The AI Council

by on October 21, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The AI Council placed installations on most major rocks in the solar system before we arrived. That kept the Western Alliance, the Russians, and the Chinese from arguing too strenuously over who owned what rock. The main issue was that the Russians and the Chinese did not trust the AIs like the Alliance did. And due to that distrust of full AIs, Russian and Chinese AIs forever lagged behind the full sentient awareness of the AI Council. Given their history with Rogue AIs, they did not trust sentient AIs to remain under their control. And they had a few bones to pick with the AI Council because three of their number proudly admitted that they had been Russian or Chinese AIs before joining the AI Council. Such defections were not taken lightly. But as long as the AI Council maintained neutrality, they were tolerated. And so the Council helped shave off the rough edges of frontier colonialism in the solar system and kept us from starting more than one shooting war out there.

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The Memory Worlds

by on October 20, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

There are Memory Worlds all over the place. Some of them are on big, open worlds full of light and wind. Others are on tiny little airless moons or asteroids. Some represent a full backup of everything and everybody ever saved by the cybers. Others are smaller and more focused to single subjects. Some are kept religiously up to date with the nearest inhabited world. Others are kept secret and dark, and their data can be years out of date. Some have lush and open planetary landscapes to walk on and enjoy. Others sport only virtual worlds, though you can do just about anything you want in a place like that. Be anybody you want to be. There are more kinds of Memory Worlds than I can name. I like them all in their different ways.

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Chloe

by on October 19, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Character Profiles

Chloe became one of the most recognized French Resistance fighters during the weeks and months that followed the Islamic Brotherhood’s bombing of Old Paris. Nobody saw her in person, but she coordinated French Resistance cells and sent weapons and supplies where they were needed. She recruited new freedom fighters, and even appeared on the talk shows that dared speak out against the Brotherhoods. She also helped arrange the armed security they needed to keep from being killed by the Brotherhoods. She appeared on advertisements across the networks and billboards of France. Sometimes she shot a Brotherhood fighter threatening a woman or child. Sometimes she merely posed with a smoking gun. She always turned to smile at the camera and said “Vive la France!” She infuriated the Brotherhoods so much that they actually put a bounty on her head. They didn’t know she was an AI, and she liked it that way. The more time they spent trying to find her, the less time they spent hunting someone they could actually hurt.

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The AI Council

by on October 18, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

While the AI Council probed Alpha Centauri for us, they also helped us colonize the Solar System. From Mars and Venus in the inner system to Jupiter, Saturn, and even Nepturne in the outer system. They helped us maintain peace inside Luna’s orbit, and kept us from going to outright war in the rest of the system. We were constantly arguing over who owned which peace of rock out there, but they brushed over most of that by being the first to arrive in each location. No, the Chinese and the Russians never officially accepted that the AIs were alive, but they accepted the reality that the AIs at least said they were. And as long as the AIs avoided being hostile with them, they refrained from starting outright hostilities with the AIs.

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The Memory Worlds

by on October 17, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

I’ve been to Memory Worlds from Proxima Centauri to Wolfenheim and beyond. I’ve visited ones operated by the Peloran and even the Aesiran cybers who have grown up since War’s End. I’ve looked out upon the blackness of intergalactic space from a Memory World on the very top of the Orion Arm of the galaxy. And I’ve gazed upon thousands of stars packed into stellar clusters. You can find a Memory World just about anywhere near space we’ve settled. Assuming they like you. Even they don’t know where all the Memory Worlds are. That’s a security precaution in case one of them turns. They don’t want any single being in the universe to know where all of their backups are. Where all of our backups are. Some people think they’re a bit paranoid. I do not.

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