diff --git a/decisions/content.md b/decisions/content.md index bccc9d576..bb4da7648 100644 --- a/decisions/content.md +++ b/decisions/content.md @@ -241,9 +241,10 @@ How narrative, NPCs, and world content are created: content tiers, NPC generatio ### D-095: Horizon Stations and Gate Infrastructure — Transport Lore - **Date:** 2026-02-25 -- **Decision:** Span gates are human-built structures with a single aperture enabling near-instantaneous transit. Operating schedule uses dual-use windows: freight (bulk of hours) and passenger (scheduled slots). Physical layout: aperture chamber → freight staging / passenger arrival → customs lanes → gate concourse. Horizon stations are alien-built installations (no identified builder species), self-maintaining, located at Oort-cloud distance, with 4–8 apertures per station. Per-system canonical name: "The Ring." Travel is sequential-hop only (A→B→C through intermediate systems; no direct long-range transit). Per-system access tiers vary (4 tiers — some systems allow single-hop to orbital customs; no direct planetary span gate). Station Sova's horizon gates are located at The Ring (Oort-cloud orbital); the Administrative Hub contains booking offices only (not the gates themselves — correction to prior station profile text). "The Loop" is Sova's internal tram network: 6 districts, 4-minute run from Residential Core to Transit District. Workers arrive at the transit platform (bar-side) and disperse to Terminal or bar. -- **Rationale:** Resolves transport lore questions Q-040, Q-041, Q-043, Q-044 raised during Workshop #153. Miri's Round 3 contribution. Horizon station as alien-built infrastructure adds worldbuilding depth without requiring a named builder species. Sequential-hop travel creates natural story hooks (layover locations, transit records, smuggling route complexity). +- **Decision:** Span gates are human-built structures with a single aperture enabling near-instantaneous transit. Operating schedule uses dual-use windows: freight (bulk of hours) and passenger (scheduled slots). Physical layout: aperture chamber → freight staging / passenger arrival → customs lanes → gate concourse. Horizon stations are alien-built installations (no identified builder species), self-maintaining, located at Oort-cloud distance, with **1–8 apertures per station** (revised from 4–8; single-aperture stations are valid and produce isolated dead-end systems with one way in and one way out). Per-system canonical name: "The Ring." Travel is sequential-hop only (A→B→C through intermediate systems; no direct long-range transit). Per-system access tiers vary (4 tiers — some systems allow single-hop to orbital customs; no direct planetary span gate). Station Sova's horizon gates are located at The Ring (Oort-cloud orbital); the Administrative Hub contains booking offices only (not the gates themselves — correction to prior station profile text). "The Loop" is Sova's internal tram network: 6 districts, 4-minute run from Residential Core to Transit District. Workers arrive at the transit platform (bar-side) and disperse to Terminal or bar. +- **Rationale:** Resolves transport lore questions Q-040, Q-041, Q-043, Q-044 raised during Workshop #153. Miri's Round 3 contribution. Horizon station as alien-built infrastructure adds worldbuilding depth without requiring a named builder species. Sequential-hop travel creates natural story hooks (layover locations, transit records, smuggling route complexity). Aperture count revised to 1–8 (from 4–8) to allow single-aperture stations, which produce the most isolated and narratively interesting dead-end systems — and leave open the question of what a single-aperture station pointing at an unknown destination means. - **Raised by:** Miri (worldbuilding), confirmed by team. +- **Amendment (2026-03-13):** Aperture count range revised from 4–8 to **1–8** per project lead direction. Single-aperture horizon stations are valid; they are the mechanism for the most isolated dead-end systems, and for any system whose single gate points to a destination that is not (or not yet) part of the Reach. This change has downstream implications for the Earth question — see note in systems-framework-miri.md §7. - **Dissent:** None. - **Source:** Station District Layout Workshop, Ticket #153, Sprint 20. Round document: `docs/discussions/round-20-station-district-layout.md` - **Cross-reference:** D-093 (gate cluster spatial layout), Q-040 (gate dual-use topology — resolved), Q-041 (horizon station model — resolved), Q-042 (intra-system transport — partially resolved), Q-043 (station internal transit — resolved), Q-044 (gate-train integration — resolved)