In the history of Cordwainer Smith's "Instrumentality" universe, the Instrumentality originated as the police force of the Jwindz or "perfect ones" on a post-nuclear holocaust Earth. After attaining power and the expansion of humans in space, they eventually entered a somewhat stagnant phase in which a fixed lifespan of four hundred years was imposed on the human inhabitants of the planets where the Instrumentality directly ruled, all the hard physical labor was done by rightless animal-derived "underpeople", and children were never raised by their biological parents. This somewhat empty and sterile system was reformed and enlivened by the "Rediscovery of Man", the backdrop against which Smith's novel Norstrilia and the majority of his short stories, covering thousands of years of fictional time, are set. The cycle does not come to a final resolution. Algis Budrys in 1965 praised Smith for creating "a completely consistent phantom universe", in which stories are not sequels to each other but "tesserae in a mosaic". Other authors, he said—including himself—connected stories with a common character or theme; "Not Smith. He's not inventing, he's reporting. And he's doing it from God's point of view", and only the lack of time prevented Smith from portraying all of the "infinite" fictional setting.
Characteristics
Though the Instrumentality does not directly administer every planet, it claims ultimate guardianship over the destiny of the human race. For example, it strictly bans the export of religion from planet to planet. Its members, the Lords and Ladies of the Instrumentality, are collectively all-powerful and often somewhat callously arbitrary. Although their motives are genuinely benign, they act with utmost brutality when survival is at stake. Here is an explanation from the story "Drunkboat":
Individual members
Some prominent Lords and Ladies of the Instrumentality:
Lord Jestocost, descendant of Lady Goroke
Lady Panc Ashash
Lord Femtiosex
Lord Sto Odin
Lord Crudelta
Lady Alice More, partner of the seventh Lord Jestocost.
Lady Arabella Underwood
Lady Johanna Gnade
The names Goroke, Femtiosex, Sto Odin and Panc Ashash are number-word names of the type common during the Instrumentality's decadent period: "five-six" in Japanese is Go-Roku, in Hindi it is Panc-Ashash, and in Swedish Femtiosex. 'Tiga-belas' and 'Veesey-koosey', the names of supporting and main characters of the Instrumentality story Think Blue, Count Two, also mean 'thirteen' and 'five-six', respectively. Sto Odin is "a hundred and one" in Russian. The name Jestocost is based on the word for "cruelty" in Russian, and Crudelta is the equivalent in Italian. Gnade is a German word meaning "grace" or "mercy".
Cultural references
The Human Instrumentality Project in the Neon Genesis Evangelionanime series is a reference to Cordwainer's works. A password used in the anime Serial Experiments Lain, "Think Bule Count One Tow" is a misspelled reference to Think Blue, Count Two. The Dreadstar comic book features the Church of the Instrumentality which is a space empire. The church has created a race of cat-people, similar to the underpeople of the Instrumentality of Mankind. In the light novel seriesLog Horizon, the animal-like Werecat, Wolf Fang, and Fox Tail races were created by what was called the Norstrilia Project, in reference to his novel. The anime series Fafner in the Azure is based on concepts of telepathic warfare against an unknown enemy similar to those explored in The Game of Rat and Dragon. Furthermore, the robot piloted by the main character in the first half of the series bears the name Mark Elf, shared by another story set in the Instrumentality fictional universe.
