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Railhead

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Railhead
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Railhead is a trilogy of Post-Cyberpunk Space Opera YA novels by English writer Philip Reeve, and is considerably Lighter and Softer than his better-known sci-fi series Mortal Engines, but featuring similarly extensive Worldbuilding. The eponymous first instalment, Railhead, was released in 2015, followed quickly by a sequel, Black Light Express, in 2016, and the finale, Station Zero, in 2018.By the 30th Century CE, humans have spread to the stars, colonising and terraforming hundreds of worlds, all thanks to the K-Bahn: a network of mysterious 'K-Gates' allowing instant travel across interstellar distances, and fusion-powered sentient locomotives that transport passengers and cargo between them. The nations and alliances of Old Earth have long dissolved and humanity is ruled by the Network Empire, a system of governance whereby the most powerful of the Corporate Families takes the throne, supported by the might of Railforce. Under the watchful eyes of the Guardians, the (mostly) benevolent AI caretakers of humanity, technology has advanced at a dizzying rate, with advanced genetic engineering, Motorik, flying cars, neural headsets and much more all ubiquitous.The narrative follows Zen Starling, a petty thief from the downtrodden factory world of Cleave with nothing in his future besides aimlessly riding the rails, who suddenly finds himself caught up in a plot involving the enigmatic Dhravid Raven and his quirky Motorik assistant Nova. Raven has a simple offer for Zen: steal something only he can steal, in exchange for riches beyond his wildest dreams. Sounds simple enough. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?And so Zen and Nova begin a journey into the heart of the Network Empire, evading their Railforce pursuers, travelling through long-abandoned stations, infiltrating the Imperial court, falling in love along the way, and uncovering secrets the Guardians themselves would prefer to keep hidden, secrets pertaining to the very origins of the Network itself…Warner Bros. snapped up the rights to Railhead in April 2014, before it was even published, and was planning to produce a cinematic adaptation, with Doug Liman reportedly brought on as director. However, there’s been little news of the project since then: it's possibly languishing in Development Hell, but may have been quietly shelved, especially after the 2018 adaptation of Mortal Engines resulted in the Mother Of All Box Office Bombs.
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All There in the Manual
 Railhead / int_17ce80aa
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All There in the Manual: Each book contains a glossary in the final few pages which provides all kinds of supplemental material on setting elements and backstory. Philip Reeve also produced a fairly long blog post that goes into a lot more detail on the trilogy's Worldbuilding process.
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Klingon Scientists Get No Respect
 Railhead / int_1c3464e5
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Klingon Scientists Get No Respect: Under the Kraitt's matriarchal society, all women are warriors, while scientists are a 'lesser' role filled by males. The Tzeld Gehk Kharneiss even kills one of her technicians to prevent him from claiming too much credit.
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 Railhead / int_2344d3d6
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Post-Cyberpunk
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Post-Cyberpunk: The general "vibe" of the Network Empire. Sure, there's poverty, greedy Mega Corps and self-aggrandizing A.I.s, but life for most ordinary folks isn't too bad and mostly untroubled, and none of the advanced technology has had the chance to Go Horribly Wrong. The Imperial family is far more interested in hunting, partying and internal power games to bother with Crushing the Populace, and indeed one of the things the Guardians seem to be best at is breathing down the necks of the Corporate Families to ensure they get as few people killed in their squabbles as reasonably possible.
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 Railhead / int_241ca0d8
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Back for the Dead
 Railhead / int_241ca0d8
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Back for the Dead: After receiving a significant amount of focus as The Heavy of Railhead, Yanvar Malik returns briefly when Threnody and Chandni end up in Desdemor, only to be unceremoniously gunned down by a Twins-controlled Motorik.
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Earth That Used to Be Better
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Earth That Used to Be Better: Taken to the Logical Extreme: Since Earth doesn't have a K-Gate, or at least, that's what everyone thinks, it's been completely abandoned and converted into a planetwide wildlife preserve, accessible only by particularly interested tourists with deep pockets.
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State Sec
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State Sec: Railforce, which is somewhat of a hybrid of this trope and Space Police — they seemingly act both as a "federal" law-enforcement agency that targets criminals local security forces or CoMa are unable to deal with, and a internal security force/standing army that enforces the Emperor's claim to the throne and maintains the Network Empire's stability. That is, until Black Light Express where large sections of it pull off a Military Coup to unseat Rail Marshal Delius and Empress Threnody.
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 Railhead / int_2a4222ff
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Benevolent A.I.
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The Guardians, a group of 12 centuries-old and immensely powerful AIs that guided humanity in constructing the Great Network and are revered as gods by its citizens. However, they are vulnerable to petty human vanities, favouritism and grudges, can (with enough effort) be deceived and hidden from, and even occasionally fall in love with mortals. Essentially, the digital equivalent of Physical Gods.
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Standard Royal Court
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The Noon Train, capable of carrying the entire Imperial court in all the ludicrous luxury that entails, pulled by a pair of ancient locomotive lovers.
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 Railhead / int_2d4fa515
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Ax-Crazy
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The villainous exceptions to the latter rule are The Twins, who are considered rather unstable by the rest of the Guardians, and The Tzeld Geckh Karniess, the Evil Overlord matriarch of a Proud Warrior Race that lives to fight and destroy. On the other side of the spectrum, Flex and the Railmaker are never portrayed as anything other than altruistic and kind, and both wind up dead as a result, albeit temporarily.
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 Railhead / int_2de7bbf1
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Nominal Hero
 Railhead / int_2de7bbf1
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Nominal Hero: Zen Starling, full stop. Even though he is a Lovable Rogue, pretty much everything he does throughout the series is done either with the aim of bettering himself and his family, or out of love for Nova, who has the more traditionally-heroic mindset.
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Deadly Euphemism
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Deadly Euphemism: The Neem military's official title is the "Hard Diplomacy Office".
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Starfish Aliens
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Starfish Aliens: The Hath - they resemble a sheet of canvas stretched between thin limbs, have rows of eyes on the side of said sheet like a starfish, and feed by sitting in nutrient-rich pools. When Zen and Nova first see them, they are mistaken for tents.
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Eccentric A.I.
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Eccentric A.I.: Vohu Mana is among the strangest of the Guardians. Its avatar is a flying dog named Pugusus, rather than the more impressive humanoid forms of its fellows, and it's obsessed with creating an Artificial Afterlife for its followers. This includes maintaining a personal collection of brain-downloads of 'interesting' individuals, including Dhravid Raven, a man who has repeatedly outwitted Vohu's fellow Guardians. Needless to say, they would not be pleased to discover this.
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Properly Paranoid
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Properly Paranoid: Yanvar Malik, who spent most of his life hunting down Raven's bodies, is certain that Raven is still out there somewhere in the far reaches of the Network, up to no good. He's thrown away a promising career in order to continue hunting for the elusive mastermind, with his superiors being convinced he's chasing a ghost. He is, of course, bang on the money.
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Powered Armor
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Then we discover they're lost members of the Neem, an alien race who utilise spider-like Powered Armor suits in place of the Monks' crude endoskeletons and would seem perfectly at home on the other side of a Bug War — but they're just as friendly towards humans as most of the Web of Worlds and are actually the main military power standing in the way of the actually dangerous Kraitt. By the time of Station Zero, they're humanity's closest allies on the Web.
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 Railhead / int_3d699462
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Curb-Stomp Battle
 Railhead / int_3d699462
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Curb-Stomp Battle: During the climax of Railhead, Railforce sends a wartrain to stop Raven at Anais Six's request, commanded by Malik and carrying its interface. Raven quite easily blows it off the tracks with well-aimed missiles. Midway through Black Light Express, the Noons' old enemies the Prell family launch a lightning strike on Grand Central, the capital world of the Empire, to seize the throne... And win, within a few hours. They were helped by the fact that large sections of Railforce were already on their side. The Kraitt have been a menace to the other denizens of the Web of Worlds for over a thousand years... But once it is connected to the Network Empire, the Noons' forces wade in and stamp out the Kraitt in a matter of months. Bearing in mind that the Noons are a Vestigial Empire at this point in the story demonstrates just how much Humans Are Superior compared to the races of the Web.
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Took a Level in Kindness
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Took a Level in Kindness: Kobi Chen-Tulsi starts off as a boorish Upper-Class Twit, who's livid that Threnody, his betrothed, is flirting with Tallis/Zen, and tries to arrange a Hunting "Accident" for the impostor. After he nearly gets killed by the beast they were actually supposed to be hunting, he mellows out considerably, being genuinely supportive to Threnody in the aftermath of the Spindlebridge disaster, and is even somewhat friendly to Zen after he threatens them into helping him recover Nova.
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HumansAreSuperior
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Humans Are Superior: Even the Neem, the most advanced species on the Web of Worlds, are centuries behind humanity in terms of technological development. There's a perfectly logical explaination for this - after the Guardians killed the Railmaker, all the aliens, who had come to rely on its technology, were plunged into a dark age known as the 'Blackout' and after recovering became fearful of advanced tech. Humanity, unknowingly being the instigators of this, suffered no such setback. Of course, once the Railmaker is revived at the end of Station Zero, this is no longer the case.
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 Railhead / int_40c57041
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Manipulative Bastard
 Railhead / int_40c57041
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Manipulative Bastard: Raven. He promised Zen untold riches in exchange for stealing the Pyxis from the Noon Train... But neglected to mention that his plan involved crashing said train and killing dozens, if not hundreds, of people, forcing Zen to become a fugitive and live with the guilt for the rest of his life.
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 Railhead / int_421ae215
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Mysterious Past
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Mysterious Past: The Railmaker is an alien being of almost unfathomable power — and that's basically all that is known about it, other than the fact that it's inorganic. Is it a Hive Mind or Mind Hive, an AI which outlived its creators, or something else entirely? Nobody knows. When Zen finally asks it/Nova at the conclusion of Station Zero, they can only respond "it's complicated".
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 Railhead / int_437e70f5
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What a Piece of Junk
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The Damask Rose, a grouchy yet kind-hearted old locomotive recovered from the Dog Star Line by Zen and Nova - which turns out to be surprisingly well-armed.
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 Railhead / int_445bc425
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GreyAndGreyMorality
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Grey-and-Grey Morality: Very prevalent throughout the series. Both sides of all the main conflicts (Raven/The Guardians, The Noons/The Prells and The Guardians/The Railmaker) have some degree of nuance, and very few characters are outright heroes or villains, with the main protagonist even being a Nominal Hero. To elaborate: The villainous exceptions to the latter rule are The Twins, who are considered rather unstable by the rest of the Guardians, and The Tzeld Geckh Karniess, the Evil Overlord matriarch of a Proud Warrior Race that lives to fight and destroy. On the other side of the spectrum, Flex and the Railmaker are never portrayed as anything other than altruistic and kind, and both wind up dead as a result, albeit temporarily. Raven is a conniving and charismatic master manipulator, who's only out for himself and willing to get many killed to further his schemes. However, his goal, of escaping the Great Network and the Guardians by opening a new K-Gate, is sympathetic and understandable. The conflict between the Noons and the Prells is riddled with this, as it's often difficult to see that much difference between them, given that they're both Corporate Families who wish to maintain the (exploitative and elitist) status quo. While the Prells did violently overthrow the Noons in Black Light Express, they did so with the absolute bare minimum of collateral damage, and were indeed correct that Lyssa Delius had seized power by using Threnody as a Puppet Queen. The Prells are also seemingly more xenophobic and wish to close the gate to the Web of Worlds, but at this point in the story the Noons are a Vestigial Empire who'll take any advantage they can get, and it's not clear what their attitude on the aliens would have been from their previous position of dominance. Then, their leader Elon Prell is portrayed in Station Zero as a somewhat pathetic Grumpy Old Man bogged down by The Chains of Commanding and hating his position as Emperor. Finally, Threnody Noon does finally introduce a limited form of democracy to the Empire after reclaiming her throne, but also develops a nasty habit of dispatching her new Kraitt bodyguards to viciously kill her enemies. While the Prells are probably worse overall, they're by no means Card Carrying Villains. The Guardians are a bunch of egotistical, self-righteous and honestly rather lazy A.Is that view further technological development as a risk to their power and godlike status, and killed the Railmaker because they were scared it would supplant them in humans' eyes. However, they do genuinely seem to care about protecting humankind in general and do have a valid point when it comes to the Railmaker — despite its (seemingly genuine) benevolence, it was so mind-bogglingly powerful that if it ever turned nasty humans would be screwed.
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 Railhead / int_44880a8c
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Killed to Uphold the Masquerade
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Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Anais Six is forced to kill off the bodies of Raven, her former lover, after he attempts to leak evidence of the existence of aliens to the public. Needless to say, it doesn't work, and one clone escapes. The Twins do their darndest to kill everyone who knows about the Desdemor gate before they block it in Black Light Express. They succeed in shooting Malik, but Threnody and Chandni are able to escape.
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Bait the Dog
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Bait the Dog: At first, it seems as though the Thought Fox is seriously considering Flex's offer to paint it with a beautiful dragon motif. Then, likely for its own twisted amusement, it burns them to cinders with a flamethrower.
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 Railhead / int_4cacfcc3
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Honey Trap
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Honey Trap: To enable the Noon train job, Raven hires an attractive criminal named Chandni Hansa to seduce Tallis Noon so Zen can take his place. However, Chandni gets bored and decides simply to rob her mark at the worst possible time.
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Become a Real Boy
 Railhead / int_4d1423b9
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Become a Real Boy: Nova, who starts off as Raven's quirky assistant, is far more sentient than a normal Motorik and attempts to make herself more human by programming herself freckles, and installing modifications that allow her to obtain energy from food. Ironically enough, Station Zero would reveal her to be about as far from human as it's possible to get, being the disembodied consciousness of the Railmaker.
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Self-Disposing Villain
 Railhead / int_51ecf708
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Self-Disposing Villain: Elon Prell gets himself killed in a hunting accident (a genuine one, not that kind) before Threnody's forces get anywhere near him.
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Fantastic Racism
 Railhead / int_57b80b45
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Fantastic Racism: While the humans of industrial planets have a very good reason to dislike Motorik, smashing them up and sticking their heads on poles is going way too far. Possibly Downplayed as it's implied most Motorik aren't exactly sentient, but, as in the case of Flex, they are fully capable of being so.
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Organic Technology
 Railhead / int_5874eb12
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Organic Technology: Commonplace in the Network Empire, where it's often used to rapidly grow buildings from wood or ivory. Said buildings have allegedly gone out of fashion by the time of the series, as they have a habit of randomly sprouting new extensions if poorly maintained. The Railmaker also makes extensive use of it, in the form of a coral-like building/lighting material, plus the biomechanical morvah trains and K-Gate-creating Worms.
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Grew Beyond Their Programming
 Railhead / int_5c1d5030
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Flex and Nova, the only two sentient Motorik characters. The former is quite possibly the kindest and most altruistic character in the series.
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G-Rated Sex
 Railhead / int_5cbb2384
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G-Rated Sex: At the end of the first chapter, there's a scene describing Zen and Nova lying in bed together, staring into each other's eyes, with lots of flowery description making it clear that they probably just "did it". To whatever extent that "it" is possible, anyway.
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Digital Abomination
 Railhead / int_5f185fbe
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Digital Abomination: The Railmaker probably counts as this. It's an alien "data entity" of murky origin, powerful enough to construct multiple Dyson Spheres. Luckily for the galaxy, it's very friendly.
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Impersonation Gambit
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Impersonation Gambit: Central to Raven's plan. Since Zen is a stolen Noon Designer Baby, he has Noon DNA and can board the Imperial train using the alias of 'Tallis Noon', an obscure relative to whom Zen bears a Strong Family Resemblance and Raven is able to, ahem, distract.
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Heroic Sacrifice
 Railhead / int_6439de78
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Heroic Sacrifice: At the book's climax, the Ghost Wolf is taken over by the Mordaunt 90 Network and used to wreak havoc across the Railmaker's home-world and destroy the Damask Rose. However, the train is able to wrest back control over one of its weapons systems and blow itself up before the Guardian can use it to finish off Zen and Nova.
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Always Save the Girl
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Always Save the Girl: Nova being in danger seems to bring out the best in the usually selfish Zen, who has rescued her in every book. In Railhead he rejects his new life of wealth and comfort and risks capture by Railforce to recover her from Spindlebridge, in Black Light Express he leads a mission to recover her from the Kraitt, and in Station Zero he, while mortally wounded, carries her body to reunite with the Railmaker.
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In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race
 Railhead / int_680a5252
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In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race: It's noted in Railhead that Zen is brown, like most people on the Network, while the Prells are seen as abnormal for being extremely pale.
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Militaries Are Useless
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Militaries Are Useless: Railforce folds like a house of cards both times it's called upon to defend Grand Central — the very capital of the Network Empire it's supposed to defend. However, it is Justified on the grounds that many Railforce officers were willing to help the Prells take over the first time round, and the trains themselves revolted when the Noons reclaimed the throne.
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 Railhead / int_68148dc
featureConfidence
1.0
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Railhead / int_68148dc
 Railhead / int_6e429667
type
Fantastic Slurs
 Railhead / int_6e429667
comment
Fantastic Slurs: "Wire Dollies" is a derogatory term for the android Motorik. The Noon CoMa in Station Zero refer to their Kraitt enemies as 'skinks'.
 Railhead / int_6e429667
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_6e429667
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Railhead / int_6e429667
 Railhead / int_716c0b1b
type
And the Adventure Continues
 Railhead / int_716c0b1b
comment
And the Adventure Continues: The story ends with Zen and Nova travelling together through Raven's new K-Gate, towards unknown alien stations.
 Railhead / int_716c0b1b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_716c0b1b
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1.0
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Railhead / int_716c0b1b
 Railhead / int_7294b403
type
Altar Diplomacy
 Railhead / int_7294b403
comment
Altar Diplomacy: Enforced at a grand scale in the Network Empire: agreements between the Corporate Families are always sealed by marriage, a hold-over from the earliest days of expansion on the Network, when something more permanent than a contract was needed to secure cooperation on a centuries-long terraforming project. As such, the scions of the Families are destined to become bargaining chips as soon as they come of age.
 Railhead / int_7294b403
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_7294b403
featureConfidence
1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_7294b403
 Railhead / int_7360a6b6
type
Noble Demon
 Railhead / int_7360a6b6
comment
Noble Demon: Laira Prell, who is an Officer And A Lady literally as well as metaphorically. She's fully on board with her family's militarism and goal to seize the Imperial throne, but is dismayed when that goal is achieved through underhanded means rather than a 'proper fight'. Her obsession with honour causes her to willingly torpedo her own career in Black Light Express, warning her enemy Threnody that two assassins are being sent after her.
 Railhead / int_7360a6b6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_7360a6b6
featureConfidence
1.0
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Railhead / int_7360a6b6
 Railhead / int_73f7975f
type
Jerkass Gods
 Railhead / int_73f7975f
comment
Jerkass Gods: The Guardians, though on a macro scale as they (except from maybe the Twins) don't tend to screw with people directly. Instead, they are fully capable of ending war and poverty, and dramatically advancing human civilisation through the use of technologies such as Brain Uploading, but don't. Instead they prefer to role-play as deities and preserve their own superiority, necessitating the archaic system of power that is the Network Empire. They refuse to permit the development of any other advanced AIs, and killed the Railmaker as they were convinced it would overshadow them.
 Railhead / int_73f7975f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_73f7975f
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1.0
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Railhead / int_73f7975f
 Railhead / int_7ac1f1e5
type
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist
 Railhead / int_7ac1f1e5
comment
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: The Heavy is Yanvar Malik, a grizzled Railforce officer (at least, initially) who has spent most of his life hunting down the many bodies of Raven and believes he's still hiding somewhere, even though his superiors and the Guardians are sure he's dead. He very much respects his target, and harbours no ill will towards Zen and Nova, to the point that he shoots his boss, a Guardian interface, no less, to allow Zen and Nova to escape together through the new K-Gate once Raven's last body is finally killed.
 Railhead / int_7ac1f1e5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_7ac1f1e5
featureConfidence
1.0
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Railhead / int_7ac1f1e5
 Railhead / int_7bb844ec
type
Villain Decay
 Railhead / int_7bb844ec
comment
Villain Decay: After the Twins attacked all of the other Guardians on Khoorsandi at the climax of Black Light Express out of desperation to block the new K-Gate, the other Guardians quickly join forces to severely limit their powers, resulting in them being able to do nothing but complain by this point.
 Railhead / int_7bb844ec
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_7bb844ec
featureConfidence
1.0
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Railhead / int_7bb844ec
 Railhead / int_80d7308
type
Unique Protagonist Asset
 Railhead / int_80d7308
comment
Unique Protagonist Asset: Raven seeks out Zen for his grand plan to steal the Pyxis, as he's a Noon Designer Baby whose surrogate mother spirited him away from their medical facilities. As a result, he's possibly the only person in the Network Empire not affiliated with the Noons who can fool their train's genetic security systems.
 Railhead / int_80d7308
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_80d7308
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1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_80d7308
 Railhead / int_81c8dd41
type
Deus Est Machina
 Railhead / int_81c8dd41
comment
Deus Est Machina: The Guardians, a group of 12 centuries-old and immensely powerful AIs that guided humanity in constructing the Great Network and are revered as gods by its citizens. However, they are vulnerable to petty human vanities, favouritism and grudges, can (with enough effort) be deceived and hidden from, and even occasionally fall in love with mortals. Essentially, the digital equivalent of Physical Gods. The Railmaker, an alien 'data-entity' that was responsible for creating the K-Gates, building Dyson spheres (yes, plural) to power them, and other physics-and-reality-warping feats making the Guardians look like desktop PCs in comparison. As a result they killed it out of spite, terrified it would supplant them. However, it turns out to be Not Quite Dead – Raven rescued a fragment of its personality much later which he used to create Nova, with the Railmaker reforming once she enters its home-world core.
 Railhead / int_81c8dd41
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_81c8dd41
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1.0
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Railhead / int_81c8dd41
 Railhead / int_82108e3d
type
Attack Its Weak Point
 Railhead / int_82108e3d
comment
During the climax of Railhead, Railforce sends a wartrain to stop Raven at Anais Six's request, commanded by Malik and carrying its interface. Raven quite easily blows it off the tracks with well-aimed missiles.
 Railhead / int_82108e3d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_82108e3d
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Railhead / int_82108e3d
 Railhead / int_83a82d55
type
Cryo-Prison
 Railhead / int_83a82d55
comment
Cryo-Prison: The standard form of incarceration throughout the Network Empire. It is mentioned that this is a leftover relic from the Empire’s early days when planets were still being terraformed, and thus space and resources were scarce, making it a good way to remove criminals from society. They are kept only out of tradition, as there’s no way to rehabilitate the prisoners and most, when released are suffering from such huge culture shocks that they immediately return to crime.
 Railhead / int_83a82d55
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_83a82d55
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1.0
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Railhead / int_83a82d55
 Railhead / int_8409a385
type
Exactly What It Says on the Tin
 Railhead / int_8409a385
comment
All trains carry a complement of maintenance spiders in place of a human crew, which are used to carry out repairs, refilling, luggage handling, and occasionally as Improvised Weapons.
 Railhead / int_8409a385
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_8409a385
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1.0
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Railhead / int_8409a385
 Railhead / int_8618825d
type
Portal Network
 Railhead / int_8618825d
comment
Portal Network: The K-Gates, often referred to collectively as the K-Bahn, which can instantly transport matter across light years in an instant. For some reason, the only things which can pass through them are sentient trains, plus their cargo and passengers.
 Railhead / int_8618825d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_8618825d
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1.0
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Railhead / int_8618825d
 Railhead / int_86daf505
type
Parental Bonus
 Railhead / int_86daf505
comment
All trains choose whimsical names for themselves upon activation, most of which are obscure Parental Bonus style references not aimed at the target audience — the practice itself is very similar to Culture ship names.
 Railhead / int_86daf505
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_86daf505
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1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_86daf505
 Railhead / int_8930448
type
Soldier vs. Warrior
 Railhead / int_8930448
comment
Soldier vs. Warrior: Played with. When the warbands of the Kraitt (warriors) go up against Noon Corporate Marines (soldiers), they get ground into paste. Skar is smart enough to realise that the humans haven't won just due to technical superiority but by having proper tactics and military discipline, while the Kraitt often kill each other in order to determine leadership.
 Railhead / int_8930448
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_8930448
featureConfidence
1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_8930448
 Railhead / int_8c00901a
type
Creepy Good
 Railhead / int_8c00901a
comment
Creepy Good: The Hive Monks are sentient swarms of roach-like insects that assemble a roughly human-shaped armature and wear strange white paper masks, giving them a creepy effect, but they mean no harm and actually help out Zen during the first book. Then we discover they're lost members of the Neem, an alien race who utilise spider-like Powered Armor suits in place of the Monks' crude endoskeletons and would seem perfectly at home on the other side of a Bug War — but they're just as friendly towards humans as most of the Web of Worlds and are actually the main military power standing in the way of the actually dangerous Kraitt. By the time of Station Zero, they're humanity's closest allies on the Web.
 Railhead / int_8c00901a
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1.0
 Railhead / int_8c00901a
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1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_8c00901a
 Railhead / int_8d0785d5
type
Didn't Think This Through
 Railhead / int_8d0785d5
comment
Didn't Think This Through: When the Guardian Anais Six fell in love with Raven, she ascended him to near-digital-godhood and gave him access to the boundless information of the Datasea... Forgetting that this was allowing him to access secrets (such as the existance of alien civilisation) that the Guardians really wanted to keep under wraps. The Railmaker, a godlike alien AI, decided to connect the myriad peoples of the universe through the K-Gates. However, it didn't consider that some civilisations might feel threatened by it and neglected to put up any sort of defences, allowing it to get taken out by the Guardians.
 Railhead / int_8d0785d5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_8d0785d5
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1.0
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Railhead / int_8d0785d5
 Railhead / int_91df9d19
type
Military Coup
 Railhead / int_91df9d19
comment
Midway through Black Light Express, the Noons' old enemies the Prell family launch a lightning strike on Grand Central, the capital world of the Empire, to seize the throne... And win, within a few hours. They were helped by the fact that large sections of Railforce were already on their side.
 Railhead / int_91df9d19
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_91df9d19
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1.0
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Railhead / int_91df9d19
 Railhead / int_928ca2cc
type
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
 Railhead / int_928ca2cc
comment
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A notable Aversion. After Zen steals the Pyxis for Raven, the logical course of action would be to kill him — he's no longer needed and is a loose end who is aware of Raven's existence and the location of his hideout, if not his ultimate plans. However, Raven keeps his word and makes him rich partially because, as he notes to the young man, Zen reminds him of himself. This ultimately backfires on Raven and Zen becomes an unwitting Spanner in the Works for his plan, while he would have got off completely scot-free had Zen been dead.
 Railhead / int_928ca2cc
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-1.0
 Railhead / int_928ca2cc
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Railhead / int_928ca2cc
 Railhead / int_9823f7c
type
ProudWarriorRace
 Railhead / int_9823f7c
comment
The Kraitt have been a menace to the other denizens of the Web of Worlds for over a thousand years... But once it is connected to the Network Empire, the Noons' forces wade in and stamp out the Kraitt in a matter of months. Bearing in mind that the Noons are a Vestigial Empire at this point in the story demonstrates just how much Humans Are Superior compared to the races of the Web.
 Railhead / int_9823f7c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_9823f7c
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1.0
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Railhead / int_9823f7c
 Railhead / int_999d9288
type
Perky Female Minion
 Railhead / int_999d9288
comment
Perky Female Minion: The energetic and friendly Nova is this to the inscrutable Raven.
 Railhead / int_999d9288
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_999d9288
featureConfidence
1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_999d9288
 Railhead / int_9afa05c7
type
Family-Unfriendly Death
 Railhead / int_9afa05c7
comment
Family-Unfriendly Death: As Threnody and her forces are storming the Imperial Palace during the Noons' retaking of Grand Central, Threnody comes across Pryia, her Alpha Bitch sister who defected to the Prells. Without a word, Threnody stabs her in the chest and allows her to be Eaten Alive by her Kraitt Lizard Guard. According to Skar, a battle isn't over for the Kraitt until this happens to the enemy commander, but that doesn't make it any less of a horrible way to go.
 Railhead / int_9afa05c7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_9afa05c7
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Railhead / int_9afa05c7
 Railhead / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Railhead / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: The Hive Monks' religion involves constant travel through the K-Gates in a vain attempt to find the "Insect Lines", a new Network that serves as paradise for their species. In Black Light Express it turns out that the Insect Lines are actually the Monks' ancestral memories of the Neem Nestworlds, and the Monks are enraptured when they discover that there's a way back home.
 Railhead / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_9d12bbc1
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1.0
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Railhead / int_9d12bbc1
 Railhead / int_9f619ad6
type
Corporate Warfare
 Railhead / int_9f619ad6
comment
Corporate Warfare: The Corporate Families, being the dominant powers that be in the Railhead universe, maintain forces of Corporate Marines, (CoMa) to protect themselves from "hostile takeovers" launched by their rivals. Open fighting was far more common historically, with Railforce now serving as a peacekeeping force that tips the scales in favour of the reigning Imperial family, with most CoMa reduced to bodyguards and ceremonial duties by the time of the trilogy. However, some corps such as the militaristic Prells still maintain a large standing army.
 Railhead / int_9f619ad6
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1.0
 Railhead / int_9f619ad6
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1.0
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Railhead / int_9f619ad6
 Railhead / int_a04eb363
type
Lizard Folk
 Railhead / int_a04eb363
comment
Lizard Folk: The Kraitt, a young race of bloodthirsty raiders on the Web of Worlds, who are reptilian and only roughly humanoid.
 Railhead / int_a04eb363
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_a04eb363
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1.0
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Railhead / int_a04eb363
 Railhead / int_a1b141f4
type
My God, What Have I Done?
 Railhead / int_a1b141f4
comment
Played with regarding Zen — he does mostly get away with causing the Spindlebridge crash and its accompanying massive death toll, but he is haunted by guilt for it.
 Railhead / int_a1b141f4
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1.0
 Railhead / int_a1b141f4
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1.0
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Railhead / int_a1b141f4
 Railhead / int_a3c0d670
type
Evil Chancellor
 Railhead / int_a3c0d670
comment
Evil Chancellor: ZigZagged with Rail Marshal Lyssa Delius, the Social Climber head of Railforce, the Empire's Space Military Police. At the end of the first book she realises she can replace the paranoid and unpopular Empress Priya Noon, who took over after Mahalaxmi's death, with her sister Threnody, whose inexperience allows Delius to all but seize control of the Network Empire for herself. The Noons' enemies quickly cotton onto this and portray her as such, but her 'evil schemes' seem to mostly consist of policies that benefit the working classes like restricting the use of Motorik labor.
 Railhead / int_a3c0d670
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1.0
 Railhead / int_a3c0d670
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1.0
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Railhead / int_a3c0d670
 Railhead / int_a5ec714
type
Paradise Planet
 Railhead / int_a5ec714
comment
Paradise Planet: Summer's Lease, a peaceful, lightly populated world where Zen dreams of living one day — he's eventually able to buy a house there for his family using his payment for the Noon train job.
 Railhead / int_a5ec714
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_a5ec714
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1.0
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hasFeature
Railhead / int_a5ec714
 Railhead / int_a632f7fa
type
Cool Train
 Railhead / int_a632f7fa
comment
Cool Train: Given that they are nuclear-fusion-powered, controlled by fully sentient AI, crewed by maintenance spiders, and are the only form of transport capable of crossing the K-Gates, every train in the setting counts, although some deserve special mention: The Noon Train, capable of carrying the entire Imperial court in all the ludicrous luxury that entails, pulled by a pair of ancient locomotive lovers. The Damask Rose, a grouchy yet kind-hearted old locomotive recovered from the Dog Star Line by Zen and Nova - which turns out to be surprisingly well-armed. The Ghost Wolf, a battle-hungry yet surprisingly affable wartrain introduced in Black Light Express, and possibly the only C12 Zodiak not to go insane.
 Railhead / int_a632f7fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_a632f7fa
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1.0
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Railhead / int_a632f7fa
 Railhead / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 Railhead / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: Played with regarding Zen — he does mostly get away with causing the Spindlebridge crash and its accompanying massive death toll, but he is haunted by guilt for it. Raven. While he is seemingly Killed Off for Real at the end of Railhead, a copy of his personality (which was squirrelled away by the Guardian Vohu Mana) is recovered by Zen and Nova, who believe him to be the Railmaker's disembodied consciousness — and while this turns out to be false, he's able to offer Threnody a means to retake Grand Central, in exchange for a new body. While he does seem uncomfortable when Threnody mentions Spindlebridge, he doesn't display all that much regret.
 Railhead / int_a70223
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1.0
 Railhead / int_a70223
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1.0
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Railhead / int_a70223
 Railhead / int_a8a04f6f
type
And I Must Scream
 Railhead / int_a8a04f6f
comment
And I Must Scream: As she and Zen make their escape from Spindlebridge in Railhead, Nova is grappled through the chest by a damaged Noon Beetle and dragged out into space. Of course, since she's a Motorik, the lack of oxygen and extreme temperatures can't kill her, and she is left drifting above Sundarban for several weeks before Zen returns to save her.
 Railhead / int_a8a04f6f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_a8a04f6f
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1.0
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Railhead / int_a8a04f6f
 Railhead / int_aa8dcc21
type
MegaCorp
 Railhead / int_aa8dcc21
comment
The conflict between the Noons and the Prells is riddled with this, as it's often difficult to see that much difference between them, given that they're both Corporate Families who wish to maintain the (exploitative and elitist) status quo. While the Prells did violently overthrow the Noons in Black Light Express, they did so with the absolute bare minimum of collateral damage, and were indeed correct that Lyssa Delius had seized power by using Threnody as a Puppet Queen. The Prells are also seemingly more xenophobic and wish to close the gate to the Web of Worlds, but at this point in the story the Noons are a Vestigial Empire who'll take any advantage they can get, and it's not clear what their attitude on the aliens would have been from their previous position of dominance. Then, their leader Elon Prell is portrayed in Station Zero as a somewhat pathetic Grumpy Old Man bogged down by The Chains of Commanding and hating his position as Emperor. Finally, Threnody Noon does finally introduce a limited form of democracy to the Empire after reclaiming her throne, but also develops a nasty habit of dispatching her new Kraitt bodyguards to viciously kill her enemies. While the Prells are probably worse overall, they're by no means Card Carrying Villains.
 Railhead / int_aa8dcc21
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1.0
 Railhead / int_aa8dcc21
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Railhead / int_aa8dcc21
 Railhead / int_ac0f4761
type
Future Imperfect
 Railhead / int_ac0f4761
comment
Future Imperfect: Raven mentions that Klingon was among the languages of Old Earth.
 Railhead / int_ac0f4761
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_ac0f4761
featureConfidence
1.0
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Railhead / int_ac0f4761
 Railhead / int_ac6ea68c
type
Near-Villain Victory
 Railhead / int_ac6ea68c
comment
Near-Villain Victory: Raven almost gets exactly what he wants: to escape through his new K-Gate and explore alien worlds, free from the Guardians at last. This only gets derailed because Zen seeks him out at precisely the wrong time, after attracting the attention of Railforce and Anais Six, and even then these foes would have been a mere delay were it not for that one sky-ray.
 Railhead / int_ac6ea68c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_ac6ea68c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Railhead
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Railhead / int_ac6ea68c
 Railhead / int_af1a2782
type
More Despicable Minion
 Railhead / int_af1a2782
comment
More Despicable Minion: The de facto Big Bad Dhravid Raven is a refined and charismatic Anti-Villain, while his wartrain the Thought Fox is a sadistic trigger-happy killer.
 Railhead / int_af1a2782
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_af1a2782
featureConfidence
1.0
 Railhead
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Railhead / int_af1a2782
 Railhead / int_b2d8059f
type
Innocent Aliens
 Railhead / int_b2d8059f
comment
Innocent Aliens: The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Web of Worlds, except from the Kraitt, are peaceful traders who are nothing but welcoming to their new human visitors. None of them can pose a threat to the Network Empire in any case, being technologically outmatched in every way by humans.
 Railhead / int_b2d8059f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_b2d8059f
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1.0
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Railhead / int_b2d8059f
 Railhead / int_b39d5719
type
Sadist
 Railhead / int_b39d5719
comment
Pretty much all the trains, sans the Thought Fox, encountered throughout the series are friendly and go out of their way to help the protagonists. They even pull a collective Big Damn Heroes in Station Zero by refusing to fight for Elon Prell and scuppering the Guardians' plans to close the Web Of Worlds gate.
 Railhead / int_b39d5719
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_b39d5719
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1.0
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Railhead / int_b39d5719
 Railhead / int_b4754f84
type
The Worm That Walks
 Railhead / int_b4754f84
comment
The Worm That Walks: Hive Monks, formed by a type of cockroach-like insect that gains sapience and the ability to speak when in large swarms, which proceed to construct a human-shaped armature for locomotion, a robe, and a mask. Nobody's quite sure where they came from, but the most popular theories suggest that they are ordinary insects that were mutated after clinging to the outside of K-trains. Turns out that they're part of the alien Neem, and were isolated on the Network after the Railmaker's destruction.
 Railhead / int_b4754f84
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_b4754f84
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1.0
 Railhead
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Railhead / int_b4754f84
 Railhead / int_b7c53a22
type
Blood Knight
 Railhead / int_b7c53a22
comment
The Ghost Wolf, a battle-hungry yet surprisingly affable wartrain introduced in Black Light Express, and possibly the only C12 Zodiak not to go insane.
 Railhead / int_b7c53a22
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_b7c53a22
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1.0
 Railhead
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Railhead / int_b7c53a22
 Railhead / int_bbfaa837
type
Knight Templar
 Railhead / int_bbfaa837
comment
The Guardians are a bunch of egotistical, self-righteous and honestly rather lazy A.Is that view further technological development as a risk to their power and godlike status, and killed the Railmaker because they were scared it would supplant them in humans' eyes. However, they do genuinely seem to care about protecting humankind in general and do have a valid point when it comes to the Railmaker — despite its (seemingly genuine) benevolence, it was so mind-bogglingly powerful that if it ever turned nasty humans would be screwed.
 Railhead / int_bbfaa837
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_bbfaa837
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Railhead / int_bbfaa837
 Railhead / int_c5a7def5
type
God in Human Form
 Railhead / int_c5a7def5
comment
God in Human Form: The Guardians are able to download their consciousnesses into artificial bodies known as "interfaces" — some are human, others are strange humanoids, animals, or even mystical creatures such as centaurs.
 Railhead / int_c5a7def5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Railhead / int_c5a7def5
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 Railhead
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Railhead / int_c5a7def5
 Railhead / int_c6ae3121
type
Modern Stasis
 Railhead / int_c6ae3121
comment
Modern Stasis: Since their creation the Guardians have decreed that no more advanced AIs can be created — they only begrudgingly allowed the creation of the android Motorik, who are limited to a human-level intellect at best and usually operate far below that. As a result, humans in the series have access to all manner of advanced technology, but still use the Internet, projectile weapons and manual labour, and crime and poverty still exist. The reasons for this are twofold, and explained further by Philip Reeve in his blog: first, the Guardians are "jealous gods" who rather enjoy lording it over humanity and don't want to share, and second, if this hadn't happened humanity would be an unrecognisable post-Singularity civilisation which would be difficult to understand or write about.
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Railhead / int_c6ae3121
 Railhead / int_c72af5a8
type
Mini-Mecha
 Railhead / int_c72af5a8
comment
Mini-Mecha: A bipedal exo-suit with powerful manipulator claws known as an "Iron Penguin" is a common sight in industrial areas across the Network, and one was pressed into a (temporary) combat role during anti-Motorik riots on Cleave.
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Railhead / int_c72af5a8
 Railhead / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 Railhead / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: All trains choose whimsical names for themselves upon activation, most of which are obscure Parental Bonus style references not aimed at the target audience — the practice itself is very similar to Culture ship names. The "less adoring subjects" of Emperor Mahalaxmi refer to him as the "Fat Controller".
 Railhead / int_c75df49a
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 Railhead / int_c75df49a
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Railhead / int_c75df49a
 Railhead / int_c8bea4ec
type
My Species Doth Protest Too Much
 Railhead / int_c8bea4ec
comment
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Skar is just as bloodthirsty and vicious as any other Kraitt, but is far more intelligent than essentially any other member of his race. He's bright enough to recognise that his people are outmatched by humans not just because their technology is centuries more advanced, but because their forces have actual military discipline rather than being disorganised bands of raiders.
 Railhead / int_c8bea4ec
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Railhead / int_c8bea4ec
 Railhead / int_c8c56598
type
Eating Machine
 Railhead / int_c8c56598
comment
Eating Machine: Nova is able to eat human food, her favorite being toast (corners first). However, she doesn't need to do this, and it's a custom self-modification to help her feel more human.
 Railhead / int_c8c56598
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Railhead / int_c8c56598
 Railhead / int_caf8c66c
type
The Chains of Commanding
 Railhead / int_caf8c66c
comment
The Chains of Commanding: Elon Prell, after achieving his life's ambition to become Emperor, discovers that he hates it, and prefers hunting and war to the endless bureaucratic tasks of the monarchy.
 Railhead / int_caf8c66c
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Railhead / int_caf8c66c
 Railhead / int_cc4d190a
type
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?
 Railhead / int_cc4d190a
comment
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: By 'killing' the Railmaker with a computer virus, the Guardians managed to take down a (friendly) Digital Abomination that was a strong type II on the Kardashev Scale, while the Guardians at this point hailed from Earth, 20 Minutes into the Future. It's strongly suggested that this staggering feat was only possible because the Railmaker was an Actual Pacifist which didn't see the need for any kind of weapons or defences.
 Railhead / int_cc4d190a
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Railhead / int_cc4d190a
 Railhead / int_cda501da
type
Killed Off for Real
 Railhead / int_cda501da
comment
Raven. While he is seemingly Killed Off for Real at the end of Railhead, a copy of his personality (which was squirrelled away by the Guardian Vohu Mana) is recovered by Zen and Nova, who believe him to be the Railmaker's disembodied consciousness — and while this turns out to be false, he's able to offer Threnody a means to retake Grand Central, in exchange for a new body. While he does seem uncomfortable when Threnody mentions Spindlebridge, he doesn't display all that much regret.
 Railhead / int_cda501da
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Railhead / int_cda501da
 Railhead / int_ce032b97
type
Mechanical Insects
 Railhead / int_ce032b97
comment
Mechanical Insects: All trains carry a complement of maintenance spiders in place of a human crew, which are used to carry out repairs, refilling, luggage handling, and occasionally as Improvised Weapons. Played With regarding the the Neem, who aren't mechanical insects, but sentient swarms of insects that 'wear' spiderlike Powered Armor.
 Railhead / int_ce032b97
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1.0
 Railhead / int_ce032b97
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Railhead / int_ce032b97
 Railhead / int_d001c42c
type
Anti-Villain
 Railhead / int_d001c42c
comment
Raven is a conniving and charismatic master manipulator, who's only out for himself and willing to get many killed to further his schemes. However, his goal, of escaping the Great Network and the Guardians by opening a new K-Gate, is sympathetic and understandable.
 Railhead / int_d001c42c
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1.0
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Railhead / int_d001c42c
 Railhead / int_d013cd12
type
Lovable Rogue
 Railhead / int_d013cd12
comment
Lovable Rogue: Zen Starling, the young petty thief who becomes the main protagonist of the trilogy. While quite selfish and not especially heroic, he does steal and accept Raven's job in order to help out his family, and later his affection for Nova causes him to throw himself into dangerous situations to protect her.
 Railhead / int_d013cd12
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Railhead / int_d013cd12
 Railhead / int_d10d5eb5
type
Made of Indestructium
 Railhead / int_d10d5eb5
comment
Made of Indestructium: The C12 Zodiak class of wartrains, designed from the ground up to be the biggest, baddest and toughest fighting machines on the Network, have an almost impenetrable layer of thick ceramic armour protecting their hull. In Black Light Express, one of them, the Ghost Wolf, is able to No-Sell dozens of missiles and smash straight through tanks blocking the line as if they were cardboard.
 Railhead / int_d10d5eb5
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1.0
 Railhead / int_d10d5eb5
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1.0
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Railhead / int_d10d5eb5
 Railhead / int_d2b59903
type
Cool Old Lady
 Railhead / int_d2b59903
comment
Cool Old Lady: Lady Sufara Noon, the Emperor's sister, is a remarkably sharp-witted woman who quickly takes a shine to Zen (pretending to be Tallis Noon) and his rather blunt attitude, displaying a lack of the Imperial snobbery she dislikes.
 Railhead / int_d2b59903
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1.0
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Railhead / int_d2b59903
 Railhead / int_d355ba37
type
Turned Against Their Masters
 Railhead / int_d355ba37
comment
Turned Against Their Masters: Downplayed. When Threnody launches her attack on Grand Central, many of the Railforce wartrains refuse to fight or get blocked by civilian locomotives, allowing her and the Noons to retake control. This is because the Prells want to close the K-Gate leading to the Web of Worlds, and allow the Guardians to destroy the Railmaker — since trains love nothing more than to travel to new stations, they'd prefer that this doesn't happen.
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Railhead / int_d355ba37
 Railhead / int_d525f857
type
Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale
 Railhead / int_d525f857
comment
Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: The Prells' assault on Grand Central is explicitly stated to have claimed 100 lives... Even though the planet is the capital of a galactic empire, with individual skyscrapers stated to have tens of thousands of residents, and the assault kicks off with missile strikes on the Imperial palace, a huge public building. No matter how good the Prells might be at reducing collateral damage, and even if this includes civilian casualties only, the number is almost impossibly low.
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Railhead / int_d525f857
 Railhead / int_da15842d
type
Brain/Computer Interface
 Railhead / int_da15842d
comment
Brain/Computer Interface: A 'headset' is a device which provides a non-invasive form of this - most individuals have access to one with similar functionality to a smartphone, albeit one with a mental interface that can stream audio and video direct to the brain's sensory areas. More advanced models can be used to control military hardware remotely or even commune directly with the Guardians.
 Railhead / int_da15842d
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1.0
 Railhead / int_da15842d
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Railhead / int_da15842d
 Railhead / int_dae3999d
type
Action Bomb
 Railhead / int_dae3999d
comment
Action Bomb: A "Railbomb" is a train consisting primarily of a giant antimatter warhead, controlled by an AI whose only desire is to detonate gloriously after travelling through the target K-Gate, with the resultant explosion blocking it completely. This rather disturbing weapon was unsurprisingly a creation of The Twins.
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Railhead / int_dae3999d
 Railhead / int_e0d133d0
type
Insufficiently Advanced Alien
 Railhead / int_e0d133d0
comment
Insufficiently Advanced Alien: The Railmaker. An alien 'data-entity' of mysterious origin, with a godlike level of power allowing it to cage multiple stars to provide power to its K-Gates and other megastructures. Unfortunately for it, however, it's not only an Actual Pacifist, but the concept of war and hostility is so far from its mind that it doesn't even consider that it could be seen as a threat, and thus possesses no weapons or defences whatsoever. And, as it works to connect the civilisations of the galaxy together, it encounters the Guardians on Earth 20 Minutes into the Future, who destroy it easily with a virus as it could weaken their own rule over humanity.
 Railhead / int_e0d133d0
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Railhead / int_e0d133d0
 Railhead / int_e4900915
type
Ridiculously Human Robots
 Railhead / int_e4900915
comment
Ridiculously Human Robots: Played with regarding the Motorik. In most cases, they're only quasi-sentient and controlled by an external computer system, others such as Nova and Flex are indeed fully self-aware, raising some uncomfortable questions as to exactly to what extent the others are suppressed.
 Railhead / int_e4900915
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Railhead / int_e4900915
 Railhead / int_e8b295de
type
PlayedWith
 Railhead / int_e8b295de
comment
Played With regarding the the Neem, who aren't mechanical insects, but sentient swarms of insects that 'wear' spiderlike Powered Armor.
 Railhead / int_e8b295de
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1.0
 Railhead / int_e8b295de
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1.0
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Railhead / int_e8b295de
 Railhead / int_eb5cbe42
type
Me's a Crowd
 Railhead / int_eb5cbe42
comment
Anais Six is forced to kill off the bodies of Raven, her former lover, after he attempts to leak evidence of the existence of aliens to the public. Needless to say, it doesn't work, and one clone escapes.
 Railhead / int_eb5cbe42
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Railhead / int_eb5cbe42
 Railhead / int_f009b51c
type
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
 Railhead / int_f009b51c
comment
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: After Emperor Mahalaxmi XIII is killed in the Spindlebridge crash, Threnody's sister Priya Noon becomes Empress — and despite being quite literally born to rule, she proves to be a paranoid and unpopular Nervous Wreck, leading to Rail Marshal Delius effectively staging a coup to replace her with the much better-liked Threnody, who she will be able to manipulate to her own ends.
 Railhead / int_f009b51c
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 Railhead / int_f009b51c
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Railhead / int_f009b51c
 Railhead / int_f12c6fb1
type
Surprisingly Sudden Death
 Railhead / int_f12c6fb1
comment
Surprisingly Sudden Death: Just as he's about to turn on the Worm and journey through the new K-Gate it creates, Raven gets sewered by one of Desdemor's sky-rays, as the defence systems which were supposed to be keeping them away got destroyed in the Final Battle between him and Railforce.
 Railhead / int_f12c6fb1
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Railhead / int_f12c6fb1
 Railhead / int_f2c895f
type
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters
 Railhead / int_f2c895f
comment
Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Mention is made (however briefly) of a dangerous terrorist group known as the Human Unity League — whose goals, to restore democracy and end the rule of the Guardians, would typically lead to them being portrayed as La Résistance in many a science-fiction setting. They did launch a "nasty" conflict known as the Spiral Line Rebellion with the military backing (initially covertly, then openly) of the Prell family, meaning they're no saints by any means, but it remains unclear if they are genuinely well-intentioned, power-hungry opportunists, anti-machine fanatics, Bomb-Throwing Anarchists whose only aim is to "smash the system", or any combination of these. There's simply not enough information given about them to tell, and most of it comes from sources with a pro-Empire bias.
 Railhead / int_f2c895f
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Railhead / int_f2c895f
 Railhead / int_f6db5b1e
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RidiculouslyHumanRobot
 Railhead / int_f6db5b1e
comment
"Wire Dollies" is a derogatory term for the android Motorik.
 Railhead / int_f6db5b1e
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1.0
 Railhead / int_f6db5b1e
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Railhead / int_f6db5b1e
 Railhead / int_f7b32015
type
Sufficiently Advanced Alien
 Railhead / int_f7b32015
comment
Sufficiently Advanced Alien: The Railmaker. What else is there to be said about a being that can create a whole array of Dyson Spheres? It created the K-Gates, seemingly fail-safed to the extent that they kept functioning for centuries after its death, developed oodles of super-advanced Organic Technology, and seemingly nurtured the development of several of the races on the Web of Worlds to help with its aim of connecting the sentient species of the galaxy.
 Railhead / int_f7b32015
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1.0
 Railhead / int_f7b32015
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Railhead / int_f7b32015
 Railhead / int_fb9afaab
type
Attack Drone
 Railhead / int_fb9afaab
comment
Attack Drone: These appear frequently in the series, ranging from tiny micro-missiles disguised as hummingbirds to the archaic mid-size 'Beetles' and much more dangerous models used in railwar.
 Railhead / int_fb9afaab
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1.0
 Railhead / int_fb9afaab
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Railhead / int_fb9afaab
 Railhead / int_fcf6bca9
type
Robosexual
 Railhead / int_fcf6bca9
comment
Robosexual: Zen and Nova. In Railhead, they have several moments of Ship Tease on the Noon train, he risks his life and liberty to save her after she is lost in space, and they finally share The Big Damn Kiss before passing through Raven's K-Gate. They're an Official Couple for the rest of the series.
 Railhead / int_fcf6bca9
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 Railhead / int_fcf6bca9
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Railhead / int_fcf6bca9
 Railhead / int_fe48cea2
type
Lady of War
 Railhead / int_fe48cea2
comment
Lady of War: By this point, Threnody has had it with being a Puppet Queen, and transforms herself into the "Red Empress", personally participating in the battle to retake Grand Central for the Noons in a custom-built suit of body armour, accompanied by her Kraitt bodyguards.
 Railhead / int_fe48cea2
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 Railhead / int_fe48cea2
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Railhead / int_fe48cea2
 Railhead / int_fee9e9a2
type
Divine Date
 Railhead / int_fee9e9a2
comment
Divine Date: Guardians occasionally fall in love with humans, as occurred between Raven and Anais Six, though it's mentioned that this was not the only case, and any long-term lovers get the substantial benefits of never having to worry about any material needs, being able to attend the glitziest parties and events, and having their mind uploaded into the Datasea to become something immortal and beyond human, even allowing for control of multiple bodies.
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Railhead / int_fee9e9a2
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ItemName
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Railhead

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Railhead
hasFeature
Always Save the Girl / int_6c69797f
 Railhead
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Cool Train / int_6c69797f
 Railhead
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Eccentric A.I. / int_6c69797f
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English Literature / int_6c69797f
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G-Rated Sex / int_6c69797f
 Railhead
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Insufficiently Advanced Alien / int_6c69797f
 Railhead
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Klingon Scientists Get No Respect / int_6c69797f
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Made of Indestructium / int_6c69797f
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Robot and A.I. Works / int_6c69797f
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The Worm That Walks / int_6c69797f
 Railhead
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Young Adult Literature / int_6c69797f