I go to Gencon this week where I will do many things. Play some mech on mech combat in a certain game I’ve played for years most likely. Check out games I’m interested in certainly. Bring my own game and writing? Oh yes. I will bring the first run of my game Forge of Wars:Tactics and a special Gencon print run of the introductory short story for the game, the first actual dead tree format printing of any of my stories. Am I excited? You betcha. 🙂
We no longer live in the sandbox of our own little worlds. There is a far more dangerous galaxy out there and we must be ready for it. But we dare not lose ourselves in the process. How does a society prepare to defend itself from an enemy without becoming that enemy? The history of our civilizations shows how hard that question is to answer. So many great societies have failed. So few have weathered the test of time. I intend to weather well.
Some Cowboys stuck around after The War to train a new generation of Cowboys. A lot of us retired and found something else to do. We’ve done good in the extreme fighting circuits for one. Not me. I don’t like getting my white suit dirty. But I’ve dealt in the conflict business myself. Sometimes even with other Cowboys. We’re all kinda full of ourselves you know. Sometimes we get into it with each other. But all’s good as long as nobody gets killed dead.
Almost everyone meets many AIs today. They run houses, cars, and even clothing. You’ve probably given them money at the registers of your local store, or maybe you’ve flown in a ship built by them. Most of you have met them in computer games or been escorted into a real life meeting by one. AIs are an integral part of life in the First Worlds Cities and few could imagine modern society operating without them. But they will always do only what you programmed them to do.
Contact changed us. The War changed us. We were content with our own little power plays before them. They were the games of children squabbling over a sand box. Most of us never saw the wide world outside the sand. Then They came. Now we see. I funded Wolfenheim in answer and continue to see it as one of our possible futures. A bright one I hope. I do not wish to see us go the other way.