A General Overview of Sime~Gen

as seen by Linda L. Whitten


This story was first published in Companion in Zeor #11, senior editor Karen Litman. This online version was retyped into computer format, and then reformatted for the web. Retyped by Karen Litman, converted to HTML by Mike Giroux

 

The Sime~Gen universe was created by Jacqueline Lichtenberg. This story or its setting may not be reused without her explicit permission. This story copyright © 1994, 1997 by Jacqueline Lichtenberg. All rights reserved.


Sime~Gen, or S~G as it is often abbreviated, is an interesting universe created by Jacqueline Lichtenberg. It is set in Earth's far future after a cataclysmic disaster that brings about a mutation of the human race.

Not only do the people evolve into two distinct groups of beings, but strange new plants and food sources evolve at the same time.

One group of humans evolve to be generally tall, thin, graceful, tentacled and feared by the other group. These were the Simes. They look human until you see their forearms. Each arm has four handling tentacles which function like extra hands or fingers. Two of them are over the wrist and two are under the wrist. There are two additional tentacles on either side of the wrist. These are called Laterals.

More on the Simes in a moment.

Then there are the Gens. Gens look just like you or I do today. Gens are normally terrified of Simes in that some Simes are known to kill Gens. Up to a point in time where some Simes and Gens started working together to create peace between their two races.

Gens unknowingly produce an energy source called selyn [pronounced seh-line]. Simes require the Gen's selyn to have a continued existance. Here is where the fear of Simes in a Gen comes into play.

Gens could easily live without the Simes. But the Sime cannot live without the Gen. Early in their development Simes used to capture Gens strictly for their own survival. They would ultimately kill the hapless Gen of every ounce of selyn. It was no wonder that the Gens have come to learn to fear the Simes and pass this fear on down through many generations of Gens!

Eventually, some of the Simes learned how not to kill a Gen when taking their selyn thus preserving the said Gen's life. This presented a tremendous challenge to the Sime population as well as the Gens.

Householdings were established after a time where Sime and Gen could live peacefully together. Early on in their history the Householdings were criticized and ofttimes attacked by hostile Simes. Householders, as they were called, were often referred to as perverts because of their chosen way of life.

By this time, Simes and Gens had different levels of status.

For the Gens, there were the Out-Territory Gens. Often called Wild Gens. There were Gens who came to be called Companions because of their abilities to serve their Sime partners willingly and without fear. They were the more talented Gens! As they also had a knack for keeping most Simes from getting their internal systems royally turned upside down and kept hostile nagers (the identifying feature of a Gen as well as Simes though Simes were not as brilliant and easy to see in the dark as Gens were) from interfering with a Channel's work. There were also Out-Territory Gens who were general donors much later on in their history.

Simes, on the other hand, had developed into either Channels, renSimes, or junct (addicted to the kill) Simes. The Sime who was junct could either be a renSime or a Channel. He or she depended on pen Gens (captured Gens from Out-Territory or specifically bred in government pens) for their survival. The Gens they used always died. A renSime living in a Householding depended on the Channels for the selyn they needed to live. Channels got their selyn from their Companions and with their Companions help either collected selyn from the usually nervous O-T general donor or in the distribution of the selyn to the renSimes.

No matter which sort of Sime you were, you had to have selyn every twenty-eight days or run the risk of dying by attrition or lack of selyn. This was not a pleasant way to die!

Gens who captured Simes in their territory often locked up the Sime in a cage in a public square and watched the offending Sime suffer and die. That is, if he or she didn't get shot to death.

Which brings me to another point. The children. Parents of In and Out Territory children could never be sure WHAT their child would be. Gen parents feared their children if blisters broke out on their forearms and would shoot and kill any and all such children! Why? To keep their communities safe from the killer Sime! First Need is a thing to be feared unless the child changes from pre-Gen (what all children are called) to a full-fledged Sime! Unless a qualified Channel or Donor is available, the new Sime will kill the first Gen they get their tentacles on!

Sime children who fail to changeover (the process of becoming a Sime and often unpleasant to the child in question) have the problem of being taken to the Gen pens where they are kept in a drugged state for the junct Simes' use. Unless they can escape from In Territory to Out Territory through established secret routes. Even escape to Out Territory can be cut short if border guards or licensed or unlicensed Raiders catch them!

Gen children who manage to get to the border face the same risks Sime children face. Raiders or the Gen Border Guards!

Eventually, a Unity is worked out between the Simes and the Gens.


From Companion in Zeor #11

Last modified on 29 June 97 at 1730