Hoister Family Eighth Generation
(aka Senior Generation, Hoister Famuila)
The Hoister Eighth Generation, end product of the Hoister Family Genetic Program, consisting of nine tetrads of epigenetic clones each (2 male, 2 female). Members of an epi-clone tetrad share minds; while each individual has his/her own distinct personality and consciousness, thoughts, emotions, and memories are freely shared between clones. A tetrad has been described as "one mind in four bodies." (Members of a tetrad can, temporarily, switch personalities between bodies; likewise, if one body is killed, the individual's personality can survive in the other three. In extreme cases, one living body has sustained all four minds.) This mind-link appears to have no spatial limitations, and seems to be instantaneous regardless of distance.
Numerous failed attempts to replicate the Hoister tetrad mind-link have shown that it is not a property of the epi-clone group as such; apparently, it derives as much from the unique circumstances of the Eighth Generation's upbringing and heredity as from the epi-clone phenomenon. (Some researchers have suggested a correlation to so-called "telepathy" reported between some pairs of identical twins; this phenomenon is still far from understood.) The mind-link is most emphatically not telepathy; psi-screens that shield telepathy are ineffective on the mind-link. Telepaths are unable to intercept or "listen in on" the private mind-link. (The case of the Za Personality shows us how poorly understood the Hoister clone-group mind-link really is.)
Despite their identical genetics and mind-link, members of each tetrad do display unique personalities, especially as they undergo individual experiences.
- R-Tetrad: , Ramla, Rashan, Reena, Rikaard, b. 2462 Specialty: Leadership
- S-Tetrad: Salinge, Sanaa, Sayon, Shakur b. 2463 Specialty: Psychology/Sociology
- T-Tetrad: Tanisha, Tavon, Telena, Tyron b. 2464 Specialty: Medicine/Genetics
- U-Tetrad: Uduak, Umar, Unathi, Uzuri b. 2465 Specialty: Weapons & Tactics
- V-Tetrad: Varai, Vashon, Venda, Vina b. 2466 Specialty: Mathematics
- W-Tetrad: Wafor, Wakeisha, Wanda, Wazir b. 2467 Specialty: Mechanics/Piloting
- X-Tetrad: Xavlar, Xehran, Xenia, Xylia b. 2468 Specialty: The Arts
- Y-Tetrad: Yashaun, Yerodin, Yewanda, Yølanda b. 2469 (teleports) Specialty: Psi studies
- Z-Tetrad: Zahur, Zesir, Zora, Zuri b. 2470 Specialty: History
A tenth tetrad, actually eleventh-generation, was engineered by Telena Hoister in the New Continuum, with Levyn Kindred genes added to the mix:
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A-Tetrad: Anan, Akil, Akinyi, Ama b. 12,556 H.E. Specialty: Physics
The Z-Tetrad gained a fifth member about 14,270 H.E.: Za (formally "the Za Personality"). The Za was a separate personality spontaneously generated within the Z-Tetrad mind-link, and lived for a considerable number of centuries without a body, existing only in the shared minds of its siblings. The Za has no fixed gender, and alternates male and female bodies in reincarnation.
Although the A-Tetrad and the Za Personality are not strictly of the Hoister Eighth Generation, they are considered part of the Famuila and/or the Senior Generation.
The Eighth Generation was raised on Helox by Brynhilde, who is considered part of the Famuila. She is the only authority figure (besides themselves) that members of the Eighth Generation respond to.
Customs
Members of the Famuila address one another affectionately as "cugino mia" (singular) or "cugini mia" (plural).
The ritual greeting gesture between members of the Famuila involves raising the hand (right or left) to the forehead, palm out, for a moment.
After their first century or so, the Famuila began to communicate in a verbal and body-language high-context shorthand, in which a casual movement, a facial expression, a single word says more than thousands of words between strangers.
Following 18,133 H.E., when the U-Tetrad was missing and presumed dead, the Famuila left four seats empty at all gatherings.
Members of the Famuila wear signet rings embossed with the Family Seal. Beginning with their time in the New Continuum, these rings contained sophisticated psi-devices which screened a five-meter radius from clairvoyant observation. The screen was activated by thought.
At age four (2472 CE), the X-Tetrad authored a short verse that all the clone groups adopted as their own; it soon became an internal chant, with each member of the group taking a segment, and all four saying the last phrase in unison:
Mind and body / heart and soul / space and time / to death and beyond / we are one.
A common expletive among the Famuila is "Gods of the Three Moons," derived from the three moons of Helox.