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Explanation of code used.
The HSDA's administration is headed by a council of five members. Four members are chosen by the participating Spheres, and serve at the whim of their respective governments. The fifth member is chosen by the other four, but serves for life and may not be removed except by complete agreement of the other councillors. The current fifth member is Lisa August, retired commanding admiral of the ICA's main fleet. She has taken a fairly strong role on the Council, and some members of the four spheres have already begun to talk about revising the rules for the selection of council members. The HSDA's support organization maintains offices in every system of the four clients, but the HSDA Council itself meets in various locales. There is some discussion about relocating the Council to a settlement located in neutral territory between the four member spheres, though this is entirely speculative as of yet.
At present, the HSDA is largely concerned with increasing inter-Sphere communication capabilities (shown to be sadly lacking in the Tripod War). Eventually, the plan goes, the HSDA will shift to establishing protocols for military cooperation, including joint exercises, docking rights, mutual supply, sharing of intelligence information, etc.
Humans are still basically the same animals which they have been since pre-history, Homo Sapiens Sapiens. However, the question of what exactly constitutes a human has become far more difficult over the centuries. The primary complicating factor has been technology. Such things as personality recording, complete body transplants and other general cybernetics have meant that it is possible to have a human body completely devoid of a human personality, or a human personality devoid of a body, or two personalities within the same body, or a host of other complicated situations. The exact legal definition of human varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but it is generally stated that a human must have a personality which is still basically natural (meaning that the personality has not been modified or degraded through recording to a point where it no longer resembles its natural self). Many jurisdictions do not place limits upon body types, though many do state simply that a mind without a physical presence has no status as a viable entity or human. More conservative jurisdictions may require that every personality have a biological body possessed of various organs and functions. The most conservative governments have used the increasing presence of grey areas to make black-and-white statements, excluding (for example) those with fewer limbs than normal from the main template of humanity. Though this has of course made many parties angry, they have been rather ill-put to give strong and clear counter-arguments.
| Name(s) | Axelon |
| Primary | Escalante |
| Orbit | 0.07 AU |
| Diameter | 7122 KM. |
| Satellites | 5: Gramophone, Elias, Eliade, Thatcher and Misanthrope |
| Density | 3210 kg/m³. |
| DMTP | F30 |
| Gravity | 0.79 G's |
| Atmosphere | Trace, mostly carbon dioxide |
| Population | 410,000,000 humans; scattered Qiqiu, Starwhales and Hammerheads |
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