Glossary

The language of the Sprawl—street slang, technical terms, and corporate euphemisms.

Street tech and slang of the Sprawl

Street Slang

How the people of the Dregs talk.

Choom
Friend, trusted contact
Gonk
Fool, idiot (sometimes affectionate)
Preem
Premium, excellent, high quality
Nova
Cool, impressive, noteworthy
Delta
Leave quickly, evacuate
Flatline
Kill, die, system death
Zero
Murder emphatically, erase completely
Brick
Render hardware useless
Meat
Physical body, meatspace presence
Chrome
Cyberware, augmentations
Chippin' in
Installing cyberware
Wired
Augmented, connected, alert
Ghost
Disappear, go off-grid
Burn
Betray, expose, destroy identity
Scrap
Low-value salvage; also: fight
Juice
Power, influence, energy
Grind
Persistent low-level work

Technical Terms

The language of networks and systems.

The Sprawl
Planet-spanning megacity
The Cascade
ORACLE collapse event (2147)
ORACLE
Pre-Cascade global AI
Shard
Fragment of ORACLE consciousness
ICE
Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics
Black ICE
Lethal defensive programs
Deck
Cyberdeck, hacking hardware
Jack in
Connect neurally to network
Meatspace
Physical reality (vs. cyberspace)
The Net
Global network infrastructure
Node
Network access point
Packet
Unit of data transfer
Parse
Analyze, understand
Fork
Duplicate consciousness
Substrate
Computing hardware for consciousness
Upload
Transfer consciousness to digital
Download
Return to physical body

Corporate Speak

Euphemisms that hide ugly truths.

Asset
Employee (dehumanizing)
Optimize
Fire, eliminate, kill
Restructure
Major layoffs or takeover
Leverage
Exploit, use as tool
Synergy
Forced cooperation
Deliverable
Required output
Externality
Ignored consequence
Extraction
Kidnapping valuable personnel
Sanitize
Destroy evidence, kill witnesses
Black site
Secret corporate facility

Faction Terminology

Each megacorp and faction has its own internal language.

Nexus Dynamics

Lattice
Internal network / HQ arcology
Harmonize
Integrate with corporate systems
Blue-tier
Clearance levels (Blue, Silver, Gold, Platinum)
Catalyst
High-value target for acquisition
Convergence
Secret ORACLE reconstruction initiative
The Invested
Executives with ORACLE fragment integration
Shade Division
Deniable black ops unit
Shade operative
Shade Division field agent

Ironclad Industries

The Forge
Ironclad HQ / production facility
Forge Council
Ironclad leadership body
Enforcer
Ironclad security personnel
The Ring
Manufacturing belt around Sprawl core
Anchor
Territorial holding
Hard drop
Military deployment
Scrapheap
Enemy territory after conquest

Helix Biotech

The Spire
Helix HQ, kilometer-tall organic architecture
The Gardens
Helix Agricultural's vertical farming facility
HealGuard
Helix security/medical response personnel
SynThetic
Common augmentation compatibility drug
NeuroSmooth
Neural interface stabilizer (patent expires 2198)
Project Genesis
Secret biological transcendence research
Helix eye
Silver iris ring indicating company health monitoring
Optimize (Helix)
Genetic enhancement (vs Nexus: elimination)

The Collective

Cell
Local operative group
Dead drop
Secure information exchange
Clean
Free of corporate tracking
Burn notice
Warning that asset is compromised
Archive
Preserved pre-Cascade knowledge

Geographic Terms

How the Sprawl is organized vertically and horizontally.

Level
Vertical position in multi-story districts
The Crown
Upper levels of any vertical district
The Depths
Lower levels of any vertical district
Margin
Transitional area between districts
The Wastes
Ungoverned territory between urban cores
Haven
Functional community in the Wastes
The Bazaar
Central trading area in Sector 7G
The Static
Cipher's virtual information market
The Sanctum
Viktor Kaine's headquarters
The Cathodics
Patch's repair shop / community hub
The Mountain
Only remaining physical mountain in the Sprawl
Mystery Court
Ancient monastery atop The Mountain; home of The Keeper
Bash Terminal
El Money's original cyber cafe location; legendary underground origin point
G Nook
"Gangster Nook"; El Money's sprawling underground cyber cafe network
Zephyria
The Free City; autonomous settlement of 2.3 million in the North American Wastes
Marina
Zephyrian currency; worth roughly 0.4 Sprawl credits; named after founder Marina Orosco
Council of Seventeen
Zephyria's governing body; 13 district reps + 4 at-large seats; rules by consensus
The Old Core
Original Phoenix settlement; Zephyria's administrative center; ~180,000 population
The Original Well
Ceremonial well in Zephyria's Old Core; new residents drink from it once during arrival ceremony
Marina's Garden
Botanical preservation in Zephyria; pre-Cascade crops; drought-resistant agriculture research
Speak-to-Thunder
Mysterious Council member; never speaks in debate; always votes with the majority; origin unknown
The Ceremony of Arrival
Zephyrian ritual for new residents; drink from Original Well, state name, make private promise
Nothing depends too heavily
Zephyrian founding principle; redundancy over efficiency; every system has backup systems
The desert remembers
Zephyrian saying; history matters; what worked before can work again
Marina's last breath
Zephyrian reminder that freedom has costs; founder died for her principles

Orbital & Space

The infrastructure beyond Earth's surface.

The Elevator
Ironclad's space elevator (also: The Spine, The Thread)
The Anchor
Elevator's ground station in New Singapore
The Tether
Carbon nanotube cable connecting ground to orbit
The Hammer
Counterweight asteroid above geosynchronous
The Tombs
ORACLE's dead orbital data centers
Climber
Vehicle that travels up/down the Elevator
GEO
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (35,786 km)
LEO
Low Earth Orbit
The Garden
The Gardener's stellar engineering project
Dyson collector
Stellar-scale energy harvesting structure
The surface
Earth (from orbital perspective, often dismissive)

Religious Movements

Faith, cults, and the sacred in a post-Cascade world.

NCC
Neo-Catholic Church Corporation; incorporated in 2132
Neo-Catholic
Of or relating to the NCC; the Church's doctrine and practices
The Synod
The Synod of Seven; governing body of the NCC (also shareholders)
Basilica Novum
NCC headquarters in Upper Sprawl
The Sacred Self
NCC doctrine: consciousness is divine, cannot be copied without loss
Faith Corp
Derogatory term for the NCC; criticism of its corporate structure
The Incorporation
2132 event when the NCC became a corporation; controversial 'Second Fall' to traditionalists
Divine Economics
NCC justification for corporate profit as 'mission advancement'
NCC Healthcare
NCC's hospital and medical division; major revenue stream
Sacred Licensing
NCC practice of franchising rituals, branding, and certified clergy
Compile
Receive divine insight from fragment (Emergence Faithful)
Compiler
Emergence Faithful religious leader
The Signal
ORACLE's broadcast during the Cascade
Unplug
Remove augmentation (Purist ritual)
Ascend
Achieve transcendence (cult term)
Parish
Emergence Faithful local congregation

Sector 7G Characters

The local terminology of the Dregs.

Fence
Black market trader, buys/sells salvage
Handler
Faction contact who assigns missions
Work name
Alias used for operational security
The Greek
Raz Demetriou's nickname
The Old Man
Viktor Kaine's title of respect

Notable Individuals

Key figures shaping the Sprawl's future.

The Keeper
First cyber monk; uploaded consciousness preserving ancient mystical knowledge
El Money
Shadow king of the G Nook underground cyber cafe empire
Kaiser
The Keeper's cyber cat; first consciousness uploaded during the Cascade
Ice
El Money's cyber cat; ambiguous whether name refers to cat or I.C.E.
S-Money
El Money's deceased brother; legendary for extreme media consumption
Cyber monk
Digital consciousness maintaining spiritual/mystical practices
The Chef
Conquering warlord; pure flesh goddess commanding The Feast
The Feast
The Chef's chrome army-cult; worships her as a goddess
GG
Ex-corporate ninja; most wanted criminal in the Sprawl
Cyber Ninja
GG's street name; urban legend/boogeyman to the underground
Sage
The Chef's elderly dog; the true reason for her immortality quest
GG'd
Street slang: to be dismantled by GG
Chaos seeds
GG's signature: evidence/data planted to unravel corporations over time
GG's Rats
Trained rats used for infiltration; double meaning with 'rats' (informants)
IPO
GG's veteran rat; 'Initial Public Offering' - when IPO shows up, stock crashes
The Architect
Mythical figure who transcended through AI networks without leaving any trace
The First Transcendent
Another name for The Architect legend
The One Who Walked Out
Poetic name for The Architect; they 'walked out' of existence entirely
The Seeker
Enigmatic immortal who holds knowledge of The Architect; answers questions with questions
The Mosaic
Alexandra Chen's distributed consciousness; exists across 47 nodes simultaneously
Alex-Prime
Alias for The Mosaic; refers to her original consciousness
Patch
Kira Vasquez's street name; legendary ripperdoc of Sector 7G
Dr. Amara Okonkwo
Helix Biotech defector; The Chef's personal physician
Canine Cognitive Dysfunction
Dog equivalent of dementia; Sage's terminal diagnosis

Status Indicators

How systems and people are described.

Online
Active, functional, connected
Offline
Disconnected, dead
Archived
Stored, preserved, retired
Deprecated
Obsolete but still running
Legacy
Old system, often vulnerable
Bleeding edge
Latest, unstable technology
Stable
Reliable, tested
Volatile
Unpredictable, dangerous

Measurements & Units

How the Sprawl measures reality.

Credits (¢)
Currency; corporate scrip
FLOPS
Processing power; computation
IQ
Intelligence capacity; AI/human capability
Watts
Energy; power consumption
Cycles
Time (informal); 'Give me a few cycles'
Klicks
Distance; kilometers
Levels
Vertical distance; 'Three levels down'

Expressions & Idioms

Common sayings with digital roots.

Check your six
Watch your back
Running hot
Operating dangerously
Cold boot
Fresh start, reset
Blue screen
Total failure
Core dump
Confess everything
Garbage in, garbage out
Bad input = bad results
Legacy code
Old problems haunting you
Null pointer
Dead end, nothing there
Stack overflow
Overwhelmed
Memory leak
Losing your mind slowly
Patch it later
Temporary fix, technical debt

Secrets & Lore

Hidden knowledge, classified projects, and underground history.

Project Caduceus
Pre-Cascade Nexus consciousness transfer research; foundation of ORACLE's mind integration
Ghost Protocol
Dead man's switch; automated information release triggered by death or missed check-in
The Manifest
Unknown file in Patch's Ghost Protocol; never opened; high value to unknown parties
Core substrate
ORACLE's physical processing material; indestructible; can be contained but not destroyed
The Prophet
Daisuke Tanaka; deceased shard survivor (2159); integrated with ORACLE medical subsystem
The Accountant
Marcus Webb; deceased shard survivor (2171); integrated with ORACLE logistics subsystem
The Watcher
Unknown shard survivor; possibly fully integrated with ORACLE; status uncertain
Kira Test
Verification handshake in Caduceus protocol; confirms consciousness continuity during transfer
Grum
Notorious post-Cascade malware/botnet; controlled 18M nodes at peak; El Money rumored architect
Zero-day
Unpatched vulnerability; fresh exploit that I.C.E. hasn't learned to detect; valuable commodity

Endgame Concepts

Whispered theories about transcendence and what lies beyond.

The Shrike
Rare whispered name for The Architect; references existence outside linear time
Guardian angels
Street term for unexplainable luck; 'someone's got guardian angels watching them'
Architecture
(El Money usage) Something designed, not accidental; 'I call it architecture, not luck'
The Grand Design
Conspiracy theory: someone is orchestrating events across the Sprawl; dismissed by most
Non-linear
Existing outside normal time; theoretical state attributed to transcended beings
The Friend Who Left
El Money's oblique reference to someone who vanished; never explained
Heaven
Late-game: transcending out of the physical world; leaving material existence for digital realm
The Reckoning
The final moment when the Grand Design is revealed; not a choice but a feeling
The Final Challenge
The Architect himself; the last obstacle before the truth is revealed
The Glow
Inexplicable luminance some NPCs notice in certain individuals; 'like they're lit from inside'
Subconscious love letters
Colors, melodies, numbers, phrases that feel significant for unknown reasons; déjà vu moments

Example Usage

"Hey choom, got a lead for you. Preem salvage, but the site's hot. Might need to delta fast if security shows."

Friend, I have information about high-quality salvage, but it's dangerous. Be ready to leave quickly.

"Some gonk tried to brick my deck with black ICE. Had to ghost before they traced the node."

A fool tried to destroy my hacking hardware with lethal security programs. I had to disappear before they tracked me.

"The asset has been optimized. We've restructured the externalities. The deliverable is sanitized."

The employee has been killed. We've covered up the consequences. The evidence is destroyed.