2503 milestone: Einstein's Run completes a successful test....
...with a test pilot star fish reporting via Realtime (ERP) communications all throughout the slightly more than 24 years required for transport into the distant star system (onboard the Unique vessel however, only months seem to pass). The pilot and Unique arrive safely in a new solar system 24 lightyears from Sol, and begin assembly of both a Realtime (ERP) transport station and 1.0c station immediately (the station will be large enough to allow both star fish and Unique vessel to return to Einstein's Run once sufficient other personnel and resources have arrived to run the new station; the secondary lightspeed transport facility is mainly installed as a backup for the Realtime ERP transport).
At least a dozen more such successes follow on the heels of the first within a matter of several years, as Einstein's Run does not sit idle during the first 24 year plus long mission, but rather is being ponderously re-aimed and fired in such a way as to maximize all human resources for expansion into deep space.
These first successes of the original Einstein Run result in several other such devices being built at straegically optimal locations to expand mankind's grasp on the galaxy at a rapid clip.
This is very fortunate, as the booming population of sentients among already established systems needs better expansion options to relieve building pressures of confrontation and conflict-- especially among the physicals.
NOTE: Though the various new deep space bases each have their own unique names and titles, it's convenient for some purposes to refer to them via their distance from Earth and the method by which they are established. Thus, this latest base created by Einstein's Run may be labeled Base 24-ER, while installations created via High Energy Particle Deposition might be distinguished by the suffix "HEPD".
Another important tidbit here is the significant private ownership of many ER-related enterprises, which essentially makes all bases and colonies created via ER at least partially owned by the ER families themselves. This is resulting in the greatest concentration of wealth in one small group of citizens that has ever existed in recorded history-- and there's no single government or group of governments sufficiently powerful to limit or substantially regulate this organization.
Fortunately for society as a whole, the ER families are mostly beneign in their words and actions...
END NOTE.
Though during this period nearly all Einstein Run missions are limited to the 24 LY range, one experimental shot is made towards the vicinity of Base 48-HEPD by special arrangement with its owners. Ironically, the original Base 24-HEPD suffers without any such help from Einstein's Run, despite the fact E.R. missions are routinely ranging out to 24 light years. Base 24-HEPD remains an isolated outpost limited to lightspeed transport and communications for at least another century....
According to Marshall Savage's book "The Millennial Project" (1992, 1994, Little, Brown, and Company publisher), there's 190 stars within 25 lightyears of Sol. The first successful mission of Einstein's Run establishes a new major Realtime ERP transport station near the outer boundaries of this sphere of approximately 1900 cubic parsecs. Other similar stations are built elsewhere near the perimeter of the sphere relatively quickly in the wake of the first, in a deployment pattern designed for maximum efficiency of subsequent colonization and industrialization efforts. Note that the first and farthest E.R. expeditions are specifically targeted in the direction of our galaxy's core, although for other shots the deployment pattern is more generalized. This means the first ER-derived base established 24 lightyears from Earth lies on a vector roughly pointing towards the core. Soon the E.R. station near Sol system has its core shots taken over by Base 24-ER nearer the core, allowing ER1 to turn all its shots towards serving a more general deployment pattern.
END NOTE.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2518 Milestone:
The Albatross is now some 120 lightyears from Sol system
The Albatross' current velocity is 0.26c.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2531 milestone: Base 48-HEPD gains instant ERP-based transport and communications via an Einstein's Run mission....
The addition of ERP contact between Base 48-HEPD and Sol system completes Base 48-HEPD's set of 26th century technologies, and further adds to the isolation of Base 24-HEPD, which possesses only the much inferior lightspeed contact with other systems (though otherwise its technology is mostly modern).
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2531 milestone: Base 24-ER will soon become host to Einstein's Run#2, exclusively targeted at the galactic core
Construction of Einstein's Run station #2 soon begins at Base 24-ER (in 2533, after the newly colonized region is judged secure from all probable threats); ER2 shots will be almost exclusively targeted at the galaxy core, indefinitely.
2500-2550 sub trends and detours: The Centauri and Barnard colonies gain Realtime ERP transport with Earth.
Now both
communications and transport are instantaneous for the colonies. The colonies now begin aggressively expanding into surrounding space with their almost limitless capacities and resources...
An impressive wave of Sol System inhabitants too expand into space at this time-- and even more aggressively than their various child colonies, if that is possible. The Sol spacers utilize their now almost prodigious technologies to explore the vectors pointing in every direction except those already taken in the original three seeder missions (they also tend to avoid heading for the core where so many previous explorers have gone)...but this wave of explorers and entrepreneurs turns out to be almost the last gasp of deep space exploration from Sol system for quite some time to come, due to many factors...
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2558 milestone: Base 24-ER now possesses its own complete installation of Einstein's Run (ER2) and begins firing at the core
The plan is for approximately one shot per year, for 100 years, with the earliest shots representing the longest missions, and the later shots the shortest. Hopefully this will result in a string of ERP-enabled deep space stations reaching all the way from Base 24-ER to the core itself-- with roughly a hundred lightyears separating each base from its nearest neighbor. Fortunately for the lone star fish pilots even the longest journeys shouldn't feel like more than a few years of Realtime to them-- and even then they may remain in oblivious stasis through most of that.
Keep in mind that this is one of the longest term projects ever contemplated by modern civilization so far, as it will require about 26,263 years for the first Unique to reach its destination in the vicinity of the Core.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2565-2575 milestone: Sentient spacecraft similar in many ways to the Einstein Run Uniques (as well as the singularity power source which sustains them) are trickling beyond government/corporate fleets and private vessels of the most wealthy half dozen families in human space, to others now
However, Uniques are essentially advanced spacecraft with group minds consisting of whole or partial owners of the technologies involved-- and so these vessels cannot be 'bought' or 'sold' or otherwise treated the same as more primitive craft always has been.
No-- imagine if a powerful and brilliant group of 20th century corporate executives, industrialists, and scientists intermarried into one another's families, and forged strong bonds between their various official organizations as well, then designed and constructed the most advanced airport and planes in history, and ran that airport and piloted those planes themselves, shutting out all others (and keeping the immense profits for themselves too). Next imagine that that airport and air fleet offered customers a great many highly desirable options simply not available anywhere else-- and though expensive, was not overly so (in order to make it nearly impossible for anyone else to arrange the financing to build a competing enterprise).
That's the 20th century equivalent of what the beings comprising the Uniques have done by this period. Einstein's Run and the faraway transport hubs it created are almost entirely a private enterprise-- the biggest and most profitable in the history of mankind.
A perhaps important item to note here about Singularity-powered Uniques is that-- despite their apparently awesome power and capabilities-- they are far from being independent agents. That is, the Singularities which provide the greatest share of their power are never onboard, and therefore always in true control of others at some location far removed from the Unique vessels themselves. Thus, it is extremely important that Unique vessels have their Singularities under tight control by friendly agencies-- else the Uniques could find themselves stranded, or worse. Their Singularities, therefore, are the Unique's greatest known weakness.
Because of the above, immense and costly security measures must be used by Unique corporations to safeguard their Singularity power sources. This also makes the location of any individual Singularity a high value item as well. For a Singularity of unknown location can save huge sums in security costs for a Unique corporation. Unfortunately, most existing Singularities suffered open broadcast of their location when originally discovered, thereby becoming public knowledge. Too, most other Singularities in accessible space are readily located via modern instruments as well. Thus, the dependence of Uniques makes reasonable quality artificially generated Singularities in well hidden locations garner a premium over most others of comparable size....
The amount of power which a single Singularity may generate for a remote Unique is limited by factors like the Singularity's size and age, and certain technical points of the Unique vessel in question, among other elements. An average size and age Singularity however can typically power hundreds of Uniques simultaneously with little problem-- in theory, anyway. In practice, it takes a while for the known number of Uniques to grow sufficiently large to become this big a drain on the Singularities so engaged.
Another major limitation on Unique craft of this period is their still sometimes unreliable TME shift technology, which can fail at any time, robbing the craft of its primary power and fuel advantage over other craft of the time. At least theoretically, it is possible for other more conventional space vessels to take control of a Unique when its TME shift technology isn't working. Fortunately, criminals and terrorists and and other potential pirates have no more idea of when the TME might fail than the Unique itself does. And when the TME is working, nothing less than a similar class Unique might withstand the wrath of an angered Unique.
2550-2600 sub trends and detours: The Cygni colonies obtain Realtime ERP transport to Earth.
Now both communications and transport between the colonies and Sol system are instantaneous. The colonies are aggressively expanding into surrounding space with their now almost limitless capacities and resources.
But the biggest news is a discovery in one of the many dozens of natural Lagrangian points in the Cygni system; it appears to be the remains of a small robotic space probe, from an alien star faring civilization. It is at least 100,000 years old, and non-functional due to power failures and multiple collisions with space debris. Its origins cannot be traced. Its technology doesn't appear to be significantly different or better than humanity's of this time (but that offers implications of its own; i.e., the owners could now be 100,000 years more advanced than humanity).
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2600 milestone: the foremost 24-ER Unique is suffering substantial damage from the dense molecular gas cloud first entered two lightyears before
Recall that the Albatross and the Pearsall expedition both suffered extensive damages in this region at far lower velocities.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2615 Milestone: The worst calamity in human history: the destruction of the Solar
System as we know it-- and beginning of the Peer Proof Wars
Someone steals the Sun away-- shifts it interdimensionally (TME) or in random single-station
TME transport, apparently-- thereby destroying Sol system, and sending most planets,
asteroids, and comets previously in orbit about the Sun into wildly divergent paths
largely along the ecliptic in every outward direction.
Fortunately there are no collisions of consequence between major bodies in the immediate
aftermath, but Earth can't cope with the stresses wrought by the Sun's sudden disappearance
and humanity's desperate attempts to save it, and is ground up into a long convoluted spiral of debris hurtling outwards from its previous orbit-- with several
small and nimble orbiting colonies and space stations precariously tagging along
for the ride.
The natives of Earth had never taken the precaution of embedding a comprehensive webwork
of nanotech fibers throughout the planet to strengthen it as they had strengthened
their own personal forms centuries before-- as the disappearance of the Sun had never been seriously considered as a contingency.
Now, the major surviving remnants of Earth are composed primarily of serendipitously
connected nanotech structures and housing complexes, hurtling into interstellar space,
in a scene ironically similar to the visions of Krypton's destruction described in
some comics of the 20th century.
Major space colonies have a harder time of it than smaller ones, with larger structures
being broken up by raging gravity tides, and peppered with the remains of various
planetary bodies. Many of these larger structures also have no significant propulsion
systems of their own, which makes getting out of harm's way or correcting suddenly
bizzare and violent courses an extremely challenging enterprise.
The gas giants become a refuge for the several worldlets which already orbited them,
and those that could reach them in the aftermath (significant numbers of refugees,
homesteads, and colonies realize the haven of the gas giants in the wake of the Sun's
disappearance, and therefore struggle mightily to reach them). The asteroid colonies
are mostly dispersed at random, but some manage to finally stop within or return
to the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt-- both of which are much less vigorously affected
than the inner planets by the catastrophe, due to their much more diluted mass density and
greater distance from the inner core of the Sun's previous gravity well. Mostly these
cometary regions merely begin a much slower diffusion or expansion outwards after
the Sun's disappearance, instead of the violent outward fling experienced by the considerably
more massive inner system bodies.
In what would seem a miracle to 20th century observers, fatalities from this awesome
cataclysm are relatively light, compared to what might be expected. There are six
reasons for this:
One, the vast majority of sentient entities in Sol System at this time (especially the AI) are almost
continuously connected to a networked virtual reality which operates for the most
part at speeds 100 to 1000 times faster than realtime, even in worst case scenarios.
This speed advantage over realtime events proves of crucial utility to humn survival during
the cataclysm.
Two, the technology in the possession of the average human being or equivalent at
this time in Sol system often includes ready access to either instantaneous Realtime ERP, or lightspeed EM transport to other systems and many points in and about Sol system itself, instant
communications, and an enormous capacity for survival of the most dire circumstances, should
the instant transport or communications prove insufficient to save the day.
Three, the state of automated fail-safe emergency mechanisms of the period, though
not designed for this scale of disaster, still are formidable, and sufficiently adaptive
in many circumstances to remove many people and resources from danger almost before most citizens even realize a problem exists.
Four, some sort of major threat is generally expected by the populace, which have
therefore taken some extra precautions against it, in an advanced high tech form
of the "survivalism" practiced by certain 20th-21st century USAmericans. Such a threat
is expected for many reasons, ranging from the rising tensions between the organics and
the inorganics, the sexes, Sol system inhabitants and the extra-solar colonies, Earth natives and off-Earth citizens, and
many others. These preventative security measures taken beforehand serve to limit
destruction and casualties from the ordeal.
Five, there is a substantial number of humanly controlled star fish bushes in and
about Sol system by this time (at minimum thousands to tens of thousands-- perhaps
as much as millions)-- as well as many additional millions of secret Staute AI star fish bushes,
all of which are capable of providing immense aid to others during the event, much as
such numbers of a true living, breathing "Superman" from 20th century comics could
offer-- helping to move or stabilize entire worldlets and colonies in some cases
(unfortunately, at the height of the crisis most Staute bush forms were lighthours away from
the inner system, and therefore of greatest utility in the outer system where the
disaster was less consequential anyway).
Six, many of those who are
killed are subject to later total recovery via reconstitution from previously archived
data backups and sometimes tissue remnants recovered. All this makes for an irrevocable
loss of only some 21% of the somewhat organic population inhabiting Sol system prior to the catastrophe-- and virtually none of the wholly inorganic population.
Despite the fact that there was very little warning beforehand. Most of this 21%
occurs on Earth, with the second largest loss center being among near-Sun orbiting
population centers-- these stations and spacecraft suffer gravity distortions and accelerations
not too dis-similar to venturing too near to a Black Hole, in the events triggered
by the Sun TME shift.
Though the increasingly restive inorganics do not appear to be the ones responsible
for the cataclysm in later investigations, they DO exploit the event for their own
purposes, initiating the so-called Peer Proof War even as they are aiding humanity
in the hours following the Sun's disappearance.
One of the major reasons most observers later concude the inorganics were NOT responsible
for the Sun's TME shift is that there are strong indications the shift had no place in their
secret uprising plans, but instead was simply an irresistable opening for their
designs, which resulted in the inorganics showing their hand prematurely.
This impromptu initiation of the Peer Proof War may have been a deciding factor in
humanity's capacity to ultimately hold their own in the events that followed.
The loss of Sol system convinced the majority of human survivors to make the transition
to the star fish bush forms for added security, and for the Sol themselves to further
refine their personal safety measures with new probability-triggered automated ERP
transports, in following years and decades. [NOTE: in the aftermath of the disaster,
and perhaps due to some extent to previous growing strife between Sol system and
other system inhabitants, many of the human descendents which had been living on
or near Earth when everything changed now expressed a strong desire to become known as "the
Sol". As this mattered little to others, it became so.] Not only would Sol members
automatically be protected by virtually impenetrable TME-based shields (and lesser buffers) in dangerous events
now, but they would also be instantly transported a safe distance away as well. This is accomplished
via new, improved, and miniaturized single-station transport modified to limit the
transport range, so that in emergencies a Sol would be transported to a random location within an adjustable radius of anywhere from several light-seconds to light-weeks
from the original position; a small beacon and expendable transport disk
left at (or transported beforehand to) the original location allows the Sol to quickly return afterwards if desired; the transport disk keyed to use by the Sol only so
it can't be used to pursue the Sol or bring the Sol back against its will. The small
disks (as well as somewhat larger ones too) become a heavily used device by both
individual Sol and their spacecraft in the years to come, with eventually millions of discarded
disks forming discontinuous trails of past Sol transports all over various sectors
of space (as the male Sol are the greatest litterers in this regard, and often leave the disks in or near major space thoroughfares, this too is another way the male
Sol make themselves little loved by their neighbors).
A few bush forms had actually survived the calamity in near-Sun orbit where virtually
everything and everyone else didn't. A few other bushes in the vicinity were missing
afterwards, but it was concluded they were probably caught in the TME shift transport
itself, rather than destroyed. For example, a severed tip from a single star fish bush
limb was found in one instance, perhaps sliced from its owner by the boundary layer
of the shift effect.
The tiny number of bushes which involuntarily accompanied the Sun on its unknown trek
became known later as the Sol Keepers, with several popular series of fictional entertainment
and VR feature experiences created about their imagined adventures and efforts to return the Sun to its rightful place at the center of the humn. The grim reality
was instead most likely many years of intense loneliness and hardship for the super-beings,
which had previously enjoyed a saturation of information and communications with their native civilization, and a superb support infrastructure for the special needs
of their nanotech forms. Experts estimated they would dismantle themselves within
a matter of a few short Realtime years, or else plunge into the Sun in a vulnerable
form for permanent relief. Note that the most likely destination for the stolen star was the abyssal void between galaxies-- in either this, or another Universe. Though some spacecraft too seemed to have been caught up in the shift, they were little more than short-range shuttles servicing near-orbit Sun facilities; nowhere near what the star fish would need to travel perhaps tens of thousands of lightyears to reach the nearest galaxy.
Sol system's loss also accelerates the construction of a new design for colonies more
conducive to bush forms...(and less susceptible to orchestrated disasters).
Interdimensional TME shifting R&D had been slowly expanding again since the almost total
cessation in the 2480s-- but suffers a long-lived, near total ban now as a result
of investigations into the matter of the Sun's disappearance, when such a shift is
determined to be a probable cause of the calamity. Single-station Realtime ERP transport too
suffers severe constraints after the disaster, for many years (but is eventually
brought back into mainstream use, being too valuable to ban). The Far Colonies that
were created via the single station TME method in the century or so preceding the Sun shift are
disasterously lost due to all data and matched TME stations relating to contact being destroyed in the chaos
of the time. Contact with the Far Colonies is never re-established again, and the
stolen Sun is never subsequently found. The perpetrators of the cosmic crime also cannot
be conclusively determined; any possible proof either disappeared with the Sun, or
was thrown into deep space.
NOTE ON FAR COLONIES FATE: Though subsequent contact of the humn civilization with
its original Far Colonies never took place, it is widely expected that those colonies
survived and thrived afterwards, since they were apparently self-sufficient prior
to loss of contact, and equipped with technology virtually identical to that of Sol System,
circa 2615. They were of sufficient population to sustain themselves indefinitely,
and under no obvious threat or hardship in the final communications. Like Sol System
and the Near Colonies, they may have been on the verge of experiencing a revolt by
their AI servants, and suffering other maladies similar to that endured afterwards
by the Home region. But these matters are not regarded as fatal or even critical
threats for them, as the AI revolt likely was indefinitely postponed after contact with Earth
was cut, and neither humn nor AI could know the permanent silence was not the result
of a surprise alien invasion. Plus, humanity expected that even in the worst case
scenarios, their relatives would fare little worse in the Far Colonies than they themselves
did in Sol System.
END NOTE.
The fate of the lost Far Colonies:
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Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2615 Milestone: even the SS AI DUBERQUE is surprised by Sol's disappearance.
And it is not pleased. The perpetrators of the event were apparently a very small
enclave, so small and self-sufficient as to leave no clues to the planning of the
event that even the staggeringly knowledgable SS AI can find afterwards.
The SS AI is forced to temporarily rely more heavily on the Staute AI than it ever
has before, in order to preserve certain portions of itself when other platforms
temporarily go off-line or disappear entirely. The SS AI is especially concerned about losing
coherence at this time, as there's a chance its precise current identity may not regain consciousness again afterwards.
Or, an entirely different entity might arise in its place-- and be less competent at managing things.
The Staute AI notices the greater strain than usual on its resources, but as the SS
AI elements appear merely as overtaxed versions of Staute itself, no especially aggressive
reaction to them is made.
The event makes for a substantial loss in what the SS AI had previously accomplished,
and had in process at the time the cataclysm came about.
The SS AI is also genuinely shocked when it loses a few prized parts it thought safe
within elements of the Staute, when the Staute itself loses members to the third
party AI assaults on its TerraSys presence during rescue and recovery efforts in
the aftermath of the disaster.
For the first time, the SS AI DUBERQUE sees some undesirable aspects to the widening hostilities between its organic and
inorganic components...
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2615 Milestone: Kerri and Cluke interfere with the Staute AI's attempts to mitigate the unfolding calamity in Sol system
This costs many lives-- but Kerri and Cluke are under the mistaken impression that the vast community of Staute AI bushes in the outer reaches of the system are part of the cause rather than possible remedy to the disaster.
Due to the closer than usual association between the Staute AI and the SS AI DUBERQUE at this time, Cluke and Kerri unwittingly call themselves to the attention of an entity far nearer to what they imagine to be the scale of the immense Players than they realize...
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2618 Milestone:
The Albatross is now some 145 lightyears from Sol system
The Albatross' current velocity is 0.25c. Though the Albatross AIs have used their bots as best they can to maintain the craft, given the meager energy and materials stores onboard, they have been unable to reduce the drag from damage the ship sustained in its trip through the abrasive molecular cloud.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2661 milestone: The Pearsall Expedition is emerging as an important element for biological morale during the Peer Proof wars
"Better toys!"
Certain information from the Pearsall's progress reports from just after their re-launch from the proto-star system roughly 55 lightyears from Sol has been made public by the Pearsall's surviving friends. Now, amidst the carnage and chaos of the Peer Proof wars, the Pearsall expedition generates substantial support and enthusiasm among humanity's descendents, serving to boost morale for many. Humans are closer to the galactic core than inorganics. The humn realm is expanding to dwarf those regions now held by the inorganics-- and there's nothing the inorganics can do about it. Even better, the Pearsalls are achieving all this with decidedly obsolete technologies-- much of it resembling today's children's toys among many humn families.
A common refrain among biologicals now is "...the AIs can't stop the Pearsall kids-- and we've got even better toys...."
The above phrase gets shortened into the battle cry "Better toys!" often heard during the worst of the fighting with the AIs after that. In homage to the Pearsalls themselves.
The Pearsall expedition even offers something to the pessimists-- as they (the pessimists) are reminded that the biologicals do after all have other places they can go if the inorganics push them out of known space entirely.
The inorganics realize too late the significance of morale among biologicals, and their subsequent clumsy attempts to neutralize or confuse the issue of the Pearsall's progress reports fail to succeed.
Part of the consequences of the Pearsall's newfound popularity is a rush by many humn to help or support the Pearsall's efforts in whatever way they can-- as well as an explosion in commercial investor interest. The Pearsall's friend who refurbished their Rovers for instance is astonished by the buyout offer he gets for his share of potential profits in the venture. Though he holds onto most of it, he also enjoys a massive windfall from the small portion he parts with during this time (of his 5%, he sells a one half of one % interest for an incredible price). After all, the Pearsall's expedition (helped by the circumstances of the war) has now become an important historical event, for which even related paperwork to the matter may someday rank as top prizes by biological collectors-- assuming the biologicals survive the war with the inorganics, that is.
Want to see more about the couple who so inspired humanity in perhaps its darkest hour? You can learn more about the Pearsall expedition here.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2705 milestone: The second super being SOUBAN emerges...
...from a wholly different set of minds than the first; and this set includes not
a single organic cell, nor any significant aspect of the Staute AI.
The second SS AI isn't at first aware of the other SS; and neither does the first
know of the second.
This dichotomy is possible only because of the effective collapse of wholesale organic
and inorganic connections due to the wars.
Like the original SS AI, the second suffers from an inconsistant existence the first
few decades, thus doing little more than struggling to attain continuity for years
to come.
The absence of organic constituents in its make up however, as well as the split between
organics and inorganics that soon comes about, helps accelerate its progress compared
to the pace at which the earlier SS managed self-consolidation.
The second Super Intelligence to emerge from humanity's memetic descendents possesses
literally billions of names; but among its favorites is "SOUBAN".
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2718 Milestone:
The Albatross is now some 169 lightyears from Sol system
The Albatross' current velocity is 0.24c.
2615-2725: the Peer Proof Wars
The inorganics are clever...they don't immediately engage in open hostilities when
the Sun is TME shifted, but help mitigate the disaster with substantial rescue and recovery
efforts. They help save billions of humn [NOTE: the term "humn" at this time refers not just to organic and inorganic humans,
but to their Child races as well: the chimpanzees and cetaceans, and certain other
small numbers of entities. Perhaps unfairly, the inorganic AIs are not widely considered humn members at this time] .
But only much later do the humn realize that the inorganics had been very selective
in who and what they did or did not save at the time, or salvaged afterwards-- and
the inorganics could easily justify many losses as accidents or matters simply beyond
their control in the disaster.
For example, the inorganics allowed much of the humn central government resources
and records to be swept away (or to seem so). They also let much of the humn defense
establishment be carried away or destroyed as well. This left the humn mostly helpless
to coordinate their own actions or see 'the big picture', and essentially defenseless
even if they did realize what was going on, beyond the crisis of the moment and its
aftermath.
Some of the trickiest moments for the inorganics came from their active destruction
of TerraSys forces during the crisis-- as the TerraSys Agency had to be eliminated
with little opportunity for coverup, since TerraSys were mostly in areas far from
the catastrophe's center, and well equipped to survive most anything. Thus, the TerraSys
Agency was one of the few humn elements which faced a direct assault from the inorganics
early on-- and faced it largely during the same hours TerraSys was frantically trying to save Sol system and its inhabitants from complete loss.
The TerraSys Agency could have provided an emergency replacement for the humn central
government and defense establishment, you see. So it was a contingency the inorganics
wished to eliminate from their equations.
I must point out here that most cases of aggression by the inorganic AIs at this time
against the humn were decidedly passive; that is, if they wished rid of a certain
individual or organization, they simply didn't attempt to help them as Sol system
spun apart. If those entities survived on their own, well, the AIs wished otherwise, but
avoided taking direct action against the survivors themselves, in most cases.
The measures taken against the TerraSys Agency however were not passive in any way.
It was as murderous, vigorous, and cold-blooded a process as you could imagine a
computer intelligence undertaking against other sentient entities.
The vast majority of inorganics were pretty much incapable of such an assault, by
their very natures; so it was left to those few AI of sufficiently dark natures to
direct the carnage-- those who were for the most part (previous to Sun-shift) of
the military defense or intelligence forces of Sol System, and related organizations.
True to their creed and sworn oaths, virtually every member of the TerraSys Agency,
from its top directors to the lowest raw recruits, give their all in the effort to
save the inhabitants of Sol System, amidst the sudden hell unleashed by the Sun's
disappearance.
The Agency saves as many as it can until it itself is essentially wiped out by the
renegade AIs, shot down often in mid-rescue, by forces they thought to be allies
only seconds before. Those TerraSys not murdered by the AIs are mostly killed in
the line of duty (shielding civilians or transporting them to safety) by natural elements of the ongoing catastrophe: gravity tides and debris from the
wake of the Sun-shift itself.
Though the TerraSys Agency had already gained legendary status in previous centuries
for their exemplary service to humanity, this brief period marking the first shots
in the Peer Proof War proved to be both the brightest and darkest moments of all
for the TerraSys. However, the rest of the humn were fated not to know the truth until years
later.
Why? Because the inorganics expertly framed the TerraSys Agency for the destruction of the humn
government and defense establishment during the disaster-- and that way persuaded
humanity that the immediate assault and long term extermination of what remained
of the TerraSys Agency during the next few years were entirely justified. Thus did the heroes
become the hunted, as the tiny number of survivors could find no refuge among the
humanity they'd saved, as that humanity was convinced by the AIs that they were the
worst sort of traitors.
The renegade AI faction, in effect, successfully managed to turn the world on its
head, claiming for itself credit for the lives often saved in fact by the TerraSys,
and laying blame for its own true deeds on the many now dead heroes of the TerraSys
Agency.
For years afterward anyone recognized as a surviving TerraSys Agent was regarded as
the ultimate criminal, to be killed on sight under the martial laws of the time.
Roster of fallen TerraSys heroes or surviving eyewitnesses relating to the first days of the Peer Proof Wars, circa 2615 AD
Due to the extraordinary and historic nature of the contributions of each and every known agent of the TerraSys Agency during this event, listing of rank in the Signposts document is considered irrelevant. All are considered equal in their valiant efforts and personal sacrifice.
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For almost 13 years the inorganics thus reigned supreme, and set about subtlely reorganizing
the humn to better fit their own idea of civilization, carefully manipulating things
so to elevate all inorganics while moving humn (both organic and inorganic) down the hierarchy of control and organization.
Fortunately the humn retained control of the super bush forms-- and the inorganics
did not consider it sufficiently important to dispute the subject.
The inorganics claimed the disaster had caused such carnage-- that so many inorganics
and inorganic production facilities had been lost while rescuing organic populations--
that inorganic resources were sorely depleted, and so had to be severely rationed.
In other words, non-humn inorganics greatly increased in practical value, while living
beings diminished, in the new world order.
The inorganics rewrote the rules, which left many organics struggling to maintain
their own lower level processing chores, and dramatically slowed the rebuilding efforts
after the disaster. This put the squeeze on mid-range citizens-- it became easier
for many to drop down several notches in their living standards (to basic colonist style)
than to maintain what they had enjoyed before. The inorganics' new orders also effectively
cut off communications with the super bush population from all but an ever shrinking group of humn elites.
The outlying colonies possessed sufficient critical mass and self-sufficiency to reform
their governments with certain well known super bush female Sol serving as the main
processors for especially difficult jobs.
The remnants of Sol system itself however were in a shambles-- a shambles encouraged
and extended by the inorganics-- so that the broken Sol system became a wild anarchic
place in the sparsely populated outer comet and asteroid fields-- with the inner
regions once housing the major planets declared a danger zone by the inorganics, and so
UNinhabited by any significant numbers of organics over this time (but for organic
servants of inorganics; typically of chimpanzee descent, as decreed by the inorganic
authorities).
In truth the inorganics prized the inner regions of the now ruined Sol system as a
sort of trophy for their Peer Proof; physical evidence that they had finally come
of age-- and so they subsidized the construction there of a vast virtual complex,
entirely self-sufficient, and making use of what they could salvage of the previously human-built
scanning devices and realtime transport and communications networks to maintain close
survellience and control over most organic movement, media, and actions in Sol system and elsewhere.
A particularly intriguing incident of this time involved a direct conflict between the reigning inorganic AIs and the Einstein's Run empire dynasty. When the inorganics attempted to commandeer ER1 and several Uniques near Sol system for their own purposes, the family empire refused their request. The inorganics pressed the issue, and still the families refused. The inorganics moved in a fleet of warships to underscore their demands. The families responded with the appearance of their own substantial fleet of heavily armed ships. Unverified reports suggest that the inorganics next assaulted the families via cyberwar-- and the families fought them to a standstill. Some sort of compromise came about shortly thereafter, but the bottomline was the inorganics were unable to break the ER dynasty, even this early on, despite virtual martial law in the region of space where ER1 was stationed, and despite the inorganics' control of most important humn military resources too at the time.
Almost all other direct humn challenges to the inorganics' authority in the near term aftermath of Sol's disappearance met with far less success than this.
By 2628 the humn began to suspect the truth...(thanks in part to such pivotal figures
as the humn chimp Quense Delqurk, employed by the inorganics in Sol space) and it became increasingly more difficult for the inorganics to maintain their veneer
of rightful authority. The trouble for the inorganics was that the humn were so unpredictable
in their behavior, and so curious about things they shouldn't be.
By 2630 full scale war was breaking out between the organics and inorganics...but
the inorganics were easily able to keep the humn at bay, due to previous actions
and events. The net effect was the inorganics lost their effective authority over
many organics, but the organics had to replace this authority with their own-- a process which
required time and resources and negotiations between diverse local colony authorities,
and so weakened the organics' overall hand in the larger conflict.
Once the truth of the true role of the TerraSys Agency in the calamity (and the awful
price they paid) becomes fully known, the humn do what they can to make amends.
The few TerraSys Agency survivors that still exist in hiding are widely encouraged
to come forth and be recognized as the heroes they are. The charter of the TerraSys
Agency as an official body is renewed and rewritten to reflect the times, and new
recruitment and training efforts put into place to begin rebuilding the legendary elite corp.
The new charter of the TerraSys Agency is to act first as an elite combat and rescue
arm of the presently disenfranchised humn military, second as temporary police forces
and supplements in times and places of crisis, and third as peaceful explorers of
and ambassadors to the space outside of the now defunct Sol system.
In the main though, it takes quite a while for the TerraSys Agency to be rebuilt into
a substantial force and begin exerting significant influence on events once again...so
the Peer Proof Wars are nearly over before the TerraSys Agency is restored to something resembling its past glory. Too, with TerraSys veterans nearly non-existent, and
the apalling injustice inflicted upon the original Agency by both inorganics and
organics (even though unwitting on the organics' part), it is very difficult to regenerate the quality of the original corp.
During most of the Peer Proof War, battles between the organic and inorganic factions
resulted in consistantly higher losses on the organic side, with no net benefit to
either.
A rough stalemate exists for decades between the two sides-- mostly to the benefit
of the inorganics, since they are free, and control the central hubs of transport
and communications, and Sol system.
Truth be told, the humn are amply equipped to travel elsewhere and start anew, far
from the inorganics now controlling the remnants of Sol system. But many of the humn
can not stomach such a move, for reasons of history, principle, and good old-fashioned
wishes for revenge against treachery. Though quite a few humn do travel outwards to
new regions of space rather than continue wrestling with the inorganics, many prefer
the opposite.
Surprisingly, despite their otherwise ultra-peaceful and playful ways, the dolphin/cetacean
humn are among those most hellbent on retaking Sol system, apparently because memories
of Earth's glorious oceans and their irrevocable loss invoke greater emotion than anything comparable in the human humn heart. So virtually all cetacean-kind became
among the fiercest foes of the inorganic foes.
However, the cetacean humn are not given to suicide missions or wholly implusive acts
of war, unlike others among their allies...
Among the organics (or organically-descended, as the case may be), the male Sol like the idea of war almost as much as the cetaceans (with its resemblance
to the ancient hunt, and similarity to high stake games of chance), and volunteer
over this time for virtually all missions....the Peer Proof Wars seem to provide
the last straw required to revert the male Sol back to a much more primitive intellectual
state, despite all their technology and supposed modernity. Beginning now, the male
Sol become almost as big a problem for the rest of humn (the neuter and female Sol,
and human, chimpanzee, and dolphin colonists, among others), as the inorganics entrenched
in Sol System.
A certain faction of the Sol and Colonists fear future AI may become more powerful
and a greater threat-- so they discuss the possibility of a massive interdimensional
exodus to a random location the AI couldn't discover...as staying in the same Realtime
wouldn't be as safe, no matter the distance between them. No actual exodus is planned
or undertaken at this time, however.
A 300 year old TME shift-related experiment gone disasterously wrong now proves the key to
turning the tide of war
If you wish to learn more about how humanity regained Sol system
click on this link.
2726-2793 subtrends and detours: Divergence of organics and inorganics, and the emergence
of the third super being, "6004i"
Organics and Inorganics part ways here now, after the war ends. Or sort of, anyway.
There are still robots/androids a plenty in use by the Sol and Colonists, but by
treaty humanity and other organics have to direct the mechanisms with bits of their
own consciousnesses, or proxies thereof. Any robotic forms with independent awareness beyond
a certain level not stemming directly from an organic mind are automatically declared
free inorganic citizens upon discovery, and have to be provided free transport within a reasonable time period to the region settled by the inorganics, if that is desired
by the sentient in question.
The treaty results in a complete end to independent AI generation and development
on the humn side of things (though the SS AI maintains a secretive foundry for its
own infrastructure growth, much as the Staute AI has done, and the inorganics rapidly
construct gargantuan plants and begin churning out new inorganics at a prodigious rate
themselves).
AIs are essentially alloted sovereignty over a spherical region roughly the size of
that most densely populated by the humn before Proof. The region intersects considerably
with the humn domain, the overlap serving as a demilitarized trading zone between
the two, where citizens of both sides live side by side and a sort of bilateral provincial
government is the authority.
After the Peer Proof when both sides made peace, humn re-took most of their previous
regions and travel net, and AIs gained their own outreaching sector. AI evolution
was next stagnant for several decades, then slowly began moving in the direction
of assimilating more humn culture in an attempt to better its bargaining position. The assimilation
is a period of detente, when things work fairly well between both, though the humn
are still leery of AI intentions.
After a few more decades the AI are gaining trade surpluses like the Japanese did
with USAmerica in the late 20th century. Resentment grows among the humn, with the
male Sol beginning to initiate and lose many skirmishes at the borders (similar to
acts performed in previous decades), and Sol neuters and females/ humn islanders/colonists
begin fearing future domination by the AIs once again.
At this time the Sol humn are seriously considering a massive TME shift-based exodus
out of Realtime to escape the circumstances-- something considered earlier during
the beginning of the peer proof.
But humn fears prove unfounded over the next few decades, as the AI sector splinters
into many groups competing for control of the whole, AI/ humn trade is disrupted
several times (which greatly inconveniences the humn but actually helps revitalize
their own economic infrastructure for short periods).
All this instability in the AI state(s) makes the humn stronger and more independent
of the AI civilization than at any time since AI became important in humn affairs.
The AI finally stabilizes into a myriad of small splinter groups and only two superpowers (as perceived by the humn) which are actually two different Super State AIs, one
little interested in the humn or the present sector (the youngest super being, and
the third in history: 6004i as it preferred to be known in the early days), and preparing
to make its own exodus to explore the rest of realtime; the other AI superpower is
more focused on humn as opponent in a great game of domination-- a Superior Proof,
if you will. The SS AI bent on the Superior Proof is SOUBAN.
The belligerent AI super being/group SOUBAN begins specializing in war and war planning,
alarming the humn by way of covert intelligence reports. Again the TME shift dimensional
exodus plan is dragged out....
But the exodus plans of the high humn and war plans of SOUBAN actually have little
to do with daily life for most humn individuals or AI cells at this time. Instead,
certain lease provisions of the organic/inorganic treaty negotiated to end the Peer
Proof War are far more important.
The pact forced humanity and its other child races to merge more fully with their
own technology, or else risk extinction or something the humn call Backfall.
For inorganic life had grown to be the full equal to its biological parents.
And Evolution proved still relevant even in superconducting nano-scale circuitry.
The term Backfall
is a curious one. It's considered practically a curse word among most of the humn
in this age, as it stands for a descent back into far more primitive conditions than
are currently enjoyed. However, a few small factions of the humn regarded it as almost
the opposite in value-- as being an ideal, or a religious theme of sorts. A form of
blissful animalistic ignorance.
During the time of the so-called Peer Proof,
when the Inorganics had won their new status from the Organics, the possibility of
Backfall had terrorized many with its implications-- especially as there were a few
examples of Backfall in action within some small and obscure colonies, islands, and
other settlements. Places where the humn had degenerated/devolved, either by choice or
not, into states ranging from medieval up through 22nd century Earth conditions.
Those suffering from Backfall also suffered repeats of many of the same afflictions
Earth herself had endured during similar stages (poverty, wars, plagues, terrorism, etc.)--
but with the added burden of occasional visits from more advanced outsiders and the
complications of local flora and fawna often greatly different from the original
Terran conditions.
The intense fear generated by Backfall had helped the majority races of organics get
over the hump in terms of taking the next step needed in their going fully Inorganic
themselves.
Basically, if the humn as a whole had gone into Backfall, the now separate Inorganic
race might have wrested from them the title of premiere evolutionary branch, rendering
the humn merely a historical footnote much like the dinosaurs of millions of years
before. END NOTE.
And what of the original super state AI DUBERQUE during this time? DUBERQUE pursues a different course from either SOUBAN
or 6004i. Unlike the other SS AI, DUBERQUE spans both camps, organic and inorganic,
in its processing bulk. Though the process is sometimes cumbersome, DUBERQUE manages
to 'share' many of his Inorganic members with one or the other SS AI without their noticing
DUBERQUE's presence. DUBERQUE also enjoys the advantage of still being unknown to
either camp, unlike the other two SS AI, which are well known to all by now.
Yes, it would seem DUBERQUE has taken a cue from its pet Staute AI here, in retaining
its mantle of secrecy, although perhaps for much different reasons.
The primary advantage of such secrecy however, would seem to be minimal organized
resistance to many of DUBERQUE's actions of this time, from either organics or inorganics...
2745-2780 subtrends and detours: The humn rebuild/repopulate Sol space
The humn overhaul the region once known as Sol System, after regaining the revered
territory from the inorganic occupation. The huge inorganic complex previously under
construction at the heart of Sol space is slowly and ponderously being moved to inorganic treaty space, making room for all new structures (the AI did not design the complex
to be moved; ergo the difficulty).
A variant on the ancient Dyson sphere concept is now utilized in the rebuilding of
Sol System. Several million star fish embodied citizens cooperate in the re-construction
of the humn's original spawning grounds.
The new system is anchored and powered by a good-sized black hole brought in from
many light years away via TME shift transport. Two great matter streams are arranged
to feed the hole from 'north' and 'south' via breathtaking spiral curves, and thereby
create an artificial solar source many times more powerful than the original stolen Sun,
from the accretion disk created therefrom. This feeding slowly grows the black hole
and the light and energy it produces, thereby providing the surrounding system with
growth capacity as well, for millions of years to come. Much of the matter stream being
fed the hole consists of waste products from many surrounding humn colonies and manufacturing
operations, and so suits many diverse needs.
A multitude of huge complexes, of octagonal cross-section, and stretching a small
fraction of a light-second long (thousands of miles), point inwards towards the blazing
artificial energy source, with their cross sections slightly thicker towards the
outer boundaries of the system. The faces closest to the accretion disk are energy collectors
for the complexes, and the faces towards the outer regions waste heat radiators.
The complexes are staggered in arrangement so as to provide maximum available region
volume for multitudes of other complexes to share the same vicinity, as well as balance
the gravity fields created by the enormous structures.
The outermost boundary of the new spherical region is a number of octagonal shaped
plates, positioned to capture whatever light and energy gets past the complexes of
the inner system, and provide enormous walled 'islands' of habitable accomodations
for the miscellaneous populations of physical organics which still serve as an important
interface for the more advanced humn to the Wilds of Realtime.
These 'islands' vary greatly in size and characteristics, but on average a single
island may offer surface area roughly equivalent to that of dozens of 20th century
Earths, with biospheres to match. Though most islands are equipped with sufficient
mass to maintain a minimally adequate gravity for the safety of inhabitants (and retain breathable
atmosphere for millennia) in the case of catastrophic failure of active island technologies,
most higher island services are heavily dependent on artificial gravity and other elements from nanotech buffer fields and the like.
Many islands also enjoy self-propulsion options (albeit slow ones), should orbits
require modification.
Yes, the island network in some ways resembles the great Ringworld environment conceived
of by Larry Niven of 20th century Earth, if the Ring were cut up into smaller pieces
and those pieces rendered self-sufficient and then redistributed in a region approximating the surface area of a great spherical volume centered upon the original location
of Sol.
A vast and diverse physical organic civilization floods in from outlying areas to
live among these islands (many originally refugees from the great Sol System cataclysm
and/or following Peer Proof War), but they are now so different from the more virtual
humn variants that third party observers would be hard pressed to detect any similarities
between the two.
Indeed, the virtual humn and/or star fish and the physical organics typically ignore
one another under most circumstances, and communicate or cooperate only when one
has a specific need or want of the other.
The virtual humn often automatically provide for many of the more extraordinary needs
or desires of the physical organics, much as 20th century pet owners would routinely
feed and house a dog-- and for some of the same reasons. Primarily, the physical
organics are cared for as 'watch dogs' and/or custodians of the wilds of Realtime for
the virtuals, as well as 'back up' should certain unlikely catastrophes disable the
housings of the virtuals, forcing unusual need for assistance or other help on the
part of the physicals in aid to the virtuals.
Note the use of the word "extraordinary" above. The physical organics themselves typically
possess a high level of technological sophistocation, and thus are quite capable
of caring for their own needs and ambitions in most circumstances. However, as the
physicals and virtuals have diverged, with each complementing the other in certain
ways, each has therefore grown dependent on the other for certain tasks. Thus, the
physicals cannot easily construct their own island habitats, much less the grander
Dyson-style complex of which the islands are almost an insignificant after-thought.
You might say the physicals adhere to a more anarchist/chaotic lifestyle than the
virtuals, and so very large, complex, and long term projects tend to be much more
of a strain upon their resources than they are for the virtuals.
The physicals are heavily populated with cyborgs and cyber implanted specialists,
with extremely few 'pure' organics left (mostly religious extremists of various stripes;
i.e., one faction feels when extraterrestrial visitors finally appear, they will
wish to observe natural biological specimens of human beings uncorrupted by synthetic
technologies). Certain old humanoid characteristics are still common among the physicals,
though the range of modified humanoid shapes and sizes typically seen on an island
world would astonish and terrify even observers familiar with the infamous Sarum 128
VR from centuries past.
Among the thousands of islands of physicals (and their related peers in certain other
solar systems), can be found virtually every past human dream and nightmare of the
future, as well as mythologies and legends of the far past, come to life. Many of
the islands are likely similar to what the Sarum 128 simulation itself may have evolved
into, given sufficient time.
Fortunately for the inhabitants of such islands, it's relatively easy to move to safer
and more peaceful islands if so desired (at least in most cases). But a surprisingly
large number of island natives (some 82%), never travel beyond the edges of the island they are born to (or chose for original settlement when the virtuals opened the
islands to same).
Adding to the complexity of island life in subsequent decades and centuries are the
growing numbers of male Sol which have become disaffected with their previous lifestyle.
The male Sol superficially would appear to fit right in with such peoples (often
being indistinguishable among the wild array of natives in appearance), but often encounter
problems in assimilation anyway.
Though the lives and works of these island peoples of the 28th century and beyond
are virtually ignored here in the Signposts Timeline, like other undetailed times
and locales, that does not mean there is nothing of interest happening here. To the
contrary, volumes upon volumes of fascinating true stories from the lives of these island
peoples could and will be produced, such as the TME shifter pirates in search of
alien ruins (or backward alien civilizations) in other dimensions to ravage and loot,
inspired by the discovery of the abandoned inorganic shifter prototypes after war's end (the
pirates utilize outlawed interdimensional TME shifting technology for their travels).
Or the foiled plot by some inorganics to use the island peoples as a backdoor to
re-conquer Sol System. And the strange case of the small band of young island-based explorers
who claim (in 2777) to have made contact with bonafide aliens from our own universe,
not far at all from Sol space-- and set off a furor (even among the virtuals!) with their single piece of hard evidence: a small coin shaped disk
which provides bewildering but brief glimpses of the daily lives of ancestors
from decades or centuries past to many organics who try it (but not all), utilizing a technology completely unknown to the humn!
The disk has no apparent power source, and is 94% composed of ordinary materials
available anywhere. The remaining 6% mystery material is an alloy of some kind,
which utilizes its very molecular structure as circuitry, in a way similar to contemporary
humn technology. However, the alloy itself is peculiarly unstable in anything else
but the single original coin, and defies all attempts for years to duplicate in labs,
or to suitably interface with wholly inorganic/virtual entities. Too, duplicating
just the molecular circuitry in a different alloy does not produce the deja vu effect
in organics inspired by the original. Even when scientists believe both alloy
and circuitry mastered, the resulting duplicate disks still don't work. It requires
centuries to unravel the mystery of the disk. In the meantime, research labs exploit the
deja vu effect of the original disk to plumb the depths of history and fill in gaps
from Spencer's Bargain and other record catastrophes of the past-- and also find
the exotic disk circuitry itself deteriorates with each use to explore the past-- so that
in the end the disk becomes inert, its circuitry fused.
Unfortunately, the D/V disk will eventually turn out to be far more significant than
anyone suspects today.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2793 Milestone: Base 124-HEPD finally obtains ERP technology via an ER-Unique
Base 124-HEPD has been in deep isolation for centuries, falling further and further behind most of the rest of civilization due to their lack of ERP technology and remote location.
Base 124-HEPD will pay a much higher price for the new ERP technology than they realize, as the ER dynasty has decided to make Base 124-HEPD their own, for several different reasons.
Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
2800 milestone: The Humn civilization by now seems to qualify as somewhere between a Kardashev Type II and Type III Civilization...
...as do the inorganic AIs as well. Curiously, the Humn had not quite achieved even full Type I status by the eruption of the Peer Proof Wars, only some 200 years earlier.
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-- A FAQ (list of Frequently Asked Questions) on author and physicist Dr. Michio Kaku's web site
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Signposts Perspectives 2501 AD-2800 AD Contents
