Glossary for my published novel Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure and its upcoming sequel, Sons of Taldra.
The planets.
Valchondria: Earth, but in another dimension. Its one-world government consists of the Maintainers, the Supreme Science Council, and Leader. Valchondrian, adjective.
Degranon: Valchondria’s only colony. They follow an ancient holy book, Degranon, which provided the name of their religion and their Valchondria-class planet. Degran, adjective.
Wah-edge: a planet that appears in Sons of Taldra, Chapter One.
The terms.
Breathed enough exhaust: fed up. Refers to hovercraft fumes.
Ceiling trunks: magnetic storage units.
Clean-ups: custodians.
Colonization: ended 1000 years ago. Valchondrians no longer allow outside contact.
Colorsighted: able to see in color, something the virus prevented in most people.
Control: the leader of a Degran circle/province.
Core rules: most basic laws.
Cosmetic healer: someone who gives facial modifications. A plastic surgeon.
Credit box: the Valchondrian version of a debit card, actually worn at all times as a belt buckle. Might include other apps. The Maintainers also have a communication device in their credit box. Instead of money, people keep their earnings at a credit bank.
Creen: a hot, stimulating beverage, high in anti-oxidants. Like an artificial tea.
Credit boxed: recorded as having used one credit box for a particular purchase, leaving an electronic trail.
Crumbled/rusted: crazy, senseless, useless. Common slang.
Danger speak or danger thought: something one might get into trouble for saying, or that simply might offend others.
Declaration of Legally Permitted Language: a sort of politically correct constitution. Not used in Sons of Taldra.
Dethua: tree that provides ugly, soundproof wood with green swirls. Used in construction and as a slow-burning heat source.
Disrupter: a trouble maker.
Docle: one of the few flowers left on modern Valchondria. Its stem makes great bread, while its big white blossoms (real or plastic) often appear in floral arrangements or in women’s hair.
Facial modifications: see Cosmetic healer.
Forgiveness: sorry.
Fully hidden: classified.
Given name/chosen name: Parents give their child a name at birth. People choose a name when they become married. In most formal titles and settings, people use one’s given names. However, some (including Taldra) hate their given names and insist on their chosen name. No surnames or family names. Degrans call their parents Mother and Father, but modern Valchondrian children refer to their parents by chosen names.
Glide: skim through, usually in reference to wallscreen messages or channels.
Glory: used by Valchondrians as hello and goodbye. Also, some say “by glory” to express surprise or annoyance.
Gossip masters: tabloid media.
Gratitude: thank you.
Grav-free: adjective. Obvious meaning.
Gredga chips: a popular, sweet snack. Available freshly fried or processed.
Hand machine/palm machine: portable computer, but not interconnected with the Wall System.
Hasten: hurry.
Heavy cryptic: mysterious or intentionally vague.
Heavy hazard: dangerous, thought-provoking, or controversial.
Heavy honor: flatter, compliment, or provoke gratitude. Not as formal as it might sound.
Hiliate: According to Jase-Dawn’s mother, “Hiliates were giant, six-legged creatures that walked on their back four legs but ran on all six legs. They were remarkable creatures, and they never attacked people, but they were hateful toward each other, and rather putrid in their odor.” The term “Son of a hiliate” is an insult or expression of anger.
Holo-casing: holographic wrapping paper for presents.
Holo-casting: illegal use of 3D images, for the purpose of protests or deceptions.
Holo-list: a list to receive holo-ads that spring from one’s credit box. Credit banks rent out the list and allow their system to be used for this purpose, but they only target the rich.
Hover: drive. Also, hovercraft, hoverbus, hoverfumes.
Largely: very, as in “That’s largely heavy hazard.”
Leader: the president of Valchondria is referred to simply as Leader.
Letherns: small canines.
Life mirroring: a life sentence to a prison of mirrors.
Mallwalkers/mallwalking. Mall shoppers/shopping. Not the same as elderly Americans who walk malls before the stores open.
Maintainers: people who, because of a specific genetic structure, see themselves as genetically superior. They serve as Valchondria’s police, judges, and juries.
Mind relaxants: pain killers or sedatives.
Mind surge: flashy and trashy entertainment or propaganda. Dredge.
Morning lounge: room in a rich person’s home, with artificial trees, etc. that create a mock nature environment.
Move your feet this way: “come here” or “hurry.” Also, “Move your feet that way.”
Note: listen, mark my words.
One length: six feet.
The Power Holders: privately-owned company that owns the environmental regulators, the water supply, and the power plants, but not the Wall System.
Recognize: think of, consider, understand, or acknowledge, as in “Recognize his efforts” or “I recognize that.”
Red-skinned people: people we might see as Native America, First Nation, American Indian, or the member of a particular tribe. The family at the heart of both novels is red-skinned. Similar terms refer to other ethnicities.
Re-filter: mock, overanalyze, misinterpret, or insinuate. Also used in a more literal sense, as in “Re-filter that static-filled broadcast.”
Rock spiders: self-explanatory.
Same-gendered, both-gendered, op-gendered: reference to gender attraction, as in one is attracted to one’s own gender, both genders, or the opposite sex. Gay, bi, heterosexual.
See your aim/see my aim: understand.
Side that: never mind.
Solar/lunar: AM/PM.
Speak clearly: don’t equivocate. Also, “I speak clearly.”
Svey stone: a malleable, light-weight stone, initially used for making lamps.
Truthfully: honestly. Often used sarcastically, defensively, or just in explanation.
Two or twenty times: too often, or at least, it seems that way.
Undermall: an area beneath Valcine with illegal drug sales, illegal holo-casting sales, and most of Valchondria’s walkway people (homeless) population. Also used as an adjective for anything black market or otherwise illegal, as in “How undermall” or “drug undermall.”
Up-link wallscreen: upload to a wallscreen. Use hyphen.
The Uubsoov: alien race that attacked Valchondria’s second ship of colonists a millennium ago. (Sometimes called the Uubsoon.)
Valcine: the center of Valchondrian life—essentially, New York City. Valcini, adjective.
Verbal patterns: familiar and safe phrasings or arguments. Talking points.
Vid-chip: video stored on a small, square chip.
The virus: a manufactured illness that supposedly stops illness and delays aging. Besides slowly turning against the human body, it also causes most people to not hear certain musical tones and not see in color.
Vrix: a luminous rock, sometimes found in stalagmites and stalactites.
Walkway: side walk.
Walkway people: homeless people who congregate in Valcine. All other cities have banned walkway living, but Valcine’s size and structure foster it.
Walkway term: street talk.
Wallscreen: a system of video screens, run by the Wallsystem Conglomerate, that provide communication, news, and collected messages, as well as constant entertainment. Also used as a verb, as in “Wallscreen it to me.”
Wallscreen houses: adults-only video establishments.
Wallscreen room: aka video room. Living room.
Winter plague: early name for influenza.
(Note: the earlier working title for Sons of Taldra was Worried.)
Entry revised 8/11/11.
