Work Text:
People:
Those from the planet Andara are known as Andaran. Only Andarans, are ever sensitive to the substance Andron (just like kryptonite, really). The small percentage of Andarans who are genetically unable to tolerate Andron are known as Andarchic.
The gene that causes people to be Andarchic is a recessive gene. Andarans have traveled and inter-married over generations, so the gene can appear unexpectedly. All newborns are tested at birth (if near a center of civilization), and the Andarchic are required to be registered.
Chris Larabee
Chris Larabee is the captain of the ship Clarion. He picks up whatever work he can out of the space ports around the Lexan system. Mostly this is contract/mercenary work transporting people and goods that might not make it through normal channels. His wife Sarah was Andaran and his son, Adam, was Andarchic. Chris and Sarah had Adam registered at birth and were just starting to realise what his life would be like when Sarah and Adam were killed while Chris was away. When Adam was tattooed with the Andarchic symbol at age 4, Chris had an identical tattoo applied to his forearm in the ritual manner of acceptance to the Andaran race.
Vin Tanner
Vin Tanner is Andarchic, one of the small percentage of Andaran people who can't tolerate an Andronic chip, however, he was never registered and was, instead, brought up a Drifter. He finds joy in being able to drift through society without leaving a trace, and feels contempt for those who advocate that the Andarchic should be treated as sub-citizens purely because of their genetics.
Vin's father is an Andaran elder and member of the Galactic Council. He, like Vin, is Andarchic but believes conforming to Society's rules is safer than rebelling and so champions the "the andarchic must conform" position because he sees it as the only way to keep his people safe. Vin's mother cut all ties with her birth clan when she discovered she was pregnant because she knew she would have no option but to have the child registered. So she made contact with the Drifters (she's Andaran, but not Andarchic) in the hope of a better future for her child. Vin's father never knew for certain why his wife left, or that he has a child, but he has never given up trying to trace his wife's location.
Vin's mother died when Vin was a child, and he was brought up by Kojay and his family. He genuinely loves his adoptive Drifter clan and is especially close to Chanu. His clan elder, Kojay, believes the Drifters are as much threatened by their own radical elements as they are by the Council and so advocates caution. Vin's clan actively monitors the activities of the Council and all groups who could be a threat, and are skilled intelligence gatherers. Vin is especially talented at moving quietly through society and is often first choice for their most dangerous missions.
Vin and Chris meet by chance and they're tied by mutual experience, ie. Chris, through Vin, has a chance to see what his son's life might have been like had he lived to grow up.
Ezra Standish
Ezra Standish is a Senior Advocate who makes a living representing those who've fallen afoul of the system. His prices are high but he has no intention of working for less than a decent day's pay. He has met the Clarion crew on a number of occasions and regularly does work for Chris Larabee.
Chris and Ezra are currently in a casual relationship that has potential to be more. Their relationship is full of fire, given Ezra's talent for hiding his true feelings and Larabee's volatile nature, but they are constantly in orbit around each other.
Buck Wilmington
Buck Wilmington is Chris's long-time friend and sometime lover, but at the start of this AUs timeline they haven't seen each other for some time -- not since the deaths of Chris's wife and son (which happened while Chris and Buck were away on a trip that was less work and more play than it should have been).
Not too long after Chris's family's deaths, Buck met a vivacious politician, Louisa Perkins, and it was almost love at first sight. Chris didn't find her nearly as attractive, but despite his adamant assertions that she was no good in general, and no good for Buck in particular, Buck married her and moved away to be with her while she pursued her political career.
Unbeknown to either Chris or Buck, they've quietly kept tabs on each other and meet up shortly after the foundation story in this series. Their relationship is complex due to their history and the more than a few harsh words between them. But their adult lives have comingled for more years than they haven't, and while the sparks they strike off each other can singe them both occasionally, they have a strong bond and their affections run deep.
Josiah Sanchez
Josiah Sanchez is a former soldier and mercenary but he found his spiritual path and has since reformed. Chris and Buck have known him for years, since their own days fighting in the war of independence, so when Chris crossed paths with him again, he asked him to come on board and work with him. In recent times he has acted as Chris's second in command and is known to have a mean streak.
Nathan Jackson
Nathan Jackson is a doctor who was accused of killing a patient. Even though he was ultimately cleared, he no longer has a license. He met Chris through Josiah and has been part of their crew for some time.
JD Dunne
JD is yet to meet up with the Clarion crew. He first meets the Clarion crew after he stows-away on Chris's shuttle and is caught by the ship's routine scanning processes. Chris immediately returns him to where he came from, but JD persists, and with Buck's intervention, is eventually taken on board.
Judge Orin Travis
Judge Travis is a Judge Advocate, senior to Ezra, and will hire Chris and his crew after hearing about their 'rescue' of Vin. He's secretly sympathetic to the Andarchic, and does what he can to ease their way.
The Society:
This is a controlled society, wherein people need to have an embeded Andron chip in order to interact with technology. Chips, therefore individuals, are registered and their activities tracked. It's done in a 'for the good of all' kind of way, in classic Big Brother-ness fashion, ie. you have a chip, it allows you to interact with Andron-based materials and equipment (all the computer systems, and electronic-based equipment would require the user/operator to interact through the chip), but it also allows the Government to create a profile and maintain a register of all activity, good and bad, through your entire life.
The Andarchic are potentially a threat to citizen control, because they're able to move around and live their lives without being tracked. Certainly, they are restricted in what they can do, but they are essentially invisible to the system. So they're identified from birth and rigidly controlled. They're not locked up as such, but have trouble moving around and living without a chip, and wear an identifying facial tattoo so they're easily recognised. The Council maintains that is so people can easily identify them and make allowances, but it's essentially to make them 'different'. The Andarchic can apply for, and use, a non-andron (synthesised) chip for a specific task, but those are rigidly controlled and set off flags which make the user even more identifiable.
So generally the Andarchic keep together in communities that don't require high use of technology -- by some they're considered 'pure'. But the fact remains, they're severely limited in what they can do and are highly controlled (the Government is scared of them, and for good reason). Those in traditional communities are taught to keep a low profile and not stir up too much trouble, because the community elders are, with good reason, afraid they'll be literally locked up if they press their advantage.
But some escape being registered at birth and choose to live a different life, ie. they come and go as they please, use a black market synthetic chip when they need to 'get by' and are pretty much invisible to the System the rest of the time. For the reason above, they mostly have to hide from their own kind as well as from the Government, and there's a whole Urban Mythology that's built up about them. They're known as Drifters.
The chip Vin is using when he's first arrested in the Baultan system, is a black market, non-Andron chip made of a synthesized organic material. To mimic the behaviour of an Andronic chip, it has to be in contact with the wearer's body tissue so it can bond to them and when scanned, reflect their genetics in the same way an Andronic chip would. The problem is that there's no material like the organic form of Andron that maintains its integrity almost indefinitely when integrated with the user. The synthetic chip, as soon as it connects to the body, starts to degrade, and after a short period of time (2-3 days) stops responding the way it should. Hence Vin's ability to pass a scan on the way in to the detention centre, but not on the way out. He doesn't use one all the time (only if he's somewhere likely to be scanned -- they're expensive) and he has a skin flap on his forearm that the chip is inserted underneath. It's actually in the middle of a unique tattoo and is virtually unnoticeable to anyone not specifically looking for it. The reason the synthetic chips are outlawed is that because they're temporary, they are ideal for creating multiple false identities.
Political Groups
The Gallactic Council: is the supreme governing body which sets political and social policy. Vin's father is the Andarchic representative on the Council
The Central Gallactic Administration: implements and polices the political and social system as directed by the Gallactic Council.
Andarchic Patriotic Alliance (APA): known as the Alliance (or Falonites after their founder, Jiore Fallon). They're a revolutionary/ultra right wing group, somewhat like the neo-nazis, and are intent on maintaining the current rigid social hierarchy through militant means.
Andarchic Freedom Collective (AFC): or Collective, are an extreme Left wing group. They rebel against the traditional social order which dictates that the Andarchic must conform, and strive to create a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and privilege. They have no reluctance in meeting violence with violence.
Vin's adoptive Drifter clan, headed by Kojay, falls somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. They believe that the Council's social policy is wrong, but they work for change through non-violent means.
Technology:
Scanners and transporters are specificially designed to recognize a chip and interact with it. If there's no chip, then the energy emitted by the device dissipates through the body and causes a temporary neurological dysfunction. Vin has worked hard to train himself to hide his involuntary responses but can't completely avoid the effect. Transporters need more energy than scanners, so the effect is worse.
The ink of Vin's tattoo contains a special substance that makes it easier for him to tolerate Andron, even if only on the most minor of levels. But it's a carefully kept secret because if the authorities found out...
Vin's tattoos:
Vin has a large eagle tattoo on his right arm and shoulder and a panther tattoo on his hip:
Vin also has another, smaller tattoo on his forearm that contains the synthetic chip. It is the (Native American) elemental symbol, Antimony, which is a traditional Andaran symbol and a sign of belonging.
Antimony: A metalloid, antimony, resembles metal in its appearance and physical properties, but does not chemically react as a metal. "This elemental alchemy symbol represents animal tendencies found in humankind -- a wild nature in all of us -- wear this symbol when you are feeling meek -- it will remind you of the animal power that dwells within you."