The Ulterior (also known as Culture Ulterior) was the collective name for splinter groups of the Culture which, by desire and activity, were no longer practically part of the Culture and have split off into their own polities, although they nominally remained affiliated with the Culture. The term became popular toward the 19th century CE.[1] Civilisations known to comprise the Ulterior include the AhForgetIt Tendency, the Peace Faction, and the Zetetic Elench.[2]
Overview[]
The Culture was a spacefaring civilisation, inhabiting a humongous volume of space with no concrete boundaries. Although the Culture did have some planets and Rocks under its control and influence, the majority of its citizens lived on artificially-constructed Orbitals, which could be arbitrarily constructed in any system, and ships, which were mobile.
In addition, the Culture placed a premium on freedom of thought and action. This allowed people to freely move among the various Orbitals, ships, and other territory the Culture held.
The practical consequence of this meant that when a sufficient number of people and, most importantly, Minds disagreed with mainstream Culture views, they could simply secede from the Culture and declare itself for another faction. Any dissenting citizens simply leave for another Culture world and any citizens agreeing with the new faction could then immigrate.
Relationship with the Culture[]
Views towards the Ulterior varied greatly. Some in the mainstream Culture viewed those in the Ulterior somewhat derogatorily as "hangers-on."[3]
Others did not see much difference between those in the Ulterior and Culture proper and generally grouped them together. This was, perhaps, a somewhat justified view as Special Circumstances often made use of the Ulterior, disguising its agents as from the Ulterior instead of the Culture proper.
In general, the relationship between the Culture and Ulterior was strong and the barrier between the two were fluid, as people and ships moved freely between the two. Although members of the Ulterior were technically different polities from the Culture, they were all considered members of the same meta civilisation and were generally considered strong allies.[4]
Although it was not routine, ships from the Culture and Ulterior could form unified war fleets,[5] Ulterior Minds could be invited to the highest-level Special Circumstances war commands and Mind Incident Groups,[6] and the highest level of military intelligence could be shared, either freely or as part of an exchange.[4][7]
References[]
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