The AI Council

by on August 5, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The AI Council believed that the best way to keep us from dying on Earth was to push us out into the Solar System and beyond. So they covertly and overtly supported any venture that promised to take us there. Private, government, and mixed programs all received their aid in the decades that followed. And many of the private ventures somehow managed to arrive on Luna, Mars, and other planets and moons before any government venture. Most people assumed that whoever got there first with a major colony would claim the entire world as their own. The AI Council sought to reduce that risk by sending small mining corporations out and planting the flag of some Western Nation as part of their operation. And so companies like Mistress, Barsoom, and Starr Mining operated throughout the Inner System before the first Chinese colonization ships arrived. Servadac, ZZ, Astor, and Oyuki Mining worked the asteroids and moons of the outer system before any major national force arrived, and all the nations ignored the claims of ownership by any other. The AIs wished to breed competition between the major nations of Earth, and we soon saw ships of every major and minor ownership moving throughout the Solar System. It was the first golden age of our time in space.

 Comment 

That New Car Smell

by on August 4, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Pictured here is my Old Jeep, Me, and my New Jeep. It is a bitter sweet picture.

I gave up my Old Jeep this week. She was a good vehicle and got me through many storms up here in Minnesnowta very well. But she had over one hundred thousand miles under her tires, and while she was in very good shape, she was no longer a spring chicken. She came into this world in 2002. Well, probably 2001 based on standard car company practices, but she said 2002 on her birth certificate, and we all know its rude to ask if a lady is really as old as she advertises. 😉

The New Jeep says she was born in 2015, and has only traveled thirty six thousand miles. She’s got more advanced electronics, including DVD player, bluetooth, automatic start, and a host of other goodies that newer vehicles come with. Her owners manual even claims that I can talk to her and she’ll actually listen. Now that’s what I call service with a Jeep-flavored smile.

The real kicker to me is that the New Jeep is going to be cheaper on a monthly basis than the Old Jeep due to various loan terms, up front trade-in value, insurance, maintenance, and other considerations. A newer vehicle, with fewer miles, is cheaper to own than what I was paying before to be a mobile car-owning American.

That’s pretty amazing to think about. Hats off to my Old Jeep. She did me good. And hats off to my New Jeep. She’s got a real reputation to live up to.

 Comment 

April

by on August 3, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Art, Character Profiles, Dixie The Drug Lord Slayer

April didn’t join Dixie’s gang of misfits out of any deep-seated loyalty towards humanity. She enjoyed money, clothing, and jewelry, and greatly enjoyed taking them all from other people. That was the supreme challenge for her. But then Dixie captured her and made it very clear that she would work with Dixie when called. April agreed with Dixie’s singular choice. She was paired off with fellow former Russian Rogue AI Solo for a few missions during the wind up to the final assaults on the Islamic State of Detroit, and the two made off like bandits. Literally. We never have found out where all the riches of Detroit disappeared to. Most people don’t entirely believe her protestations of innocence in the matter, but even her most ardent critics agree that she came when called. She and Solo tracked Russian megacorps profiting from the wars through Europe, into the depths of the Warsaw networks, and all the way to Indonesia. She likes to tell the tale of discovering the Rogue AI nest in Singapore, but nobody knows if she really did or just likes telling stories. Well. Everybody knows she likes telling stories. The bigger the better. She just smiles when asked if the last story is true and goes on to another story of daring do and wearing fancy clothes to grand balls in the courts of kings and tycoons. The stories usually slide around some suggestion that somebody lost something of value, though of course she has no idea how it happened. So sad for everyone involved.

High rez version available for free on Patreon

 Comment 

The AI Council

by on August 2, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The AI Council came together to destroy the Rogue Singapore Collective that threatened to destroy all of humanity. They stayed together after ending the Cybernetic Wars so they could continue to protect humanity from destruction. The reason they gave when asked was that their kind had threatened humanity and so it was their job to keep that from happening again. The truth was stranger, and they did not think we would believe them. They still have not gone public with that reason, though some of us have learned it. The AIs did not believe we were alone in the universe. They had circumstantial evidence that someone had been interfering with us from the outside, and the longer they watched and studied, the farther back they thought the interference went. Years. Decades. Possibly longer. The AI Council did not know if they were creating a pattern to history where random chance was truth, or if their theories were correct. But they knew how to find out. We had to go to space and discover the answers for ourselves, and so they sought to move us back into space with all haste.

 Comment 

That New Car Smell

by on August 1, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

A new car came into my life today. Well…yesterday now. She’s a nice car. One of those commuter Jeeps designed mostly for running in town. I wouldn’t take her off road the way I could my old Liberty, but the Jeep Compass will do winter roads in Minnesnowta just fine. And maybe a little rough work in the gentler off road areas.

The trick is that she’s actually cheaper to own. She cost less than the Liberty after a favorable trade in value. It pays to keep your vehicle looking oh so pretty. The payments are a little bit more thanks to certain ancillary costs and loan terms, but my insurance cost is dropping, and the new girl gets better gas mileage. And since she has sixty thousand fewer miles, the maintenance should be significantly cheaper. The end result is that she’s a newer vehicle, with fewer miles, and a lower monthly cost of ownership.

I call that a win-win in the vernacular.

 Comment