolve ongoing problems, and we provide the best forum
  available.”
  Notable delegations attending this week’s session include
  those of the United States (last attending in 2076) and the
  People’s Republic of China (last attending in 2085). 
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  DIVAD BLASTS TO THE
  FINISH IN MARS-EARTH
  PLASMA SAIL RACE
  ISLANDIA/Teralogos: March 12, 2101
  Julia Divad won the 4th Annual Solar Cup on Wednesday,
  narrowly beating last year’s winner, Kei Noguchi, with a record
  time of three months, five days, and six minutes. Her racer,
  Raptor of Dawn, is the first to have been designed and assem-
  bled in the Islandia Lagrange 4 colony.
  “I really think I owe the win to my friends and family who
  kept me motivated over the trip,” said Divad. “I’ve raced by
  inhabiting cybershells, but the Solar Cup is significantly harder.
  They make an effort to keep the pilots as close to a baseline
  human as possible − three months in a stinky meat shell without
  any pain overrides makes me appreciate my other bodies a lot
  more. I’m just glad I lucked out towards the end, it was a tight
  race all the way back from the Mars gravity slingshot.”
  Divad had been in second place until an electrical fire in
  Noguchi’s crew compartment forced him and his racer Eye of
  Ra to drop out. The accident was one of several that have given
  the Solar Cup a reputation for dangerously lax safety regula-
  tions and restrictive race rules that prevent automation of
  piloting and repairs.
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  5
  
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  6
  “We’re all very disappointed by the accident but we’ll be
  back next year to get the Cup,” Team Noguchi chief engineer
  Byron McMahon told reporters, speaking from the team’s base
  at Bifrost Station, Earth orbit.
  In third place was Sun Yue’s Feng Huang, one of five Mars-
  built vessels in this year’s race.
  – filed by Kenneth Peters
  NOTED PHILOSOPHER
  TURNS ISOLATE
  LOS ANGELES, United States/Teralogos: March 19, 2101
  Citing increasing discontent with modern civilization,
  renowned bioethicist and philosopher Thomas Takahashi
  announced today that he would be retreating to an Isolate
  community in Qinghai province, People’s Republic of China.
  “By embracing biotechnology, human genetic engineering,
  and cybernetic uploading, we have destroyed our own human-
  ity,” said Takahashi. “I find I can no longer tolerate the
  memetic dissonance that is a constant feature of Fifth Wave
  existence. It’s long past time for me to withdraw and seek to
  regain contact with my own human nature.” Takahashi did not
  give a date for his move, but claimed that it would be “a mat-
  ter of days.”
  Takahashi will be joining the Gyaye Commune, an Isolate
  community not far from Lake Kokonor in Qinghai province.
  Gyaye Commune was established in 2093 by European
  Preservationists, who chose the site due to its extremely
  remote location. The community was built with the approval
  of Chinese officials, who welcomed Europeans’ investment in
  the local web infrastructure.
  A full professor of bioethics at UCLA, Takahashi has long
  been a passionate advocate for Preservationist ideas and a
  critic of modern culture. His first book, After Man, was a run-
  away bestseller in 2083, earning him a global audience. He is a
  close friend and confidante of U.S. President Roberto
  Marquez. He will be giving up his current position at UCLA in
  order to move to Gyaye Commune, although he announced
  plans to serve as an occasional guest lecturer via telepresence.
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  INVID REVIEW: 
  THE TEMPEST
  Starring Kao Tsu, Jen Shan-Ta, Katrina Brandt, and
  Kevin Lo; directed by Gupta Patel. Published by Calcutta
  Interactive.
  Over the last few years, Shakespeare’s final complete play
  has suffered the most tragic fate which can overtake a classic
  text; it has become relevant. I swear, if I see one more InVid
  staging which transmutes Prospero’s island into an L-5 station,
  with Ariel as an infomorph and Caliban as an experimental
  bioroid, I’ll claw out my implant. The one substantial excep-
  tion, I suppose, was Ivana Gore’s treatment; her “Globe
  Reborn” sequence got around to The Tempest a couple of years
  ago, just before it finished, as Gore obeyed her rule of strict
  chronology. However, that was a slinky presentation. I’m told
  by those who’ve chosen to investigate the medium that it was
  a technical masterpiece; apparently, you could tell that the
  experiencer was a sailor down among the groundlings, freshly
  returned from months at sea, enjoying everything he’d missed
  and eyeing up the women between acts. But absolutely noth-
  ing will convince me that Gore’s quixotic project was anything
  more than a sterile exercise in “educational” reconstruction.
  The play deserves better than to be treated as an excuse for
  gimmickry of any kind.
  Given that, you may be surprised to learn that I found
  Gupta Patel’s new production surprisingly effective. It is mod-
  ern dress, but I’m happy to say that Patel has found a new
  angle. To begin with, he’s located it back on an island, appar-
  ently somewhere in the Indonesian archipelago, which, thank
  god, means that the opening storm sequence makes some kind
  of sense without massive rewriting. (We may even imagine that
  this modern Prospero has access to weather mod technology,
  but the idea isn’t forced on us.) And when the storm abates, we
  see the most daring touch, as Prospero struts across his pocket
  kingdom in the uniform of a TSA military officer.
  The idea of the old wizard as a Nanosocialist may not be
  entirely new, but previously he’s been depicted as, at most, a
  Fifth Wave idealist, and an attractive spokesman. This
  Prospero, however, looks suspiciously like a Thai war criminal,
  hiding out from Chinese assassins as much as from the glib,
  shallow memeticists and politicians who’ve exiled him and
  classed him as “presumed dead.” Kao Tsu catches the part
  superbly, with something of that horrible mixture of pride and
  detachment we saw in the patchy post-Pacific War show trials.
  It makes the ending of the play, normally so problematic to
  modern audiences (or at least to transhumanists), as much a
  confession of guilt as a renunciation of power. And we are
  pleased by this; we may no longer believe in the dangers of
  magic, but we believe in “Crimes Against Humanity.”
  The problem that this reading of the play does impose is
  Prospero’s minions, who don’t seem to be spirits or monsters (or
  AIs, or bioroids), but all too human lieutenants who must have
  accompanied Prospero in his flight from defeat in the Pacific
  War. Ariel, played with fine control by Jen Shan-Ta, is a dapper
  staff officer-batman, responsible for the old man’s computer sys-
  tems and also for the state of his uniform. (In one ostentatiously
  restrained sequence, the InVid narrows down to a single word-
  less three minute sequence where the only available viewpoint is
  from Ariel’s eyes as he polishes Prospero’s boots to a mirror
  sheen, his own face slowly becoming visible in the jet black sur-
  face. This Ariel may not literally be the wizard’s creation, but he
  exists to serve, and his identity is just a reflection.) Caliban
  (Kevin Lo) is a bodyguard and a thug, and probably a torturer,
  now grown bored with his position in the absence of anyone to
  hurt. All of which is fine in itself, but makes much of
  Shakespeare’s dialogue about the history of the relationship −
  preserved intact in this production − weirdly incongruous. 
  Am I prepared to
  forgive Patel the modern
  dress and the “relevance”?
  
  Even as metaphors, calling Ariel and Caliban the former ser-
  vant and the child of the witch Sycorax just doesn’t make sense
  if they are soldiers from his old unit.
  The production in general is naturalistic rather than realis-
  tic. There is no way that Katrina Brandt, who gives a neurotic,
  fastidious performance as Miranda, could be Kao’s daughter,
  whatever her mother’s origins and whatever genemods her
  parents might have chosen. Patel completely eschews manipu-
  lating the visual images of his actors, enabling the fine detail of
  their performances to shine through. The cast’s professional
  backgrounds are diverse, although most of them come from
  the East Asian theatrical world, but they’re all very good
  (except for Paul Marcos, who sleepwalks through the part of
  Ferdinand; he seems less transported by love, or concerned
  with the possibility that his future father-in-law may be
  inclined to xoxing and nanoplague warfare, than bored to be
  away from a reliable Web link for 10 minutes). Many of the
  viewpoints move close in to the cast’s faces at key moments,
  and I found myself locking onto these, enthralled by the under-
  stated but emotive performances. The sets and locations are
  handsome without distracting from the play, and again are
  mostly real. Even the background music, compiled by the
  Artistic SAI “Vivex” from historical sources, displays restraint
  and fine judgment.
  So, am I prepared to forgive Patel the modern dress and the
  “relevance”? Well, maybe, almost. His heart’s in the right place.
  It’s typical that the only synthespians in the cast are the ship’s
  crew, glimpsed briefly at the start and end of the production; the
  “illusory” actors in the magical masque are all real (although
  they include several exotic bioroids). This might seem perverse,
  but I think that it shows that Patel is not obsessed with spurious
  relevance, but cares about the play’s origins, while remembering
  that it is actually timeless. On the other hand, he seems so con-
  cerned with his big idea about Prospero that he forgets about
  most of the rest of the cast. Antonio and the rest of Prospero’s
  old foes are left as ciphers. Are they, we wonder, Chinese agents,
  collaborators, nationalist moderates, or what? There is no clear
  answer. But the fact that the question feels so appropriate is a
  sign of the production’s quality.
  – filed by Phil Masters
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2101, FIRST QUARTER
  7
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
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