Appendix II: Glossary

bionanotechnology — Ultra-miniature electronic devices designed to co-exist in and interact with the body of a living creature.

nooseboy — A male student at a college of hanging.

noosegirl — A female student at a college of hanging.

Noosemeister® — Technically, a graduate of The Hanging Academy”reg;. Informally, students at the Academy refer to themselves as Noosemeisters. “Noosemeister” is a registered trademark of The Hanging Academy.

puppyboy/puppygirl — A human who has been converted into a pet. Sometimes silenced by removing their vocal chords, more often they have Broca’s region stunned so they can’t make words, only animal noises. Then they are trained to behave like dogs. Purity Island does not have the technology to do this. They create “puppies” by treating babies as if they were dogs, and mostly keeping them ignorant of speech until they are too old to acquire language.

phenvalenic acid — A pheromone emitted by sublings throughout their lives. phenvalenic acid emission increases during adolescence, levels off during adulthood, and begins to decrease around age 60. phenvalenic acid emission jumps sharply when the subling is happy, sexually aroused, or experiencing love (eros), parent-child bonding, or close friendship. When someone (subling or topper) smells phenvalenic acid, it triggers an increased ability to uptake thanerone from the source (subling)

Purity Island — An island in the Pacific Ocean, settled by a group of ultraconservatives opposed to giving human rights to sublings. See Appendix IV for more information.

subling — A “beta”: the majority. Sublings produce thanerone, a vital hormone. Every subling has a birthmark on his/her forehead, a small, blue triangle. Toppers sometimes have birthmarks, but never this one.

thanerone — A hormone created in the brains of sublings when they die. Young sublings (under 30) produce the most hormone; production of thanerone decreases rapidly after age 40. Sublings produce more thanerone when they know the are going to die and expect to enjoy it. Toppers also produce thanerone, but in much lower concentration. Thanerone is important to both toppers and sublings. Benefits to the recipient include: Improved immune system: more rapid response to invading bacteria, viruses, etc., but less tendency toward autoimmune diseases like diabetes and lupus. “Good luck”: increased ability to spot opportunities in time to act on them. Greek thanatos (death) plus eratikos (passionate love) plus one (hormone suffix) Thanerone is more effective if the recipient has recently inhaled the phenvalenic acid produced by the subling source of the thanerone.

topper — An “alpha”: the ruling minority of people in my world. They have no special attributes, but are the equivalent of whites in the 1960s USA: privileged and happy to be so.