Seeds of Salvation and Heresy
3 Intersections of technology and culture within the Human Imperium:
Newspapers
Occasionally the Adeptus Mechanicus will give large, easy-to-use, industrial paper printers to Ecclesiarchy cults and Administratum bureaus. The cults use the printers to make pamphlets promoting their faith. The bureaus use the machines to generate large quantities of printed records that get sealed up in a vault where they are rarely consulted. When the cults and bureaus collapse due to internal corruption or incompetent leadership, the mechanicus isn’t eager to reclaim the printers. The tech-priests rely on the noosphere, hardline data-cables, and vox transmissions to share information, so print media is beneath them. Thus the printers are sold off on the open market and purchased by aspiring publishers. This is how most newspapers within the Imperium start.
Reporters will cover the news in the local area, with an emphasis on whatever is important to locals and reinforces the legitimacy of Imperial authority. By catering to those two interests, the paper will avoid censure and acquire a large subscription base. Newspapers supported by aristocracy have the false freedom to question those in positions of power without severe repercussion, as long as the target isn’t their own patron. When reporters are attached to Imperial Guard regiments in a battlefield, they will be closely supervised by members of the Commissariat.
Desperate journalists with connections to warp dabblers might seek aid from Slaanesh or Tzeentch. The Dark Prince can give one the charisma and reputation to interview any subject they desire. And the Changer of Ways can give an investigator the inside scoop on anything or anyone in the past present or future. By invoking the warp, these investigators make themselves a target for the Ordo Malleus and other Ruinous Powers.
Blood Ballots
On planets where imperial society is too young to have an established hereditary ruling class, democracy is implemented. These elections, run by the Adeptus Arbites and Administratum, are loaded with faux candidates and propositions to bait insurrectionists into exposing themselves. A citizen of the imperium has nothing to fear as long as they vote correctly with their signed ballot. When the society gets old enough it will usually abandon the voting process and governance will flow along lines of succession. But some societies don’t do that and instead scale the process up with help from the Mechanicus. This aid comes in the form of cogitators and other mass survey-taking devices. When the Biologis branch of the Mechanicus get involved, that is when blood-ballots start being used.
Obviously, the blood ballot requires the voter to prick their finger and mark their votes with their own blood. Afterwards the voter gets an “I voted!” bandage wrap. The ballot is then sent off to a tallying station to be counted. And after that, Tech-priests take the blood stained pieces of paper and run them through genetic screening devices. This is how the Mechanicus, and the other authorities they communicate with, are able to detect disturbing genetic trends in the general populace. Mutant uprisings, psyker flare-ups, and xenos corruption can all be anticipated and pre-emptively crushed before they threaten society. Thus blood ballots are high priority targets for those same subversives who wish to remain hidden. Chaos blood sorcerers will also seek these ballots to use in their dark rituals. Given all this it’s no wonder that the Mechanicus will deploy heavily armed forces to defend blood ballot collection centers.
Isoburbs
A hab-block is a cubic housing unit containing a kitchen (ration storage), bathroom (low flow toilet and shower), bedroom (bunkbeds), and living room (byo/dyi furniture). They are produced by an STC and slot together to form unending apartment rows in hive cities.
In an Isoburb, the hab-block serves as the core for a single family-of-five residence. Each block is placed equidistant from each other along paved roads and cul-de-sacs. Homeowners build onto the block and expand their homes using available construction materials. Typical additions are a garage and a second floor accessible by a staircase. More eccentric individuals could add other features such as perimeter fencing, a third floor, pool, garden, and more. These expansions are regulated by ad-hoc governing bodies known as Homeowners Associations.
Isoburbs are typically found on frontier and garden worlds. This housing arrangement is used for workers at information/tactically sensitive facilities: Astropathic relays, archeological archives, anti-orbital weapons platforms, and outer void detection towers. Thanks to the isoburbs layout, workers cannot easily spread diseases, dangerous ideas, or unauthorized information beyond their shift-mates and immediate family. Some spaces are set aside for public (schools, parks) and commercial use (shopping, restaraunts), access to them can be restricted for the same reasons listed previously. This isolation focused design has been documented to have a detrimental effect on residents psyches but the trade off is considered acceptable.
The roads connecting the housing developments to a facility are designed to be labyrinthine to limit civilian riots and impede an invading ground-based army. Soldiers have to deal with long wide-open roads while on foot or in light vehicles. They must also prepare for close quarters combat while clearing out every individual residence along those roads. These problems almost disappear if an army is using heavy, super-heavy, or flying vehicles. The former can simply drive over structures while the latter can soar above them.
