Topopolis

Topopolis are a type of artificial habitat based on the simpler Ringworld design, but altered to provide more living space. Instead of a single ring orbiting a star, a topopolis is formed of a spiral, which slowly rotates around itself, instead of around the star, allowing each part of the spiral to have a day/night cycle, much like on a planet. Capable of housing many trillions of individuals, but representing a large investment of resources and complex engineering, they are only ever found in high value core systems. Both the Federation of Xah and the Northup Alliance have the capability to build topopolis, although they are more often found in the latter.

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Example Topopolis

Thea Sector 1098.2, locally known as Pietersring, houses over 99.9% of the population of its system, a core system of the Northup Alliance. It is reasonably unique, in that the system functions as a full virtual democracy, with all of its 4.8 trillion inhabitants able to participate in local decision making through the use of uploaded mindstates known as 'avatars'. The system itself is an important source of lithium, with mining taking place on a number of asteroids and dwarf planets.

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Utility

The complex nature of the topopolis' construction allows each section to experience a true day/night cycle that can be altered to local demands, although almost all use a 24 hour pattern based on basic human's circadian rhythm. A central orbital ring provides rapid transit around the structure's circumfrence, but it is often quicker to travel across the system instead of around. Rotation of the ring provides gravity, not rotation around the central star, as in a Ring.

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Manufacturing

Quite often topopolis are constructed as an advancement on simpler rings, and sometimes as a precursor to Dyson swarms, although once a topopolis is built, desire for a full dyson swarm is limited. Like a lot of other artifical habitats, they are made of exotic materials, as regular susbtances are not capable of handling the stresses involved. Whilst any star system is capable of having a topopolis, they are usually found in the habitable zone around main sequence stars, to allow for natural heating of the surface.

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World Classification: Topopolis
Star Classification: Any
Max. Population None

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