Former Society
 
   Before the Civil War, the population of Hexos lived in small domed
   cities. Most of these cities were located around geothermal vents.
   These provided a source of liquid water and heat. Geothermal power
   generation provided a cheap source of electricity. Crops were grown in
   underground hydroponic tanks. Livestock were raised in huge factory
   farms, where animals were born, lived and died all within a few feet.
   There were several groups of animal rights activists which protested
   the conditions at these farms, but most residents wanted meat more
   than they wanted happy animals.

   The government on Hexos was almost nonexistent; it existed mostly to
   take care of interplanetary issues, and to maintain the common
   facilities, such as the starport, power generation, and life support
   equipment. A Planetary Council of ten individuals was elected every
   three years to oversee the bureaucracy. They made most routine
   decisions, anything complex, important or even somewhat controversial
   was put to a planetary referendum. These were conducted over the
   planet-wide computer net. A week long period of discussion would be
   followed by a vote. A simple majority decided all issues. These
   referendums were not that common, usually only one every few months.
   
   Hexos had a sizable Chirper population. Unlike most worlds where
   Chirpers are second-class citizens, if even citizens, the people of
   Hexos treated the Chirpers with respect and dignity. They had full
   voting rights, but few if any took advantage of it. Most of the
   chirpers worked at menial jobs such as janitorial staff, and all
   around grunt labor. The population had a laissez-faire attitude
   towards most things. People were free to do as they please, as long as
   no one else was harmed. If someone was harmed, society would shun the
   offending party, until they made redress. Extremely violent crime was
   very rare, but did happen occasionally. When such an unfortunate event
   occurred a group of citizens would find and eliminate the diseased
   individual.