Shellac records — an exohuman Earth-era medium first popularised in the 19th century — experienced an unlikely renaissance on VOI 700 D. After the crash of the colony ark Last Frontier (Day Zero) settlers found themselves with no internet backbone, scarce energy, and only a handful of operable computers.

They repurposed shellac as a low-power, tamper-evident “data disk” that could be pressed with simple lathes and read on hand-cranked sequencers. Across both the Beta Age and Gamma Age these disks became the backbone of administration, culture — and contraband.

Early-20th-century shellac records were made from insect resin, prized for durability. On VOI 700 D settlers replaced the resin with a native fungal polymer that could be cast in low-temperature kilns, matching treaty eco-limits.

The crash destroyed orbital relays and fried most high-density storage. The fledgling Free State of Settlers built a hybrid system:

* Short-wave up-link (19:00) — each town transmitted its raw ledgers to the surviving GAIA core in New Kourou. * Return burst (≈23:30) — GAIA sent back processed quotas and directives. * Disk engraving (night shift) — local scribes cut the update onto shellac and hand-delivered it at dawn.

Even after Local GAIA Hubs were carved into town-hall basements (2626 →), the pattern stayed: burst up, disk down.

Post-war energy caps killed most public broadcasting. Under Communardism the Federal GAIA Agency formalised a stricter cycle:

Public short-wave is now rare; shellac is the de facto courier of the Annual Plan, ration tables, and treaty audits.

* Encoding: multi-tone spiral track, 30 tones s⁻¹. A five-minute disk carries ≈9 k chars of text (≈6 MB compressed). * Readers: crank-powered sequencer → piezo pickup → optical decoder → GAIA hub or portable slate. * Durability: ±50 replays before surface wear; disks stored in para-resin sleeves.

* Audiophiles & “Data DJs” remix checksum tones into ambient music. * DIY turntables crafted from shuttle bearings and native hardwood sell in Firetown alleys. * Counterfeit quotas: forgers over-cut a second groove under the label—easy to spot, but lethal if it reaches GAIA unchecked.

* Beta Age: symbol of make-do ingenuity—keeping settlements synced when bandwidth was a dream. * Gamma Age: still the only medium the Natives trust for audit trails; its physicality fits treaty insistence on “visible accountability.”

Shellac proves that “obsolete” tech can outlive starships when power is the scarcest commodity.

* Ghost-Disk Job: PCs must intercept a forged quota disk before it is ingested by the Hope hub. * Courier Run: guard a Federal courier over Atrana Pass—bandits want the week’s firmware delta. * Bootleg Beats: uncover a Firetown rave where shellac remixes hide steganographic rebel orders.

* GAIA • Local GAIA Hubs • Federal GAIA Agency * Short-wave Network • FS Courier Riders * Technology in the Beta Age • Comms in the Gamma Age