21 September 2698 Gelime was founded as a Terran colony, envisioned as a beacon of post-Cataclysm recovery. It was established as a scientific utopia where the pursuit of knowledge, particularly theoretical physics and biology, was held as the ultimate purpose of existence. This foundation laid the groundwork for a post-scarcity society dedicated to intellectual advancement.
For Centuries Following its Founding Gelime flourished as the jewel of the Sanctuary of the Mind, becoming the de facto seat of government for its three-planet system. Its administration managed interstellar trade, social programs, and a limited defensive military, ensuring absolute equality among the worlds. Society was open, with free debate occurring in the great plazas of the Spire of Reason, underpinned by a deep-seated pacifism and the perceived deterrence of superior energy shields.
Twenty-Five Years Ago This era of utopian peace and intellectual freedom abruptly ended. The Red Sun Dominion fleet arrived, not with bombardment, but with an ultimatum demanding Diplomatic Annexation. The Gelimians, overly confident in their pacifism, were outmaneuvered when Dominion infiltration units seized key atmospheric processors. To save their precious archives, the sum of their Collective Understanding, they were forced to surrender, effectively abandoning their independence and former way of life.
Post-Annexation Occupation Gelime transformed into a prison masquerading as a protectorate, with its gleaming white cities now shadowed by pervasive paranoia. The Dominion, under the guise of protecting intellectuals, began strip-mining the planet's vast intellectual resources. Their true aim was the acquisition of Maltech—forbidden technologies like AI cores and cloning vats that the Dominion publicly condemned.
The populace seethed with resentment, witnessing the hypocrisy of their occupiers secretly salvaging debris from the nearby Vael Station, destroyed in the catastrophe involving Dr. Edward Nelson. Gelime became an Exclusion Zone in spirit, its inhabitants retreating inward. They grew deeply insular and distrustful of all outsiders, fearing them to be Dominion spies.
Every citizen’s life is now dictated by mandatory data logs and holographic charts, meticulously tracking their productivity for their militant overseers. The once-vibrant open plazas have fallen silent, yet beneath the surface, the networks are alive with the encrypted resistance of the Null Hypothesis. Gelime remains under occupation, its people engaged in a silent, passive resistance.
