In the mirror universe, Sigma Iotia II was one large social engineering experiment conducted by sociologists from the Terran Empire's Bureau of Interstellar Hegemony.

Early in the empire's exploratory history, an imperial vessel visited the planet, and due to a misunderstanding, the Iotians began to imitate 20th century Terran gangsters. Finding the results amusing, the empire's sociologists then introduced various other texts from Earth's past to specific populations on the surface. Eventually different elements from Earth's dark past began to play themselves out amoung the population. Mad Einstein scientists confronted totalitarian dictators in the guise of Stalin; paranoid Oswalds monitored Carterian cyborgs. (Decipher RPG module: Through a Glass, Darkly)