Naming Conventions in The City
Citizens in The City are named according to this scheme:
- [Given name]-[clearance initial]-[home sector]-[clone number]
Given name: Some are drawn from databases and memories of old names; others are newly invented. This is generally a single word; multiple-word personal names or names with internal capitals are discouraged but accepted. In some sectors IAM selects names randomly; in others the teacherbots or human staff in the creche assign names. Examples: Billy, Sue, Ken.
Clearance initial: The first letter of your ROYGBIV security clearance. INFRAREDs use no initial, to avoid confusion with INDIGOs. High Programmers use U for ULTRAVIOLET. Examples: Billy-O, Sue-G, Ken-U.
Home sector: The three-letter code designating the sector where you grew up. Given the prevalence of duty reassignments, redistricting and sector-wide disasters, this is not always your assigned sector in later life. Sectors of The City are Alpha (A), Beta (B), Gamma (G), Delta (D), and Epsilon (E). Each sector is further subdivided into sections designated by letters and/or numbers, indicating a location in that particular sector. Examples: Billy-BCN, Sue-G-AAA, Ken-U-B1Z.
Clone number: The number of your current clone incarnation. You start the game with the original You, colloquially called ‘the Prime’ and numbered 1. Each time you die, increase the clone number by 1. Examples: Billy-BCN-1, Sue-G-XTU-4, Ken-U-RON-6. Note: There is no zero (0) designation. Infrareds do not have a clone series and often do not use this numerical designation. Additionally, those newly assigned a clone series may prefer not use the numerical designation of 1.
Malformed Names: Sabotage or software failure sometimes produces citizens with defective or malformed names. Examples include John-Paul-George-Ringo, Tra-LAH-LAH-LAH, Juan-2-B-U-LVA, and 24-17-33-Hike. CPU procedures for renaming these citizens are intricate and lengthy; some citizens reach adulthood before gaining a correct name.
Notes
- Derived from Paranoia XP: Service Pack 1, published by Mongoose Games, Copyright 2004 by Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan. PARANOIA is a trademark of Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan.