From the introduction: Oh dear. You look like you've taken a wrong turn. Were you expecting to be on Pulse, or Cocoon, Valhalla, or even Nova Chrysalia? No Traveller, you've found yourself in Orience, where a great experiment is currently in the works. Six hundred million iterations of a single experiment - for what, you ask? I'll tell you. It's all for naught, as six hundred million iterations have all ended in failure. Two deities, bound to the will of those above them, commanded to open the doors separating life and death, set Orience in this endless loop of life and death. Even now, as you prepare to step forward into the world, it will be cycle number 600,104,962. Thus far, the events have seen no deviation from the past.