* A semi-sentient serpentine collection of hunger, scavenged metal, and bad temper.
* GLA slime, an irradiated goop common in Rifts, sometimes exuding from the slugwall in thick, slow-moving streams.
* The slugwall, the coruscating border of energy at the edge of a rift.
* A class of filters, packed with treated nootslime, deactivated glaslime, or crisscrossing fibers.
* Common rifter slang, expressing wonder, disbelief, or a peremptory request for immediate silence, depending on tone.
* The central, global agency for coordinating responses to and research on the Rifts.
* Slang: Calm down, loosen up.
* One of many sites for purchasing merchandise from other private citizens.
* Licensed sex workers.
* Small pieces of wearable tech meant to record conversations or track a person’s movements. Often used by corporate spies, petty warlords, or ILAC and national law enforcement.
* Slang: That’s wonderful, that’s great. Can also be sarcastic.
* DZ’d. “Deadzoned.” Murdered.
* Strips of material tied to small heavy articles—nuts, bolts, etc.—thrown inside a Rift to discern the location and/or nature of invisible dangers.
* Slang: someone addicted to fluc, a drug lozenge held against the roof of the mouth and worked at, producing several short periods of brief, intense high.
* A gelatinous drug, often transported in balloons sewn into the omentums of unwilling couriers.
* Transparent, high-octane alcohol, used as a solvent and for nearly odorless drinking.
* Military police (officer).
* A large slice of the American Pentagon was turned over to military research and Rift experimentation.
* A rough, uncut bacca.
† A medical process whereby bones and teeth are reinforced with substrata Riftglaze.
* Universal magnetic, UV, and chip inventory control tags.
* A pinprick chip containing tracking and manufacturing information, required by law in every projectile weapon.
* Slang: a gun.
† Slang: germs.
* Rifter slang for non-rifters. Possibly derived from “Landser.”
* Male prostitute from the Brincolas.
* Amateur rifters.
† Thin, strong cable made from recycled plastic.
* Slang: a type of poisonous flower grown in Rifts, harvested for its large hallucinogenic stamens.
* Glitter made from scrap thermabond.
* A flying animal, said to be Rift-mutated from vultures.
* Groupies, often attempting to attach themselves to a particular rifter.
† Bums.
‡ Slumming rich kids.
§ High-octane Belarus “golden” vodka.
* Slang: “Bit it.” Died. Passed on. Shuffled off the mortal coil.
† Slang: on the Institute side of a slugwall.
* Pineapple-scented alcohol with enzyme additives, also used as a cleaning fluid.
† A rifter expression. “At the usual place.”
* A popular children’s song.
* Slang: identification papers, licenses.
† A kid’s pocket money, or a bribe to make a warboy refrain from burning your settlement.
* A quasi-legalized store providing small articles—snacks, porn, cigarettes—at a discount, usually because said articles are rejects or stolen.
† Very weak beer.
* A dish made popular during the post-Event shortages, a thick stew of literally “whatever can be found.”
* Creatures thought to perhaps be survivors of the initial Event, extremely hairy humanoids with very rudimentary language skills. They die if taken from the Rift, and are quite skilled at evading capture.
* Center of gravity or a differential well on a heavy antigrav sled.
* A drink-until-you-pass-out game popular in warboy bands.
† A gang rape.
* Slang: any form of quickly expelled bodily fluid.
† A large slum near what used to be Marseilles.
* Slang: mega. To the maximum.
* A field to keep poppers or another energy source in position.
† More reverse-engineered Rift tech, coils to amplify electricity or run antigrav/lo-friction fields for larger machines.
* Small growths, possibly a lichen, native to the Rifts and feeding on certain metallic compounds.
* A hanger-on, deadweight inside a Rift, a nubar attaching themselves to a more experienced rifter during driftburn.
* Slang: Rift-crazy and murderous.
* Slang: a narc, a stool pigeon.
* Slang: a sleazy coward, backstabber.
* Opalescent, stonelike growths with a leathery, volatile core. They are nonflammable but can explode if first cracked, then flung correctly.
* A small metal cylinder with an almost-perpetual light source at the end, similar to a flashlight but much lighter and without a switch.
* Mineral excrescences found in damp, dark Rift corners, looking like crystalline flowers.
* Person addicted to a mildly hallucinogenic drug discovered by Bernard Blanco during the Crash.
* Concussion grenade.
* Space blanket.
* Slang: to reach a particular objective before another team, to steal something.
* A derogatory term for people driven insane by proximity to a Rift.
* A commissioned officer who is clearly administrative instead of combative.
* A long-term rifter—someone who goes in meaning to stay for more than a few days.
* A type of sheep-milk cheese.
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Cormorant Run Page 27