Twin Species Social Code

''The Twin Species Social Code was a blueprint for running a generation ship. As the caretaker population grew, they expanded the ship until it was a Worldship as we currently know them. When they expanded beyond that, they built more Worldships. For some crazy Molran reason, probably related to following orders or maintaining control based on the assumption that the sleeping Molren outnumbered the waking Molren and Blaren, they put more pods in the new Worldships. Maybe whoever made that decision took it to their graves. And so nobody knew. They had this idea, this myth of this huge population they were fighting for, this noble enterprise to hold their civilisation together. Think about it, it must have been like a foundation to the entire Fleet society.''

''And so the years went on. The Molren got cleaner and neater and stiffer and more regulation-driven, to the point of completely losing touch with reality. Records were lost. They didn’t know where they were going. Just where their forefathers had been going...''

- Human

The Twin Species Social Code is one of the founding articles of Molranoid civilisation, dictating the sociological and cultural distinctions between the Molran and Blaran species, as well as accounting for later developments like the Bonshoon divergence. It was originally set up as a guideline for the successful perpetuation of an indefinite-duration journey undertaken by the Molran Fleet, including the right balance of order and change, obedience and questioning, efficiency and creativity, responsibility and individuality.

Principles
1. The safe running of the Fleet

2. Degrees of participation permitted in Fleet and other significant practices

3. Moratorium on study and discussion of Damorakind

4. Molran law versus Blaran outlawry

5. Molran and Blaran interaction

Skinswitching
"‘Skinswitch’ was a misnomer, obviously. There was no grafting or pigmenting or alteration of any kind – not unless the new Blaran wanted that sort of flamboyant Blaran body-modification ... There was a very low-level genetic tagging sequence and an equally minor treatment to align [the] genotype with the Blaran norm. Or at least un-align it from the strictly-controlled Molran baseline, ensuring that her life-readings wouldn’t scan as ‘Molran’, and her reproductive apparatus was set on ‘Blaran’."

Skinswitching is the colloquial term for the act of altering a Molran into a Blaran when the Molran is found in breach of the Twin Species Social Code.

The alteration is legally permanent although it may be technically reversible. Skinswitch invariably occurs from Molran to Blaran, never from Blaran to Molran.

The Bonshoon species is not part of the skinswitching tradition. Molren do not become Bonshooni, and Bonshooni do not become Blaren. There have been some documented cases of Blaren altering themselves to register as Bonshooni, and have even been legally defined as members of the species according to the laws and customs of certain Bonshoon settlements, but it is rare and not officially recognised by the Molran Fleet or the Six Species charter.

''These entries are stubs. To be continued. Hur hur hur, stubs.''