A Var, short for Variation, is a world that is connected to Griddish by the Slipshot.
Description[]
Before a Var is created, the Slipshot anchors itself in deep space. Once it has done so, the fundamentals for a new world are established and the new world is set onto an evolutionary path.
The Slipshot series concerns itself with two Vars, Var 8, also known as Earth, and its near twin Var 7, known as Farth. Slipshot Vol 1.0 takes places in San Francisco, California and a city in Var 7 named Nissy.
The Main Characters of Var 7 and Var 8[]
Fredrick Munchen[]
Fredrick Munchen is a Varling from Var 8, Earth. He is a student at State University in San Francisco., and a friend and classmate to Jillian Crenshaw.
Jillian Crenshaw[]
Jillian Crenshaw is a Varling from Var 8, Earth. She is a student at State University in San Francisco, and a friend and classmate to Fredrick Munchen.
Dr. Jeremiah Onu[]
Dr. Jeremiah Onu is a professor of philosophy at State University in San Francisco. He teaches Ancient Greek philosophy, and Fredrick and Jillian are his students.
Relationship to Griddish[]
Var 8[]
Var 8, Earth, is a child world of Griddish, falling under Beauty World category of Vars invented by Engineer Class Citizen, Matere Songgaard. The Vars are generally maintained by Griddish, and frequently traveled to by Mechanic Class Slaves to make minor adaptations to new circumstances, such as changes in weather patterns, planetary rotations, solar orbits, and a host of other issues.
It was decided by the Council of Engineer Class Citizens of Griddish that Var 8 was no longer viable, and a dismantlement project was initiated. The reason was due to the aggressive nature of Var 8's evolutionary process.
Upon reviewing their decision, and addressing an appeal by Matere Songgaard, the Council of Engineer Class Citizens made the following argument.
“The data model that we devised predicts that, if left to its own, Var 8 will likely spread its more destructive tendencies much faster than its culture and technology. So, in other words, when technology reaches a certain inflection point, it will already be too late for its future worlds to be salvaged.”[1]
Matere Songgaard's rebuttal was as follows,
“Var 8, and all Beauty Worlds, must have a certain disposition towards survival, without which there is no way for it to reach beyond the boundaries of its own atmosphere. That disposition, that instinct, requires specific times of aggressive behavior.”[1]
Eventually, Matere's appeal was overridden and the Mechanic Class Slaves and the Vérkatrae were deployed to Var 8. Soon thereafter, Fredrick Munchen started to have visions of the Vérkatrae of which no Varling was supposed to be capable.
Var 7[]
Var 7, Farth, is a child world of Griddish. At the end of Slipshot Vol 1.0, Fredrick and Jillian, along with Mechanic Class Slave Cythiria Crenshaw, arrive in the city of Nissy as refugees from Griddish. They find Var 7 to be similar to Var 8 in a number of ways except that Var 7 has a planetary ring.