The Quadrant Archive
EDUCATION AND SERVICES IN THE QUADRANT: The following terms describe
education and services in The Quadrant. Choose any link to take you to a
description, or simply scroll down the page.
LINKS: Quad Services Unit/s ("QSU's"),
Educenter, Healthanc
("Health and Neual Care"), Pregward,
Kourtezan Guild, The
Inztitut.
Quad Services Unit/s ("QSU's"): Every Board (except Krania) has four QSU's placed
90 degrees from one another around the Board, each serving approximately
a quarter of the enfranchised inhabitants who live on that Board. There
are 24 QSU's in all, consecutively numbered, beginning with QSU 1, 2, 3
and 4 on Conzec Board, and continuing throughout the Boards to Recon 5.
Each unit is a large hexagonally shaped building with several floors, containing
(1) a Consumer Complex where food, clothing, and other products can be purchased,
(2) an Educenter to train and socialze children up to age 17, (3) a Security
and Enforcement Station to handle law enforcement and "disconnection/reconnection"
deliveries, (4) an Energy Management Sub Unit to monitor and maintain climate
control, waste disposal, and power systems, etc., (5) a Medical Facility
to provide healthcare, and an (6) Entertainment Dome to provide various
diversions for the populace. Each QSU is run by a QSU Manager, appointed
by the Praetor (see above) in charge of all QSU's Quadrant wide. The Praetor
has the power to appoint or remove each and every QSU Manager (24 total)
in The Quadrant. Note: Krania (or the "First Board") has no QSU's,
but does have a private hospital and various other elite facilities, including
specialty shops, several high quality Entertainment Domes, its own elite
Security and Enforcement Units, and the only university in the Quadrant
(see The Inztitut, below). To TOP of Page
Educenter: The combined
"primary" and "secondary" school located in every QSU
on the Boardz. Children enter at 6 years of age when they get their "Secondary
Interface Installation" (and their first small Screenz) and finish
at 16, when they receive their "Final Interface Installation"
(with an adult size Screen). Teaching at the primary level focuses on socialization
and features subjects like the principles of "pubbing" (essentally
language skills), "Our Screenz" (the basics of using and caring
for Screens), beinning "Quadthot," and elementary "Quadography"
(the basic geography of The Quadrant). As students progress, greater complexity
and subtlety is introduced and other subjects -- like Principles of The
System, "QuadRegs and The Korpus," and Introduction to Reg Design,
are added. Those who do not do well, or who have trouble with infractious
behavior and suffer demotions in Quadstat, either finish early with a lesser
certification, or are apprenticed out to one of the less skilled trades
(various infrastructure machinery monitoring or servicing). The better students
go on to finish with the standard certificate, and the top Conzec students
with "Firsts" (top 10% of their class) may take the Inztitut entrance
exam if they wish. To TOP of Page
Helathanc ("Health and Neual Care"): The medical services section, or sub unit, of a
QSU (Quad Services Unit). Birth authorizations (Pregauth see below), actual
births (Point of Origin Instances, or POI's), Initial, Secondary, and Final
Screen Interface Installations, various medanalysis and disease control
(inpatient and outpatient care), and terminations, all take place here.
All "Nubes" (newborns), even if they are born on Recon 5 Board,
are immediately connected to The System by means of the "Initial Interface
Installation" procedure and begin life as Conzecs. At 6 years, all
receive their first small "Screenz" (Secondary Interface Installation),
and at 16 these are upgraded to full size Screenz (Final Interface Installation).
To TOP of Page
Pregward: A special area
in the Healthanc section of every QSU on the Boardz, set aside for pregauthorized
women when they become pregnant. Such women are closely supervised to see
that they get the proper diet and rest necessary to bring a healthy new
Conzec ("Nube") into The Quadrant (despite the fact that many
of them are not Conzecs themselves). The main reason for the supervision
on the Outer Boardz is to try to minimize situations where pregnant women
may commit "infractions" which call for the sanction of temporary
disconnection from The System. The disconnection-reconnection process is
extremely shocking to the body and could be potentially fatal to an unborn
child. To TOP of Page
The Kourtezan Guild: An
organization of highly trained women set up to service the sexual and emotional
needs of wealthy male Privates and others of the elite classes in The Quadrant.
Before the Great Purges, The Kourtezan Guild was more concerned with education
and the healing arts than it was with delivering high quality sexual services.
However, with the onset of the Purges, some in its leadership who sought
to preserve its traditions were swept away in a flood of fear and repression
and replaced by those who (interested only in advancing their own interests)
had little appreciation for the past. In the aftermath of the Purges, the
consequent repression of history and rise of accelerationism in The Quadrant
brought about a new "slimmed down" and much-changed Kourtezan
Guild -- one mainly focused on satisfying the sexual needs of the Elite
while engaging in "sexual politics" to further the personal influence
of its leaders. To TOP of Page
The Inztitut: The only institution
in The Quadrant offering higher education. Its expense and rigorous entrance
requirements exclude all but the most talented, well connected, and wealthy
Conzecs (or Privates). A complex comprised of over 25 scattered buildings,
The Inzitut is located in the midst of a large park in Krania less than
three kilometers from Krania Tower and is composed of four colleges or "Skools."
(1) The Science Skool teaches the technical principles of The System, Quadrant
Infrastructure Management, and various Technical Design and Technical Design
Management subjects. (2) The Law Skool teaches the principles of The Korpus,
Reg Design, and Reg Design Management subjects (most of the Directors and
"Bigz" come from this skool). (3) The Humanitas Skool teaches
the principles of Security and Enforcement, Security and Enforcement management,
the principles of Quadthot, QSU Management subjects, and the Practical Geography
and Sociology of The Quadrant. (4) The Medical Skool teaches the principles
of "Healthanc" (Health and Neural Care), Electro-Chemical Pharmocology,
and QSU Health Management subjects.
Gaining entrance to The Inztitut requires the recommendation of 5 management
level Conzecs (with at least 3 of these coming from the field an applicant
wishes to specialize in), a score of 800 or better (out of 1,000 points)
on the entrance exam, and an interview with the "Application Evaluation
Committee" conducted at The Inztitut, covering Quadthot, The System,
and the reasons why the applicant wants to be admitted. The most feared
requirement for the parents or guardians of an applicant is the enormous
cost necessary to support a student in Krania and pay the exorbitant tuition
-- almost as much as a mid-range Quadrocrat manager's salary per year for
the three years needed to complete certification. To TOP
of Page