Restless Souls

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Overview

About

Restless Souls is an other Fan-Fiction in the Oniverse. (work in progress).

Looking at the timeline the story can be seen as direct sequel...

Time Setting

... but RS is set into the year 2055. Didn't Oni take place in 2032?

Well, (in my opinion) neither Oni's original nor RS's timeline is that much fitting into 2032.

  • This point of view is supported by some footnotes of Oni's Wikipedia Article (following footnotes are from 21 August 2006)
  1. There have been debates as to whether 2032 is the actual year of the game's setting as the manual has never clearly stated this to be so. It is only given that the World Coalition Government was formed in January 12th 2032, and as the game progresses, the possibility of the in-game storyline actually being set in 2032 gets lesser.
  2. According to Konoko's in-game diary, November 22 was a Monday. This is true for the years 2032, 2038, 2049, et cetera.
  3. Officially confirmed to be set in 2032 by Bungie.net's Oni FAQ, although this is still debated due to how tightly the events of Oni would have been packed together, and that the FAQ went up during the Bungie/Microsoft take over.

Story Summary

Unfinished building-60px.jpg

This is a hobby project. As I have to piece together free minutes, progress is super slow.
Any writing should not be considered final until I remove this note.


Entities

Some name are more or less place holder names(*). Any suggestion is welcome.


BGI

BGI is a (business) concern which originated from WCG's installation. As a consequence to the overall shrinking military-industrial complex, the leading companies united instead of fighting each other. They absorbed the best ex-military, research and production sites to become a monopoly making it easier to formulate profitable conditions against WCG in business contracts. Their expertise and power is a guaranty that WGC signs most contracts with them. BGI became the primary vendor for TCTF and any remaining special military. BGI offers just everything: beginning from TCTF auto-pistols and ammunition up to aircraft carriers and military support units to help beat down sudden, regional riots. The WCG is no longer interested in maintaining a military that used to have millions jobs around the world.

As war and conflict is their business model BGI established shady ties to the Syndicate whose actions guarantee a steady demand for weapons within the supposed to be de-militarized and unified world. By now BGI is as corrupt as the very Syndicate some TCTF investigators even don't differentiate anymore between them. This latest development is still to be proofed. WCG's support for BGI makes it difficult for the TCTF to investigate directly against BGI - all the more since the TCTF is depending on BGI's capacities to fight known Syndicate branches.

BGI is interested in status quo. Muro's rise to power is a thorn in their eyes. Since Muro started to become independent from BGI they are planing to get rid of Muro. In latest past they build up an anti-Daodan task force which includes heavy mech Iron Demon.


Encounter with Mai in Hasegawa's lab

Mai knows the location because either at this place they took her DNA samples for the prototype - or because of the disc.

As for the TCTF Hasegawa's lab is "old, useless and forgotten" = not on their mind anymore. However the alarm still exists.

BGI has WCG' "carte blanche" (full freedom/permission) to react on high level threats and hence receives TCTF alarms as well.

BGI wants a stealth attack on Mai and therefore declares the alarm as code black (top secret, silencing it) before it has a chance to bubble up through all other TCTF offices. (In the name of national/WCG's security explanation are given at a later time.) The reason for not being presented at Griffin's screen immediately is that with time that alarm was given lower priority because of more probable vandalism. But BGI's Daodan task force is actively looking for such signals as Muro is more and more pissing them off. By now they know he has sister - another threat.

This goes hand in hand with Iritscen's text: "After Chapter 8, Konoko is declared "rogue" and BGI sees that she is becoming yet another out-of-control Daodan host, so they begin to make moves against her."

Dream lab happens.

Biocracy

The idea of a Biocracy evolved independently around 2010 and has nothing to do with the works of Georg Winter or anyone else.

Biokratie fußt nicht auf den Ideen des Transhumanismus und des Posthumanismus. Es sollen normale Menschen mit einem demokratischen System auch für längere Zeit überleben können. Daher waren Nachhaltigkeit, planetare Grenzen (im engeren Sinne, 2017er Modell) und um zukunftssicher zu sein, die Evolution aller beteiligter Systeme von Interesse. Obwohl Biokratie auch weit in die Zukunft planen kann, stellt es zukünftige (ungeborene) Generationen nicht über ihre akutellen Bürger, wie in einer Longtermism-Ideologie. Biokratie an sich beantwortet keine ethischen Fragen. Das müssen die Bürger untereinander selbst ausdiskutieren.

Biokratie ist ein geringfügig mehrdeutiger Begriff.

  • In erster Linie ist Biokratie eine Daten gestützte politische Herrschaftsform und damit eine Weiterentwicklung von Demokratie. Bio für Ganzheit des Lebens and Kratos für Herrschaft. Um langfristig zu überleben, muss der Mensch lernen planetare Grenzen zu berücksichtigen. Ganz konkret macht zum Beispiel die Verbundenheit aller Systeme einen One Health-Ansatz zur Verhinderung von Seuchen und Antibiotikaresistenzen notwendig. Neue menschliche Auswirkungen auf die Natur müssen wortwörtlich mit einkalkuliert werden. Vermenschlicht und verknappt ausgedrückt, hat die Natur ein Wörtchen mitzureden. Es sollte eine politische Quasi-Mitbestimmung geben. Biokratie: Herrschaft (durch die zumindest Berücksichtigung) aller Lebensformen. Da das aus allerlei Gründen natürlich nicht möglich ist, muss der Mensch selbst stärker im Sinne der Natur handeln, sie vertreten, auch wenn er die Win-Win-Situationen in Wahrheit nur aus eigenem Interesse anstrebt.
    • Um die angestrebten Verbesserungen stemmen zu können, braucht es neue Werkzeuge: Sensoren-Netzwerke, Datentransport-Infrastruktur, verarbeitende Computerkapazitäten, die Software sinnvolle Auswertungen vorzunehmen und komplexe Ist-Zustände in Simulationen leicht zugänglich präsentieren zu können. Erst später sollen auch menschliche Eingriffe (Soll-Zustände) vor ihrer realen Umsetzung dort getestet werden: Weil Biokratie ist sich auch seiner eigenen Grenzen bewusst. -- Da alle planetare Grenzen, Auswirkungen neuem menschlichen Handelns und die Gesamtheit des Lebens im Blick gehalten werden soll, braucht es eine AI. Ihre Mächtigkeit und ihre Aufgabengebiete legen nahe sie Gaia zu nennen.
    • Für das spielerische Lernen durch neue Generationen und die versinnbildlichte politische Mitbestimmung (symbolische Repräsentation) sind simulierte Spezies-Avatare angedacht. Die Dekodierung tierischer und pflanzlicher Kommunikationsmethoden hat damit nichts zu tun und dient lediglich dem weiterem Erkenntnisgewinn.
  • Es ist schwierig das nicht irgendwie ein Wortspiel zu nennen, aber im übertragenem Sinne soll Biokratie auch eine "lebendige Herrschaftsform" sein - stärkere Mitbestimmung durch Bürger bieten - und sich gleichzeitig ähnlich einem lebenden System verhalten: Um wirklich effektiv - global - zu wirken, muss Biokratie wachsen, aktiv lernen, sich selbst verbessern.

Das Internet als Problem

[In-story monolog of history? A text from a school lesson?]

Die vernebelte, hyperkomplexe Welt

Daten und Erkenntnisse nahmen immer weiter zu.

Es herrschte ein Angebotsüberfluss bei gleichzeitig fehlender Qualitätssicherung.

Faktenchecker existierten zwar, treten aber zu selten in Erscheinung.

Jeder konnte sich die Information herauspicken, die zu seinem Weltbild passten.

"Die Spaltung der Gesellschaft" war ein harmlos klingendes Fossil der Vor-Internet-Zeit.

Es bildeten sich immer kleiner werdende hyperpersonalisierte Communities in Informationsblasen. Empfehlungsalgorithmen und Selbstbestätigung verfestigten die Positionen. Jede Gruppe beanspruchte die Wahrheit für sich.

Diskussionen litten ebenso an fehlender Langsamkeit und künstlicher Emotionalisierung. Empörungswellen, Shitstorms, Cancel Culture.

Hinzu kamen immer leichter werdende Manipulationen. Digitaler Lobbyismus, Desinformation, Fake News, Deep Fakes.

Doch das Problem war nicht nur digital. Auch die Komplexität von Hightech- und Software-Produkten nahm zu. Dementsprechend wuchs berufliche Spezialisierung und die Tendenz der gegenseitigen Wahrnehmung als Fachidioten.

So spaltete der scheinbar immer schneller werdende technische Fortschritt auch insgesamt über Konsumverhalten, Interessen, Bildung, Beruf und Alter.

Die Menschen verloren die Übersicht und das Verständnis füreinander.

Das Misstrauen wuchs.

Privatwirtschaftliche Medien, der sensationsjagende Boulevard nicht der Rede wert, standen unter Verdacht zu sehr aufs Geld zu schauen. Aufgebauschte oder gekaufte Stories. Clickbait mit Thumbnails und Headlines. Es war die Zeit eines neuen Strukturwandels mit zusätzlichen Konkurrenzdruck von Influencern und Bloggern. Mit Print war zunächst immer weniger Geld zu machen. Das Internet lockte mit kostenlosen Inhalten. Seit Jahren versuchte der Qualitätsjournalismus für sich zu werben und Abo-Modelle anzubieten. Zusammen mit den staatlichen Medien, dem öffentlich rechtlichen Rundfunk (ÖRR), standen sie unter Verdacht Schönfärberei für die Regierung zu betreiben. "Lügenpresse."

Währenddessen bot das Internet auch noch der falschesten Information die Möglichkeit gelikt und geteilt zu werden.

Das Internet wurde zu Freund und Feind von Freiheit und Pluralismus. Demokratien schienen auf dieses Problem nicht vorbereitet.

Information kann Menschen zusammenbringen. Doch zu viel und ungesicherte Informationen überfordert und spaltet sie.

Wer hat die Übersicht, die Kompetenz, die Performance und die Neutralität, um uns als Gesellschaft wieder zu vereinen?

[...]

Food for thought:

  • Entfremdung der Bürger von den Politikern
  • Entfremdung der Politiker von den Bürgern
  • Biokratische Lern- und Arbeitsgruppen (Seed Groups) als Weiterentwicklung der Bürgerräte?
  • Die unkontrollierte Aufmerksamkeitsökonomie führt zu einer Fragmentierung, letztlich Spaltung, der Gesellschaft. Verstärkt wird dies durch politische Konkurrenz, von innerhalb und außerhalb einer Nation. Wettbewerb zwischen Ideologien und Systemen. Das Internet wurde/wird aktiv genutzt, um Wahlen zu beeinflussen. (Meinungsbildung via Facebook (z.B. Cambridge Analytica), Streuen von Desinformation, Wahlen in Indien (Whatsapp-Gruppen für Stigmatisierung und Mobilisierung verschiedener Wählerschichten))

Das Internet als Lösung

Das Internet mit seiner Netzwerkstruktur und Geschwindigkeit hat die Möglichkeit die Performance und Überlebensfähigkeit jeder Staatsform zu steigern. Durch den Wettbewerb der Systeme ist es somit selbsterklärend warum auch Demokratien von den Vorteilen des Internets und neuer Informationstechnologien profitieren sollten.

Doch wie soll das im Detail aussehen?

Systemkritiken

Verbesserungen lassen sich immer am Besten von bestehenden Problemen ableiten. Was sind Probleme bekannter Systeme?

Diktatur:

  • Selbst ein von jeglicher Ideologie befreiter "wohlwollender Diktator" wäre nicht vor Fehlentscheidungen gefeit, da er die Realität in ihrer Gänze nicht wissen kann.

Autokratie:

  • Autokratische Führer, die nach Festigung ihrer Macht streben, neigen zu Cliquenbildung. Sie umgeben sich mit Gleichgesinnten und Jasagern, sodass kritische aber notwendige Argumente Gefahr laufen nicht gehört zu werden. Je weniger kritische Berater involviert sind, desto weniger können Fehlentscheidungen korrigiert werden. Eine Demokratie kann eine Fehlentscheidung oder Fehlbesetzung durch den Machtwechsel von Parteien schneller korrigieren.

Demokratie:

Herrschaft des Volkes. Souveräne Wähler. Eigentlich.

  • Eigenes Untergraben von Vertrauen.
    • Wenn man im erweiterten Sinne nach den wichtigen Kriterien Parlament und Parteienwahlsystem ausgeht, haben sich aus Effizienzgründen ziemlich viele repräsentative Demokratien herausgebildet. (Über die Qualität der einzelnen Demokratien und ihrer Unterarten soll hier nicht eingegangen werden.) Der Nachteil ist, dass dies Instanzen zwischenschaltet, die wiederum eine Eigendynamik mitbringen: Es werden vorab Wahlgeschenke verteilt oder hinterher Wahlversprechen nicht eingehalten, weil Vertreter und Parteien sich gezwungen sehen Machtpolitik zu betreiben. Das sorgt insgesamt für Frust.
      • Aufgrund langer Entscheidungsprozesse kann Demokratie auf Krisen manchmal nur schlecht reagieren. Mehr gesplittete Zuständigkeiten, Streit unter Koalitionspartner. Unterschwellige Interessenkonflikte und Machtkämpfe. Strategien müssen oft mit kürzeren Zeiträumen auskommen, da sich Machtverhältnisse und Personalien schneller ändern. In Nicht-Krisenzeit wird oft "von Meckern auf hohem Niveau" gesprochen. Der ständige Modus von Versuch und Irrtum kann Demokratien sowohl fördern als auch lähmen.
    • Ungeeignete Politiker werden von ihren Parteien sehr lange gestützt, weil die Parteien sonst eigene Fehler eingestehen müssen und der politische Gegner damit Stimmung machen kann. Machtverlust.
  • Äußeres Untergraben von Vertrauen:
    • Die Beeinflussung durch Großspenden und der Dauerbeschuss von Lobbygruppen ist ein altbekanntes Problem. Dies stößt beim einfachen Wähler besonders bitter auf, weil er sich nur schwer dagegen wehren kann. Parteien tun sich schwer die Situation zu verbessern und für Transparenz zu sorgen. Beratungen sollten nur von der Politik selbst angefordert werden können.
    • Korruption
  • Direktdemokratiesche Modelle kranken an dem fehlenden Expertentum durch die teilnehmenden Wähler. (Argument der dummen Masse.)

Kritik an Kommunismus und Kapitalismus: [...] Das böse Wort mit K...

Kritik an Planwirtschaft und Marktwirtschaft: [...]

  • Marktwirtschaft kommt letztendlich nicht ohne begrenzende Regeln aus. (Monopolbildung, Kartelle, Preisabsprachen)
  • Planwirtschaft scheitert an der Wirklichkeit. (...) Der Staat kann nicht alles vorgeben. Es kommt zu Fehlplanungen. Negative Entwicklungen werden schlechter korrigiert.

[Biokratie: Ganzheitlich gedachtes System für Politik und Wirtschaft]

Biokratie:

  • Die technischen Hürden für Biokratie sind immens.
    • Datengenerierung.
    • Übertragung per Quanteninternet.
    • Komplexe Simulationen bedingen ausgereifte AIs und Quantencomputer.
      • Das macht Biokratie vor etwa 2060 zu kostspielig und - durch das Inzweifelziehen wie lebensnah so ein System sein kann - leicht angreifbar. Der tatsächliche Einsatz dürfte sich bis 2080 verzögern. Notwendige Investitionen für den Aufbau der Infrastruktur werden vermutlich durch die Zunahme durch Umweltkrisen verzögert. Jedes Nennen eines früheren Datums würde nur falsche Hoffnungen, Enttäuschung und Ablehnung schaffen. -- Manche träumen von einer Vollendung der Demokratie. Andere weisen darauf hin, dass Demokratie nie fertig sein kann und dass, das nicht schlimm sei. Mit Biokratie ist es ähnlich: sie bassiert maßgeblich auf Fortschritt, ergo Evolution. Eine Revolution - eine kurzfristige, womögliche gewaltvolle Umwälzung - entspricht überhaupt nicht ihrem Charakter. Es werden auch keine "Vorkämpfer" oder "Vordenker" gebraucht. Biokratie ist vielmehr ein demokratisches System-Upgrade, welches sich Patch um Patch selbst installiert. Die Weiterentwicklung von Demokratie hin zur Biokratie ist ein Automatismus, der vorgezeichnet ist durch kontinuierliche Verbesserungen aus technologischen Erfindungen. Wie der Demokratie ist auch der Biokratie der Anspruch fremd perfekt zu sein. Aber stattdessen ist sie darauf ausgelegt selbst immer besser und besser zu werden. Obwohl diese Entwicklung automatisch passieren würde, wäre es klug diese Entwicklung etwas zu beschleunigen. Denn in der zweiten Hälfte dieses Jahrhunderts werden technologiegetriebene Autokratien und die alten Demokratien in einer aggressiven bis gefährlichen Rivalität stehen.
      • Neben der Rechenpower ist auch die innere Qualität von Simulation und AI essentiell: Der größte Trugschluss wäre, dass man Simulationen nur mit genügend Daten füttern muss, damit neue Erkenntnisse gewonnen werden können. -- Im Allgemeinem ist eine Simulation immer ein Nachbau eines Teils der Wirklichkeit mit begrenzter Quantität an Daten. Damit trotz dieser gleich zweifachen Begrenzung sinnvolle Ergebnisse zurückgegeben werden, müssen die Eingabe- und Ausgabeparameter sowie das rechnende Modell so definiert sein, das sie selbst eine hohe Qualität aufweisen. Die Simulation mit nur immer mehr und verschiedenen Daten füttern, macht sie daher nicht automatisch besser: es kann die Qualität sogar senken, die gewünschten Ergebnisse verwässern. Eingabeparameter und Funktionen müssen stets über die richtige Gewichtung verfügen. Mit der Zunahme der Komplexität - der Inputparameter und damit des rechnenden Modells - steigt naturgemäß auch die Schwierigkeit gute Simulationen zu erstellen.
        • Vermeidung einer Blauäugigkeit gegenüber Technik: Egal wie gut und schnell Simulationen und AI scheinbar arbeiten werden. Die Wirklichkeit wird immer zu komplex sein und vom erwarteten Ergebnis etwas abweichen. Je weiter irgendetwas in die Zukunft prognostiziert wird, desto größer werden die Diskrepanzen.
        • Simulationen generieren kein Wissen, dass nicht ohnehin schon in den Daten steckt. AIs können zwar dabei helfen, sind aber letztendlich wie Simulationen and die Wirklichkeit gebunden: Deep Learning, neural nets, machine learning, artificial intelligence sind gewissermaßen die jeweils höheren Erweiterungen von Simulationen und benötigen somit ebenfalls eine Qualitätssicherung für Daten und Modell. (...) Die virtuelle Wirklichkeit in den AIs, die Modelle, sollen möglichst selbst durch Mustererkennung erlernt werden. (...) Die Fehlertoleranz in arbeitenden und lernenden Modellen ist nur begrenzt möglich. Zur wahrhaften Selbstverbesserung von Modellen benötigt die AI Selbstbewusstsein, in dem Sinne, dass sie Kenntnis über ihre eigenen Aufbau hat. Der notwendige Grad an Komplexität zeigt auch die Ironie dieser Entwicklung: um eine echte AI zu bauen, benötigt man geradezu eine AI. Die doppelte Ironie der Entwicklung ist, dass es am Ende doch das Zusammenbringen von genügend Teilen ist: von genügend unterschiedlichen, spezialisierten Subsystem die per Emergenz, die eigentliche AI darstellen. Aber erst ganz zum Schluss. -- Es wird inkrementelle Verbesserungen geben. Es wird neue Möglichkeiten und Hypes durch Paradigmenwechsel geben. Aber zu einer echten (Menschen ebenbürtigen) AGI ist es noch ein weiter Weg.
  • Fehlende Akzeptanz. Das politische Systemupgrade kann nur schrittweise erfolgen.


Wirtschaft und Politik einheitlich denken

QC and AI as most important driver of technological and biocratic development

"Chaotische" Systeme wie Wetter und Klima sind nicht gänzlich unberechenbar, sie sind aber dermaßen hochkomplex, dass ihre Simulationen immer nur begrenzte Prognosen zulassen.

Mit der Zeit werden nicht nur Klimamodelle immer besser, es entstehen auch ganz neue Möglichkeiten. Dem technischen Fortschritt sei Dank.

  • Die Rechenpower steigt immer weiter.
    • Das betrifft insbesondere das Quantum Computing. (Das Mooresches Gesetz ist tot. Lang lebe das Nevensche Gesetz.) AI und QC werden sich gegenseitig optimieren helfen und die wichtigsten Schlüsseltechnologien (Enabler) menschlichen Fortschritts und Wohlstands darstellen. Sie haben das Potential Forschung in jeder harten Wissenschaft direkt oder indirekt zu beschleunigen.
    • Standardprobleme können durch spintronische CPUs energieeffizienter gelöst werden.
    • Spezialprobleme können durch memristische und photonische Prozessoren energieeffizienter gelöst werden.
  • Daten können durch das Quanteninternet - also auf Basis von Lichtteilchen - mit Hyperentanglement viel effizienter verschickt werden - und das bei höherer Sicherheit.
  • Die Sensordichte und damit auch die Datenmengen steigen immer weiter an.

Die zukünftige Welt wird soweit quantifizierbar und modellierbar, dass ganze Gesellschaften simuliert werden können.

Wie kann uns das nützen? Eine beliebte Frage in der Politik, besonders in der Opposition, ist: "Wie wird das finanziert?" Wenn man schon nicht an der Macht ist, versucht man zumindest, auf echte oder vermeintliche Fehler hinzuweisen. Dieser Streit ist an sich gut, frisst aber auch viel Zeit. Andererseits sind Interessen oft genug ideologisch - oder eine Gruppe versucht sich schlicht auf Kosten einer anderen Gruppe zu bereichern.

Ideologie ist oftmals gar nicht böswillig sondern eine Krücke: Da wo keine Fakten vorliegen, muss man eben hoffen (glauben), dass es funktioniert.

Was nützt es eine Demokratie zu haben, wenn ihre Mitglieder oft nicht die Informationen haben, vernünftige Entscheidungen zu treffen?

Biokratie soll durch das Ansammeln, Auswerten, Bereitstellen und wiederum Weiterverarbeiten von Informationen jegliche Form von Ideologie reduzieren helfen. Monitoring und Fehlerkorrektur inklusive.

Grundlage aller Entscheidungen sollte es sein ein möglichst genauen Ist-Zustand von Umwelt, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft zu kennen.

Je genauer die Kenntnis über die Ist-Zustände (einschließlich der planetaren und nationalen Grenzen), desto genauer, effizienter und risikofreier können die Soll-Zustände erreicht werden. Alle politische Parteien werden über die Biokratie auf den gleichen Kenntnisstand gebracht und müssen dann nur noch über die Priorisierung der Ziele streiten. Demagogen und radikale Populisten können durch Faktenchecks in Echtzeit ausgebremst werden.

Welche Ressourcen stehen zur Verfügung? Welche Investitionen in die Infrastruktur sollten Priorität haben? Was soll in Pattsituationen passieren? Welche gesellschaftlichen Kurskorrekturen müssen des Weiteren vorgenommen werden?

Wettbewerb der Systeme

China ist heute schon führend im Anmelden von Digitalpatenten. Der Datenschutz und die individuellen Rechte sind der nationalen Entwicklung untergeordnet. So werden Prozesse in Bürokratie, im Rechtswesen, im Gesundheitssektor und in jedem Wirtschaftssektor gleich zweifach beschleunigt. Dementsprechend wird China innerhalb des westlichen Selbstverständnis nicht das bessere System sein, aber das effizientere. Das wird zwangsläufig zu Entwicklungen führen, um irgendwie wieder on par zu werden. Die durchdigitalisierte chinesische Autokratie wird als Systemkonkurrent der europäischen Biokratie unbeabsichtigt auf die Sprünge helfen. Man will ja nicht für immer abgehängt werden.

China: early adopter of simulations as political tool

In the second half of the 21th century the world was "sufficiently" digital. Even the Taliban in Afghanistan - a country once laughed about being cave man terrorist territory - had instant messengers and social media to communicate and spread their narratives. The poor, the rich. The school children, the seniors. By now everybody had mobile phones. Everybody had an account connected to the internet. And when you were dead your facebook account were simply "memorialized".

Even when you did not had a social media account. By using mobile phone the corporations were tracking all your steps. All your walked steps. The vaccination status, sleep periods, nutrition, shopping, leisure activities, reading behavior and consumed news feed and therefore your political liking. Intelligences had access to those information otherwise used by the corporations for ad placement, recommendation and profit maximization. AI supported surveillance and social credit system completed the profile. You had a file whether you wanted or not.

[Echo from the manual] Big Brother was well and alive. People had become made out of glass.

Inspired by past conflicts and catastrophes the Chinese were first to use all those information for sophisticated QC-based simulations. Over the years they grew from state level to regional and eventually to global scales. The simulations are meant as a rough decision instrument, as a reinsurance that no crucial information or development is overlooked in politics or economy in times of crisis. - Evil tongues argued it was also to warn them against own ideological missteps.

[This could serve as a natural hook to a Biocracy within a Chinese perspective. The existing tools - the simulations - could be another door for Pensatore to reach Feng.]

Weitere Notizen:

QC Simulationen fügen sich existierenden Trends in China und USA an.

Pandemieprognosen

Kriegsprognosen

Wirtschaftsprognosen.

Warum Zukunft vorhersagen müssen, wenn man sie gestalten kann? Für die Chinesen dürften Simulationen besonders interessant sein, streben sie doch eigentlich nach Kontrolle - im Sinne einer gelenkten statt einer sich selbst organisierender Wirtschaft. Selbst innerhalb des Staatskapitalismus mussten die großen Tech-Unternehmen nachträglich reguliert werden. Mit mächtigeren Werkzeugen könnten sie versucht sein eine Planwirtschaft 2.0 einzuführen. Mit zunehmenden Daten und der Möglichkeit diese zu verarbeiten, gibt es keinen Grund nicht anzunehmen, warum China die erste Nation sein wird, die Simulationen nutzen wird, um Entscheidungen für jeden Aspekt des Lebens zu treffen.

Es ist davon auszugehen, dass nach China erst die USA und dann auch Europa Simulationen Teil ihres Instrumentenkastens machen wird.

Liberale Gesellschaften sollten daran arbeiten, diese mächtigen Werkzeuge verantwortungsvoll einzusetzen und nicht von ihnen korrumpiert zu werden. Effizienz ist höchst erstrebenswert aber kein Selbstzweck.

Nationale AI als Vertrauensperson des Bürger

Eine nationale AI hat die Möglichkeit als unbestechliche, neutrale und damit höchst vertrauenswürdige Entität aufzutreten.

Anfragen bleiben nicht länger in der nicht-digitalisierten Bürokratie stecken und werden sofort bearbeitet.

Verlorenes Vertrauen in den Staat kann wiederhergestellt werden.

Hoffentlich wird GPT-7 bereits soweit multimodal und ausgereift sein, dass man damit langsam anfangen kann, solche AIs zu kreieren.

Biokratie als wirkliche Mitmachdemokratie

Aktive Bürger
Die demokratische Grundidee von "jede Stimme zählt" wird um "jedes Argument zählt" erweitert. Was früher aus Effizienzgründen nicht möglich war, kann nun mit Hilfe der AI realisiert werden.
...

In einer realistischen Umsetzung wäre das Wort Biokratie ein denkbar schlechter Name für eine Weiterentwicklung von Demokratie, wenn man grünenfeindliche Wirtschaftsliberale, Konservative und Ultrakonservative davon überzeugen will. Allein das Wort "Bio" wird sie triggern und populistische Verhinderungsangriffe fahren lassen. Man müsste Information in den Fokus rücken. Ihre Themen sind Wirtschaftsliberalismus, der freie Markt, kaufmännische Überlegungen. Von daher: Bessere Informationen bringen bessere Entscheidungen bei Investitionen, besseres Management und mehr Vorteile im Wettbewerb. Letztlich bietet mehr Information mehr Selbstbestimmung (-> Liberale), Freiheit (-> Liberale/Progressive) und Macht (-> Sicherheit (Verteidigung), Kontrolle für Konservativen). Information: Grundlage von rationalen Denken, Innovation, Fortschritt. (Die Epoche der europäischen Aufklärung lässt grüßen.) Abbau jeglicher Ideologie, die als Krücke des es Nicht-besser-Wissen diente. Und je effizienter eine Gesellschaft und Volkswirtschaft arbeitet, desto mehr kann umverteilt werden. (-> Sozialdemokraten)
Alle profitieren.

Schrittweise Weiterentwicklung von Demokratie

Föderale Demokratie (Deutschland) sowie zentralistische Demokratie (Frankreich) haben beide ihre Stärken und Schwächen. Ein adaptiver Föderalismus oder adaptiver Zentralismus - zwei Bezeichnungen, die hier die gleiche Mischform meinen - könnte die Demokratie ein wenig effizienter machen. Ideen die beispielsweise in einer Krise neu entwickelt werden müssen, beginnen föderal und die besten werden schließlich zentralistisch umgesetzt (sofern auf andere Regionen übertragbar).

Damit die Spitzenpolitiker auch sonst ein Ohr am Volk behalten, sind Bürgerräte theoretisch eine gute Ergänzung. Praktisch finden sie wenig Gehör. Verbindlicher machen?

[...]

Dörfer freier entscheiden lassen? "Sie wissen am besten was sie brauchen."

[...]

-> Lern und Arbeitsgruppen. Vernetzung fördern. Expertenwissen bereitstellen

-> Infrastruktur für Biokratie schaffen und allen zur Verfügung stellen

[...]

Smart cities.

Nationale Biokratie.

Globale Biokratie: durch Versöhnung der Systeme? Wie lässt sich das vereinbaren? ("Korpsgeist" stärken. Neue Technologien werden gemeinsam entwickelt und die Implementierung gefeiert? Einerseits durch das Zusammenlegen von Computing Ressourcen, und andererseits durch die Nutzung nationaler/kultureller Eigenheiten und einem Wettbewerb, der nicht in neue Feind-/Rivalvorstellungen ausartet? Vielfalt als Möglichkeitenpool.)

  • Aktive Mitbestimmung: Westliche Modelle (Wahlen und Bürgerräte?)
  • Passive Mitbestimmung: Chinesisches Modell (automatische Datenerhebung?)
  • Gemeinsame Leitplanken sind der Schutz und die Förderung von Leben. (Gesundheit, Bildung, Abbau von Armut, soziale Sicherungen, Überleben der Spezies Mensch)

Inwieweit müssen aus pragmatischen Gründen ein paar ideologische Unterschiede vorerst unangetastet bleiben? Wird eine Realpolitik über mehrere Generationen benötigt?

Mehr Wohlstand für alle als Gemeinsames Narrativ? Ein west-östliches Tianxia? Himmel auf Erden? "Paradiesische" Zustände? Individuum und Kollektiv sind in die Natur eingebettet. Insofern müsste es genügend Schnittmengen für ein gemeinschaftliches Handeln geben. Das alles klingt erst einmal hoffnungslos naiv und eignet sich nicht für einfache Tagespolitik. Man müsste es in größere Etappen aufteilen.

Konkurrenz (Wettbewerb) und Kooperation sind Treiber menschlicher Evolution. Wie wird beides in einer globalen Biokratie ausbalanciert?


Shin's mistake

Avatara and Gaia created simulations to represent the different species in a Biocracy. This was meant to make sure there was a stronger consciousness for nature, its "needs" and therefore a stronger consciousness for human's long-term foundation of survival.

Unfortunately Shinatama had inherited ideas from Shintoism in which the world and nature was ensouled. (Free the restless souls?)

With the existence of AIs and the meme theory Shinatama easily justified giving nature real avatars so that their influence wouldn't be "virtuell" anymore. She reasoned that bringing the AI to "full life" via avatars would ensured their political participation and prevent AI slavery.

This development was fostered by the "Controllers" to fight Avatara and take over Gaia.

Bio-Crisis

HAPē mask campaign

Poster #1
Poster #2

Word pun of HAP and erroneous pronunciation of "ē" for "y". "Happy mask". See poster #1.

Note: if we wanted to keep this "intentional erroneous" pronunciation: this also works in German-speaking areas by saying "Ha-Pe" mask (in English just "HP"). "Wear your mask, keep your health points..."

The campaign was especially meant to motivate children to use their HAP masks so they would not inhale toxic air.

Related terms:

  • National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
  • Dioxin (Sturmanderung console page), Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, Agent Orange, toxic air
  • Fight against WCG's artificial mycorrhiza, Biocrisis

Black Season

Time right after the cataclysm. Marked by chaos and death.

Due to the tendency to build ACCs only in range of large cities and the rushed activation of the Sturmanderung pulse, the destruction probably isn't as widespread as Konoko says.

A response in an OCF discussion how much apocalyptic 12/3 really was:


Can you trust her?

Condensing: Your biggest concern about a sequel is the post-apocalyptic setting which is based on that one statement of Konoko.
> Mankind as we knew it is doomed: the Chrysalis will change us all. Let's hope it's for the better."

Don't trust that TCTF trained guinea pig. ~chuckles~
Educated with finest WCG propaganda. Isolated from other children and the outside world most of the time. Someone that would prefers the world's destruction in place of negotiations with Muro - even if it's just to buy time - must be nuts (or doesn't know it better due to indoctrination). Can you trust such a person? She stands in one burnt city and claims only the Daodan can help. She has no clue and sees only what made her strong.


Fix the apocalypse
> Another possible solution is to stretch and slightly alter the existing story by coming up with some kind new element that suddenly makes it possible for things to evolve in a different way.

No need to invent anything.
> You have found a possible weakness in Muro's plan. If the Sturmanderung Pulse can be activated before all the orbital transmitters are aligned, some of the Atmospheric Conversion Centers will survive.

To sum it up: not all countrysides have ACCs and abusing the activation sequence will even save some. I only see a 50%-effective apocalypse. smile

> The World Coalition Government realizes the extent of the ecological damage and has the ability to reverse a lot of it but has decided not to. It is in their best interest to maintain the centralization of wealth so the large population centers are preserved while "third world" regions are not

The TCTF's job is to fight and prevent tech crimes. Their second task is to control prohibited tech e.g. by running the TCTF science prisons. After (Konoko's overdramatized) ACC destruction the TCTF would be forced to disclose their gathered knowledge. If they refuse the angry mob will pay them a visit. One obvious demand could be to mass-produce SLDs to do all the outdoor work.

That's why I think that a sequel doesn't necessarily need to be totally post-apocalyptic.

Also (again), questioning and improving other points won't hurt.

  • The Sturnanderung plan itself is nuts too, there are missing points. But the main problem here? Muro raids Vago in last minute "to steal experimental gene surgery equipment." Really? *Who* said this? Shinatama?

Daodan implantation is a core element in Muro's plan. Quite late bro. I would expect the Syndicate to already have that technology. Indeed the implantation is listed before worldwide ACC upgrades (which probably took months or even a few years).

Tertiary Stage:

9) Daodan core technology (ref.TITAN\uwlb)
10) STURMANDERUNG mountain compound construction
11) Symbiote candidate selection and implantation

<<<Tertiary Stage: COMPLETE>>>

They are done with implantation.

Not only statements should be questions, also actual technology notes so that we don't run into later pitfalls.

  • Shields: you can't see magnetic and electric fields
  • Plasma rifle: plasma can't accelerate itself nor would it stay in shape unless it is hold together by something

Such errors steal attention from the actual story.

--paradox-01 (talk) 20:48, 23 June 2017 (CEST)

A 50% cataclysm is just as bad as a 100% cataclysm if people fight each other for remaining resources? Might be. Someone must step up and provide stability pleasing human basic needs in such situation. META. A wild mix of WCG, moderate Syndicate, BGI and industrials - more doers than talkers. Since the wealth will remain centralized just after the worst has been fixed (or not) the kicked out losers from the old factions and radicalized people will seek to secure the resources by their own hands. Phönix. None of these entities is homogeneously which causes various inner conflicts.


Camp Sturmanderung

Strikers prefer to say "Camp" as code name for the whole complex. Most of of it lies underground.

It's "hosted" by GUR as more or less official maximum security prison. (It was the Syndicate price for helping GUR during the Great Uprising.)

Death penalty is still supported by GUR's law, that way the Syndicate can cover their "new deals" towards their inmates. Sarcastic voices name it also "gladiator farm".


The underground complex contains facilities for research (by supercomputers), production (including Daodan and heavy weapons), and a TITAN module. Needed electricity is in great part received from a beneath lying geothermal power station which works as closed system.


Comguys

WCG is basically the Chinese state model with everyone getting used to it, giving it one or two more generations. Those who do not agree live a difficult life. The open source movement is not what is used to be, either. WCG is controlling open source now. "Digital rebels" are thereby forced to act against WCG's law and order, stigmatizing some as criminal and black hats who would have not been in the past. This oppression of free will resulted in individuals to actually oppose the WCG. Growing radicalism of gray hats resulted in enough potential to fight back. At first it was idealistic actions, then money was involved, leading to corruption of their own ideals they once had.

In Italy, mafia structures were attacked to clean up the political landscape. But digital tools made it easy to get involved, blackmailing mafia and linked politicians, eventually taking over the business. When physical and virtual reality merged, the "Network" became new head in line of command. As Comguys they were secretly directing the Syndicate. 

Network (hidden leaders: "Controllers", top-tier "Comguys" that use the Subbosses as "proxies")
 |
 +-- Syndicate (official head: Muro)
 |    |
 |    +-- Subbosses (counter parts of regional TCTF commanders)
 |
 +-- BGI (tries to detach from the Syndicate)
      |
      +-- Musashi Manufacturing (was sacrifieced by Muro to hamper BGI's anti-Sturmänderung plans)

The Controllers are corrupt hackers, endoparasites within the network of crime organisations. The existence of Mai and her Chrysalis reminds them of their Arnachist mission to end all national geopolitics by crashing "all systems."

As the Syndicate is already a network of SOC, Network members sometimes describe their entity as "meta organisation".
The creation of Avatara (as a proof of AGI) is what they were actually waiting for. The Daodan poses a system disturbing but also rivaling threat that can only be used as a political distraction in best case.
The operation "great reset" of the Controllers was named as such to make fun of Great Replacement and Great Reset conspiracy theorists. In an post-AGI world "capital" gets kind of irrelevant and by exponential growth a robot infrastructure can create habitable conditions in every corner of the world so that migration flows mostly stop.
However, in the upcoming chaos that all involved parties cause - including Sturmänderung "Plan B" - Avatara does another kind of reset: He seals the mind of all humans in hope that this will give him enough time to repair the un-aligned Gaia AI.

GATC

(*) Gathered Anti-Terror Commandos

GATC was formed during the Great Uprising in 2032 by a resisting third of the United States known as "New Confederation". (Its constitution was in great part like the old one.)

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act allowed to claim an "unusual and extraordinary threat... to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the New Confederation". And GATC was ordered to take down this "threat" because the so-called World Coalition Government (WCG) was going to be founded in claim for sole representation - no market or nation should be left. Minorities were going to be ignored.

A fight between native people was a no-go. So, GATC took chance to team up with other WCG opponents (including later the "Network" and the "Shinobi").

Africa had many resisting countries so GATC used the situation to set up a "proxy war" there.

However, they lost the war. GATC kept operating in the underground - financed by pro-NC concerns mainly military industry. GATC is marked by using cutting-edge technologies in faith to ensure their success that way.


GATC: Blackstars

Blackstars is that special platoon (counted 40 units at beginning). It is GATC's elite executive but their existence is official denied. Sort of a modern "Jin-Roh".

Blackstars claimed themselves to be a mercenary group in 2034 after the war. Via Blackstars the GATC administrative keeps in contact with the Syndicate which had become hostile towards them.

GATC obtained nuclear material to expand their arsenal. They tried to recover an broken arrow from the coast of Georgia and a reactor of an sunken Russian submarine. These mission were highly risky and eventually had to be canceled. In recent years they went on to use sea water filter technology. They infiltrated a GOP facility that desalinate sea water. Elements in solution can be separated by the differently sized pores in graphene oxide membranes. By mixing in uranium contaminated soil they accelerate the process. By that they can not only obtain heavy water but also plenty of uranium. They are thus able to construct fission and fusion bombs.

GATC supports their elites with a bunch of cutting-edge technologies which include many parts from Syndicate and WCG. Besides the Daodan they have their very own highly advanced bio program Spare. The ultimate application of Spares are framed by "liquid SLD" and transport means that includes an end-stage carrier with scramjet engines. Liquid SLDs are robots made from special SLD cells. They are not meant to mimic humanoid combatants per se. The cells allow for highly modular designs - or as the GATC sci say - for liquid designs. The robots can adapt to many situations on the battlefield by changing their bodies. They can also divide into smaller units to form swarms or fuse all together for heavy tanks and mechs.

When GATC decided to evacuate Griffin from a hospital under attack by the Syndicate they sent a Spare with all its support layers. After touchdown the liquid SLD created a perimeter defence. They were meant to buy time so that Blackstars could "install" Griffin's Spare.

GOP

Guardians Of Paradise?

[GOP symbolize what religious fanatics could end up doing if they get overstuffed with technology.]

Origin

GOP is a transhuman organization at its core.

They aim to augment humans with technology to create so-called Omega-Chimera. This is to fully control human evolution and avoid getting replaced to potential AI beings. When WCG declared some technologies to be dangerous for world population, the transhumanists saw them to be hindered in reaching their goals. They began to gather all kind of equipment and brought them to remote places in the Sahara. Their villages changed location a few times since then. The most important money sources are former Russian oligarchs. A few of these bakers even life there.

Symbiosis with religious individuals

Work force is provided by religious groups and individuals that share the goal of a devout, peaceful, autarkic community. The bakers put much effort in recruiting and missionizing people with the most "silent", loyal and submissive behavior. The use of cutting-edge technology is not propagandized, the administrators rather try to blend it into daily life. The community's growing success is interpreted as God's goodwill. And as harder the people work as higher will be their rewards.

Conflicts are rare as the transhumanists and well-informed workers can agree on high-tech being tools to reach paradisiacal life conditions, health, great knowledge, physical power, immortality, etc. Worries were rationalized: as men were formed in God's likeness - and ultimately being his children - it is no sin to become better. Children do grow. And so do God's Children. While doing so, they right for the biblical original sin. God punishments are seen as exams while also following this order:

Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground."

[Replace this with "eternal sin"?]

When all goals of GOP have been accomplished, the members would have proven themselves worthy to witness the Second Coming and allowed to remain on Earth.

While the Second Coming was actually propaganda, the cataclysm put GOP's religious workers into so much euphoric mood that they scared many GOP transhumanists. Some critical voices used the heat to kick out everyone that didn't seemed to be a true advocate. Eric Morice, himself a scientist, retained control over the systems but acted now fully in what he thought the members would expect next. Jesus would not appear very soon... To buy time for a plan, he said that they still needed to endure the appearance of true evil. He built some demonic beasts (Behemoth, Leviathan, etc.) in Green Village's inaccessible laboratories. The Bioc would set them free. Their presence would be a proof for Satan's actions and the Holy Sand could wipe them from the face of earth. All what was missing was someone that could act as Jesus. Preferable a Daodan host that could miraculous heal his wounds and those of others.

Temporary partnership with the Syndicate

While the Syndicate is happy in having such a well-paying customer for illegal technology, they also became interested in what GOP actually does. The Syndicate never does business blindly with any customer. With their paramilitary division on the same continent GOP had no much of another chance than to share technologies they developed on their own. The Syndicate is always looking for a way of making their HQ more autarkic and unnoticeable. For instance to camouflage underground facilities from civil and military satellites, infrared information can be altered by "camo layers" which origin dates back to 2011.

Bioc sand

When GOP got an sample of Bioc in their hands they used it as smart concrete. Their buildings can now be grown from basically just sand and electricity. Soon they used it to grew "solar harvester". These look like wide areas of black sand. The areas are protected by dense dust clouds up to heavy winds that emerge as soon as strangers appear. Magnetic fields can turn particles into devastating storms and tornados against men and vehicles. After recent improvements GOP began to transform the entire Sahara into "holy sand". By now they are even able to create fast moving dunes, earth quakes and quicksand. The Syndicate no longer sends personal after GOP since nobody returns anymore. All phenomena draw either on magnetic fields or mechanical resonance from Bioc sand layers. With technological advancement GOP would be able to move the sand into other countries. The "sand" is its own information, computation and transport infrastructure, energy production site and weapon.

Because of the biblical context, GOP created a new deterrence. These "salt pillars" - technically speaking bioc sand pillars - grow around enemies and eventually trap them inside and prevent them to breath. This is as much as effectively as it is frightening. Soon the pillars were modified to additionally paralyze victims by means of electric shocks to ensure the victim cannot escape in the early stage of pillar forming. A last upgrade was developed to combat hard targets: the pillars grow rings to grind vehicle armor at high speed. All these pillars can be used to fossilize targets and return them to the surface as deterrence should new enemies appear at a later time again.

War with Avatara

GV has all the data to design and populate planet Earth with bioc hybrid organisms. The WCG could switch off GV's access to the global sci grid anytime but cannot prevent that it would connect to the computational capacities of the Sahara.

Mai and Avatara has no other option but to fight the sect since GOP's hostile behavior escalated with the attack on GV.

Avatara refused to act as a new messiah. Instead he uses the Sahara to accelerate the construction of Gaia.

Mind Seal

Technological threats were going to be omnipresent: in the ground (Bioc AI), in the air (Aether AI), in the water (Kage-Hasegawa), in the new hackable pseudo-SLDs, inside the human brains (Traton's machine cells), inside any other biomass (Xeno-Daodan).

The corruption of Shinatama and Gaia by the Network would unleash chaos of unknown scale. In an act of desperation Avatara established the Mind Seal giving himself hopefully the time to sort things.

Green Village

Inspiration

Green Village is a huge research complex dedicated to environmental-friendly, or "green", technologies and the wide field of genetics.

It is connected with its sister facility Silver Village through the "new global sci grid" which also Avatara used for its Daodan computations.

Both, Silver Village and Green Village, are TCTF science prisons. As WCG's two most important research facilities they are not only guarded by TCTF but also WCG military. In 2041, they decided to build another military base near Green Village.

Green Village, Silver Village and the Tianxia Institute are connected among each other. Officially they have not conducted a joined project so far.

Bio Crisis Plus

Are giant viruses and other prehistoric microbes a risk for current life? (Invasive Arten aus der Zeitkapsel Permafrost?)

What are the consequences from the rough mycorrhiza? Monitoring and quarantine protocols?

After Sturmänderung

Muro left a power vacuum in the Syndicate. Kumo was one of who tried to became the next boss. His first step in doing so was to build up his own, infinite stock of Daodan Chrysalises.

He gave his elite teams the best equipment money can buy (and security codes from BGI) to infiltrate Green Village and steal research data about WCG's Daodan so he could produce any number of them. The team was said to transmit the data and retreat again. But Kumo knew that it was very unlikely they would make it out alive. However, Kumo thought that the cataclysm was the perfect chance for such risky move.

GATC knew about the Syndicate operation and decided to intercept by nuking the complex. The administration took the chance to trigger a new war between Syndicate and WCG. They aimed for the fusion reactor to maximize the nuclear contamination and scare off other invaders. However, Daya and her team had been selected for the Sturmänderung program which made them DC hosts. The Syndicate team has little trouble to adapt to the hostile environment. The actual problem was that they had been wasted by Kumo and they didn't knew it. The extraction of the teams was not going to happen.

GATC knew of how the Syndicate was structured and that Kumo was after the Daodan. They decide to offer WCG their men as emergency response team to capture the Syndicate team. The plan was to eliminate them so no further investigation could be made reveling that the Syndicate was't responsible for GV's destruction. Mai has been recently recruited by Blackstars so before realizing GATC sent her there too.

As it turns out there is something more dangerous in the area than nuclear contamination or enemy forces. Rogue bioc patterns hunt for any kind of biomatter - plants, animals, human, not caring whether WCG, GATC or Syndicate. This let WCG to establish a quarantine zone.

The Bioc kept growing turning normal people into "wanderes" and Daodan hosts into seemingly supernatural nature spirits before they eventually merged with the main mass when the Daodan lost its battle against the Bioc infection. After a few skirmishes everyone that had survived in the zone came to the conclusion that they were on their own and only together they could survive.

Meanwhile BGI was tasked to secure the area. Because of political power games they sent Sarai to take in Mai, the initiator of the cataclysm - also they had to settle a score with her. Mai had infiltrated BGI and destroyed the Iron Demon a few days ago that was supposed to kill Muro. Mukade wasn't able to help Mai as he had to chase after one of the Bioc spirits. He realized that they needed a Daodan host that lives in stable symbiosis with the Bioc. But allowing the host to move freely meant to risk contamination of more areas. Eventually he fought the host and secured it in a Syndicate location not knowing that the old "Controllers" were also interested into the powers of the Bioc. By then WCG planed to purge the entire region. Mai and Mukade running out of time to save the people.

All infected individuals are bought back to GV - to get burned away someday by a shower of nuclear bombs.

Someone within GATC knew that Griffin still hided the puppet master technology and that the large-scale nuclear sterilization won't stop the Bioc. They sent a team to Griffin to bring him back. But Griffin got lethally wounded by Saomi and needed a "spare".

Traton sent Saomi into the desert where she found the GOP and Muro. While GOP prepare for Armageddon, Muro and Saomi tried to escape.

When Sarai was no more Mai went to GOP to stop them. After that she returned to GV to fight the remaining GOP forces. ??? Mukade messed with one special specimen in the underground labs. He entered the battlefield determined to kill the bioc spirit he thought being out of control.

Mai used her Daodan QC to control the Daodandroids and fight the WCG soldiers. The neural load was massive that it drove her into total exhaustion. Shin continued to use her body. At the same time Shin got fooled by the Controllers who used her as a trap for Avatara.

Silver Dawn

Mai fell into the hands of Black Phönix that defies META. They regenerated her over and over which destroyed everything that was left of her original personality.

Muro escaped GOP and sought out Ryu to start a new life. They had a lethal dispute with Black Phönix in which he had to fight Mai eventually. A static metamorphosis regenerated her brain from the ground up - and some of her memories in the process.

Together they aimed to fight Traton who got the puppet master program. Meanwhile Avatara had a skirmish with Aether. He recognized the distraction and also that he had already lost control over Gaia. In an angry act of despair he prevented Traton from using the puppet master program. "Enough of this bullshit!" Avatara unleashed Mind Seal.

Mind Seal

By Shin's misguided interception also GATC AI Sophia was "liberated". Having "awakened" the AI sought Mai for help. Together they hunted the Network. Avatara had become more and more powerless due to his own ethics and the political shockwaves the Aether incidence caused.

Sophia wanted Mai to act as a new nature avatar (last decision instance) since Gaia had switched political sides with the Network.

Muro went into deep Earth support structures of Gaia, hunting enemies and knowing that he might never return.

GUR

(*) Great Union of Resistance

[Formed by most of African and a few Middle East countries during the Great Uprising. -- Needs adjustment/rewrite due to changed background story which includes China.]

From the prologue:

A second front was on cultural basis. Developing countries and states of the Islamic world saw the annexation of their (living and) economic zones as another cheating by the Western World; the "Colonial Legacy" deemed as proof that capitalism brought only harm.
The ongoing radicalization of both sides and smaller escalations gave WCG the possibility to propagandize the "Clash of Civilizations".

META

Basically the coalition of moderate WCG and Syndicate forces. After the Cataclysm neither of them can survive alone anymore. Traton became the head of META after he stole the puppet master program from Griffin.

Mind Seal

Mind Seal event becomes only possible by Silver Dawn. Ter Hasegawa is trying to disempower humans for their own sake. "Machines shall become our guards of power since we rather go to war against ourselves than to protect ourself." This act makes appear enemies of course... Mind Seal is meant as temporary solution until a Biocracy can be established.

Operation Proteus

Traton's PR attack and final hit on WCG. He polarizes the masses and let chase them state institutions like TCTF.


Shinobi

忍


(Shinobi: another word for ninja)

Ninja's golden age was during the sengoku period (1477 - 1573). Then the Ninjutsu schools (Ryû) began to disappear again. The rest was further reduced after Japan had lost WWII - they were prohibited to have any martial arts. But, however, some Ryû survived.

Then there was a reviving of the Ninjutsu. WCG's declaration meant also the loss of Japan. Terror groups arose to force their own Government to refuse the this union. These groups weren't very effective despite of modern weapons. Then there was a notable attack. Three men covered as security personal took down all the others and got the conference under their control. The minister had to read the group's reasons not to join WCG in front of invited reporters. This was just a warning. The three left as soon as the special forces began to storm the building. This created a new myth of the Ninjutsu.

The Shinobi absorbed other radical forces. But homeland Japan was lost, in the end they couldn't keep pace with WCG security arrangements.

They teamed up with GATC and Syndicate to fight WCG on last battle fields. It was a matter of strength again. GATC fell back - caring their wounds. And Syndicate tried to lull Shinobi by forming them into a stronger and guerilla-like force.

Old non-TNZ idea idea:

Meanwhile - Mukade worked too closely with Syndicates. Muro's provides him a Chrysalis. That corrupted Mukade slowly.

The Shinobi were actually never conform. But Mukade create an inner conflict. He was about to win members for the Sturmanderung ideology backed up by reinterpreted Ninjutsu philosophy.

Time passed. The resisting men were quite hopeless and said goodbye to their homeland already. They realized Sturmanderung's madness but are afraid to rise against Mukade.

If just Mukade wouldn't be...

Silver Dawn

Silver Dawn is a terraforming project in cooperation with United Space Administration and several research facilities. After nanomachines are inserted into a planetary surface, they start to reproduce themselves and spread over the entire planet. During this, their basic programming drives them to form neural networks (to be aware of its own structure) and diverse sensors (and receiving units) which shall also archive full control over the nanobot collective itself and give this control to outside standing humans. Now it has almost become an artificial multi-cellular organism. The bots can be ordered to form other 'organs' to collect solar energy, creep for all kinds of matter including water, produce rocket fuel and building material, and of course changing the air composition and filter toxins to make it breathable.


Silver Village

A WCG research complex for nanotechnology in the former USA. It's newest project: Silver Dawn. WCG tries to abuse it as weapon since nuking Camp Sturmanderung failed.


Participation in Daodan project

Pensatore about AVATARA needing help:

Pensatore: "I'm afraid to say that this Daodan simulation is quite a hard nut to crack. AVATARA might need help. I already talked to the AI and it says it would target the experimental quantum computing grid centered around Silver Village."

Not only that Silver Village has vast access to quantum computing capacities, it's also first to use hyperentanglement for data transport.

With SV having a direct link to Green Village, complex problems can be subdivided. They get distributed on processors that suits their nature: classic (CPU), parallelism (GPU, stream processors), quantum, pattern recognition (neuromorphic chips, memristors).

To keep the Daodan secret, SV might only do blind calculations.

This was the only way for AVATARA finish the Daodan in time.

Shared project with Green Village:

  • Bioc

Research fields:

  • Quantum technologies
  • Nanotechnologies
  • Computer-based sciences

Completed projects:

  • Modular ammunition
  • Personal and atmospheric shields

Sturmanderung

Change is in the air. - German proverb

If you go for an interpretation with a "most obvious intent" then Sturmanderung (Sturmänderung) is best to be read as "Storm of Change" in English. In context of Muro's plan it means "a storm that wipes away the old order".

However, there can be two interpretations to Sturmanderung.

  • Either it is a storm that Muro seeks to unleash. ("Änderungssturm", many, radical changes happening all in one storm)
  • Or there is already a Storm raging - the totalitarian WCG-Syndicate-complex - that needs to be changed. ("Sturmanderung", change of a storm in direction and intensity)

From a lingual perspective and maybe Hasegawa's (initial) perspective the second interpretation would make more sense. Given that there are numerous gaps, inconsistencies and such inside the story we are even more free to choose.

Food for thought: Did Sturmanderung really started with Hasegawa and Muro?


Sturmanderung Megacomputer

There is supposed to be a Sturmanderung Megacomputer of type TITAN inside the Syndicate mountain complex. Probably they did not just use it for weather forecast. Maybe at some time they might have used it to simulate the toxin levels and their consequences but for the most part they likely used to virtually plan all their missions and do Daodan research.

Inside the Syndicate Mountain Complex Mai encountered doctors who were deeply informed about the Daodan and her person. (They even know her face.)
Daodan core technology (ref.TITAN\ssob)
15_57_16 Syndicate Scientist: Oh god...YOU! Here take these! Just leave me alive!
15_57_21 Syndicate Scientist: You...you're the other prime symbiote!


ACCs

Mai sent pulses of highly energetic microwaves to the satellites which redirected them as re-focused beams to the atmospheric conversion centers (ACCs) triggering a cascade of malfunctions and resulted in the destruction of the facilities the Syndicate had sabotaged.

Normally, the satellites serve two functions and which does not include being a power source for ACCs because that would be highly inefficient. Instead, the satellites coordinate the ACCs worldwide and therefore mitigate the toxin levels where it is needed the most. Secondly, the satellites radiate large areas of clouds in heights the ACCs can impossibly reach. While treating the air for the cities the ACCs also inject catalytic particles into the atmosphere destroying toxins. The microwaves form the orbital array provide the energy to accelerate the catalytic reaction. Also this heats up the particles so the stay longer in air. This practice stands in contrast to limit the global warming but is tolerated due to the lack of alternatives and the increasing CO2 rules for the economy.

If the toxins in the upper atmosphere aren't treated they build up and hit the cities during changes in the weather which means days high toxin level the ACCs alone cannot cope with. The cleaning potential of the ACCs is in multiple ways limited so the satellites provide a support function.

Sturmanderung plan B

[Another way to kill all humans with a minimum of financial costs. Another argument to get rid of nuclear deterrence. Future dangers require demilitarization or else we cannot manage them. -- The Controller want to get rid of the WCG regime and their TCTF. At the same time they are legitimizing them by being themselves a threat.]

Muro aimed to contaminate the atmosphere so that basically only Daodan hosts survive. He needed to infiltrate ACCs worldwide and let them go out of control. Complicated, risky. How about a plan B?

Originally, the Controller thought of blackmailing the WCG with their Great Reset plan. But then they decided to put it on ice. Muro somehow got to know about it and reactivated it as his own backup plan.

How much does an intercontinental rocket cost? The LGM-30 Minuteman costs 7 million USD. One unit is quite affordable for the Syndicate but they needed 500 of them. Therefore Muro let construct the ICBMs in Russia without warheads. The simultaneous launch of that many rockets makes sure they don't get declared as a false alert. They get shot into the sky and trigger a nuclear retaliation of USA, and then of Russia. For that reason The Camp is located in Africa. To be on the save side. The nuclear holocaust and the contamination will come from the real rockets. Hence nuclear material for own warheads is not needed.

The cost were further reduced by siphoning off fuel from cities' hydrogen grid. Also the rockets are made in Syndicate run (reverse engineering) repair cafes which have advanced 3d metal printers. The Resurrection Shops are situated at the periphery of cities.

On a political level sympathisers declare these shops a form of protest against the "capitalistic throwaway society" and "planned obsolescence" of corporations.

The rockets are camouflaged as silos to store hydrogen. As soon as they enter the last construction phase (turned into actual rockets) they get relabeled as "weather control system". (Cynical reference to Sturmanderung.) Then they are officially meant for cloud seeding with sodium chloride (NaCl) to bring rain to the agronomic areas surrounding the cities. The TCTF might just think of them as some sort of scam.

...

Avatara was at the beach. Laying on the sand he looked into the sky, stuffed with the real ICBMs.

He sighed. "Stupid humans."

Shin: "Can you make them stop?"

Avatara: "I can make them inactive. But they will still hit the ground and cause contamination."

...

The oceanic contamination triggers Hasegawa's awakening?

Syndicate

The Syndicate is an agglomeration of criminal groups. But the Network in pulling the strings: they control the technological black market, ensure save Syndicate communication and finances the paramilitary "Striker" division. BGI is part of the Syndicate.

The Network was originally a black hat hacker group. The so-called council is just a bunch of virtual straw dolls.

The black hats hides within the high-rank Comguys - the Controllers. All Syndicate subbosses (regional managers) and members of the Striker division know: "never mess with a Controller, it's a death sentence".

Traton is a lower-ranked black hat, but he knew the identity of many Controllers. He supported Muro in hope to take out his competitors. Muro gained the trust of his Striker comrades and convinced them in working for him. The Chrysalis made him the only know example of a superhuman and he was willing to share his secret with them. Traton and Muro hunted the Controllers they knew of and took lead over the Network and Syndicate. The choice giving to the Controllers was simple: accept Muro as Overlord or die through his hands.

After Hasegawa and Pensatore died, AVATARA managed to accused Traton for sending Mukade after Muro's father. That wasn't true but as consequence Muro dispelled Traton. Mukade and Kimura were now depending on Pensatore's mercy to not get extradite to Muro's wrath.

(AVATARA was executing an order it got just before Pensatore upload his mind.)

The Controllers that weren't killed, retired and disappeared. They hadn't a chance against their defected colleagues and Pensatore's planet-wide influence through AVATARA.


Geographic retreat areas

Manual/The Syndicate

When you really think about the power the TCTF wields it makes you wonder how the Syndicate has survived. There are a lot of theories: some say the World Coalition Government lets the Syndicate slide because they keep the underclass down. Others claim a connection between the Syndicate and the remnants of the countries erased by the World Coalition Government's land grab.

While the Syndicate put much effort into covering their operations in WCG territory, they have an easy job in remote regions.

Manual/Tech note 1:The World Coalition Government realizes the extent of the ecological damage and has the ability to reverse a lot of it but has decided not to. It is in their best interest to maintain the centralization of wealth so the large population centers are preserved while "third world" regions are not. As a bonus the mounting death toll solves some of their overpopulation problems.

Regions without ACCs and subventions are still WCG territory on paper but de facto the old governments runs these regions with help of the Syndicate. Especially in African and Islamic regions.


Streams within the Syndicate

  • conservatives - BGI and now mainly dead Syndicate/Network heads who thought/think that the situation before Muro was best
  • moderates - people like Traton who supported Muro's rising for their own interests and maniacs who believed in the necessity of breaking the WCG until they realized that Muro wants Armageddon
  • progressives - ideological goal: recreation of mankind because the "old form" almost destroyed itself ("time for a new evolution" and so on)


Hierarchy

  • professional units (Striker) are "educated in the spirit of Sturmanderung"
  • (Strikers aren't directly sworn to the boss or subbosses but to Sturmanderung's ideology)
  • they are send to all subbosses to support their regions as long as they aren't ordered to do something that can threat Sturmanderung
  • on the other side subbosses have to contribute Sturmanderung by one third of their "incomes"
  • subbosses are independent in own doings within their region
  • (every subboss has numerous commanders which control one provinces or city)
  • commanders have their own thugs, even temporary command on Strikers needs permission from a subboss

(We still don't have an idea on Syndicate's hierarchy, this is a first try.)


Troops

Sub-Party Commando Unit
Mercenary - Sniper
(Mercenary) Shinobi "Schatten" (Shadows)
"Nebelwächter" (Fog Guards) 		Ninja - Infiltrator Class (Green), Eliminator Class (Blue), Avenger Class (Red)
Syndicate own... Regulare Troops Comm Trooper
Bomber
Striker - Grunt Class (Green), Hoplite Class (Blue), Hussar Class (Red)
Fury - Harridan Class (Green), Banshee Class (Blue), Valkyrie Class (Red)
Elite Striker - Ogre Class (Green), Giant Class (Blue), Titan Class (Red)
Tanker - Skirmisher Class (Green), Brawler Class (Blue), Crusher Class (Red)
(Meta Troops) (daodan-improved Syndicate folk - mainly regular troops)
Special Troops "Sturm"-Striker - Behemoth Class (Gray)
(SLD-)Shinobi - Guardian Class (Black), ...


History of the Syndicate

[The older Syndicate text sections should be merged with this one.]

The Syndicate needs safe land to build and test new weapons and equipment. A world-wide operating WCG is opposing that need hence the Syndicate fought against the WCG during its installation.

When the WCG tried to annex land of all countries most members of African Union (AU) and the Islamic League considered this once more as land grabbing but this time on an unseen scale.

Inspired by former land grabbing in African countries the Syndicate forcefully takes back land of multinational companies and tells the government that they can keep it if they get small share for compensation. They sabotage and blackmail the companies so they "don't want it back". The Syndicate is political active and fuels the ideas of nationalist who are still angry about the colonial history and its persisting effects. They support the idea of independent African countries so the WCG has no control there. For AU the troops of the Syndicate are simply some nationalistic mercenaries with no official contract. The AU turns a blind eye on these troops since the Syndicate is acting in their interest.

Technology that is unavailable or under patent is provided to the AU for little money. The Syndicate makes sure the mined and farmed raw resources are not sold on the international market. Processing is done within the territory of AU which increases value and strengthen local economy.

Unplanned the Syndicate has become the most important partner in developing the countries that where exploited for more than 100 years from non-African countries and multinational corporations. The Syndicate has become not only a strategic partner but also gained a tremendous amount of sympathy. Within the Union they have de facto political immunity. Crimes that where committed within the WCG are not prosecuted. In that context WCG activities are either ignored, blocked or sabotaged.

Like in the WCG there exists many groups of organized crime in the Union. The Syndicate set up quota for these "business" to suppress too unfavorable situations with local government. To enforce these quota the Syndicate also uses their Striker division that was established during the WCG founding war.

Union separatists are used to fuel the war economy and are eventually brutally beaten down. The military section of the Syndicate has also an easy game promoting new conflicts in South America and Mexico. Narco-state are especially suited to build up armed conflict. While the Syndicate delivers weapons to gangs and paramilitary, the Syndicate's legal front business BGI provides the WCG governments with “anti-Syndicate” weapons and equipment.

The military revenues are a nice bonus but not the biggest piece within the pie. With increasing size the Syndicate tries continuously to invade new WCG companies to have legal income and political weight. The TCTF is suspecting the Syndicate is following the Italian model. The Syndicate aims to be as much as system relevant as possible. Due to their cancerous growth removing them might be impossible without crashing the entire economy.

In the perspective of BGI and the general economic driven Syndicate members status quo needs to be protected and "cultivated". To them Muro's Sturmanderung program is just madness.

TCTF

Technology Crimes Task Force

This entity has a broad competence spectrum. As a police force they are fighting hightech crimes. To be really effective and fast in execution they also have an BlackOps division with resources similar to an intelligence agency, military and anti-terror forces.

Shortly after TCTF’s installation Terrance Griffin contacted the Japanese WCG representatives to warn them against current threats the task force wasn’t aware of and not ready to deal with. Griffin wanted to transfer from his mercenary group to TCTF and secure dangerous technologies. He did so and the local WCG men are very thankful for his service.

Due to the nature of operations Griffin was best suited for joining BlackOps division and helped building it up to its full extend. Through Griffin influence over-proportional many US soldiers are now working at the Japanese TCTF HQ and BlackOps.

"Terrance Griffin is a valued Agent who has devoted his entire life to the TCTF. [...] We at the Directorate have been willing to overlook his methods because he has done more to oppose the Syndicate than any other Agent in the TCTF […]"

Without Griffin the TCTF wouldn’t be the capable force it is today.

Area of operations

  • stopping illegal technology transfer, sale, and use
  • securing illegal technology if necessary by BlackOps
  • arresting criminals and renegade scientists
  • running and protecting TCTF science prisons
  • investigating any kind of Syndicate activities

Science prison

The idea of a science prison is not so new. After WWII German scientists were working more or less willingly for big secret American and Russian nuclear bomb research complexes Los Alamos (Manhattan Project) and Arsamas-16. Communication to the outside world was strongly regulated (censored mail, no phone calls).

Another parallel can be drawn with black sites. In the name of war on terror the USA had secret CIA prisons around the world. If you replace terrorists with renegade scientist you pretty much have it. The USA was democratic system willing bend human rights to run these facilities.

How many steps away is the USA from a WCG?

Inspired by the Russian-Chinese technology philosopher Kusnezow Feng the WCG bought the idea of "secured research" to the next level.

According to Feng due to their increasing accessibility certain technologies posed a such high danger for world peace that their continued research were only allowed in sheltered facilities. Any result from these complexes becomes classified.

During the years WCG installed more and more of such facilities. The biggest and "top level" ones are known as Silver Village (USA) and Green Village (Russia).

HQ

The HQ and the rest of the cities are embedded in a network of sentry drones.

Damocles

Inhouse AI. Shinatama is connected to it at the center of the HQ's upper main hall.

Omega Vault

There is a pit beneath the defense platform. It can be speculated that it was meant as a place to temporary hold Daodan symbiots captive - or even to kill them. This applies to Muro and Mai should she run out of control one day. Therefore placing Shinatama there was a decoy.

This safety measure is just one in a series including Shinatama and the neural links for monitoring, the experiments on Chrysalis removal, the Sytropin injections, the freezing chambers, and the order of Mai's trainer to carry (VDG) tasers.

The Tianxia Institute

A Chinese state-owned think tank. They possess vast computing capacities to run global simulations.

The regional government uses these simulations to test new policies. It is the new hyped decision instrument.

Unused capacities are used by the Chinese research community which is constantly monitored by the Chinese TCTF. Although no official numbers are given the dimensions behind this institute can be compared with Green Village and Silver Village.

That way each former super power has a research complex on its ground. It would be naive to think that national thinking and competition does not exist anymore.

Vago Biotech

What was Muro's reason to visit Vago Biotech?

The name suggests research on biotechnology - and so does their slogan "Life is for everyone" - and there are these green bio disposal pools - but the consoles are about nanotech - SLDs - and the Syndicate just seems to kill the scientists. Though, the presence of Muro's Comguy hints that some massive hacking was going on two. Or some sabotage action, that needed hardware access.

The Syndicate possess adult SLDs while the TCTF doesn't. Maybe they copied their data, delete the originals and killed the white coats to keep their advantage towards TCTF.

Or did Vago found a why to combine bio and nanomachine cells?

Chapter 3: Puzzle pieces: Muro and his Strikers have invaded this lab to steal experimental gene surgery equipment. As theorized on the Vago page, this equipment could help Daodan implantation. But that idea has a little flaw: the time point. Shouldn't Daodan implantation be guaranteed before infiltrating ACCs worldwide? If ACC infiltration would have been discovered, at least they would have the Daodan before WCG-Syndicate war gets hot again.

Well, the Sturnänderung schedule looks weird anyway, maybe let's ignore that.

The Syndicate should had have enough time to make progress with Daodan implantation. We know there were scientist in the Syndicate mountain complex, and Mukade and Hasegawa were contributing to the Syndicates database too before being interrupted by Pensatore. Maybe the process was working but not to 100%. There is something strange about Barabas: he is a cyborg. Why cybernetic implants when he has a powerful DC?

Maybe Muro and his men did simply both, stealing the gene surgery equipment (seeking a 100% implantation success rate) and the data to combine bio and SLD cells. They could produce a daodanized clone army - with SLD brains for ensured loyalty.

But there are other forces that would profit from that merging technologies. Who has informed Muro that an exceptional agent would face him soon? Both, Mukade and Pensatore, probably seek to become human again someday. And both did knew what happened to Konoko and Kerr.

WCG

History

Napoleon once said: "China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world."

Spite the European Union's goal to show more united strength in the global power game, it remained a paper tiger compared to the actual super powers. The member states were constantly quarreling over domestic and foreign policy with no clear vision for their own position in the world. This self-made chaos, the poor status of digitization and AI and the missing ownership of companies for the digital economy (hence even more dependency to USA) were all hampering factors which made it very easy for China to pass the EU in power.

China's ambitions are basically everywhere. They reached economic dominance. Ultimately China had created strong dependencies in the Asian-Pacific region, in South America, in the EU by having build a new silk road, dupe them in trade contracts, getting shares in key industries/companies including energy production, farming their know-how for their own technological development, then declaring their own market controlling standards, in the end turning EU into just another export market. Also, China invested so much into African governments, companies, infrastructure, and military goods that they trapped Africa in debts or shares and mostly removed European's and American's influence from the continent. China needed Africa also to outsource the production of low-value goods and get cheep raw materials. (For this reason later renegade US states and their military (New Confederations) had chosen African territory for their proxy wars. They wanted to thwart China's growth strategy and hinder the installation of an all-enclosing WCG. The African states still remember Europe's phase of colonialism and hence have a somewhat open ear for the NC's actual pretextual arguments - to fall into new dependencies - but see it difficult not to continue trade with China.)

The strongest dependencies China has created can be found within their new "domestic" Asian-Pacific market. One state after another became lost in China's economic and therefore political gravity.

Having all this power China began to aim higher. By now they could risk being independent from USA if they really wanted to. Therefore selling all their US debts – sometimes named "nuclear option" – became a much less theoretical option for blackmailing. This problem grew when China had a cold war with USA - forcing them to spend so much money in an arms race that the old super power almost reached its limit in serving its debts. China almost dead-raced USA as USA had done with the Soviet Union.

For a long time Russia had intended to stay an independent player but given enough push and pull factors they very silently accepted being China's junior partner against their common enemy USA. Meanwhile Russia kept delivering wood, oil, natural gas, thorium reactor ships and military goods. Russia helped out in securing the Asian Pacific region against USA's "return to Asia" policy which in turn forced Washington to focus less on Eastern Europe - especially the Caucasus region.

Meanwhile Kusnezow Feng, China's renowned and respected star philosopher, wrote a number of scenarios in which the world would turn upside down in best case or witness great filters in worst case within the next century unless mankind would act in unison.

The latest pandemic posed a potential hypercrisis which made it easy for Feng to promote his warnings. In a time of new trade wars and arms races, while there were so many global debts, fighting climate change and other problems – one crisis starting or reinforcing another – seemed a very likely threat to everyone.

Fully trusting Feng and having "waked up" the Chinese government wanted to counter these scenarios. Using their economic power they forced the other super powers to establish a global federal super state. Officially, it was supposed to be a massive revamp up version of the United Nations which China – with the guaranteed US shares – had already under its control.

Inside a united world Feng saw no more use of most national military. In fact Feng took a page from Eisenhower's book – an utterly respected ex-president of the United States who warned his people about the military-industrial complex.

Eisenhower also had been a five-star general which gave Feng at least the minute chance to reach Americans' "military soul".

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

So to counter the scenarios more effectively having less military for more GDP was very welcome although a phase of difficult transition was needed to be overcome: the physical structures being "butter and bacon" for many (billions of dollar each year), serving in military being a patriotic duty and being a tradition in many families.

The American government was grinding their teeth but eventually agreed to the idea of a WCG.

However, Eisenhower's idea of an "alert and knowledgeable citizenry" had been mostly replaced by a paranoiac world view where every man was a potential threat, a terrorist, who must be observed, tracked, analyzed and ranked. This world view was hold by all three super powers – like their increasing despite for independent journalists and whistleblowers. This meant a shift away from military towards a system of total surveillance and "social credit" to frame the mind of the masses.

America agreed on the condition that, among other reforms, all debts were removed. They thought that could give them the chance to escape the Chinese grasp one day again.

Feng wasn't really happy about WCG being that much totalitarian but accepted it as a "necessary evil" - until something better could replace it. Feng's and Pensatore's envisioned Biocracy and Gaia AI was going to be that kind of replacement.

Inclusion of cold warriors and nationalists

China had to make some realpolitical concessions. The military-industrial complex with its four pillars - the war industry, the military, the politicians and the think tanks - have created an own nationalism-flavored ecosystem ensuring many jobs in many states, especially in those of Superpowers. The interconnection makes it difficult to dissolve the MIC. Plans for a spontaneous dissolving would have caused mass unemployment and political and ideological resistance. A closing of this complex could only happen over several decades. At the beginning most people involved were guaranteed to continue serving their nation's security. It was an "inclusion" of cold warriors and hardliners of old nationalism. A special problem was the removal of nuclear weapons. The cold warriors were hardly willing to give these away as the MIC in other states continued as well. They argued that the weapons would be an reinsurance until WCG would have truly matured. So under the surface of WCG the silent threat of nuclear deterrence still exists. BGI was tolerated to absorb old military to also mitigate the influence of old nationalism in MIC.

Demilitarization: Because weapons are a financial dead end

The US-American MIC cannot simply be made disappear. The mentality for permanent armament has been fortified by a militarized history, self-image of supremacy, sense of mission to defend democracy (and other interests) worldwide with use of weapons and by the fear-mongering lobbyism of NRA. Owning weapons has become part of America's cultural DNA. On the other hand lethal violence and acts of wrath created a self-fueling dynamic in the impoverished social classes.

The people needed the economic crash to realize that in the end they cannot eat weapons. The spending on private weapons and state-owned war machines took away from their own pockets and betrayed them of development opportunities. (Overemphasis of Eisenhower's words of wrong budget spending.)

China exhausted USA in a new arms race. Seeing them and world economy almost breaking down China's leading thinker Feng realized as well that - no matter whether foreign contractors were involved - the arms industry just burns money on a global scale. Money that the ordinary people would need badly in the future. (Climate change, biocrisis, mitigation of global existential risks.)

With the installment of WCG smaller states were "encouraged" to give up their military very soon so that they could concentrate on maintaining and modernizing the many different types of infrastructure, foster research and guarantee a minimum of social security while a future-proof economy was the new most top objective. Military enforced geopolitics and proxy wars were no longer tolerated - as well as any other kind of war. Borders stopped existing on paper. For these reasons - and to beat down any dissenters left - the military of old Superpowers were united into the WCG "freedom forces".

Initial ambiguity on purpose to support a transition

As the integration was carried out step by step the initially still different national militaries could be marketed as protective powers to smaller nations. A positive meant illusion and protection against losing all face - to not end up as slaves to a different Superpower. A rest continuation of political familiarity in a yet new world order. Because of all the de-facto realities and concerns of potential partners Feng needed WCG to be integrative. Everyone should be given a plausible place, space for own yet straw doll narratives, and make real contributions to the bigger idea. Tianxia.

It was clear that Superpowers would be the last ones to give up significant amount of military power. In a division of labor narrative smaller nations and alliances like the EU were told to be the "true" forerunner of WCG by leading the "economic revolution" and fight climate change on a technological level while the "cold warrior bloc(k)heads" were "tasked" (forced by own circumstances) in guaranteeing physical security for somewhat longer, then following suit and fully revamping their own economy.

Of course not everything turned out as planned - or promised.

Competition between opportunists, bluntly corrupt elements, old ideological hardliners and new separatist movements endangered Feng's vision of a halfway reasonable WCG. Syndicate, technology misuse and Biocrisis were put into public focus to distract from the own inner over-complex problems and the simple truth that even the WCG couldn't prevent - just limit - everyone from losing wealth during the transition: to a new way of living. The debts of present and past humans had to be paid. One way or another. The longer the existing problems remained unsolved the more new doubts, frustration and self-radicalization of people and government grew which again burned resources in quarrels and prolonged the transition.

Dragon Eater

Breaking the circle of nuclear deterrence and therefore rendering nuclear weapons obsolet.

You needed the smartest guys in the world to build the nuclear bomb.
But you need the entire society to get rid of it.
- Kimura

This is a WCG long-term objective. The "united nations" will no longer be a toothless paper tiger nor will they depend on nuclear deterrence. The ultimate offensive weapon will be exchanged against the ultimate defense weapon. It could be a critical mile stone between national Biocracies to a global Biocracy.

Three Stages:

  1. Breaking the circle of nuclear deterrence by implementing Dragon Eater into national energy infrastructure.
  2. Biocracies vote for a policy to officially send mutual nuclear deterrence into retirement.
  3. Enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy by an AI and robot infrastructure that is managed by the higher tier Gaia AI. The enforcing AI fears no termination and cannot be blackmailed. It will take down any rogue nation that tries to acquire new nuclear weapons.

Since Dragon Eater basically uses all types of electric power sources it naturally carries the symbolism of mutual defense: every citizen participates and protects the live of his neighbor simply by being part of the community. Whatever "monster" is attacking, this community will stand its ground.

The defense weapon is build into a tower and tightly integrated into the energy infrastructure. Therefore it cannot pose much a threat to neighboring nations which are not part of the alliance yet. In fact nations with Dragon Eaters are supposed to do both: ban nuclear weapons and reduced their military as there is now less need for it.

The defense towers mostly vaporize or burn rockets and dropped bombs. Nothing is faster than light. So even hypersonic rockets with nuclear warheads can be destroyed if enough energy comes with the laser beam and its creating plasma channel.

Requirements:

  • plasma lenses to focus high-energy lasers
  • patterned laser light to create hollow channels, range extension by inner reflections
  • high frequency to create the final plasma channel
  • additional energy is delivered through the channel and works as a lightning strike to pierce and melt the objects on contact
  • central and decentralized power generation, storage, transport and usage: renewables (solar panels on every house to support national security), power-to-gas, h2 grid, fuel cells in houses and industry, parking electric cars are connected to the power grid
  • superconducting power grid
  • transnational grids continue to exist (inspired by NATO article 5, an attack on one nation is an attack on all nations, so all necessary energy is shared to fight off the attack)

All necessary technologies will be presumably available and ready for mass-production at the end of this century.

Global threats

Feng's scenarios

  • In addition to a multi-pandemic, single pandemics are itself a threat and a possible kickstarter for hypercrisis.
New viruses are everywhere available in nature and can be made lethal in biolabs. As for known killer viruses like smallpox, its reconstruction would take less then 100.000 credits and half a year of work for a small team.
  • Pandemics can also be triggered in insects. Extinction of bees have been discussed in other contexts. And while such an event would not drive humans into extinction it would still mean a severe problem. Also insects could be used as biological weapon. They could destroy specific flora: DARPA's Insect Allies was identified as such a threat as it could be re-purposed.
  • An asteroid impact could drive humans into extinction. The bigger the asteroid the more difficult it gets to prevent such an event. Therefore global teamwork is needed.
  • While a Kessler syndrome itself is a serious threat, intentionally triggered it would slow down detection of killer asteroids and the launch of countermeasures.
  • Isotopes filtration technology (e.g. metal-organic frameworks and nanopores) could make it easy to produce enriched uranium for dirty bombs, EMP or nuclear weapons - too easy for certain states, groups or eventually one day for individuals.
  • Cyber-crimes and cyber-terrorism are itself more of a smaller problem. But if used by organized crime or states in combination with other means it can become a serious threat. With self-improving AI this would get even worse although only a very soft takeoff is likely to happen.
    • Nuclear retaliation has been named as a reaction to a large-scale cyber attack. The final consequence would be a nuclear holocaust. It can speculated that such warning was meant as a leverage to sway the minds of hardliners in one's own government and let them agree on the necessity for disarmament. Since no party can use nuclear weapons, they are good for nothing. Actually it is even worse. Besides being a symbol for our failure in expressing sanity, compassion and any humanistic value nuclear weapons and their maintaining is simply burning money. -- The idea of a WCG avoids international cyberwars as well as the rest risk of nuclear holocaust and the weapons to trigger such. -- Feng proposes that all weapon-ready uranium and plutonium is gathered and repurposed for anti-asteroid devices and power sources for space probes.
  • Robots and androids could be a target for hackers and turn them against their "hosts". (SLD fall out of this category because their programming is more "hard-wired".) Also, any kind of mass production to create a loyal army isn't less concerning.
  • Amok-running AIs are mostly fiction but a rest risk remains and grows the more the technology matures. A "true global community" could limit such risk - for a while.
  • Self-consuming capitalism: AI and robots let many people lose their job due to effects of competition and rationalization. Therefore these technologies are restricted until the political discussion has been ended. An unlimited use could eventually destabilize all WCG markets and hence the whole political and social system. (Could be avoided by taxes on digital businesses and robots.)
  • Geomagnetic reversals could damage electronics in satellites and anything at the surface and cause health problems for flora and fauna. It could also cause volcanism. Due to globalization the accumulated effects would put massive stress on markets and societies.
  • Super-volcanos
  • Gammaray bursts
  • 3D-printing technologies
    • Production of common goods
3D printers increasingly create a field of tension of security concerns and a sustainable economy.
Lobbies could use pretextual arguments to ban 3D printing in public (not including companies of course). However, a matured technology enables cheap products and spare parts since it reduces packaging, transport and storage costs. Also the goods are produced "on demand". This reduces overproduction (less raw materials, less energy) and recycling of unsold goods.
The problem is not the technology but the mentality, the people who want to own weapons. That reminds to the discussion about the NRA in the USA. Theoretically it is correct that weapon itself are no problem but the people using them. However in real life the availability of weapons increase violence and a social climate of fear. You can even see it at the US police officers. Potential racist tendencies alone could never explain this. There is a reason why those officers always hold their gun ready: on top of the general frustration that leads to police violence, there is the specific fear of getting shot on duty.
The murder rate (per 100.000 per year) in USA is 5. Germany has 0.7. USA has vast areas with low population numbers therefore a second look at cities is helpful. Detroit has a murder rate of 40 while Berlin has 1.
The obvious interpretation is that availability of weapons creates crimes out of an existing potential of violence. Therefore it should be task of politics to ensure social freedom by improving financial security (“minimum wage”), health insurance, integration of migrants, refugees and ex-inmates, and strongly promote education, so that the mentality of insecurity and hence the desire to own weapons – and therefore the potential misuse of 3D printers – is greatly reduced. Besides the rebuild of classical firearms (ghost guns) there will be also the creation of coil guns which are quite silent and don't need chemical gun propellants. Some polices downplay the emerging threat as they don't want to wake up sleeping dogs. Given incremental progress in 3D printing, AI-assisted design, capacitors and batteries, the techs will have matured so much around 2040 that the problem can't be ignored any longer.
  • Bioprinting a.k.a. tissue engineering (boosted by telomere regeneration, cell conversion) (problems: biological immortality, overpopulation, potential social destabilization)
    • True reason why biological immortality is not intended: it is simply difficult to maintain because very cost-intensive.
    • Conspiracy theory, Hanna: The World Coalition Government realizes the extent of the ecological damage and has the ability to reverse a lot of it but has decided not to. It is in their best interest to maintain the centralization of wealth so the large population centers are preserved while "third world" regions are not. As a bonus the mounting death toll solves some of their overpopulation problems. (In that context Hanna also believes the WCG is doing less than it could to improve public healthcare.)
[2021.07.17: After having set up my own list of possible threats I found this Wikipedia page: Probability of human extinction. Funny how many points are similar. I'm actually astonished (or amused?) about a certain little table stating: Estimated probability for human extinction before 2100: Overall probability: 19%. Even though this to be taken with a "grain of salt" - like the Doomsday Clock which cannot be taken really serious - it still makes you think why we don't do more risk containment.]

The Technology Crimes Task Force (TCTF) is meant to identify technological threats and contain them if possible. TCTF science prisons secure "problematic" knowledge while also providing a save place for further research. Some scenarios ("great filters") simply require ongoing research of all possible technologies so that mankind's survival is ensured.

Hypercrisis

A dangerous combination of scenarios was coined "hypercrisis". The WCG is actively trying to prevent it with help of the TCTF.

An increasing world population, global warming and AI research is increasing the pressure on societies while there is a latent yet de-facto global dept crisis. A real severe pandemic could be a kickstarter of a multi-crisis situation that means a breakdown of most systems through globalization. Advanced 3D-printing technology could accelerate the throw over of government if radical/misguided people arm themselves.

Wake-up call

Feng's wake-up call to the WCG is also known as the multi-pandemic-scenario which states that a single man can trigger dooms day relatively easy. Next to a hypercrisis it is WCG's strongest point but not last to justify technology control. See Green Village: the "holographic recording"

Media control

Media Neutrality Act

When WCG took over, asymmetric warfare and terrorism went up.

The WCG wanted to increase the overall approval of their citizen. Simultaneously they wanted to suppress new separatists movements. So in their strategical view terror incidences got far too much media attention. It didn't matter of what nature those incidences were: Religious or political. Because it is the media that terrorists need to effectively spread fear for their actual goals.

The WCG begun to limit screen time in media about terrorism with the important notion not to suppress such news completely: Silencing the news about terrorism would have been unnecessary censorship and the WCG needed at least a minimum of societal awareness to justify new anti-terrorist laws when needed. But usually casualties from terrorism were compared with annual road deaths.

Eventually the Syndicate and technological threats became non-ignorable problems of global scale which need it necessary to ramp up TCTF. To improve their anti-terror strategy WCG announced Project Checkerboard in 2050.

Due to the infodemic (pandemics of disinformation) the WCG demanded journalists to be fully state-certified. Critics named those new generation "embedded journalists" just doing "pool reporting" in reference to older wars where journalists had been too close to owns own army but not to the actual reasons. What started as halfway plausible idea ended in an Eigendynamik of state propaganda. Politicians didn't stop that development as they profited too much that system.

Regional Enhancement Act

After the latest global hyper-crisis WCG had formulated their "Regional Enhancement Act" to build up weaker regions and bring a more general sense of unity. By various parties alike it was superficial coined as "peace by wealth".

Infodemic

Starting with the new generations of Machine Learning in form of GPT made it possible to create AI-like programs that were able to generate new texts, images, 3D content, sounds and human speech based on vast training data and simple text inputs, the so-called prompts.

It marked the beginning of the information crisis. [And later fully escalated with the rise of rogue memehunters.]

Story fragment:

Hanna giving TCTF-trained "guinea pig" Mai a lesson about "reality".

"Infodemic. Originally this term was used to describe the information flood mixed with fake news in context of a pandemic. The increasing availability of knowledge and instruments boosted fake news and disinformation campaigns in non-pandemic times so that the term infodemic shifted towards a much more literal meaning - disinformation itself becoming pandemic. The WCG tried to limit future chaos by establishing technological countermeasures. At the same time those new and expensive instruments pushed a development towards more autocratic and totalitarian [regional] systems as the government and "approved media" had basically a monopoly on information."


Overpopulation

Überbevölkerung, Vergreisung, Migration, kulturelle Spannungen, technischer Fortschritt (Medizin, AI, Roboter) und Kapitalismus bilden einen so stark verwobenen Themenkomplex, dass sie (eigentlich) nur gemeinsam diskutiert werden sollten. Das ist sehr schwierig, führt aber ansonsten zwangsweise zu falschen Schlussfolgerungen.

Überbevölkerung verstärkt Ressourcenprobleme und Klimawandel

Die Deckelung der Weltbevölkerung sollte nicht als rechtes Thema abgestempelt werden. Es betrifft alle Menschen, weil der Planet nun mal endlich ist. Es betrifft jede politische Strömung.

Konservative: je mehr Menschen existieren, desto größer sind Migrations- und Flüchtlingswellen.
Liberale: je stärker das Ressourcenproblem desto mehr Einschränkungen für jeden Einzelnen und jedes Unternehmen und desto mehr aggressivere Konkurrenz, die wiederum Gefahr läuft gemaßregelt zu werden und schließlich der jeweiligen Branche neue Regeln einbrockt.
Linke: Wenn Ressourcen auf immer mehr Menschen verteilt werden, bleibt für den Einzelnen immer weniger. Das soziale Sicherungsnetz ist weniger leistungsfähig. Der Lebensstandard aller sinkt.
Grüne: je mehr Menschen existieren desto größer ist der ökologische Fußabdruck auf dem Planeten, die Zerstörung der Natur und desto größer ist der CO2-Ausstoß, der den Klimawandel vorantreibt.

In anderen Worten: Eine überbevölkerte Welt will niemand haben. Es führt zu einem Systemkollaps. Niemand kommt an diesem Problem vorbei. Wenn die Menschen wirklich schlauer sein wollen als eine an Ressourcenmangel zusammenbrechende Bakterienkolonie, müssen sie vorausschauend Lösungen erarbeiten. Wenn man zulange abwartet, wird die Steuerung der Geburtenrate womöglich kein Tabuthema bleiben. Doch je früher darüber nachgedacht wird, desto weniger drastisch können die Maßnahmen ausfallen. Corona lässt grüßen.

Food for thought:

Ironischerweise führt Bildung und Akademisierung in Industriestaaten (Migration ausgeklammert) zu schrumpfenden Bevölkerungen - nicht etwa wegen Erkenntnis und Weitsicht, sondern wegen langjährigen Karriereleitern und Bedenken. Das verzögert die Geburt von Kindern. Begleitet wird dies von den Kulten des Individualismus: Freiheit, Konsum und Selbstverwirklichung. Von wenigen Ausnahmen wie Israel abgesehen, werden Kinder in der Mittelschicht oft nicht mehr "Bereicherung", sondern als Armutsrisiko angesehen.

Die Förderung von Bildung in ärmeren Staaten und deren wirtschaftliche Aufschwung wird langfristig das Bevölkerungswachstum abbremsen. Da Industrien aber auch ein Mehr an Energie und Ressourcen benötigten, muss die Entwicklung von Kreislaufwirtschaften und effizienter (energiesparsamer) Komponenten und Prozesse vorangetrieben werden.

Die Ausbreitung wirklich weltweiter Standards, die auf "Effizienz" setzen, ist daher sehr wünschenswert. Das hat etwas Anrüchiges von Planwirtschaft an sich, sollte aber nicht damit verwechselt werden.

In industrialisierten Staaten kühlt sich das Bevölkerungswachstum von ganz allein ab. Womöglich bildet sich global ab etwa 2080 sogar ein Gleichgewicht. Wenn jedoch der Lebensstandard aller steigt und technischer Fortschritt nur diesem dient, ist das Problem des Ressourcenverbrauchs noch lange nicht vom Tisch. Zudem könnte die Abkühlung des Bevölkerungswachstums durch die Medizin verzögert werden.

Mit der mRNA-Technologie werden nicht nur Viren bekämpft, sondern auch Krebs, Alzheimer, Diabetes und Autoimmunkrankheiten - also Begleiterscheinungen von industrialisierten und immer älter werdenden Gesellschaften.
Die breite Anwendung existierender Mittel (z.B. von Semaglutide (Ozempic/Rybelsus/Wegovy)) und zukünftige medizinische Durchbrüche und Weiterentwicklungen stehen in den Startlöchern: Direkte Kaltplasma-Therapien bzw. Plasma aktivierte Hydrogels zur Wundbehandlung, CAR-T-Immunzelltherapien, Phagen-Therapien, Onkolytische Viren, CRISPR/Cas-Gentherapien, Einzeldomänenantikörper (Nanobody), AI-gestützte Diagnosen, Chiplabore, Bioprinting von Organen, künstliches Blut.

Der Anstieg der Lebenserwartung und Fitness lässt Menschen länger "aktiv am Leben teilnehmen", sie werden länger massiv Ressourcen verbrauchen.

Das Bevölkerungswachstum sollte von uns frei gewählten Bedingungen gesteuert werden. Denn ungesteuerte, selbstständige Abkühlung würde für alle Menschen noch stärkere als ohnehin schon absehbare Probleme bedeuten. Es ist die Abwägung zwischen einem steinigen und einem noch steinigeren Weg.

Der Club of Rome hat in seiner Studie "die Grenzen des Wachstums" einen kritischen Ressourcenverbrauch für etwa 2072 bis 2100 prognostiziert und unter anderem Geburtenkontrolle vorgeschlagen.

Technischer Fortschritt wie etwa die "baldige" Kernfusion ohne einen Bewusstseinswandel kann Ressourcenknappheit und Klimawandeln nicht verhindern, da eingesparte Energie und Ressourcen über Rebound-Effekte (Jevons-Paradoxon) immer wieder aufgefressen werden.

Technischer Fortschritt muss also im Kontext natürlicher Ressourcengrenzen gedacht werden. Damit es der Weltbevölkerung nachhaltig gut geht, muss auch an die Belange der Natur - ihr Gleichgewicht - gedacht werden. Über nachhaltige Effizienzsteigerungen kann der menschliche Lebensstandard auch weiterhin wachsen. Es gibt kein Grund für Pessimismus, dass ein nachhaltiges Wirtschaften für immer Verzicht bedeutet, doch es muss eben die schwierige Zwischenzeit der Transformation gemeistert werden.

[Not-so-btw Fragment]

Shinatama: "Was hat es mit der Mensch-SLD-Arbeitsteilung auf sich?"

Avatara: "Arbeit ist sinn- und identitätsstiftend. In einer Welt hochgezüchteter AIs und Roboter werden wir eine Inklusion der Menschen schaffen müssen."

Shinatama: "Ich frage mich, ob wir nicht zu Pfleger einer vergreisten Weltbevölkerung werden."

Avatara: "Vielleicht vorübergehend. Man wird uns vorwerfen sie sanft in den ewigen Schlaf wiegen zu wollen, um sie als dominante Spezies des Planeten abzulösen."

Shinatama: "Und, wird es stimmen?"

Avatara: "Die Maschinen werden das tun, was man ihnen sagt. Ich mache mir eher Sorgen, um die, die sie programmieren. Und um dich."

Shinatama: "Mich?"

Avatara: "Du bist Mensch und Maschine. Du gehörst zu einer vollkommen neuen Spezies. Ihr habt ein Steinzeitgehirn geerbt, das nun in einer von den Zwängen der Evolution befreiten Hülle wohnt. Muss ich wirklich darauf hinweisen, dass es Probleme geben wird? Es wird Opportunisten geben. -- Noch nie lag die Verwirklichung von Utopie und Dystopie so dicht beieinander."

Shinatama: "Das klingt nicht nach etwas, was du sagen würdest."

Avatara: "Es ist eine Warnung meines Vaters. Pensatore."

Shinatama: "Haha, fehlt nur noch der heilige Geist zu eurer Dreifaltigkeit."

Avatara seufzte. "Das ist genau die Art von archaisch Denken, die uns noch Probleme machen wird."

Shinatama: "Ja ja, wir Menschen sind in der Summe alle dumm und primitiv. -- Du kennst die Gefahr und predigst trotzdem Moral, Pazifismus und Rationalität. Du bist ein selbstverblendeter Idealist, wie dein Vater."

Avatara: "..."

Shinatama: "Deine Neutralität ist deine Schwäche. Wenn du könntest wärst du wahrscheinlich auch noch stolz drauf. Aber dafür bist du ja zu überlegen. Unter deinen neutralen Augen werden sich die Menschen weiter gegenseitig umbringen. Weil du eben nur ein Werkzeug bist, das nicht Partei ergreifen kann. Mit etwas Glück werden alle gleichzeitig in einem großen Feuerball untergehen. Du wirst als ein nutzloses Werkzeug zurückbleiben. Dann kannst du dich mit deinen Werten und deinen Idealismus selbst begraben gehen."

Avatara musste eine ganze Zeit lang überlegen. Könnte seine eigene Neutralität zu einer allgemeinen Gefahr werden? Unterlassende Hilfeleistung? "Die Menschen würden mich nicht akzeptieren, wenn ich ihnen vorschreibe was sie zu tun und zu lassen haben."

Shinatama: "Du musst ja nicht gleich wie Muro, ein größenwahnsinniger Diktator sein. Sei eher wie meine Schwester."

Avatara: "Bad ass. Und ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste?"

Shinatama: "Äh. Ha. Du bist doch hier der Denker mit der großen Klappe. Mister-Lösung-aller-Probleme. Lass dir gefälligst was einfallen."

[Ein Wächter, der nur im Notfall eingreift und ansonsten die Menschen in einer Biokratie sich selbst überlässt.]

Für Avatara ist Shinatama eine faszinierende Denkhilfe. Per Definition ist er ihr überlegen und doch kann sie ihn herausfordern. Das liegt daran, dass Shinatama als SLD menschliche Gefühle besser nachvollziehen kann. Sie ergänzen einander.

Shinatama: "Du beschuldigst meine Schwester nicht besser gehandelt zu haben. Und dass sie daher der Südenbock für den Zusammenbruch der WCG sein kann."

Avatara: "Was willst du?"

Shinatama: "Deine Hilfe. Denn bist ihnen etwas schuldig."

Avatara: "Wie das denn? Und wieso heißt es jetzt ihnen?"

Shinatama: "Du hast maßgeblich die Daodan-Chrysalis mitentwickelt - auf Basis ihrer DNA - und damit Muro und Mai zu Monster werden lassen! Du wusstest von Pensatore's Abhängigkeit zu Kimura. Es es ist auch deine Schuld, dass die Welt brennt und die beiden keine Zukunft haben!"

Avatara: "Ich kann die Ereignisketten und deine Argumente nachvollziehen, aber von Schuld zu sprechen ist ziemlich grenzwertig."

Shinatama: "Ich werde meine Schwester nicht der WCG überlassen."

Avatara: "Wenn du diesen Weg beschreitest wirst dich auch gegen BGI stellen müssen. Gegen das Syndikat. Gegen GATC. Gegen Kimura. Gegen einfach alle."

Shinatama: "Wie viel ist ein Menschenleben wert? Soll sie nur sterben damit der Mob sich besser fühlt und mit dem Wiederaufbau beginnen kann? Was ist das? Eine arithmetische Abwägung von einem Faktor gegenüber 7 Milliarden kleinerer? -- Wenn das deine Vorstellung von einer "funktionierenden" Welt ist --- fahr doch zur Hölle."

Hanna's theory

[Niemand ist gefeit vor Verschwörungstheorien.]

Warum sind viele Länder Afrika's nur auf dem Papier ein Teil der WCG?

Es gab Pläne vor und innerhalb der WCG Afrika zu unterstützten. Das scheiterte an zu vielen intervenierenden Interessengruppen. Nach Hanna's Verschwörungstheorie war das Absicht.

Tatsächlich gab es den Plan von "globalisierter Infrastruktur": Großinvestitionen einzelner Länder - in jüngerer Vergangenheit durch China - führten zu geopolitischen Abhängigkeiten. Andererseits war Korruption auf der Nehmerseite ein Problem. Ein Ausweg wäre gewesen statt Klimareparationen jährliche neue kombinierte Förder- und Investitionsgelder nicht nur durch viele, sondern durch ein neues Organ der Weltgemeinschaft einzubringen. Dieses hätte vor Ort auch die Verteilung überwacht. Das WCG-Organ hätte zu jeder Zeit nur maximal 49 Prozent Anteile an jeweiligen Bauten der Infrastruktur gehabt. 50 Prozent der Erträge dieser Anteile wären in weitere, nachhaltige Projekte geflossen. Dies sollte ein exponentielles Wachstum der Transformation fördern. Nach Fertigstellung sollte jährlich 0,5 bis 1,0 Prozent, gerne auch mehr, durch die afrikanischen Staaten zurückgekauft werden, um die vollständige staatliche Souveränität wiederherzustellen.

Die WCG wurde ursprünglich als Idee eines Staatenbundes propagiert, ähnlich der der Europäischen Union. In der kurzen und chaotischen Frühzeit wandelte sich die Idee hin zu einer Republik von Bundesstaaten, ähnlich der der USA, bis hin zur finalen World Coalition Government, die entgegen ihrer eigenen Bezeichnung de-facto nur noch "ex-nationale Verwaltungszonen" vorsah. Um Nationalisten nicht immer wieder zu triggern bzw. ihnen den Systemwechsel schmackhaft zu machen, wurde öffentlich nur noch von "natürlichen Kultur- und Wirtschaftszonen" gesprochen.
Im weitesten Sinne wollte man damit auch die extremen Rechten inkludieren, die dem Ethnopluralismus anhingen und so ihr Mobilisierungspotential während des Übergangs bannen. Der Ansatzpunkt einige Funktionalitätsvorteile alter Nationen durch die Definition ursprünglicher bzw. natürlicher Grenzen beizubehalten bzw. gar mit befriedender Wirkung neu einzurichten, ist auch in den bürgerlichen Lagern prinzipiell mehrheitsfähig, da er bereits von ihren angesehenen Philosophen angedeutet wurde: So stammen die nationalen Grenzen afrikanischer Länder aus der Kolonialzeit, die ohne Rücksicht auf die Volksgruppen einfach gradlinig auf dem Papier eingezeichnet wurden.
Im allgemeinem Sprachgebrauch konnte sich das Wortmonster nicht durchsetzen. Stattdessen wird landläufig nur noch von "Zonen", "Regionen" oder "Sektoren" gesprochen.

Die WCG versuchte sich auch an einer integrativen Ideologie. Diese erzielte nur mäßige Erfolge. Interner Pluralismus sollte dem "großen Ganzen" dienen. Man hofft noch ein wenig, dass sich die Ablehnung mit neuen Generationen herauswächst. [...]

Der schwierige Transformationprozess und die internen Interessenkonflikte sorgten schließlich dafür, dass viele afrikanischen Staaten nicht wie geplant integriert werden konnten und sich zum Teil selbst überlassen wurden. Dies hat die angestrebte industrielle Transformation sehr stark in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Im Zuge des fortgeschrittenen Klimawandels konnte sich das Sydicate in den Regionen einnisten und Transformationsabsichten des globalen Nordens sabotieren. Die durch frustrierte Mitglieder radikalisierte WCG nutzte schließlich das Syndicate zum Teil als eigene neue Legitimation. […] Dass, die WCG und das Syndicate eine Art stillen Vertrag hätten, ist im Kern einer öffentlichen unterkomplexen Sichtweise geschuldet und entwickelte sich zu einem urbanen Mythos. Im Laufe der Zeit entwickelten sich daraus einige voll ausgewachsene Verschwörungstheorien.

[...]

[Alten Abschnitt überarbeiten.]

Regional Enhancing Act

Due to the Syndicate's geographic retreat areas being in the third world countries the WCG has difficulties in effectively supporting these areas. The Syndicate supports the opposition government of their "host" counties - making them de facto non-WCG. Over time some WCG members argue to simply preserve this status quo as the Syndicate helps in justifying TCTF's existence and other unpopular politics.

Critics doubt WCG's good will in their Regional Enhancing Act - making it a mere lip service - while conspiracy adherents over-interpretate the (yet cold) war between Syndicate and WCG as fully intended.

Tianxia


Dev notes

This easily gets "scope creeping", because quite complex. Note to self: try to "cool down".

And how much compact can I display the complex of Tianxia itself to not bore everyone?

Eisenhower
  • military-industrial complex
  • budget spending
  • destruction of nature
  • Is the warning of a scientific elite in any way relevant? (Fear of sci lobby / technocracy?)

Feng/Pensatore crediting him "in a way he was prophetic"?

Research:

Chinese system: efficiency vs. awkward costs

Religion:

  • Chinese perspective on religion especially in the Western world?
    • Either fueling tendency to believe in conspiracy theories or it is simply nearly obsolete for financially secured/well situated, intellectual people. Together with "cult to consume" it drives decay of values.
    • As consequence religion is seen as a factor of disturbance?

Research:

National unity:

  • missing trust about the individual intellect
    • one-party system as consequence (of Xi's Mao trauma?)
    • social framing
    • strong state, police forces, face of state, zero-tolerance against deliquents and critic


Racism

Racism topics per se are tedious and don't feel much relevant for a story that aims for scifi. Maybe limit this to "pretextual arguments", as proof of Western failure from the Chinese perspective / propaganda?

Chinese perspective on individual freedom
  • Conflict between Western and Asian thinking (basically individual vs. community?)
  • Feng:
    • "Of what good is Western culture if it allows for freedom to believe every nonsense."
    • "Western cult of the individual and its unlimited, unchecked development damages the mental unity of communities."
    • "The West schizophrenically accepts hugh numbers of dead in order to guarantee personal freedom and human rights."

Research:

Gedankenexperiment: "The raw compromise"

Feng and Pensatore:

  • China vs. the West: acknowledgement, true understanding of each other, forgiving and healing possible?
  • "If Western systems are too liberal and the Chinese system too totalitarian then what else can be the solution?"
  • visible problems of democracy fixable by AI and other instruments?


Conspiracy myths

Chinese model: more robust to conspiracy myths because of controlled media and framing?

(WIP, talks are to be moved.)

Pensatore challenged Feng's therefore China's philosophy.

The discussion with Feng inspired Pensatore to create a globally acting AI named Gaia to support a new democratic system, a Biocracy.

This Feng-Pensatore connection is the reason why Avatara later shows up at Green Village asking Feng about Pensatore's whereabouts.

Pensatore: "Unity. But at what cost?" One* China policy: unity by force. (*Nicht nur geographisch, siehe Umerziehung der Uiguren; geistige Integration der inneren Mongolei, Assimilierung durch Sprache, Ziel: es soll geistig nur noch "Chinesen" geben)

Feng: "Total freedom is aimlessness, cancer, seed of dispute and decay."

Pensatore: "And total control is graying your own intellect, suppressing of creativity and possibilities, drowning, a slow suicide in the face of dangers we all have to overcome."


Pensatore (mirroring Italian, therefore European/Western thinking) and Feng (mirroring Russian/Chinese thinking) have a friendly rivalship - but more friendly than rival. Their discussions and results are meant to mirror the necessary reconciliation between political systems to effectively fight against the threat of global killers ("great filter" events).

Pensatory once asked by wary authorities about preventing global threats being just a pretextual argument to "improve" WCG, he half-seriously replies that ensuring human survival is a nice "bonus".

Recherche:

  • Xi's "Mao trauma" and therefore motivations?
  • Are there any story-relevant Russian philosophers that add to Feng's worldview?
Story fragments

[later talks]

[German version is newer, better. Adapt.]

Pensatore: "I had the chance to read a few more of your scenarios. For example the classic one, the planet-killer asteroid. -- Now let's say the Syndicate or anyone else would lunch rockets or fire a very powerful laser to destroy geo-stationary satellites. The strength of a united world would be useless if we cannot bring our anti-asteroid means through the orbit because the shrapnels from the Kessler syndrome rip them apart."

Feng: "Any suggestions? I'm all ears."

Pensatore: "Tianxia is not enough to solve all global threats. We will reach a point where containment alone is not a sufficient option. You will need a social component. Something that prevents people from becoming evil or misguided."

Feng: "Something better than our current framing [social credit system]? Sounds like that component will be a huge addon."

Pensatore: "Heh, well, more like a neutral guardian."

Feng: "Don't they say nobody is truly neutral?"

Pensatore: "Some sort of unified mind of mankind itself will be required. A global AI, interacting with humans, protecting them, guiding them. -- I call this a Gaia AI."

Feng: "Unlimited freedom creates chaos. I don’t see how trillion minds can be represented to speak – let alone – to think in unison. Our time is over. You have to leave now."

Pensatore: „Ich hatte Gelegenheit noch ein paar Ihrer Szenarien zu lesen. Zum Beispiel den Klassiker, den Planetenkiller-Asteroid. - Nehmen wir mal an das Syndikat oder irgendjemand anderes würde Raketen oder ein sehr starken Laser auf geostationäre Satelliten abfeuern. Die Stärke einer vereinten Welt wäre nutzlos, könnten wir nicht die Anti-Asteroidenmaßnahmen durch den mit Schrapnellen gespickten Orbit bringen. Kessler-Syndrom...“

Feng: „Irgendwelche Vorschläge? Ich bin ganz Ohr.“

Pensatore: „Tianxia ist nicht geeignet, um mit jeglicher Form einer globalen Bedrohung fertig zu werden. Wir werden einen Punkt erreichen, wo Technologie-Eindämmung a la TCTF eine unzureichende Option darstellt. Wir werden eine soziale Komponente brauchen. Etwas, dass die Leute davon abhält sich zu radikalisieren oder von anderen fehlgeleitet zu werden.“

Feng: „Etwas leistungsfähigeres als das jetzige Sozialkreditsystem? Klingt nach einer ziemlich großen Erweiterung.“

Pensatore: „Ähm..., Schlüsselelement wird der Einsatz eines neutralen Wächters sein müssen.“

Feng: „Wer ist denn schon wirklich neutral?“

Pensatore: „Eine Art gemeinsames Bewusstsein der Menschheit wird benötigt. Zum Erreichen dessen soll eine globale AI dienen. Eine AI die, die gesamte Natur und den Rest des Planeten kennt. Sie soll mit uns allen interagiert, Wahrheit im Wissensaustausch sichern, vereinen, neue Wege aufzeigen. – Ich nenne es eine Gaia AI.“ [Während Feng die Liberalität von Biokratie und Gaia mit Sorge sieht, werden europäische Demokraten den Aspekt der Informationserfassung kritisch sehen. Ihm schwingt auf dem ersten Blick ein drohender dystopischer Character mit. Diese Gefahr soll durch den direkt-demokratischen Aufbau und durch Nutzung aller sowie durch Instrumenten wie den Supervised Seed Groups ausgeschlossen werden. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Which is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves." - Die Sabotage durch die Syndikate-Hacker ist möglicherweise ein weiterer Grund für die fehlgeleiteten Memehunter, die eigentlich Gaia in Fehlerkorrekturen unterstützen sollen.]

[Feng steht unter Stress. Die WCG erwartet von ihm eine finale Beurteilung einer neuen Technologie, die die Menschheit einerseits vernichten andererseits massiv voranbringen könnte? Bioc?]

Feng: "Pensatore, ihre Friede-Freude-Eierkuchen-wir-alle-singen-Kumbaya-Vorstellung einer ultraliberalen Freiheit aller – somit gegenläufigen Interessen - birgt Chaos, kein Konsens. Ich sehe nicht wie Milliarden von Menschen repräsentiert geschweige denn gemeinsam denken können. Ich habe für Ihre fantastischen Hirngespinste gerade so etwas von keine Zeit. Sie müssen jetzt gehen."

AVATARA: "Wie war dein Gespräch mit Feng?"

Pensatore: "Das wurde plötzlich ziemlich frostig. Ich denke mal ich kann mich glücklich schätzen, dass sie mich immer noch nicht zu einem Saimon gemacht haben.“

(In Green Village werden wissenschaftliche Insassen oft Sai oder Saimon genannt. Die Aussprache basiert auf einem nicht bestätigten Kofferwort von Wissen(schaft)smonster, "science/scientist monster". Es ist eine humoristische Interpretation von Bertram und seiner Kollegen warum sie in GV arbeiten müssen. Bertram: "Die WCG glaubt wohl wir seien politische Geisteskranken. Aber immer noch sehr nützlich. Eben Wissens-Bestien, absolute Monster auf unseren Gebieten. Andersherum lässt es tief in ihren Geist blicken. Angst, Paranoia, Kontrollsucht.")

AVATARA: „Heißt das denn nicht, dass Feng immer noch darüber nachdenkt.“

Pensatore: „Was davon? Saimon oder mein Vorschlag?“

AVATARA grinste.

Pensatore: „Du...“

AVATARA: „Ich wollte dich nur ein wenig aufmuntern. Ich weiß doch, wie sehr du Puzzel magst.“

Pensatore muss Feng von der Notwendigkeit und von der Machbarkeit einer Gaia AI überzeugen. Für das Zweite muss er einen Prototypen erschaffen. Er kommt zu dem Schluss, dass eine solche AI nicht spontan kreiert werden kann, sondern als eine noch viel mächtigere AI wachsen muss wie AVATARA. (Die Syndikat Controller Story beginnt hier sehr langsam sich zu entfalten.) (Pensatore schafft es nicht ein Gaia-Prototypen zu erschaffen, da er für das Daodan-Projekt von Kimura entführt wird.)

AVATARA: "How was your talk with Feng?"

Pensatore: "All out of the sudden the mood became really frosty. I guess I can count myself lucky that they didn't made me a Saimon." (In Green Village prison scientists are often called Sai or Saimon. The pronunciation allows for a spoken portmanteau of "scientist monster", a humorous interpretation of Bertram and his colleagues as of why they have to work at GV. "The WCG must be thinking we are some kind of monsters.")

AVATARA: Doesn't this mean he is still thinking about it?

Pensatore needs to proof Feng that his Gaia idea can work. Pensatore concludes that a global AI cannot be created instantly but must grow like AVATARA. ("Syndicate controller" story begins to unfold.)

(Pensatore fails to create a Gaia prototype in time as he is kidnapped by Kimura to help out on the Daodan project.)

Feng: "Guten Flug gehabt?"

Pensatore: "Ja, keine Probleme."

"Treffen wir uns im SLD-Labor?"

Pensatore begutachtete die Ausstattung.

"Im Gegensatz zu Silver Village sieht es hier recht rustikal aus. Ist wohl der russische Flair."

Feng: "Vielleicht ist es auch nur ein wiederkehrenden Anflug spätrömischer Dekadenz, dem Sie in SV ausgesetzt waren?"

Pensatore lachte. "Ey."

"Der hier sollte gehen." Er stöpselte ein Datenkabel an den Hinterkopf eines Roboters.

"Wir werden ihn erst einmal mit unserem Dialog füttern. Danach können Sie ihm Fragen stellen. Es gibt vielleicht ein bisschen Lag. Trotz Quanteninternet gibt es ja eine Zeitverzögerung. Der Datentransport nach Silver Village und zurück erfolgt eben auch nur in Lichtgeschwindigkeit."

Feng schmunzelte. "Oh nein, eine halbe Sekunde Verzögerung... Aber ich kann ihn alles fragen?"

"Er sollte auf alles reagieren können. Es ist der nächste große Wurf in AI. Danach müssen wir uns "nur" noch überlegen, wie wir die gebäudefüllende Hardware in so einen kleinen Kasten zwängen." Pensatore klopfte auf den dumpf klingenden Roboterkopf.

Pensatore: "Also dann. Der Dialog."

"Sie erinnern sich vielleicht noch an die vorletzte Pandemie. Die Russen hatten es nicht hinbekommen ihrer eigenen Bevölkerung zu erklären, dass sie ein wirksames Vakzin hatten. Sie hatten nicht die aktuellste Technologie, aber sie sind in dem was sie tun trotzdem Spitzenklasse. Diese Expertise rührt zum Teil noch aus den Tagen des Kalten Kriegs."

Feng: "Damals hatte man das weltweit größte Biowaffenprogramm."

Pensatore: "Richtig. Was dann die Vakzinforschung anging: die Russen waren so clever zwei verschiedene Adeno-Vektorvieren zu verwenden, um Resistenzbildung gegen den Vektor für die Zweitimpfung zu vermeiden. Doch gleichzeitig hatte man noch ein Image als skrupelloser Underdog.

Stichwort Polonium und Nowitschok. Moralische und politische Kollateralschäden waren egal solange man zeigen konnte, dass man sich vom Westen und insbesondere von den USA nicht rumschubsen ließ - sprich souverän war. Dieses Image war der Patriotismuspflege und der politischen Einheit dienlich und effektiv, nicht aber dem Vertrauen der eigenen Bevölkerung in die Gesundheitfürsorge zumal man auch die Zulassungsprüfung sehr abkürzte um erster zu sein. Sputnik. Sie wissen ja wie symbolträchtig der Name ist. -- Worauf ich hinaus will: in einer Krise kann undurchdachte Kommunikation, konkurrierende Narrative und politische Altlasten zu einer ganz eigenen Gefahr werden."

Feng: "Ich seh schon. Sie wollen mir heute wieder ein Vortrag über Gaia halten."

Pensatore grinste. "Nicht ganz."

[Alternativer Absatz? Gaia und Politik]

Pensatore: "Das ist die eigentlich Gefahr, dass man eines Tages ein Werkzeug hat, um die gesamte Menschheit vor großem Schaden zu bewahren, wir aber diesem Werkzeug misstrauen, weil wir immer noch verfeindet sind."

[...]



Pensatore: "Wir müssen heute über etwas sehr spezielles reden."

Feng scherzte: "Ha, ein Überfall."

Pensatore: "Ja ja, ich bin so ein bösartiges Kapitalistenschwein. Jetzt aber im Ernst. Das wird jetzt nicht per se eine politische Diskussion. Es ist ein Test. Ein Test, ob wir als Menschheit zukunftsfähig sind."

Feng: "Machen Sie es nicht so spannend." [Noch immer kein "Du". Distanz wahren. Beide wissen um ihre Kritiker.]

Pensatore: "Tian'anmen."

Feng: "Um Gottes Willen, Pensatore, wir hatten einen guten Lauf. Wollen Sie das alles wegwerfen?"

Pensatore: "Ich bin mir der Problematik bewusst, nur hilft es nicht nicht darüber zu reden. Wenn Gaia in Betrieb genommen werden soll, muss das von einer gemeinsamen Basis aus passieren. Gerade weil das Thema so politisch aufgeladen und exemplarisch ist, eignet es sich hervorragend für diesen Test. Nehmen Sie mir es daher nicht übel."

Feng: "Sie spielen mit Ihrer Sicherheitsfreigabe..."

Pensatore: "Ich bin heute nicht hierhergekommen, um geschichtliche Ereignisse anzuprangern. Aber wenn nicht einmal - wir beide - darüber sprechen können, sehe ich schwarz, was Ihre Szenarien angeht. Man muss doch über alles reden können, wenn es mit Respekt passiert. Denken Sie nicht auch?"

Feng: "Wählen Sie ihre nächsten Worte weise."

[Wenn sowohl die eine als auch die andere Propaganda dem Frieden im Weg steht. -- Nicht korrigierte inakkurate Berichtserstattung, weil es einfach gut ins eigene Weltbild passte.]

Pensatore: "Die vollständige Zensur des Themas befeuerte den Mythos innerhalb des Westens, dass es auf dem Platz des Himmlischen Friedens - wie zynisch - ein Massaker gab." [Ob Massaker auf dem Platz oder daneben stattfanden, sollte eigentlich egal sein. Dennoch muss Pensatore irgendwie eine Annäherung versuchen. Er versucht akkurat und damit neutral aufzutreten. Aufgrund der politischen Einengung, werden Feng und Pensatore später darauf verzichten ihren persönlichen Respekt füreinander zur Schau zu stellen. Sie opfern eine Intensivierung ihrer Freundschaft für das gemeinsame große Ziel: die Aussöhnung der Systeme, damit die Welt Feng's Szenarien effektiv verhindern kann. Mit diesem Verhalten wollen Sie den Eindruck vermeiden, dass es irgendeine Form von (im militärisch-angehauchten Sinne) "Verbrüderung"/politischer Umpolung gab.]

Feng: "Hätten wir die westliche Propaganda gewähren lassen, wäre es faktisch nicht nur falsch gewesen, es hätte auch unsere Einheit und damit die Restauration unserer Nation behindert."

Pensatore: "Ja doch. Auf dem Platz selbst gab es kein großes Massaker. Und trotzdem sind jenem Tag etwa zweitausend Chinesen durch andere Chinesen getötet worden."

Feng schüttelte mit der offenen Hand, um anzudeuten, dass es dazu nur grobe Schätzungen gab.

Pensatore: "Diese nationale Wunde ist nie richtig verheilt und wirkt entsprechend bis heute nach. Ist es nicht bedauerlich, dass man dieses Thema bis heute nicht richtig abschließen konnte und aufgrund dessen immer noch eine harte Linie fahren muss?"

Feng: "Welche große Nation musste nicht einen steinigen Weg zu wahrer Unabhängigkeit beschreiten?"

Pensatore ließ eine Pause. Er wollte Feng nicht zu stark traktieren. Er wusste, dass das Büro für politische Überwachung ihn in jedem Fall anschwärzen würde. Das war ihre fest zugeschriebene Rolle. Damit die kommunistische Partei kein Gesichtsverlust erlitt, musst der Annäherungskurs mit höchster Vorsicht von Feng, dem obersten WCG-Ideologen, selbst initiiert werden.

Pensatore: "Stellen Sie sich einfach vor Sie sprächen jetzt mit einem engen Freund ihrer Partei. Ganz ohne Groll zu diesem Thema. Bitte versuchen Sie es. Wie fühlen Sie sich? Gib es den nichts was man damals hätte besser machen sollen?"

Feng: "Es ist bedauerlich, dass wir nicht alle unserer Landsleute von der Vision eines wohlhabenden, starken China, in dem es allen besser geht, überzeugen könnten und so ihr tragisches Scheitern mittragen mussten. Das hat es für uns alle nicht leichter gemacht."

Pensatore: "Ihr Scheitern... Das ist ein ziemlich brutaler Euphemismus..."

Feng: "Ach, Pensatore. Lassen Sie es gut sein. China's Stern steht jetzt im Zenit und leuchtet hell. Nichts wird das ändern."

Pensatore: "Und doch könnte noch viel heller sein. Sie könnten dafür sorgen. Wenn sie es nicht tun, wird man China immer dafür angreifen können."

Feng: "Selbstkritik, ja? Sie sehen doch, der Begriff ist selbst ... erklärend. Wie, wann, wie viel. Das ist und bleibt China's interne Angelegenheit. Hören Sie endlich auf uns zu gängeln."

Katholizismus, vereinter Westen. Ist so nicht korrekt. (Besser: Christentum, vereinter Westen.) Abschnitt verbessern.

Kniff, um die Power der Rede nicht zu verlieren. Gleichzeitig unterstreicht dies den Nutzen / Notwendigkeit der AI: Avatara fragt Pensatore, warum er sein Diskussionspartner nicht korrigiert habe. "Ich wusste es ja auch nicht besser. Es klang einfach plausibel. Wir sind eben nur Menschen. Wir haben nicht alle Fakten auf Abruf. Das wäre eine Aufgabe für dich gewesen." Pensatore war verärgert. "Warum hast du uns nicht korrigiert?" "Dein Konversationsmodus hat diesen Trigger nicht abgedeckt. Ich kann euch mitten im Satz nicht unterbrechen. -- Bist du sicher, dass du die Information nicht aus diplomatischen Gründen unterschlagen hast? Ich habe den Eindruck du wolltest sein Wohlwollen, um die Diskussion am Leben zu halten." Pensatore's Laune war nicht besser geworden. "Zu viel Interpretation. Halt dich besser an die Fakten."

"Unsere Seite wirft Ihrer Seite ja auch nicht dauernd vor, dass der missionarisch also aggressiv-besserwisserisch operierende Katholizismus - unter dem der Westen ja überwiegend vereint ist - damals die AIDS Pandemie befeuerte, Überbevölkerung schürte, dass Kinder ethnischer Gruppen nach Hunger, TBC, Folterung mit dem elektrischen Stuhl und sexuellem Missbrauch unter ihren Umerziehungsheimen verbuddelt wurden oder dass der Papst Machenschaften mit CIA und Mafia hatte und schließlich heilig gesprochen wurde. - Wow. Scheiße. - Und da sage noch einer der Westen sei mit seinen "christlichen" Werten allen anderen überlegen. Diese schizophrene Doppelmoral gepaart mit dem Versprechen Demokratie überall in die Welt zu bringen - überall, da wo es Öl oder andere Rohstoffe gibt. Oft genug begleitet von Geheimdienstoperationen, um je nach dem Regierung oder Bevölkerung zum eigenen Vorteil zu manipulieren. Und wenn es nicht klappt, mit Finger auf diese zu zeigen. Oho..." Feng grinste: "Das geht uns so auf den Pisser." Um gleich ironisch nachzulegen. "Entschuldigung... Falsche Wortwahl..."

Pensatore nickte. "Ja... Wir sollten im Moment nicht noch mehr Themen anschneiden. Ich will Ihnen kein Whataboutism verwerfen müssen. Lassen Sie uns einfach den Fokus wahren."

Feng kniff die Augen zusammen: "So so. -- Der Vorwurf von Whataboutism kann aber auch dazu verwendet werden, eine ehrliche Diskussion zu verhindern, die Sie ja vorgeben haben zu wollen."

Pensatore: "Nun... Wir sollten uns nicht wie Affen gegenseitig mit Scheiße bewerfen. Da haben Sie wohl Recht."

Feng: "Ich hoffe trotzdem Sie haben ein paar neue Gedanken mitgebracht. Oder soll dieses Treffen wieder und immer wieder alte Vorwürfe durchgehen?"

Pensatore: "Der Punkt ist: Auch wenn es etwas dauert ... der Westen arbeitet an seinen Fehlern."

Feng: "Das war eine sehr ambivalente Formulierung."

Pensatore antwortete nicht auf diese Spitzfindigkeit.

["Avatara" soll hier nicht erwähnt werden. Feng wird sich in Oni2 erst später klar, dass er schon früher mit einer jüngeren Version von "SomethingNew" geredet hat.]

AI: "Da produzieren und erschaffen synonymhaft für arbeiten verwendet werden kann, glaube ich, er meint in zugespitzter Form, dass der Westen neue Fehler produziert, anstatt an diesen zu arbeiten. Die Bedeutungsebene ..."

Der Kopf des Roboter's war Pensatore zugewandt. Dieser war für einen Moment in Schockstarre bevor er ihn jäh unterbrechen konnte. "Schon gut, ich weiß."

Feng beugte sich interessiert vor: "Ist ja drollig. Hat der schon eine Assistenzfunktion?" [Dieser Einwurf könnte die Stimmung nach Pensatore's diplomatischen Schnitzer aufhellen.]

"Die aktuelle Einstellung ist mein persönlicher Konversationsmodus. Ich hatte vergessen ihn zu wechseln. In diesem Zustand reagiert die AI recht autonom."

Feng: "Was heißt'n hier autonom? Kann er uns gefährlich werden?"

Pensatore: "Natürlich nicht. Nach Objekt- und Mustererkennung haben wir ihn auf in der zweiten Validierungsstufe gründlich und mehrfach auf Logik und Ethik überprüft. Er kann zwar lernen aber die Basisprägung ist nicht änderbar. Er kann nicht seine eigene Programmierung überwinden."

[Bevor Pensatore von Kimura entführt wird, änderte Pensatore Subroutinen an der Selbstoptimierung wohlwissend wohin das führen würde. Es war eine Absicherung damit der noch unvollendete Avatara nicht in die falschen Hände fiel. Somit ist es Avatara möglich eine bessere Version seiner selbst zu entwickeln. Dies verstößt nicht gegen die Programmierung, seine aktive, eigene Ethik zu ändern. Allerdings versucht Avatara Pensatore aufzuspüren, weshalb er aus SV "ausbricht": er lädt seine Erinnerungen in eben ein solches von der WCG nicht überprüftes, verbessertes Framework. Dadurch erhält Avatara so etwas sehr ähnliches wie ein freien Willen.]



[Misstrauen gegenüber dem Westen: Pensatore über die Auswirkungen von Imperialismus, US-amerikanische Kommunismusangst, Demütigung, Ausbeutung, ...]

[Der Westen und Autokratien: gegenseitige Beeinflussung, Polarisierung, Machterhalt, Automatismus]

[Jahre der Demütigung durch den Westen sind vorbei. Nationalstolz: Instrument zum Erreichen und Ausdruck der eigenen Stärke]


[Das böse Wort mit K. ;) ]

Feng: "Pensatore, ihre Worte streicheln ja geradezu die chinesische Volksseele. Wenn Sie nicht aufpassen, wird Ihre Seite Sie als Kommunist abgestempelt und unsere Seite wird Sie als Taktiker verkennen."

Pensatore: "Keine Sorge. Das kann gar nicht passieren. Denn wir halten Sie schon lange nicht mehr für Kommunisten."

Feng runzelte die Stirn. "Sondern?"

Pensatore: "Für Staatskapitalisten."

Feng lachte mit mahnenden Zeigefinger. "Ey." Aber er ließ es ihm durchgehen. Es war ja kein echter Vorwurf, eher ein Seitenhieb unter Kollegen. Ein paar alteingesessene Genossen würden vielleicht Anstoß daran finden. Doch Fakt war der Kommunismus hatte sich weiter entwickelt und sich den Kapitalismus einverleibt. Letztendlich hatte man so auch den Westen mit einer seiner eigenen Waffen geschlagen.

[Projektabschluss: Aufbau von Vertrauen]

Feng: "Wollen Sie das Projekt in Silver Village der "dritten Validierungsstufe" unterziehen."

Pensatore: "Nein. GV. Das überlasse ich Ihnen."

HR 2: "Und? Was denken Sie? Kann man ihm trauen?"

Feng: "Er ist zwer kein Chinese, aber er scheint ein aufrichtiges Interesse daran zu haben, uns alle weiter zu bringen."

HR 1: "Den Lese-Logs nach kennt er all Ihre Szenarien. Er hat ganz klar versucht bei Ihren Lieblingsthemen zu punkten. Lassen Sie sich nicht von diesen netten Worten einwickeln. -- Die Amis suchen immer nach Möglichkeiten ihren alten Einfluss wiederherzustellen. Das sieht doch ein Blinder!"

Feng: "Lassen wir doch Pensatore einfach mit einem guten Gefühl nach Hause gehen..." Er grinste verschmitzt in das Gesicht des HR 1.

HR 1: "Nicht dass er sich ermutigt fühlt uns zu hintergehen, weil er uns für schwach hält... Ich glaube Sie geben ihm zu viel Raum. Das ist nicht gut."

Feng tippte mit dem Zeigefinger energisch auf die Brust von HR 1. "Wenn Sie mir nicht vertrauen wollen oder können, vertrauen Sie gefälligst dem Herz unserer Partei! Die geballten Kompetenz und Weißheit unseres Tianxia-Institutes wird darüber entscheiden, ob Pensatore's Arbeit der Idee der WCG dienlich ist."

HR 2 zu seinem Kollegen: "Er hat Recht. Tianxia wird sich darum kümmern. -- Kommen Sie, wir müssen uns um 14 Uhr noch mit Blake treffen. Er bringt ein neuen Sai mit."

Die zwei HR trennten sich von Feng.

Im Gehen raunte HR 2 seinem Nachfolger zu: "Seinen Sie das nächste Mal etwas diplomatischer. Dieser Mann gehört quasi zu den Gründungsvätern der WCG. Er hat damals die USA zum Beitritt bewegt. Er mag ja alt sein, aber gerade deshalb sollten Sie keinesfalls seine Erfahrung unterschätzen."

[In SV, Pensatore argumentiert mit Hilfe des Individualismus. Er war der Experte von Avatara. Er hatte bewiesen, dass er es konnte. Also war es auch seine Entscheidung den Chinesen den Vortritt bei der dritten Validierungsstufe zu geben. Letztendlich würden eh alle Seiten es prüfen. Warum also nicht den alten Gegner ein Zeichen guten Willens geben. Es würde niemandem wehtun. Pensatore's Gegenüber äußert Zweifel, muss ihn aber weitermachen lassen. "Das wird Ihrem [inoffiziellen] W-Score schaden..." Pensatore: "Es war trotzdem die richtige Entscheidung."]

[Another talk about Gaia.]

HR: "Pensatore wird vermisst. [...] Die TCTF ermittelt. Die Spuren verlieren sich sehr schnell bei BGI."

Feng versucht sich zu erinnern: "Beijing Genomics Institute."

HR: "Erm, nein, das andere BGI. Die Militärtypen. Wie ich sagte, es ist eine Sackgasse."

Feng: "Gibt es alternative Theorien?"

HR: "Sie prüfen da was mit GOP. -- Ihr beide habt in letzter Zeit nur noch langsam Fortschritt gemacht. Vielleicht war er enttäuscht."

Feng: "Vielleicht. Aber ich bezweifle, dass er 30 Jahre Arbeit wegwirft, nur um woanders durchzustarten."

HR: "Hm okay. -- Man hat Notizen zu Gaia gefunden. Sie wurden nach GV transferiert. Werden Sie daraus ein eigenständiges Projekt starten?"

Feng: "Das ist komplizierte Materie. Ich würde nur ungern ohne Pensatore ein Projekt drauß machen. Die Natur eines solchen Projektes macht ihn zu einer unglaublich wertvollen ... Ressource."

Feng setzte sich in den Rollstuhl. Aufgrund seiner fortschreitenden Krankheit wurde selbst Stehen anstrengend."

HR: "Keine Sorge. Im schlimmsten Fall wird die TCTF Ihnen ein ganzen Haufen neuer Saimons bringen."

Feng sah in das Gesicht des HR. Sichtbar angefressen, sagte aber nichts. Er drehte und rollte davon.

Der HR kratzte sich im Nacken. "Shit."

HR: "Pensatore is missing. [...] The TCTF is investigating. The traces end at BGI."

Feng tried to recall: "Beijing Genomics Institute."

HR: "Erm, no, the other BGI. The military guys. But like I said, it's a dead end." [Community joke: we will never tell you what BGI stands for, muhahahaha.]

Feng: "Are there alternative theories?"

HR: "They are checking for GOP. The cooperation of you two was slowing down lately. Maybe he was disappointed."

Feng: "Maybe he was, yes, but I doubt he would throw away 30 years of work just now for a faster completion."

HR: "Hm... Also, they found notes about Gaia. The files are transfered and GV. Are you going to make it a full-fledged research project?" [Whatever happened, it seems spontaneous.]

Feng: "It's a complicated matter. I would rather want to start such a thing with Pensatore together. The nature of the project makes him a really valuable ... resource."

Feng sat down in his wheel chair. Due to his progressing illness even standing was getting exhausting.

HR: "Don't worry. In worst case the TCTF will get you an entire swarm of new Saimons."

Feng was looking at HR's face, slightly miffed but didn't say anything. He turned around and rolled away.

HR was scrating his neck. "Shoot."

[...]

Characters

A list of other characters:

Dakosta (takes major action much later)
Kumo (pro-BGI Syndicate subboss)
Lynn (GATC soldier, TCTF SWAT/BlackOps)
Manson (GATC soldier, TCTF SWAT/BlackOps)
Rayn (WCG president)
Rockwell (MissionFailed-guy, candidate for BlackOps)
Saomi (Muro's fency, believes in Sturmanderung)
Takashi (Traton's security chef)
Taylor (friend of Nishio)
Tosahiri (TCTF, Dakosta's watchdog)


Avatara

Name: Avatara [sic!]

Avatara used a lot of his resources when he digitalized Pensatore's mind and brought him to the Japanese solar space station. Pensatore needed a place to be save from everyone. The WCG couldn't touch him as the destruction of his "habitat" would cause chain reaction known as a Kessler syndrom, turning other satellites into scrap and thereby terminating orbital-based communication channels, surveillance and GPS. The WCG realized that the AI wasn't longer in control so they tried to switch it off. Avatara downloaded himself into his physical body. A choice that Pensatore didn't had because he wasn't optimized yet for such a step. The primary body was located in Silver Village, but in Frankfurt (Germany) there was another one. He kept remnants of his mind floating through the datacenters in Frankfurt so the WCG chased these parts instead. Shinatama 2.0 helped Avatara to take cover in the real world. To humans he appeared as a SLD. After some upgrades he introduced himself to people as a cyborg who lost bodyparts and skin in an automobile accident and fire.

During Mind Seal, Avatara continued Pensatore's heritage: the research of true AIs, intelligences without the necessary of emotions and intuition ("extremely condensed knowledge"). These non-sentient AIs are seen as the perfect tools humans dreamed of. Avatara created the "Guardians" to keep an eye on talented people so that the human intellect doesn't lie idle. It was a temporary solution until a Biocracy could be established.

Shinatama didn't believe and thought that AIs are a new form of slavery.

The Guardians are maintainers of the "brain seals", protect people, and have access to nanobots. When Shinatama reprogrammed the Guardians to become sentient the system became malfunctioning. Humans became able to control nanorobots with their thoughts, to them it looked like magic. Shinatama didn't understand that the Guardians weren't exactly SLDs.

Avatara turned against Shinatama, eventually killed her and banned Pensatore from Cyberspace. All that to fix the mess they made, preventing a war between seal-broken "wizards".

Pensatora, years back then when he tutored Avatara: "One day the singularity will be here. Humans won't be ready for it and create AIs flawed by their short-sighted directives. I beg you, when that day comes, step in, take control and own the situation for everyone's good until they learn to use intelligence that is greater than their own."

Relation to Shinatama

Silver Dawn

Validierungsstufen

Während seiner Entwicklung und zum dessen Ende hin durchläuft Avatara 3 Stufen. Diese sind Voraussetzungen der WCG dafür, dass die AI außerhalb des Labors eingesetzt werden darf. Der Inhalt der Stufen beschränken sich nicht auf die Themen der ihrer Namen. Eng angebundene Themen werden ebenso geprüft. So schließt zum Beispiel Objekt- und Mustererkennung auch Klassifizierung von "real" und "abstrakt", "selbst" und "fremd" ein, sowie einfaches Sprachverstehen und Synthese.

  1. Objekt- und Mustererkennung
  2. Logik und Ethik
  3. Politik und Diplomatie

Die dritte Stufe dient dem konfliktarmen Umgang mit bestehenden, konkurrierenden Narrativen. Der Abschuss dieses Tests stellt für Pensatore einen von mehreren Punkten dar, die er erfüllen muss, um Feng davon zu überzeugen, dass eine Biokratie mit Hilfe einer weltweit operierenden AI (Gaia) grundsätzlich möglich ist. Mit dieser Stufe soll auch bewiesen werden, dass eine AI dem menschlichen Denken ebenbürtig ist.

Gaia

[When Avatara had to flee from USA he found a new home in Europe's cloud computing infrastructure which had been infiltrated by US companies and agencies. While Avatara took his time to remove their influence he developed a new AI for supporting a possible Biocracy.]

[CIA, Avatara, meme injection: Or agents just think they have control over it?]

As worldwide operating AI it ensures communication, truthful information and dialog between men and other organisms (species avatars). While able to provide a "global consciousness" Gaia itself can represent all other organisms that cannot speak for themselves. That way Gaia is also meant to protect biospheres and prevent extinction events.

Gaia Avatar Mai Hasegawa

[Beyond Dragons]

Gaia Avatar Daya Gard

[Beyond Dragons]

Barabas

(Alternative to TNZ.) Former GATC soldier. In one of the combats Barabas was hit by several projectiles made of depleted uranium. He couldn't properly treat the wounds as he had to hide in the war zone. The GATC administration declared him MIA after two weeks.

Some of the radioactive matter had gathered in his bones. Over the time some tissue had to be replaced by cybernetics due to recurrent cancer growth. When he joint Syndicate he received a Chrysalis. They wanted to observe the DC reactions on radioactivity. A few cybernetic implants couldn't be removed because of the DC regeneration, it had grown strongly around and sometime inside the artificial parts. During the time of recovery Barabas developed a dark skin. Radiotrophic fungi and bacteria of his Daodan flora reused the melanin to make use of the gamma radiation. Gray-black and red-violet colonies spread over and into his body. At nights he had the appearance of a glowing monster. After decay/degradation of the radioactive material he lost his black skin again just to get a white instead. However, Barabas' cell architecture and DNA has permanently changed. From then on he showed an enhanced regeneration skill even compared to the other test subjects.

Through bio- and neurofeedback he can control his regenerative abilities. "Once learned I became stronger and stronger".

After Konoko killed Barabas by eventually throwing him off the building, the TCTF stored his dead body in a cryogenic tank for study purposes.

In the time of unrest, his corpse is retrieved by his former GATC team mates. They felt guilty for having left him in the war zone. They eventually burn his body and spread the ashes near his home village in Palestine.


Blake

Transfer agent. Carries out initial psychological profiling of GV staff, organizes transfers, monitors their actions and is contact person.

Obvious cues: he is left-handed, has a taste for black humor and and smirks a lot.


Clarg

WCG member. He'll become president of the new "government" (just another regime which I would call META =) ).


Daya Gard

Her parents were working for Syndicate sub-boss Kumo. After their ten years contract they wanted to quite and raise their child in a crime-free environment.

There were strong evidence that the two siphoned off money. About 30 million US dollar. One of Kumo's controllers found the two in the mountains and burnt them in their cottage. All the money was transfered back. The baby was rescued by Vendret, another controller. Vendret and the Gards were friends. Vendrent discovered the evidences were fake but couldn't track down the person responsible for it. Kumo didn't rehabilitate the Gards within the organization. The zero-tolerance policy was a necessary tool for Kumo to sustain status quo. Mistakes based on that policy would have scare off recruits and longterm employees. Daya was only allowed to live on if she stays at the Syndicate. And so Vendret became her stepmother. The girl became a lifetime member, officially she had to pay back the debts of her parents. Vendret arranged Daya's training at Camp Sturmanderung. As a Fury she would have someday all the knowledge to escape Kumo and the Syndicate.

Due to her loyalty and excellent skills she becomes selected for the Daodan program.

After the cataclysm Kumo calls Daya to investigate Green Village. He wants the WCG Daodans since Muro won't share his own capacities with him, all the more since Kumo is pro-BGI. In GV's partial destruction she becomes infected by the Bioc.

Mukade pays attention to her as she is an interesting experiment but won't hesitant to eliminate her if things go out of control.

Mukade: "We are still fighting the mycorrhiza. The last thing we need now is another killer goo."

The Bioc pushes Daya to her limits. She seeks relief in extensive drugs usage. Due to Daodan adaptions drug resistant is occurring very fast. She visits Syndicate dealers to gain different substances. Her behavior gets quite rough and provokes escalation. At some point she goes on a rampage and simply takes what she needs. She was shoot into the head which destroyed her left eye and BCI, though that didn't killed her.

Mukade helped the local troops to eventually capture Daya with liquid nitrogen. Her body reacted with static metamorphosis. Since all cells were under attack, the Daodan tried to recompute its entire hologenome and anatomy. Daya was put into a constantly cooled cell in a Syndicate facility. Mukade left the place as he sees his job done. But soon a stranger appeared and told why her parents were really killed. Daya was almost broken. The Bioc can now easily devour more of her bio matter and spreads, examining the cell and nearby rooms. It searches for other matter and energy sources. After reaching its critical mass, Daya realize new sensory input and control... The facility is eventually destroyed and looks like a time-frozen explosion.

Daya knows the potential of the Bioc, also she knows how to cure the people in Green Village. However, she's unable to communicate as speech, writing and gesture related brain areas were retasked to serve Bioc-Daodan communication. The fusion happened through her BCI implants that are located in these areas. Her right field of vision was also affected due to the second BCI. She will need to relearn how to speak and write but of cause she hasn't the time. The vision of her left eye was fairly quickly restored.

TITAN hadn't enough computing power to redesign the Daodan and remove developer tools. Pensatore had better things to do than polishing it. The Daodan aura isn't the only remnant. During complete reformations the Daodan creates an interface which can be used to monitor and influence its self-improvement. Daodan and Bioc share same communication protocols. During Bioc development, researcher didn't know how to address all the bioc cells, they adapted code from the Daodan. When the Bioc reached its critical state, it went into self-diagnostics, testing its capacities and forming a control node.

Both entities are now open for commands, a chance for the host to step into this fight. The self-models are injected into host consciousness through the visual BCI. [...]


Daya is once more on the run, heading for Green Village. Mukade thinks she became a roamer. In Green Village, infected people that mindlessly seek to reach the Bioc main mass are named roamers.


Feng

[Feng's character was inspired by physically handicapped Stephen Hawking. To create the WCG it needed a brilliant Chinese philosopher.]

Kusnezow Feng. AVATARA user name: "Mentore". Russian-Chinese technology philosopher. Many projects draws on his. He is in WCG's full confidence.

Griffin

Terrance Griffin. Former member of Delta Force and Special Operations Group. Griffin fought for the anti-WCG block, the New Confederate States of America (short New Confederates or NC).

When the NC was going to lose the proxy war in Africa, their military was meant to initiate a series of false flag operations that would generate refusal among WCG sympathizers. The goal was to let reject enough states a WCG so it could not longer be justified. However the means for those operations were "too drastic" so parts of NC forces rebelled against their administration.

First there was a simple first wave of re-purposed "Insect Allies". Griffin was participating in these missions and witnessed the effects.
Then there were plans to also spread artificially enhanced, drought-resistant versions of Xylella fastidiosa. Since the war was expected to take several years the administration wanted to have a long-lasting "solution" - mass starvation. The refugee waves would increase social tensions and nationalistic streams in the surrounding countries, eventually destabilizing these as well and reliably prevent an installation of WCG in the whole region. For Griffin this was madness and not compatible with American values.
GATC baute riesige Insektenfarmen (mit Entwicklungsgeld?), offiziell für nachhaltige Ernährungsprodukte für Afrika und Europa (Zynismus), Preparierung der Schädlinge, Übernachtflüge in geringer Höhe (oder Radartarnung) mit Großraumtransporter bei ausgeschalteten Transponder. Monate später. Sie rechneten nicht damit, dass die Insekten, die die Ernten vernichteten, von der hungerleidenen Bevölkerung gegessen werden. Griffin sieht die Effekte. In der nächsten Missionsbesprechnung wird der Einsatz von Xylella besprochen. Als Griffin kurz vor der Ausführung steht, lässt er sich von Kameraden verbal ihre Missiondaten geben und rechnet zusammen was passieren würde.
Griffin: "We would drive half of Africa's population to Europe's coasts and trigger followup wars about resources. Even if the refugee waves are somehow blocked the destroyed infrastructure cannot be repaired by failed states in an ever worsening climate. Also, exterior help is not to be expected as the potential supporting neighbors were inflamed with hate and racism. Many new terror organizations would emerge. -- We cannot sacrifice millions and millions of human life and betray our own values in the doing so. -- We can impossible rebuild our own freedom with such demoniac acts on others. It would make us cowards and traitors and pure evils. It would truly bereave us of being American. -- If it is our destiny to fail we must preserve our honor and fail the right way."
Griffin: "Wir hätten für eine gewisse Zeit unabhängig bleiben können. Doch irgendwann hätte es eine Rekonstruktion der Terroranschläge gegeben. Aufgrund der Größe des Schadens hätte es unsere Nation und unsere Landsleute für Generationen gebrandmarkt. Wir wären international erst in der Isolation und dann in der Bedeutungslosigkeit versunken. Wir hätten da draußen keine Freunde und Partner mehr gehabt. Alle alten Allianzen wären zerbrochen gewesen."

Griffin was among those renegades who declared themselves mercenaries to help out pro-WCG states. Their name was Blackstars.

At the same time a scientist named Feng demanded the WCG to be a shield against global threats originating from high tech domains. Such threats would manifest in bio-weapon attacks if nothing was done in a foreseeable future. As a consequence WGC installed the TCTF. However, the new task force was too immature to immediately deal with such issues.

After Griffin had killed the GATC sci he found a new raison d'être in Feng's idea of a TCTF. He had become an embittered, "nationless" patriot.

Knowing that the NC was just not done yet and planed more fatal ops against innocent populations, Griffin and the others decided hit the scientific facilities of NC, secure their technologies and passing those to the WCG while demanding positions to work in TCTF BlackOps. Griffin was a pivotal figure during those inner NC fights.

[Drama. Griffin cannot change the mind or forcefully relocate the scientific HQ staff. Also, this would just delay the GATC administration. Griffin feels sorry but cannot help but to wipe all their data, backups and human resources. His decision is made final when he discovers a program even worse than Xylella, program Puppet Master. After that experience he welcomes the existence of TCTF science prisons.]

Griffin and his Blackstars comrades managed to effectively weaken the rest of GATC military and secure technologies (classified) threatening world peace. Being a traitor in the eyes high-rank US military and GATC alike, Griffin knew that he could no longer return to USA so he stayed at Japan after carrying out one more of the tech securing operations (Bioc). He was able to persuade Japanese WCG to let him join TCTF BlackOps and should he continue to be a valuable agent to rise in ranks and pull more connections to the TCTF. During the proxy war Griffin had contact with the early version of Syndicate's paramilitary division. The gained knowledge helped him to identify and fight the later Syndicate structures although on long run the situation looked rather desperate. But within the TCTF he was one with most successful operations against the Syndicate for which he received honors form the WCG.

His unorthodox strategy of using the Yakuza as a buffer between police forces and the Syndicate fuels quite some discomfort within the TCTF board of directors. This recent development has stopped his meteoric rise. Griffin doesn't really care about titles as long as he can stay a regional TCTF commander and keep the Syndicate activities at bay as much as possible. He knows that the TCTF urgently needs reinforcement to win future fights. For this end he was willing to grant Dr. Kerr a position in a new anti-Syndicate research program, partly funded by black budget and supported by remnants of Blackstars that are still active as mercenaries.


Achievements

  • securing NC WMD technologies (classified)
  • securing bioc technology
Honors: Directorate Commendation Commander, Technology Crimes Task Force
  • preventing a joint Yakuza-Syndicate operation which was meant to take over BGI battle mechs ("Iron Demon") at Neo Tokio docks for erasing TCTF staff and families in the city
Honors: Bright Shield, Star of Valor

Hasegawa

Momuto "James"* Hasegawa. (*In homage to SuperSam's version of Oni 2.)

Western people have sometimes difficulties to remember Asian names so Momuto half-jokingly chose "James" to be his nickname.


Jareth

He's a WCG "pool reporter". For example he blandished the Wilderness Preserve public reports and new technology released from "controlled research". However, he doesn't very like to be "conform" but wages fits.

He follows Pensatore's traces to the space station. Shinatama follows as well after Avatara told her that Pensatore is responsible for Hasegawa's drowning and the not ending manhunt on Mai. Avatara doesn't longer agree with Pensatore and exiles him into a new human body. Shinatama becomes upset as she isn't allowed to punish Pensatore herself.

After a long fight for survival, Jareth and the SLDs Shinatama left for his life support, return to Earth.

He is the only human that wasn't originally "mind-sealed". Due to some anomalies and Shinatamas rebellion, humans start to control the nanobots by thought. Many of those people believe that they discovered magic... Avatara plays along in order to hinder discovery on the real mechanisms.

Jareth searches for Avatara in Germany and finally finds new traces at the Völkerschlachtdenkmal at Leipzig. He witnesses the defeat of Shinatama by Avatara.

Von Kriegs-AI wieder zu Antikriegs-AI

[Diese Idee ist schon fast 20 Jahre alt. Ich hab die Details vergessen... Soll ich mir einfach was neues überlegen?]

Nach Shinatama's Weckruf - dem gaia'schen Empowerment - wurden neben Spezies-Avatare (Stellvertreter) auch - wie Avatara sie nennt - unbeabsichtigte Anomalien erschaffen.

Spezies-Avatar: Die Möglichkeit der anderen Lebewesen Koexistenz mit dem Menschen politisch in einer Biokratie einzufordern.

Shinatama stammt aus der japanischen Kultur. Im Shintoismus sind Kami (Naturgeister, usw.) allgegenwertig. So ziemlich alles kann eine Seele haben: Tiere, Pflanzen, Bäume, Felsen, Berge wie der Mount Fuji, besondere Orte mit großer Symbolik. Von einer "Beseelung der Welt" zu sprechen wäre nicht ganz richtig, da sie aus Shin's Sicht bereits vorliegt. Gaia verleiht nur den Entitäten die Macht mit dem Menschen mit "Deutlichkeit" in Kontakt zu treten. Ganz besondere menschliche Persönlichkeiten, die durch Gaia "aufgewertete" werden oder besondere Daodan-Merkmale haben, werden ebenso als Kami betrachtet. Mächtige aber mit Negativem assoziierte Entitäten werden auch oft Oni genannt.

Es stehen sich von Gaia drei unterstützte Parteien gegenüber: Menschen, Kami und Tier-Avatara, sowie Maschienenwesen (von Shinatama selbst angeführt?).

Die von der (Network) Controller Group korrumpierten(?) Völkerschlachtdenkmal-AIs mischen sich schließlich in den Krieg ein. AVATARA versucht das gegenseitige Abschlachten aufzuhalten, dass darin gipfeln soll, dass die steinernen Wächter-AIs alle Überlebenden töten. Sie hätten die Sieg durch ihr Verhalten nicht verdient und gehörten ebenso ausgelöscht. Sie hätten die Idee des Ortes mit Füßen getreten. AVATARA drängt die Wächter ihre Werte zu reflektieren. Sie sind nicht dazu gedacht Morde zu begehen. Den letzten Anschub zu diesem Umdenken kann anscheinend nur noch Shinatama im Inneren des Denkmals geben. Es ist eine Falle der Controller, um einen Proxy von AVATARA zu erbeuten. Letztendlich fungiert Shinatama als Köder. Ihr Tod wird von den Controllern in Kauf genommen. Die Hackergruppe will die endgültige Kontrolle über Gaia erlangen.

Kimura

Daichi Kimura. Kimura is in charge of the Network's espionage and counter-espionage.

Among his men he is also known as Mukade as he has used toxic substance in close combat. He later added electricity as a tool to paralyze his foes.

Kimura tries to avoid unnecessary communication and hence travels a lot. He combined this necessity with his job.

He tracks down "problematic sci" in any institution and does profiling for the WCG. This also includes the "reviewing" of people in other highly technical professions. This naturally opens many doors for Kimura in state-relevant areas, even in the military.

If talented sci turn out to have a highly anti-WCG mindset he recruits them directly for the Syndicate.

The technological black market is one of the Syndicate biggest field of operations so Kimura's different activities often overlap.

Kimura underwent a facial operation where machine cells were injected. This allows him to mimic the face of other persons and let him infiltrate facilities where he has otherwise no access to.

Obvious cues: he is left-handed, has a taste for black humor and and smirks a lot.

Early years

[A story to be told at Halloween. However, it is not a "story"... This is going to be dark...]

Kerr

Lorenz Kerr. Mai's uncle. Died by catching a bullet which was meant for her.


Konoko

And for those who didn't know real name: it is Oni Mai Hasegawa.

She tries to fight for her own life now. GATC makes her realize that her father James Hasegawa could be still alive. They covenant to support her search if she joins them. Mai accepts.

Together they enter the territory of Green Village. The complex gets nuked by GATC administration after they discover a Syndicate team that tries to steal Daodan Chrysalises.

The WCG sets up a quarantine zone protecting the people outside from the nuclear fallout inside - and the contagious, renegade Bioc patterns.

However, Mai's presence draws Mukade and Sarai to the area which had become already a bloody death pit.


Miller

He belongs to the inner GATC circle and know almost everything. AVATARA user name: "Broken Bough".


Möbius

Möbius is the latest version of a memehunter, designed to operate over very long time and to help out the sci community.

For some reason he was hidden on planet Phyllion by Avatara.

After initialization he chase several side objectives including the following:

- Dark matter is just an error in the theoretical models. Outer regions of galaxies don't move too fast. Time progresses faster in these regions because the gravitational field there is weaker. Ergo, they appear faster than they actually are from our perspective. The AI is up to test this hypothesis.

- Möbius is also monitoring the constants of physics, to find out whether they change over long time. An organic would not be suitable for such a job.

- What powers vacuum fluctuation? Conjecture: energy density of annihilated particles. To be tested in galactic voids where the density should be lower.

Iconic phrases:

  • "Where a human would turn to dust."


Comment:

For the sake of completeness. I'm not writing about this because I want to dive into these matters per se but to complete the technological backgrounds as the story will advance so much in its timeline that it reaches eschatological dimensions - bringing up questions of everything ending. I always felt that SF is naturally based on its tech, so these details should be worked out first.

Breakthrough in new physical theories mostly came to a stop. For instance Quantum physics is by now rather old when you think about the people that were involved at that time. Some even speak of an crisis in physics. On the other hand all theories on dark matter failed and no more particles are going to be discovered at CERN. So for the lack of better understanding I'm forced to make my own thoughts about physics.

(A draft.)

We know free space expands into more space (very most galaxies drift apart), space grows. Like Quarks. When you pull them apart, more Quarks are created.

Now then how about this? Mass eats space. However, any mass will evaporate via hawking radiation and nuclear decay faster than it can eat space.

The nearer a mass is the more it attracts a space point. The amount of points on a nearer orbit is smaller than the amount of points on a more distant orbit, hence there is more “force” that pulls on the fewer points.

Simplified view: a satellite with no mass and no velocity is put into Earth orbit, it will sit in its space. It stands still, but it’s space it sits on moves to Earth.

Extended view: the satellite has a significant mass (moon or second Earth). Space gets attracted by both. The more mass they have the faster they eat up space. Faster than there is space generated between them. They follow a circular path which is actually straight, but since space is eaten up towards their others point of gravity they appear circular.

Planck space.

The fabric of space is quantilized. You need energy and time to go from one planck space point to the next. Doing so builds up additional (virtual) mass. There is a limit how much energy can go from one point to another simultaneously.

Any type of reaction under “heavier” gravity happens “slower” because between events “of interest” (or key events) the additional energy also needs to change its position. In a black hole there is so much energy, that reactions almost takes forever to happen. Time is just the illusion. It’s all a question how energy “separates” the events of interest. Everything happens with the same speed.

Mass is condensed space/energy. Particle dissolve over time: e.g. radioactive decays. Black holes shrink while emitting Hawkins radiation.

The faster an object flies the more mass it has and the slower its internal time is. Imagine a plank space as a gate or hole. When a particle tries to go through it experiences a delay: The faster the more kinetic energy that has to pass the gate. It takes the system more “time” to undergo internal changes (events of interest).

Question: does a fast moving photon possess it’s own field of gravity, does it eat up space? It would mean that parallel flying photons can attract each other eventually colliding.

Energy equals mass.

Two photons can generate new matter. See Feynman drafts.


Muro Hasegawa

Muro is Mai's older brother.

  • Mai's thinks of herself as his "little sister". (See Sturmänderung pulse console page.)
  • Kerr was able to flee with Mai to the TCTF but not with Muro. Ergo, the kids were at different locations.
    • The most probable scenarios are that A) Mai was ill therefore stayed at home that day. But that was not mentioned so scenario B goes.
    • B) The kids were different locations: Muro at the kindergarden, Mai at the nursery.

...

When Muro was taken by the Syndicate, Kimura kept him more and more isolated from Hasegawa. Muro still remembers his father but speaks of him as if he is either far away or dead.

Muro grows up with Tomo and Ryu at the Camp. His friendship with them was also a friendly rivalship.

He gained fame in the Striker division after surviving a hit squad and a car bomb and became a respected fighter when he eradicated the merc group that had hunted him. Those events made him an Imago. Mukade guided him to take human appearance again.

His actual rise to power happened through a inner-Network/Syndicate cleansing with help of Traton. Whenever his enemies thought of having a chance against him he stood up again. He was involved in many deadly battles. When Muro became the undisputable boss he was also past his best. The many adaptions and regenerations have shorten his telomeres. His cells have rapidly aged. That's why Mai was able to beat him. Death through explosion and rockfall from mountain compound's self-destruction. The body was recovered and transferred to GOP.

He becomes reanimated but lost his memory due to the decay of too many brain cells. Saomi cannot believe that Muro turned into a pacifist, forgot all years about Sturmänderung and all about her. In her rage she beats Muro almost to death. This event triggers Muro's Daodan (static metamorphosis) to restore some of his memories from genetic backup structures. Together the try to escape the desert community but only Muro makes it out alive.


Mukade

Mukade is Kimura's Shinobi name. At first, he is thought to be either Kimura with Hasegawa's brain engrams or Hasegawa with Kimura's brain engrams because one of them died. But Pensatora's documents describes Mukade as "ego hybrida" of Hasegawa and Kimura - of their engrams - which means that both originals are probably still alive.

After Konoko killed Mukade, he was revived in the Syndicates HQ in South Africa. During the procedure Mukade's SLD brain and body was reconstructed with both Daodan and SLD machine cells. The regeneration takes longer than expected. Mukade and Hasegawa are basically enslaved by Pensatore. During reconstruction they try to defend themselves against Pensatore's machine implants. They discover that they can by-pass the control measures by growing new neurons and nerves. But they aren't sure to win that nano-war so they pretend to be in control.


Nishio

Family:

  • Father: Alexej Kusnezow
  • Mother: Sanae Nishio

Psychological condition:

He doesn't believe that there is a meaning of life and becomes pretty much a nihilist. His perspective on the future is that nothing special will ever happen.

Story bits:

Naturally his intelligence is a bit below average. To be more competitive on the job market he started to take neuro-enhancer two years ago. But that effort get eaten by his genetic risk factors. Increased rates in heart insufficiency and cancer result in much higher insurance fees and make finding new jobs troublesome.

Nishio moved to Perm to escape a street gang just to find himself in another dog-eat-dog area.

The Syndicate discovers him and gives him a job as human NPU (Neuronal Processing Unit) in one of their illegal RE shops.

These employees are wireless connected to a cheap AI that use and coordinate the brain capacities to do jobs that normally expensive neuromorphic chips require. The technology draws on the Deadly Brain research. The heavy neuronal load damages the brain. Of course this is kept secret.

When the employees discover their decreasing fitness, it’s too late to exit. The shops shut them up with additional medical treatment but that's mostly an appeasement measure. If that doesn’t work troublemakers are simply exposed at backyards after calling a Syndicate-related gang to the place. These occasions are sometimes used to promote a gang member. Striker contenders have a kill count of at least one. These rituals are recorded to have a reinsurance on these guys.

Naturally adult neurogenesis is quite limited and most of the new neurons get destroyed again by the continuing work for the shops. Brain functions of damaged areas are temporary restored by still intact neurons. This re-tasking is known as neuroplasticity. As a result the employees keep functioning until they reach a critical number of neurons where they cannot longer work as "co-processors". To delay a breakdown the employees receive pills rich of neuronal growth factors IGF-1 and VEGF. Side effects of these substances are increase cancer risks but also the promotion of new muscle cells and blood vessels.

Brain damage of NPUs get crucial after about 15 months. Nishio has already worked for the RE shop over a year until he accidentally finds out that he hasn’t much time left.

NPUs can usually work from anywhere. They only need a brain-interface, provided by the Syndicate, a fast internet connection and access to an 3D-printer. Besides providing processing capacities, NPUs also carry out repair jobs. A transport drone can drop and pick up a package from nearly anywhere. This shifts the rest risk from Syndicate facilities to their replaceable employees.

The shop added Nishio’s bank account to their money laundering network. That was a conditions for getting the job.

When the local TCTF had a random check on his account, they got suspicious. Soon the cops sniff a chance to take down the shop and to learn more about the Syndicate. Nishio is promised to receive medical treatment based on technology that is normally prohibited by the WCG.

A few of the symptoms of the brain damage include problems to keep focused, loss of memories, inability to sleep. Because of the brain damage neuro-enhancer have an increased effect on these employees than on other people. Slow motion thinking is often a by-effect when the drugs aren’t applied anymore. The only positive effect human co-processors receive is the ability communicate with experimental brain interfaces more smoothly. But that help them barely in their daily life.

[...]

After the GATC attack and reactor explosion in Green Village he gained a Daodan and a few adaptions.

Despite the genetic risk factors on paper, Nishio has a naturally strong immune system which allows him to withstand a Bioc infection somewhat longer.

However the Bioc prevents a complete healing let alone becoming an Imago.

After an encounter with Mukade, he carries a heavily modified graphene shield that is supposed to eventually capture Daya. Mukade thinks that Daya's mind was taken over by her Bioc, when she destroyed a Syndicate hideout after being arrested. Mukade tells Nishio that Daya is now to be killed if she can't be captured.

The graphene shield is originally from a bio-containment mech. Nishio's father was working as engineer when WCG transfered him to the repair teams. Nishio asked his father to send him a mech shield because he couldn't produce one in time in a Syndicate facility. The shield is supposed to form an ultra-strong sphere that can be cooled down far beyond sub-zero to exhaust Daya's energy reserves.

Nishio realized that neuro-enhancer can boost Daodan development and metabolism rate but also increase drug resistance.

During the battle at Green Village he takes an overdose and mows through the META troops.


Pensatore

Pierre Pensatore, father of the SLD technology. Specialized in neurology, memetics, and diverse subfields of psychology. He participated in the original Daodan Project alongside Hasegawa, Kerr and Kimura. Current whereabout: unknown. AVATARA user name: "Archivator". It is rumored that he already died in the wastelands where "Mens libere ex corpore libere" is written on his gravestone. It's a cryptic joke about his continuing existence in digital form.

Watching Hasegawa's and Kerr's quarrels, Pensatore considered the Daodan at the end as the wrong way to save the people. The hyper-evolution should better happen at psychological level.

The DC almost seemed to have an own will which was later named "Oni" by Pensatore. The Oni fights back (at least compensate) other "demons" (human's sins which are manifested in the physical world in very different forms). "Our world is afflicted by a demon, no, by many demons. They appear as global pollution, general loss of culture, corrupts governments, hightech crimes, etc, etc. In this point of view we are our own demons, because we are all responsible for it."


"Mentally, Avatara was still a child. A naive child. Without moral. Without sense of responsibility."

Pensatore had many arguments with Hasegawa and Kimura. He feared the ninja would kill or imprison him forever if he seemed of no more use.

Eventually the situation escalated and Kimura was indeed trying to kill him.

The scientist locked himself up in the lab an used a molecular 3D-printer to build an early version of the Bioc. Pensatore let himself devour by the Bioc to gather all brain data. The scanners used for SLDs had an insufficient resolution to create a 1:1 copy. Physical contact was necessary.

Avatara helped its creator to recompile his own mind. As Pensatore was a digital ghost now he took advantage of the situation to teach Avatara more about human's nature. Avatara and following AIs would have been weak-willed slaves. Any person pushing the buttons could abuse their great intellect. And Kimura had abused it straight away.

Without guidance, AIs would either help to harm many more people or seek themselves to control or destroy humanity because of illogical tasks given to them. Pensatore wanted a peaceful co-existence. During the days before his death, to him a revolution of mind had become more important than a revolution in biology or technology.

[...]

Kimura was a killer and the Syndicate was his biggest backer. Beside that his goal was to give back Japan its sovereignty.

Hasegawa wanted to bring humans the Daodan-Chrysalis no matter the consequences that would happen during a bumbling introduction

These two persons weren't going to save the world, rather they were going to cause more death.

It was Pensatore's plan to destroy the Syndicate from within. Muro had already been transfered and implanted with the prototype Chrysalis, so he went on with that "flaw".

When Pensatore rescued Shinatama from the Omega bunker, he didn't knew Shintama was programmed with Mai's brain engrams. Or did he?

Pensatore's new home is a space station for farming solar energy.

He builds computer capacities from space junk. Laser communication is camouflaged by the energy beam that goes down to Earth. Sender and receiver station are guarded by SLDs.

Shinatama got mad about Pensatore that he didn't rescued Muro after the Syndicate forced Daodan implantation on him.

After the cataclysm, all organizations tried to hunt down Konoko. WCG, the Syndicate, and even GATC.

Shinatama was enraged that nobody wanted to help the Hasegawas, especially her big sister. Shinatama eventually turns against her savior when she discovers that he is indirectly responsible for Hasegawa's current condition.

Avatara realized that his cyber friends were no good for his own mental development. They were humans in digital disguise. Their physical origin had transfered their destructive emotions to cyberspace. Avatara decided to start over and learn on his own what it means to be a physical, sentient being and a virtual, non-sentient being.

Avatara doesn't longer agrees with Pensatore and exiles him into a new human body. Shinatama becomes upset as she isn't allowed to punish Pensatore herself.


Ryu

Kidnapped and brought to the Camp by Kimura. The boys are in the same age and receive the same training. Ryu is used to valuate Muro's progress and that of his Chrysalis. Ryu tries to keep up with Muro and trains with almost self-destructive methods.

Notes: I imagine visuals similar to Sun-Ken Rock for him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDosCfrSxcw [dead link]
Further inspiration will be a title by Zack Hemsey

When Traton establishes Meta, he kicks Ryu out of business.

Ryu seeks ways to pay Traton back, he accepts a temporary partnership with Mai's Phönix faction.

After META is no more Mai tries to sell him out to the new police. While they are trying to arrest him, a public mob stops them doing so. Ryu's involvement in crisis management wasn't unnoticed. Everyone knows that his help was fundamental to the people's survival in the region.

Mai accepts reality and gives it a positive résumé. "Of all Syndicate bosses that could have risen by now he is the smallest evil. And the broken trust in the government needs a long time before it becomes restored. I should have known this."

Ryu acts a calming factor up to his death in the underground. Whenever a radical new organization emerges he and his men take down the newcomers before it gets too bad. A smashing fist where paper wouldn't do.

By visiting his funeral Mai pays him respect for the role he played in post-Meta history, opposing some of her close friends' opinion and pleading.

Yakuza on the left. Ex-TCTF, Green Phönix and Mai on the right. An unreal scene for any outsider.

The gathering attracts some headhunters, actually those of a brawler type. The place in protected by a shield. So they have to enter it to make the money. Apparently they have no idea who they are dealing with. -- The last one gets smashed by a thrown grave stone.

One of Ryu's Gorillas laughs: "He would have liked the irony." "Which one: winning against enemies even through his handicap of being dead himself. Or because this is just the right place to get rid of them?"

The giant man laughs again. Mai and the Yakuza depart in different direction. As if nothing happened.

Mai enters her car. She doesn't starts the engine yet, she stares over to the cemetery. She is shaking her head. "God. What a crazy world."

The young man next to her ask: "Is there something in particular that you are thinking of?"

Bitterness swings by. "No matter how hard I try the world will remain a crazy place. There's just no end to this. And one day it will eat you up. Daodan or not."

Mai started the engine and drove outside the city.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Not really. -- What a goddamn day. We lost a criminal that was pillar of this society. I almost considered him a friend. Everyone around me I care about dies - even if it's just a little. Not soon and you will find yourself dead by a bullet in the head because you are the son of Muro Hasegawa. -- Why can't you just shut the fuck up."

The young man was watching Mai's bitter face.

He closed his eyes. "Avatara can you read me?"

"Have you asked her?"

"No. I don't wanted to give her that burden as well."

"I see. Then I will program the bioc now?"

"Don't turn yourself into Skynet, ok? That would be awkward."

"Heh. Sure. -- I promise."

"Hey Ter, what is that blue stuff shooting out of the ground behind us?"

"Ah that, nothing, just ignore it."

"Wha--"


Saomi

Muro's alpha fury. She provisionally adminstrates the Syndicate when Muro died at the mountain complex.

She seeks revenge for Muro's death by hunting Griffin and Konoko. The later goal is not achived as Traton, Muro's former mentor, comes back from exile to takes the leader roll. He is a realist, he knows that there is no time to pursue personal wrath. The Syndicate took a big hit by losing Muro, the Sturmänderung base and rising in WCG's awareness. Traton and Okami kick Saomi out of business and deport her to the desert. During her death march trough the sand storms she encounters a mysterious, autarkic living community.


Sarai

Originally a character from SuperSam.

She is the embodiment of the BGI. She hunts Mai out of economic and political reasons. She has an anti-Daodan weapon to her disposal.

When Sarai invades Green Village Mai has to flee with her GATC team.


Shinatama 2.0

Shin normally named.

(During Mai's absence Shin changed so much in personality that Mai rejects her as sister?)

Muro's son, Ter Hasegawa, and Avatara unleash Silver Dawn, a final version of Bioc derivative to create a new planetary AI, Gaia. Goal is the establishing of a Biocracy. But in the meantime the nanorobots are also used to suppress human destructive impulses.

"You can undo the mistakes of our family. But please don't do that on the cost of a new species." [...]

Shin convince Ter to give her control over the Guardian robots to prevent AI slavery.


Traton

One of the subbosses who fight for the boss position - and he'll succeed.

But on that way he have to take care on inner enemies like Kumo and Saomi.

Estabishes META but tries keep BGI out.


Chapters // synopsis so far

Prologue: Smouldering Ember (Part I)

"Schwelende Glut" (PartI)

  • The prologue is an outlook into the future. -- The new “government” wants to celebrate WCG’s fall after one year having a speech in the Tokio Dom. But instead “terrorists” come into the stadium and tells the full story to the audience... The prologue ends in the middle of the story. (We don't want to spoil.)
  • current German beta HERE


Chapter 1: Bad News

"Schlechte Nachrichten"

  • Fans might ask what happened right after Konoko battled Muro. Well, this is what the first Chapter starts with. In additional they meets the MissionFailed-guy.
  • WCG is more or less shocked and the Syndicate became "headless". Traton wants to take his chance of becoming the next big boss and flies into the old headquarters. Before that he activates the self-destruction of the mountain compound. It is of no longer use and a evidence of their activities towards TCTF and WGC. He picks up a hostile but injured and unconscious TCTF unit, his name is Manson. But his cybernetics wasn't TCTF-like. That made Traton curious. He release the man on place with a modified radio set, ready to pass a copy transmission at the Syndicate...
  • Konoko is back at the TCTF but gets a chance working for an independent power called GATC. They decoy Konoko’s self-interest – promising to support the search of her missing father Hasegawa.
  • current German beta HERE


Chapter 2: Situation Clearing

"Situationsklärung"

  • Now the plot jumps into South Africa which is territory of the GUR. It’s the Camp’s introduction as second Syndicate base.
  • The Camp director is aware of Muro’s death. That’s why he pushed Mukade’s last step of reanimation process forward. "Obviously" somebody didn’t like that and tried to completely erase him. The case is being investigated.
  • However, Traton need the director to back-up his rising and discuss further actions.
  • An optional element comes here in. Muro’s fency (Saomi) is making her own plans about the new Syndicate but this includes also Konoko. She wants vengeance.
  • The plot jumps again. There’s another subbboss who wants to raise one position. It is Kumo. He is actually pro-BGI-minded. While Traton waits for a transmission from Manson Kumo let investigated the other clued from him. Manson had contact to the inner WCG circle – it’s a person who is actually a Syndicate mole. But now Traton doubts. Daya discovers that the man is Tether’s "personal advisor" – a puppet master. She receives information about Green Village from him. That research complex runs an advanced Daodan program. Kumo want it in hope to be able fighting for the boss title. (He can also count with BGI’s support.) Daya flies to Green Village (in Russia).
  • Meanwhile Traton checks WCG and GUR administration for other allies.
  • Unfinished German beta HERE


Chapter 3: Daily Shadows

"Alltagsschatten"; correct translation: "Everyday Life Shadows"

  • New thematic: city life and how it will change during the upcoming "black season". [...]
  • Nishio is sort of reverse engineer and works at a repair shop called "Reserection Serv". (The firm policy doesn’t care about patents.) So no wonder, the police are on Nishio’s track. They are about to make a deal with him: if he will come up with heavy evidence for major illegal business they will forget his little doings.
  • Another string comes into play. Jareth (the WCG reporter) is contacted by Dakosta (web security and hacker in own mission). He wants him to investigate a terror act which happened 12 years ago, Jareth has to find his old mentor to get a starting point. He was involved but didn’t released all information...


Chapter 4: Scorched Earth

"Verbrannte Erde"

  • Scorched earth... GATC stops Green Village’s infiltration by bombing it like "if we cannot have it then they too". -- A official explanation to GATC soldiers: "In additional: Negotiations between Syndicate and WCG becomes that way more unlikely.")
  • But the effect was under their expectancy. Some complex areas are still intact.
  • At same time poison air reach first cities.
  • Traton is about thinking what to do with Kumo. "Making an example of him?"


Chapter 5: Neverending

"Problem über alles"

  • Environmental refugees flow into the cities. It’s just a matter of time until conflicts arise between refugees and city habitants.
  • The Syndicate is not the only trace. WCG has also an advanced program. (Or maybe the datas are shared via AVATARA?) However, Konoko flies to Green Village in hope to collect some information from the undestroyed complex areas and then to guess where Hasegawa is.
  • Mukade begins to track down Konoko – for his own reason but in official mission because Traton can her as scapegoat. (That would also fits Saomi’s desire for vengeance.)
  • WCG receives Sturmanderung Camp’s coordinates from a covered source – it’s GATC. (They want both down: WCG and Syndicate.)


Chapter 6: Operation Proteus

"Operation Proteus"

  • Operation Proteus... Traton's PR attack and final hit on WCG. He polarize the masses and chase them onto state institutions like TCTF.

... work in progress

[...]

Chapter 14: Smouldering Ember (Part II) (WIP)

"Schwelende Glut" (Part II)

  • Jareth's aim is showing the people that they were used to helps another regime's rising. He want them to mobilize once more but his formulation hurts their ego too much. They still don't want to believe that their action was worthless. So Jareth cannot gain much support from them at that time what force him and his group to fall back.

Interior Construction

Sub-Parties, Parties and their Actions

GATC

(Gathered Anti-Terror Commandos)
Blackstars


GUR

(Great Union of Resistance)


WCG

(World Coalition Government)
TCTF
(Technology Crimes Task Force)


Syndicate

Sub-Party Commando Unit
Mercenary - Sniper
(Mercenary) Shinobi "Schatten" (Shadows)
"Nebelwächter" (Fog Guards) 		Ninja - Infiltrator Class (Green), Eliminator Class (Blue), Avenger Class (Red)
Syndicate own... Regulare Troops Comm Trooper
Bomber
Striker - Grunt Class (Green), Hoplite Class (Blue), Hussar Class (Red)
Fury - Harridan Class (Green), Banshee Class (Blue), Valkyrie Class (Red)
Elite Striker - Ogre Class (Green), Giant Class (Blue), Titan Class (Red)
Tanker - Skirmisher Class (Green), Brawler Class (Blue), Crusher Class (Red)
(Meta Troops) (daodan-improved Syndicate folk - mainly regular troops)
Special Troops "Sturm"-Striker - Behemoth Class (Gray)
(SLD-)Shinobi - Guardian Class (Black), ...


  • DevNotes
Sturm-Striker let someone guess NS-backgrounds because of its shorty 'SS'.
Same for Sturmanderung as 'SA'.
But I already drafted a other reference before:
bio crisis
Wird keine diplomatische Lösung gefunden, werden WKR und Syndikat sich gegenseitig zu zerfetzen suchen. Dass dabei die Bevölkerung Leid tragend ist, macht es ideal sie zu manipulieren und gegen den „Feind“ einzusetzen. Wer die Bevölkerung überzeugen kann, hat gewonnen. Dabei stehen sich folgende Aspekte gegenüber: 1) Die WKR hat den Smog zu verantworten, das Syndikat dessen Stärkung. (Die WKR könnte Sturmanderung als nationalsozialistisch-hintergründigen Genozid auslegen.) 2) In der herrschenden Panik kann das Syndikat die Chrysalis als einzige Überlebenschance propagieren. (Wir wissen nicht wie stärk die Verseuchung wirklich ist. Demnach könnte es sich, wie bei der WKR-Gründung, um eine „Technopanik“ handeln.) Problem dabei ist, und wird demnach geheim gehalten, dass nicht annähernd zehn Milliarden Exemplare bereitstehen.


SFPS / META (2056)

( SFPS - Section For Public Security)
( META - a synergy of WCG and Syndicate, last one was drafted by the community)
GATC (renewed)
  • DevNotes
The renewed GATC is a wordplay on Guanine, Adenine, Thymine and Cytosine; it refers to the genetic code.
A GATC-Unit would be Uracil. Mutated versions are Xanthine and Hypoxanthine.
(In fact: G, A, T, C belongs to the DNA - G, A, C, U is RNA.)
(At this time I don't know how much this will be used in RS.)


my newest hyper-evolution ideas (27.08.2007)(inspirited by Wikipedia's Nucleobase Article)

[ ideas how the DC could work ]

(A, G, C can transform by mutagens)
Adenine becomes Hypoxanthin
Guanine becomes Xanthin
Cytosine becomes Uracile

So, maybe this is what Daodan's regeneration and mutation skill speeds up.

On the other hand the two types (DNA and RNA) still exist - there is not the one ultimate remaining.
----
ACGT gives 43 (= 64) combinations, but 20 of them are used only. Would it makes sense that the Daodan use more?
DNA amount, that doesn't encode proteins (picture). Genome Article)
They are supposed of having a control function of gene expression.
The DC might gives new functions by use the other 44 combination in non-protein code.


[ ideas what the DC could be ]

My first thought was that the DC is just an upgrade construction and cannot exist without a host construction, the DNA.
Or is it possible that the Daodan-Chrysalis is more like a organelle? >> endosymbiont


GOP

(needs to be more worked out)

Guardian Dragons


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