Lucidus mission
The Lucidus mission was an intergalactic space exploration mission originating from Earth. The mission was tasked with locating and inhabiting at least one new planet in order to create geographic diversity and redundancy among the localities inhabited by the human race. This interstellar settlement was pursued as a protective measure against the unlikely possibility that something untoward might happen to earth.
A population of 9,000 was selectively recruited to operate the multi-generational intergalactic mission and was distributed among three companion spacecraft specifically constructed for this mission, Lucidus I, Lucidus II, and Lucidus III.
A population between 9,000 and 10,000 was present among the three ships several generations into the mission when all three ships encountered a space-time dimensional anomaly which resulted in the entire population abandoning the ship and inadvertently alighting upon a relatively nearby and previously unknown habitable planet.
The settlement of Illuminatia was a direct result of the Lucidus mission and its termination upon this new world, which was later named Neonisi.
Mission preparation
- See article: Lucidus mission preparation
The composition of the original crew was managed through a highly selective recruitment. In preparation for the mission, numerous educational and cultural institutions were established in a wide variety of locations on Earth more than a century in advance of the departure in order to cultivate a highly desirable population from which the final crew could be selected.
Final crew members were selected based on a process that weighted multiple factors to ensure not only a population of the proper intellectual and aptitude-related qualities to carry out a highly scientific mission, but also a population that contained the proper level of cultural, ethnic, experiential, and genetic diversity to ensure the long-term self-contained survival of a quality human population in isolation from the rest of humanity.
Ongoing mission preservation
Tight controls were kept during the course of the mission to ensure the total population as well as the social and occupational makeup of the population of three ships remained stable—optimized for the long-term survival of the mission and eventual settlement of a new planet.
This population regulation was accomplished entirely through the use of an incentive-based system, allowing for the preservation of autonomy among individuals in relation to their family planning choices. This system was so successful it was largely duplicated on the surface of Illuminatia during the early days of settlement and exploration of the new planet.
Some form of communication with Earth was maintained throughout the mission, although communication became more limited not long into the voyage as the Lucidus spacecraft approached distances at which radio and particle communications traveling at the speed of light required months and years and then decades to travel between Lucidus to Earth. Communication with Earth abruptly ceased at the point the Lucidus mission encountered the incident which caused the discovery of Neonisi.
Mission termination
- See article: Lucidus termination event
The termination of the space-bound portion of the Lucidus mission occurred several generations into the voyage when the three Lucidus spacecraft encountered a rather peculiar and yet-to-be fully explained space-time irregularity which compelled the entire population of the three spacecraft to disembark from the ships.
What we do know is the three Lucidus spacecraft, while traveling through an uncharted galaxy, simultaneously experienced an Existential Crisis. The event was unexpected and caused automated systems aboard the spacecraft to initiate an evacuation and self-destruct sequence. We now know that the majority of the population of the three ships survived the anomaly.
Automated processes guided the numerous evacuation modules containing the population of the Lucidus ships to scattered locations upon the surface of the relatively nearby Neonisi, where the somewhat stunned survivors alighted from the modules. The Lucidus survivors, who had never before experienced terrestrial life, proceeded to carry out their predetermined contingency plan and established settlements on the newly-found land of Illuminatia.
While it was originally believed the ships were destroyed and lost, it is now postulated that significant portions of the ships were guided to the same destination as the manned evacuation modules from which the Lucidus crew emerged. It is thought these sections of the Lucidus ships most likely came to rest among Neonisi's vast oceans. Exploratory efforts were later organized to locate and recover the Lucidus spacecraft and potentially retrieve supplies, technology, and knowledge that was trapped on the ships. These efforts continue today.
Legacy of the Lucidus mission
- See article: Settlement of Illuminatia
The landing of Lucidus survivors in Illuminatia directly resulted in the settlement of the Illuminatian continent. Survivors established camps that became settlements and eventually evolved into Illuminatia's first cities. These cities increased in population and bore seed settlements in surrounding areas. Population management policies ensured the survivor population rapidly grew into a size sufficient to sustain a new civilization on a planet isolated from the mother Earth.