The Right to Self-Determination for Sub-Realities and Pocket Dimensions

When Creations Outgrow Their Creators

Across the multiverse, powerful entities—mages, scientists, gods—create pocket dimensions for experimentation, storage, or refuge. Often, these dimensions are seeded with life or develop it spontaneously. Over millennia, these societies grow, evolve, and may become completely unaware of their created origin, or they may chafe under the rule of a capricious 'owner' who treats them as toys. Does the Multiversal Legal Compact's principle of sovereignty apply to a reality that is, in a technical sense, someone's property? The IMJ has ruled that it does, establishing that the right to self-determination is not contingent on a reality's origin, but on the qualities of the life within it. The case of 'The Gardeners vs. The Blossomed World' set the precedent, where the inhabitants of a bio-engineered paradise sued their creators for control of their own sun.

The Criteria for Recognized Sovereignty

A sub-reality or pocket dimension can petition the IMJ for recognition as a sovereign reality, granting it full protection under the Compact. The petition is evaluated against strict criteria.

• Demonstrated Autopoiesis: The reality must be shown to be self-sustaining. Its physical laws and ecological cycles must function independently of continuous external manipulation from the creator.
• Emergence of Indigenous Sentience: It must host a society that arose within the dimension, not merely transplanted from elsewhere. This society must have its own culture, language, and systems of meaning.
• A Desire for Self-Governance: There must be a clear, demonstrable majority will among the inhabitants for independence, expressed through whatever means are appropriate to their society (plebiscite, consensus of elders, global psychic broadcast).
• Viability: The IMJ must judge that the reality can survive as an independent entity without causing it disproportionate harm (e.g., if its sun is literally a battery owned by the creator, alternatives must be found).

If these criteria are met, the IMJ mandates a Sovereignty Transition Process. The creator is compensated for the loss of their 'property' at fair market value (determined by neutral appraisers), paid either by the new sovereign reality over time or by the IMJ's Sovereignty Fund, which is supported by dues from member realities. The creator retains certain limited rights, such as visitation or cultural exchange, but loses all governing authority. This process has liberated countless micro-civilizations from being mere experiments or entertainment. It also serves as a deterrent against the irresponsible creation of sentient life in disposable dimensions, as creators now know their 'property' may one day gain legal rights against them. This extension of the principle of self-determination to the smallest and most vulnerable of worlds is a proud achievement of multiversal law.