THE PANOPTIKON

In contrast to the morbid squalor of the planet, Jane lives in a rigidly clean and sterilized environment of shared purpose and community and shared resources. Her people are forbidden to procreate, and instead they are all clones of the original crew members of the station, their genetic information is preserved in a database, and as they die they are replaced and reborn as an identical clone. Their lineages are long and cherished like a family history, due to the fact that they have no real family.

Additionally, the clones alternate male and female genders every time they are reborn. Which mentally makes them much less willing to define a person's gender, due to the fact that it can be either, and functionally does not matter anyway. THeir lives are very boring compared to the surface dwellers, and when not working to maintain the space station and eachother, their chief form of entertainment is watching the surface dwellers.

Each clone is assigned a few people to watch and report on their lives, a task which is both ritualized and shared and enjoyed, a major part of station culture.