Karma

The system of karma is the basis of life in the survivarium. Karma maintains a person’s record of useful actions done, assessed by the recipients or ‘users’, stored and accessible as part of the person’s karma halo. The basics of the karma system are outlined in Puzzle Three of the Karma Sutra. The system originated very early at Zigsa’s Nest as a means of keeping track of who had done whom what kind of favours.

Inception

The Survivors managed to steal a consignment of coloured threads, and they used these as markers of actions performed and happiness generated. When someone did someone else a good turn, the recipient pushed the doer a thread as a memento in one of the ten karma colours and sent a ping to the central server giving the colour and feedclip of the thread. Initially thread counts were also done manually when people met, and pinged to the server. These datastreams were compared to rule out fraud. Threads were worn with pride. Modern karma is still measured in threads, though these are now entirely virtual. However, for formal occasions, Florians will print out clothes in their karma colours as a handy way of advertising their skills and achievements. Karma can be awarded directly by the system, or can be given freely by a recipient. For instance, if one cleans one’s room alone, one gets a red thread from the foam. If someone does it for one, one gives them the red thread.