Milieu Questions

Questions to help establish background and stimulate creativity.

The Mission

At the start of the series, not all of the crew is aware of the ship's true mission of finding a new home world. Most think it's just an exploration mission. The first mission arc will reveal that information to the bridge crew with varying consequences, since the mission is classified.

What are the desired criteria for a new home world?

Capable of supporting puppet society for an indefinite period of time. Preferrably with habitable/or at least mineable moons.

How is the planet evaluated (what are the scans/tests/etc. performed)?

The First Officer leads the team of scientists in orbital, then terrestrial testing. Protocols are still being developed, but the follow a general order: P-Class (Sustains puppet life), Environmentally Friendly, adequate resources for a colony, ample resources for a civilization, sufficient lunar resources for expansion.

What is the standard landing party protocol?

Old School Trek. :) Captain goes along for the ride, because how else can he get into trouble?

Did anything unusual/interesting/dangerous happen on the shake-down cruise?

That's a great question! Something did. It's classified. And at least two of the bridge crew left the ship/were killed. I think that may be a prequel movie.

IPV Organization

What is the crew structure on the ship? Does it follow traditional navy lines, or something else?

At least on the ship itself, it's a modified navy setup with integrated marines for security.

See: IPV Crew Organization

How big is the crew? How experienced are they/where did they train?

Depending on how big the ship ends up, there are about 80-100 in the crew.

IPV = independent puppet vessel. Is there a "federation" or "consortium" or other group that owns them? What is their funding/organization/format?

In the late 20th century, after much campaigning and hard won political battles, puppets around the globe were given the right to form Independent Puppet Nations, much like the Native American Nations in North America. But instead of casinos, they dove into education and technology. In the mid 21nd century, they formed the United Puppet Nations as an advisory counsel made up of representatives from all of the IPNs. It was the UPN that was able to coordinate the Puppet Tech markets from all of the various IPNs to get them working together and focused on a new, singular goal: a puppet home world. And so the UPN is the controlling body of of the small fleet of IPVs that make up the para-military force known as G***** S*****.

See: Politics

Are there any other ships out currently or in planning/preparation?

IPVs have been in operation for nearly a century, but it wasn't until the implementation of the F.E.L.T. Drive that the UPN organized a branch to oversee it all. Under the guidance of the Global Athority of Space Puppets, the fleet has been growing for the last 20 years.

How long has the mission been underway when we enter episode one?

The six month shakedown cruise of the Fleet's newest vessel has been completed, and when our story begins, we find ourselves at Orbital Docking Depo 3 where the ship is being re-supplied and new crew is being brought on board.

Technology

Does the FELT drive cause time dilation effects? i.e., If they are out on a mission for six months at FELT drive speeds, how much time has elapsed when they return to Earth?

For the sake of our sanity, we're going to ignore relativity effects, just like Star Trek does. So no, traveling with FELT Tech doesn't cause any paradoxical effects.

See: FELT Drive

How does real-time (or near-time) communication with other ships/stations/planets occur?

Local communication is done with high powered radio, much like today. Distance communication is done with a series of communications micro-relay beacons which are automatically launched from the ship. They're sometimes referred to as the breadcrumb network.

What kind of engines are on the ship, and how do they interact with the drive?

Dr. Harry's ion pulse drives were chosen to power the ship because they function as sub-light drives when the ship is not at FELT speed. When the FELT Drive is activated, they interact with the time dilation field to push the ship faster than the speed of light. The Ion drives (like the FELT Drive) are fueled by interstellar hydrogen.

How do the systems that support life on ship work?

The Lucite generators power all of the ships systems, and create the energy that forms the Static Shields.

Artificial gravity

The floor and ceiling platings of the ship are wired to create a 1g anti-gravity force through static attraction/repulsion.

Life support

Puppets only have to breathe to talk, but the ship is kept pressurized and heated, because a cold puppet is a cranky puppet. In the event of anything on board that requires oxygen, there are carbon scrubbers that can be activated. The same plating that creates the artificial gravity also generates heat.

Production of food and water (and other consumables)

Since the primary staple for puppets is cookies, there's a butt load of dehydrated cookie dough on board. The ship uses the same water reclamation technology as the ISS (but better, you know).

Assuming puppets are small (the size we think of most Muppet/Greg the Bunny characters), it seems like puppet starships would be built much smaller than human ones? Significant cost savings. But humans wouldn’t fit except possibly in a large cargo bay or shuttlecraft hangar.

Puppet Race

Where did the puppet "race" originate? Was it a single location, or more dispersed?

Much like humans, it is believed the first puppets originated in central Africa and migrated outward along with their human compatriots. Although there are some who say that puppets originated on another planet and were brought here by the aliens who built the pyramids.

Did puppets share a common language and/or culture in the past?

Puppet language developed along with human language, but there is a legend of a universal Puppish language that has yet to be proven.

Whether yes or no, have they tried to create one as part of the process of attempted unification?

After humans abandoned Esparanto, there was a group of North American puppets who tried to claim it as their own. The attempt met with failure.

Is there puppet-specific slang, jokes, music?

Slang, yes. Jokes and music are more regional than cultural, but we may see some emerge.

Do puppets age? Eat and drink? Get sick?

Puppets age much slower than humans, as their bodies are much more easily repaired. They do eat (cookies) and require much less liquid than humans. And yes, there are puppet specific strains of certain viruses.

How do puppets die?

Chaotically. ;) Basically from all the same things we die from. At some point, I'll delve into the concept of the puppet soul, and how long a "dead" puppet has to be fixed before he's a different puppet.

Are puppets born or are they made? Do they breed?

Yes. Puppet sex leads to baby puppets. Puppets can also be fabricated (or "adopted"). Most ethnic divisions within the puppet race can be traced back to an adoption, of course, but alot of this information has been deliberately suppressed, so no one really knows when the first puppets roamed the Earth. Recent archaeological evidence leads to a very strong theory that puppets did, in fact, evolve side by side with humans, and these early Pupa Antiquus may have had a hand in teaching humans how to create more complex versions of themselves.

One of the unspoken down sides to 'adoption' is that the more that puppets are fabricated to resemble humans, the more resentment grows from the aboriginal (or 'Monster') puppets, who assume that the others are "trying to pass" as human.

Assuming puppets don't have fingerprints or DNA, what other methods are available for uniquely identifying an individual puppet (either in a casualty situation or for criminal investigation)?

Wait a minute...if the FELT drive doesn't work with humans because of humidity, how can the Puppets be baking/eating cookies in space?

In addition to “Monster”, “sock”, and “Human” puppet forms, are there “Animal” forms as well? (Are those lumped into “Monster”?) Seems like there would be, based on the Muppets and Greg the Bunny material. If there are animal forms, how do they relate to the monster, sock, and human forms?

How are “sock” puppets seen in puppet society? do they resent being compared to human footwear? was there ever a time when humans wore the skins of sock puppets on their feet?

Puppet physiology - what's been established

• puppets have bones
• seem to have the same five senses we do
• have a digestive system (implying excretion)
• have (at least) binary sexes & reproduction systems, though gay puppets are implied
• need little moisture (so perhaps don't have blood/circulatory system & heart?)
• only need air to speak, not to breathe (so lack lungs?)
• are sensitive to heat/cold.

So would they need spacesuits? Seems like they'd need helmet (for air to speak), and the suit would protect them from temperature extremes. But it seems like puppets would be more resistant to vacuum than humans?

Earth

Do nations still roughly approximate to the current ones, or has there been major shifts?

• Tibet is free, and is the center of Puppet religion that is an offshoot of Buddhism.
• The EU has expanded to include a good portion of Africa. Now it's the EAU.
• The Americas have united into the North and South American Union NASAU.
• Mediterranean Independent Liberated Federation includes the Middle East, Turkey, Crete, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Madagascar - MILF broke off from the Asian Economic Syndicate when it's currency collapsed.
• Australia hasn't changed one bit.
• See: Politics

What percentage of the population are puppets?

Puppet census' have been prone to inaccuracies due to the lack of seriously accurate birth records, but it's estimated that an average of 7% of each nation's population is made up of puppets. This number is much higher in countries that have big science and entertainment industries.

Are there places where puppets are truly persecuted? Do any of the crew come from that culture?

The riots that spurred the Puppet Independence Movement were based more on indifference rather than persecution. People weren't taking puppets seriously, and as such, those puppets who feel the most 'persecuted' tend to overcompensate by being SUPER serious.

What is the more typical level of "persecution"?

Ignoring puppet contributions to society.

Do other nations, corporations or groups have space endeavors? Are they near space, intra-system, interstellar?

The human space program isn't much farther along than it is right now. Attempts to integrate Puppish tech into human space programs slowed them down somewhat. So there's a GIANT International Space Station, as well as lunar and Mars bases, but humans haven't gone much farther than that, unless you count probes. However, there's probably a lost human FELT Tech ship out there that we'll discover at some point.

What was the initial and subsequent reaction to the launching of the IPV?

When puppets finally got their vessels running and started exploring, humans ditched attempts to use their technology and focused on getting their own space programs back on track. And while there have been advances, since humans are bad at cooperating, progress has been slow. There are puppet advisors assigned to most major space programs, however, to facilitate exchange of knowledge garnered through the IPV program. Several nations in the NASAU have actually contributed funding to the IPV program in order to get first dibs on information brought back by the Galaxy Scouts.

The humans don't know that the puppets are looking for a new homeworld yet.

What climate changes have occurred?

Parked Questions

Move any questions we don't think are important now, but that we may want to keep in mind for later, to this section.

Possible plot point

character discovers they’re “adopted”

Possible plot point

character gets pregnant

Possible plot point

human rescued or captured (e.g., puppet ship destroys human ship, leaving a single survivor, or it finds a drifting human shuttle); must be kept in the cargo bay or shuttlecraft hangar, since that’s the only place big enough for it. Amanda’s knowledge of human physiology could come into play if she has to perform surgery, with attendant conflict if it at least appears that the human was involved in the destruction of the Bunraku - perhaps she must save him in order find out the truth...

Finally

the doctor is the one “major” character that we learn the least about in the current scripts. Possible plots/scenes:

• routine physical (good way to establish a relationship between Olly and Amanda?). could also be a way for the audience to learn a little more about puppet physiology
• illness aboard ship. alien microorganism, or humidity from forced landing in water?
• managing the an overexerted crew - no time to rest, everyone’s on edge - balancing duty to keep crew functional vs. enforcing rest (seem like this could involve Nate’s HR system)