
"We Ourselves"

   The Antrans area highly extroverted, social, and fanciful people. Of
   the "Imperial" race (standard Solomani/Vilani parentage), they are
   only ho-hum physically, without the supernatural elegance and perfect
   physique that bioengineering grants most citizens of high-tech worlds.
   
   They take no particular pride in their status as subsector capital,
   but do take pride in their artistic endeavors. Their buildings, while
   not particularly 'artistic', do radiate a certain grace, a certain
   lightness. Their most famed artists are sometimes quiet, sometimes
   loud, but approach their work with a disciplined hand. Even third-rate
   artists from Antra are highly valued elsewhere: their command of the
   repertoire of Imperial culture is unmatched elsewhere, their intense
   understanding and respect of their audience (even as they recoil at
   their alieness) is known to all.
   
   There are several rituals and notable variations on Antra that should
   be noted by the casual traveller.
     * Greeting: when two friends meet, they give the standard greeting
       "Howdo?", then they both circle a point halfway between them in
       silence.After two revolutions, they clap hands and hug
       affectionately.
     * Children: Antrans love their children immensely, and enjoy showing
       them the world they live in. They happily haul their children to
       work, to play, to shop, to visit lovers, even to see (and laugh
       at) visitors.
       What they won't allow is for some filthy stranger to touch their
       children. Expect serious verbal abuse if you dare do so.
     * Life: Antra has no native lifeforms, and the locals have chosen to
       introduce nothing but plants and insects: but (after a checkup)
       the Antrans will allow animals on the world, as long as they are
       T-linked.
       (T-links come in two parts: one part goes on the owner's body, and
       the other around the animal's neck. If the animal leaves a certain
       distance from the owner, it suffers pain: if it crosses another
       threshhold, it dies.)
     * Clothing: Antrans have a sharp sense of what looks good: often
       their taste runs to simple and elegant, but many like large and
       loud. Either way, their clothing is comfortable, loose-fitting and
       of good quality. They don't go for effect-clothing, but there is a
       current fad for biolumenescent contact lenses (bright yellow, or
       Denebian red eyes, are the most desired.)
     * Food: While the Antrans have good taste everywhere else, they
       don't cut it when it comes to the belly. Then, they simply want it
       hot, spicy, and in He-man servings. Everything else is just a
       frill.
     * Literacy: Antrans, like most TL C+ societies, are functionally
       post-literate. However, old-fashioned bookreading is a growing fad
       among the elite, and the fad is starting to show up in popular
       culture.
   
   Regular life is much the same as on other high-tech worlds, with the
   cycle of conception (by whatever means), genetic therapy, birth,
   infant training, career selection, child-specific VR education, work,
   sex, ageing, and death. Marriages are rare (even for a high-tech
   world), but more people choose to raise children than on the typical
   High Stellar world.Antrans also place a higher value on "high-brow"
   culture and sophistication rather than focus on simple
   'stupid-foreigner' entertainment like some mindless talk show or
   sitcoms.
   
   The Immigrants, isolated in their shantytowns, live a different life.
   Imagine a vast, dirty-grey tent city, connected by a chain of fabric
   tunnels. Gangs of shadowy figures, huddled together, march from the
   asture factory towers to their ragged tents, to hide from the bitter
   -20 C cold. Inside, in a city without children, live the hard-bitten
   men who do the work meant for machines. Someone will die on the job
   tomorrow when their safety lines finally snap (Antrans don't waste
   grav belts on 'trash': men are far cheaper than grav belts to
   replace), or when their poorly maintained equipment is tested once too
   often.
   
   However, more deaths occur outside of the factories than inside. With
   only the most superficial medical care, a large portion of the workers
   are slowly dying (or going mad, or losing their vision) due to the
   noxious fumes of their work. (Remember, the robots that did the jobs
   before them didn't have to worry about breathing, or heat stroke, or
   the pounding noise destroying their eardrums). Moreover, the largely
   male workers get into endless fights, with handmade guns or knives.
   Women workers are sometimes left alone, but often are forced to take
   on a lover for protection, or simply for some companionship in their
   hard life.
   
   (Note: In many areas, the tent cities are pressurized, connected by a
   maze of fabric tunnels. Well, they are supposed to be pressurized: the
   poor-quality tents they were given are not built to take the damage
   the workers often inflict on them.)

