![[Systems]](../images/systems_sm_off.png)
In Greek myth, Castor and Pollux were both born to Leda, princess of Aetolia, as twins. However, in true Greek fashion, the whole situation was much more complex than it originally seems. According to legend, Leda was so beautiful that she commanded the attentions of Zeus. However, she was promised in marriage to Tyndareos, ruler of Sparta. On her wedding night, Zeus disguised himself as a swan and seduced the young princess. However, as is tradition, later that night, she received the attentions of her new husband, as well. As a result of this very messy state of affairs, she bore four children in two pairs of twins, each pair arriving closed within eggs. (I told you this was complex!) Pollux and Clytemnestra, born of Leda and Zeus, were one pair; Castor and Helen, born of Leda and Tyndareos, were the other.
Pollux grew up to be the finest pugilist in the land.He joined the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece, accompanied by his brother, Castor; they became quite the stars among the sailors. Their exploits led them to become the patrons of Greek seafarers, who would carve their likenesses on the bows of their ships.
Unlike Castor, Pollux is only a single star, though it has several visual companions. It is the closest giant star to our system, being only 35 light years away. It has one of the most hard-to-describe colors of any star in the sky, having been labeled anything from "yellowish" (Ptolemy) to "fiery red" (Agnes Clerke). In theory, the KO status of Pollux tells astronomers that it burns with a brilliant orange color. In reality, this won't stop storytellers and poets from exaggerating a bit, one way or the other.
Pollux is the server testbed for the AE0LIS Constellation. All major system changes proposed for Castor are tested on it first, as their hardware is almost completely identical, with the exception of the fact that Castor has an additional Ethernet card, allowing it to act as a gateway. Even the IBM serial numbers are contiguous. Additionally, Pollux is the repository for development sources internal to the AE0LIS system.
