Sentient Cities

 

Two ways exist for a Uranian city to become a sentient being.  The oldest way is that of the hive mind.  In this arrangement, which seems to occur spontaneously, each of the city's inhabitants usually donates a "tax of awareness" to the group mind and in return receives the benefits of living in a city which possesses this protective mental umbrella.  In extreme cases, the individuals citizens do more than this - they sink their whole minds into the city mind, at least most of the time.  Quite a few instances of this extreme type are known from the records of the Phosphorus Era.  As for the more moderate hives, the best and most beneficial of them was that of Ao in the Xenon Era - "The Last Great Hive". 

A more recent kind of sentient city, which has become possible from the Silver Era onwards, is caused by the physical evolution of the city's central computer into a Ghepion - a sentient machine - which then extends its sensors throughout the city's structure until it and the city become virtually one and the same.  The most notorious example of this was the career of Oso, the Mad City, who warred against the rest of Syoom during the 245 days of the Tin Era.   

 

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