Codex

While in-run or in the hangar, the **Codex** can be read for information regarding several aspects of the *Everspace* universe that will likely not be brought up in-game. It also contains the flashback videos with short summaries. New entries are found as the player progresses through the game and are unlocked permanently when discovered. There are 51 entries in the codex across 6 categories. The header/title of each entry is a link to a relevant page.

## Factions

The Fleet's primary purpose in Cluster 34 is protection of mining interests, which are managed by private corporations, against Outlaw raiders. A heavy military presence maintains the peace in the outer limits of Colonial territories and is administered from the vast Colonial Fleet HQ. In accordance with the peace-treaty with the Okkar, the Fleet is not permitted access to the demilitarized zone except for special situations, such as rescue or humanitarian relief missions.

A long life-span (up to 250 Sol years) and stable social conditions have allowed for significant development of technologies and culture on a par to human advancement. In the course of Colonial expansion, the Okkar are the first encountered alien race to be equally matched in strength and sophistication.

Outlawism is primarily a human trait stretching far into its ancient history, where they were known as bandits, marauders, and racketeers, among a large variety of other terms. Non-conformist in nature and anarchic in organization, they traditionally pursue self-opportunistic purposes, such as self-enrichment, although some choose this mode of lifestyle for the thrill of adventure alone.
The demilitarized zone of Cluster 34 has become a magnet for those falling foul of the Colonial authorities since its establishment following the peace treaty with the Okkar, and has drawn large numbers of Fleet deserters, escaped criminals, and other desperadoes. Each clan or cartel possesses its unique code of conduct, and members are not unknown to switch allegiances when it is advantageous. Outlaws have been inventive in creating hideaways in unlikely crevices of unobserved space, such as hollowed out asteroids and abandoned military bases. They make use of whatever plundered technology they can get their hands on, and are prone to utilizing traps, stockpiles, heavy ballistic weaponry and similar hit and run tactics.

Formed in mid-19th Century Earth by Oswald Grady during a gold resource rush in an area then known as California, an early partnership with another prospector by the name of William Brunt established a two-family enterprise which operated on a small local scale until the mid-21st century. In 2046 the company was inherited by a direct-descendant Zeppo Grady, considered a visionary, who quickly expanded the business outwards with the invention of asteroid-hunting drones to bring resource-rich rocks into Earth's low orbit for dismantling. The concern has continued to grow exponentially since that time. interrupted only by periodic wars and the destruction of its home state. Grady & Brunt was the first Earth-based concern to attain the title "Inter-Stellar Corporation".
Today, Grady & Brunt employs about 21 million workers in every end of Colonial claim and is vital to the continued restructuring and terraforming of the Colonial home system. Other mining operations offer some local, although trivial in reach, competition. These include Antares Deep Space Resources, Pluto Rare Metals, Astro Mining Group, and First Space Ventures Limited. Grady & Brunt, however, hold the sole contract for the Demilitarized Zone of Cluster 34, an arrangement tolerated by, although not protected by, the Okkar administration of the area. The concern utilizes private security to protect their interests in this case.

## Characters

Roslin was honorably discharged from the Fleet during post-war mass demobbing, although is rumored to have remained in Cluster 34 without solid assignment. Following several years of absence from public record, he is currently presumed missing or dead.

Nobu remained in the Demilitarized Zone where he was profited from illegal trade with outlaw elements and transport of contraband. He is currently sought by authorities in relation to missing Fleet property and suspicion of involvement in a number of attacks on goods convoys. He has been difficult to trace and is believed to be protected by mercenary squads.

As part of AETERNA, the HIVE has full access to the entire compendium of the Colonial knowledge database, however will only share what is permitted by rank or clearance of its user. The wider system is overseen by human controllers with a "singularity switch" for shut-down in the case of dangerous conclusions drawn from its computing power.

Gorc enlisted with the Fleet to broaden his horizons and open the possibility for some new learning, although rumor that some of his family were still alive may have been a motivating factor for his decision. He rose quickly through the ranks and became admiral by the age of 43, a record for the Fleet. He is credited as being a peace-maker, although noted for his hot-headedness in high-stress situations. This behavior may have led to his biggest blunders during the war with the Okkar, when his divisions suffered the heaviest losses on the field of battle. Having lost face, he argued with the Fleet Council repeatedly to eradicate the Okkar threat by any means necessary, but was broadly out-voted. Despite the Council recommending his reassignment to a separate cluster, he remains in Cluster 34 close to the area of his greatest defeats, ostensibly to continue research into artifacts of the Ancients civilization in the area.

## Places

Okkar society is organized in a strict hierarchical structure in which roles, whether servant, warrior or cleric, are established by birth. The exact origin of the species are still unknown and there is growing debate as to whether the Okkar might be derived from a superior species beyond their domain. Seemingly incongruous writing and belief structures support this hypothesis.
The Okkar homeworlds are powered and sustained by a mysterious energy source referred to as Viridian energy. While some experiments have been conducted on this energy source, no Colonial research has been able to stabilize it to date. Further research into the field of study, however, has been prohibited by a stipulation in the peace treaty which was insisted upon by the Okkar.

## Misc

ISC's are vast and complex in their structure and employ many millions of personnel spread throughout any part of the galaxy where civilization is present. The ratio of robotic assistants to organic personnel is usually about 20 to 1. Some Colonial corporations employ clones for service, although this practice is frowned upon and often only licensed for frontier operations where a shortage of staff may occur. Corporate employees are highly devoted to their company, usually remain for the duration of their lives, and pass their job skills on to their children to continue their duties upon retirement. All employees needs are met by their company, including housing, healthcare, food, and entertainment. Mingling socially with employees of other companies or vacationing in another corporation's resort is highly taboo for a corporate employee and may result in termination.
A vast number of planets, moons, re-purposed asteroids and space stations are now only owned by a single corporation. Worries have been voiced over the evolving cultures of these societies, although authorities are generally averse to imposing any form of action on such monopolies. ISC's hold much power and can influence government policy to a great degree. ISC directors and top executives are a particular class which live on exclusive pleasure-resorts and are primarily concerned with their own immortality. Most of the practical business is conducted by middle-management, with top executives and shareholders only giving approval for high-level decisions.
There have been several incidents where a clash of interests or uncontrolled competition between ISC's has led to open warfare, and there continue to be instances of historical rivalries reaching violent confrontation. In such cases, the relevant authorities intervene.

Using nano-technology, natural resources can be processed, combined, or crafted to fulfill a multitude of uses, including weapon and ship enhancement, engine upgrades, or hull repairs, thus making it essential to the solo pilot traversing the galaxy to have a constant supply.

## Flashbacks

The Codex has the video and a short summary for each, but also included here are the dialogue transcripts in the flashback itself.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"Something's not right with me. I'm having memory loops.
There was a dispute...
I was standing in the way of their plans...
I was restrained…
...shot with something…
Who... is this?
I managed to escape... that's all I can remember.
I must find some answers..."
**Codex Summary:**
I had a dream that I was involved in some kind of dispute with two men. Important men, by the looks of their uniforms. The faces were familiar, but the when and where are lost to me. I was standing in the way of their plans, and they subdued me with some kind of injection. I later managed to escape, but that's all I can remember. What does it all mean?"

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"Strange... fragments of memories... Trying to make sense of them.
I had managed to escape...
I was weak and ill.
My cells were deteriorating...
...a deadly poison...
...a cytotoxin...
...slow, relentless, eating me away.
There was a way to halt its progress, but it would take time. All I could do was set the wheels in motion...
...and await the outcome in stasis...
A long, uncertain, sleep."
**Codex Summary:**
I had escaped, but was growing sicker with each moment. I had been poisoned with a cytotoxin which was slowly killing me. Finding my way to a lab, I began a procedure for some kind of cure. Knowing it would take time, I put myself in cryosleep. Another piece of the puzzle, but no clear picture yet.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"My memories are not my own.... they are copies. They originate from someone else.
It was at the Fleet Academy.
His name was Adam. Adam Roslin. Quiet, reserved, awkward around the others.
He had a friend, Seth.
They shared a dorm.
Basic training was tough.
Seth looked out for Adam. He stood up for him.
The brains and the brawn... they became close, like a team.
And then the orders came.
Deployment for war... against the Okkar."
**Codex Summary:**
I now realize that these dreams I am experiencing are not from my own memories, but those of Adam Roslin, the original from which I am cloned. I have seen deeper into his past. He was a cadet at the Fleet Academy. He didn't fit in with the other recruits. He was an awkward sort, but he made a good friend, Seth Nobu, who stuck up for him. They were dispatched to the front at the start of the Okkar War. Seth was one of the men who would later poison him, so I wonder how things came to that.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"They arrived at Cluster 34...
... into a cauldron of hell-fire. A war of unprecedented intensity.
Seth Nobu was an ace fighter, earning his badges quickly in combat.
Adam Roslin was on the same carrier, cloning new troops for the front.
The war was mutually devastating…
...but mercifully short.
With an armistice, the fleet had to withdraw. But some wanted to stay behind... for the spoils, new opportunities.
Seth Nobu was among this group.
Adam Roslin went with the fleet. Complying with the peace conditions, his cloning program was dissolved.
**Codex Summary:**
Seth Nobu and Adam Roslin had arrived in the midst of one of the most intense battles of Fleet history. Nobu quickly distinguished himself as a combat pilot, Roslin was a scientist in the clong lab based on the same carrier. When the armistice came, the pair parted ways. Nobu chose to stay on the new frontier and Roslin went with the retreating fleet. It seems, however, he lost his position shortly after as the cloning program was discontinued.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"Reconstructing Cluster 34 would be an enormous task...
Logistics for this new frontier were key.
Seth Nobu had worked hard to build his business. He had the prestige, the contacts, and he greased every palm along his path.
He was soon the biggest weapons supplier around, artfully circumventing the treaties.
He had a simple reason for seeking out Adam Roslin again. Demand for illegal human clones.
Adam needed some convincing. He had doubts.
But in the end the friendship held...
...and a deal was struck."
**Codex Summary:**
Seth Nobu became quite a success on the new frontier, mostly through illegal trade. He sought out Roslin again with a proposition to start a new cloning program. Rosling was hesitant at first, as cloning was outlawed by the treaty, but Nobu eventually won him around. The history of these two men is becoming clearer.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"It was only a matter of time before their illegal cloning venture was uncovered.
The Colonial authorities apprehended them during a raid.
They were resigned to see out their days on a penal base.
But there was one in the High Command with different plans for them.
Colonial Fleet Admiral Crin Gorc.
He offered amnesty in return for their cooperation on a covert project.
He needed Seth's facilities and Adam's expertise for decrypting the Okkar genome. And he wanted it done in secret.
The offer was preferable to a prison moon."
**Codex Summary:**
Nobu and Roslin's cloning operations were discovered by the fleet authorities and the two were taken into custody. There they were met by an admiral of the fleet, Crin Gorc, who offered them amnesty in exchange for their skills and equipment. The task he demanded of them, decoding the Okkar genome, was to be conducted in secret ad Nobu's lab. It seems they really had no other choice but to comply.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"Adam Roslin succeeded in decrypting the Okkar genome.
The Admiral was satisfied with the work they had done. Now he could progress to the next stage of his plans.
Using the decrypted genome, he wanted to create a brigade of Okkar clones...
...to incite fresh conflict between the races.
With a new war, he could finally defeat the Okkar and establish Colonial supremacy in the cluster.
The Admiral offered them a part in his scheme, with all its privileges for their ongoing cooperation.
Seth Nobu accepted the offer.
Adam Roslin would not stand for reviving a war.
He refused to take any part in it.
But the Admiral had more crude methods of persuasion, injecting Roslin with a controlled cytotoxin.
Roslin was given no choice but to comply. Nobu made no objection, his interests were clear."
**Codex Summary:**
Roslin completed the job of decoding the Okkar genome, but Admiral Gorc wasn't quite finished with him. He still needed Roslin's expertise and Nobu's facilities to bring his plans to fruition. He wanted to create a brigade of Okkar clones, one he could use to instigate a new confluct in the Cluster. Roslin strongly objected to this, not wanting to see another war, but the admiral was intent on finishing the job at any cost. Nobu seemed almost too keen to go along with the admiral's plans. There was a dispute between the three, and in the end the admiral found other means to coerce Roslin - an injection of deadly cytotoxin for which only he held the antidote. Now things are starting to make sense.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"Betrayed by Seth Nobu...
Adam Roslin worked under guard in his captor's laboratory. The cytotoxin was killing him slowly.
The Admiral held the antidote. Roslin's only options were work or die.
But he devised his own solution to the problem…
Copying all incriminating data and destroying the research, he made his move...
He needed to find a cure...
So he fled to somewhere he had worked before…
...a secret lab in the demilitarized zone."
**Codex Summary:**
Roslin had been betrayed by Nobu. He laboured to complete his task while the cytotoxin slowly ate him away. His last desperate recourse was a forceful escape, killing two of the admiral's guards and taking a store of data in the process. He took a fighter and fled to a secret lab in the demilitarized zone, a place he had worked during the war, in order to find a cure.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"After a painful voyage...
...Adam Roslin finally reached the secret lab.
His DNA code was recognized by the defense system.
To his shock the entire facility had been made unusable.
Time was running out.
But there were other cloning facilities...
...carriers, abandoned bases...
...scattered throughout the demilitarized zone.
Too far to reach.
Remotely, he brought one of them back online, initiating an exploit protocol.
If the plan worked it would bring him a body replacement. In his fever, he made mistakes, but the wheels were set in motion.
In the meantime, the cryo chamber would halt the cytotoxin's progress.
A long, uncertain, sleep."
**Codex Summary:**
When Roslin arrived at the secret lab, he found it unsuable, most of the equipment having been destroyed when decommissioned. Time was running out, so he hacked into other cloning labs on other abandoned bases and carriers throughout the Zone. He brought them back online and uploaded his DNA sequence, but it seems he did not follow the correct procedure - in his fever, he made mistakes. Having restarted the automated remote cloning, he placed himself in cryosleep until a clone could come to his aid.

**Dialogue Transcript:**
"Something has changed.
These are... my memories...
I made it inside the hangar...
There was Nobu, lying injured by the defense system. He was still alive, barely.
I had so many questions, but didn't know where to start.
He fixed me with his gaze, then he laughed, mocked me. He seemed crazed, rabid with pain.
In that moment, I didn't know whether to hate him or feel compassion for him.
I had to make a decision.
In the end, I realized that to start the next chapter of my story,
...his story had to end.
With Nobu dead, my DNA was validated by the system.
I was led to the lab.
There he was, Adam Roslin, my original, waking from stasis.
We looked at each other for a long time. It was a moment of reckoning.
Then we talked, perhaps for hours.
Roslin was filled with remorse, heavy with regret. He seemed to realize that I was not just a dull clone.
He admitted his plan was ill-constructed. What was expected was a body replacement, what arrived was a person, a thinking, feeling being.
Me.
Roslin had reached the end of the line and my lifespan was limited, too. The clone sequencing he initiated had left me flawed.
There was a chance for me to carry on, but not Roslin. So he instructed me in what to do. With the missing DNA fragments, I could use the lab's transfiguration pod and make myself complete.
He showed me how to localize the fragments on the star map.
Out of stasis, it didn't take much longer for the cytotoxin to finally do it's work and kill Roslin.
I had much to do. There were new possibilities, although time was limited in my current iteration. I needed a fresh body, and there was only one way to get it."
**Codex Summary:**
I made it to the secret lab. Seth Nobu was lying at the entrance, badly wounded, having failed to gain access. After all he had done, and to take the next stage of my journey, I ended his crazed existence. Once inside, Adam Roslin came out of stasis and admitted to me that he had planned to use my body as a replacement. We both knew that wasn't going to happen. But there was another problem, my DNA sequence had been flawed and I only had a limited time to live. In his last painful hours, Roslin showed me how I could fix this by collecting the DNA fragments and reconfiguring the sequence in a transfiguration pod. He died, the cytotoxin finally causing his heart to shut down. It was a longshot, but his last plan was my only chance at a real life. I decided to take the shortcut to a new body.