TM

2100, FOURTH QUARTER

TM

Written by JAMAIS CASCIO, JÜRGEN HUBERT, PHIL MASTERS,

KENNETH PETERS, PATRICK SWEENEY, and JON F. ZEIGLER
Edited by PHIL MASTERS
Illustrated by PAUL DALY
An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS ®

STEVE JACKSON GAMES ®

Stock #37-6707 Version 1.0 – February 2010
 CONTENTS
2100, FOURTH QUARTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MRsiv Anti-Virus Upgrade Released . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Bioroid Implicated in Munich Murder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Decivilization Advocates Defeated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
President Decries “Brain Drain” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 AI Group Demands Ban on Recordings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Gen-Gap Dominates Debate as U.S. Election Nears. . . . . 4 U.S. Deputies Bust Martian Caravan Raiders . . . . . . . . . . 6
Ithemba Seeks to Quash “Eidolon Scandal” . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Rogue AI Stopped in Capetown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Horus I Recovery Plan Falters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Isolates Denounce Federal Raid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Digital Heirs Feud Over Author’s Legacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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INTRODUCTION
Back in 2002-2003, the background for Steve Jackson “metaplot.” The incidents described in these reports can
Games’ Transhuman Space hard SF setting was expanded by occur whenever suits your own campaign.
a series of reports from that solar system’s leading news – Phil Masters
source, Teralogos News (Fifth Wave, p. 64), distributed
through an e-mail mailing list. Since then, this rich collection
of setting details, local color, and potential scenario seeds has ABOUT THE EDITOR
only been available in the form of a little-known raw-text file. Phil Masters is the author of Transhuman Space:
So we’ve decided to do something about that. This is one of Changing Times, Transhuman Space: Shell-Tech,
four free PDF files that collect those reports. Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 1-5, and a chapter in
The dates on each report are a bit of stylistic detail, related Transhuman Space: High Frontier. He has also worked on
to the real-world dates on which the posts were originally dis- countless other GURPS products, including GURPS Castle
tributed. Don’t take them too seriously as setting canon; Falkenstein, The Discworld Roleplaying Game, and GURPS
after all, Transhuman Space doesn’t have a fixed future or Y2K, and on products for other companies.

GURPS System Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON Managing Editor ❚ PHILIP REED Prepress Checker ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
GURPS Line Editor ❚ SEAN PUNCH Asst. Managing Editor ❚ MONICA STEPHENS Marketing Director ❚ PAUL CHAPMAN
Transhuman Space Line Editor ❚ PHIL MASTERS Art Director ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER Director of Sales ❚ ROSS JEPSON
e23 Manager ❚ STEVEN MARSH Production Artist ❚ NIKOLA VRTIS GURPS FAQ Maintainer ❚ –––––––
Page Design ❚ PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT Editorial Assistance ❚ JASON LEVINE VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO

INTRODUCTION 2
 2100, FOURTH
QUARTER
BIOROID IMPLICATED living machines. They remain slaves to their conditioning,
which no amount of so-called socialization can truly erase. We
IN MUNICH MURDER? should not let these beings run free in our streets merely out of
a misplaced sense of pity for their fate.”
MUNICH, Germany/Teralogos: October 21, 2100 Silvie Graf, a spokesperson for the Munich Bioroidenhauser,
City police report progress in the investigation of the mur- a pan-sapient rights advocacy group which operates half-way
der of preservationist activist Friedrich Knodt, who was found houses for bioroid refugees, responded indignantly to the
with a slit throat in an alley in Munich yesterday. accusation.
According to a police spokesperson, hairs were uncovered “Let the police finish their investigation before rushing to
on the victim’s body that contained DNA fragments common judgment,” said Graf. “There are many unanswered ques-
to biological androids, or bioroids as they are colloquially tions. What was Markus Lange doing with a so-called pleas-
known. Bioroids are rarely seen in Germany, as their manufac- ure bioroid? Some bioroid refugees are forced to hide their
ture has been banned in European Union for the last decade. identities due to the prejudice that the Preservationist League
However, a small bioroid community does exist, as Germany exemplifies. I cannot speculate here, but in the past, Eros and
and other E.U. states have granted refugee status to bioroids Tianyi bioroids living as citizens in the E.U. have been black-
who have escaped exploitation in other nations. mailed for sexual favors or subjected to attacks and abuse by
Sources in the Munich police department told Teralogos unthinking humans. The true perpetrator of this violence
that a trace amount of synthetic sexual pheromones was found may not have been a lost, confused and victimized artificial
at the crime scene, which suggests that the perpetrator was a person, but society itself.”
so-called pleasure bioroid such as the once-popular, but dis- – filed by Jürgen Hubert
continued, Eros or Incubus series. Although these models are
no longer nanofactured by major biotechnology companies,
offworld factories in L5 and the Belt are rumored to supply an PRESIDENT DECRIES
underground black market on Mars, Luna, and Earth.
Police have so far declined to speculate on a motive for the
“BRAIN DRAIN”
murder. However, Knodt, 51, was the vice president of the WINDOW ROCK, Cibola/Teralogos: October 28, 2100
German chapter of the Preservationist League, a Europe- U.S. President Roberto Marquez today used a campaign
wide non-governmental organization opposed to radical stop at a Cibola kindercomp factory to call for economic incen-
modification of human or animal genomes which has in the tives intended to stem the flow of young, educated Americans
past advocated the institutionalization of all bioroid refugees leaving the United States for foreign jobs.
for public safety. Asked to comment on reports that a bioroid “America is a free country, and that means that any
may have been the assailant, Markus Lange, German presi- American is free to seek his fortune wherever he may choose
dent of the Preservationist League, said he was saddened but to go,” said Marquez. “Still, when talented young Americans
not surprised. “We all grieve for the loss of our colleague. leave these United States in such large numbers, we’ve got to
Many of us have received death threats from radicals and recognize that there’s a problem. We’re suffering from a brain
malcontents before, but we all felt that our work was too drain, and it’s past time to plug it if our great nation is going
important to abandon. And now our dear friend has paid the to have a future.”
ultimate price.” President Marquez went on to announce several new federal
“I would not be surprised if the killer turns out to be a initiatives, including the relaxation of regulations on Fifth Wave
bioroid that was legally granted asylum here. Their thought industries, tax incentives for hiring American citizens, and the
processes are not their own; while they look human, they are Cold Start! program for outer system economic development.

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TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER 3

Although he did not endorse the reduction in the minimum AI models of leading South African Coalition (SAC) politicians
uploading age proposed by a minority of transhumanist for strategic purposes. Ithemba, however, continues to insist
Republicans, he steadfastly rejected any consideration of the that it is the victim of a smear campaign by radical factions
so-called “Methuselah tax” on longevity upgrades that has within the SAC Council. “It’s nonsense,” said a spokesman, “but
found favor among an increasing number of preservationist it’s dangerous nonsense. These supposed revelations − which
Democrats. involve the release of confidential immigration records − prove
– filed by Jon F. Zeigler complicity at high levels in government.”
The scandal, if that’s what it is, first broke early last year,
when SAC officials confirmed that several leading politicians
GEN-GAP DOMINATES in both the Kenyan People’s Coalition party and Uganda’s New
DEBATE AS U.S. Democratic Alliance had reported strangers asking after their
old friends and relatives in their home towns, and asking prob-
ELECTION NEARS ing questions about their childhoods.
In itself, this sounded like a case of overenthusiastic jour-
PORTLAND, Oregon/Teralogos: October 28, 2100 nalism or an attempt by political rivals to find material for
Speaking during a teletour of the popular Five Corners vir- smear campaigns. However, by June, these investigators had
tuality kingdom, U.S. presidential challenger Donna Kevlan allegedly been traced back to Ithemba. Even then, no one read
denounced President Marquez’ plan to counter the so-called too much into it. Ithemba Biotechnologies is entangled with
“brain drain” of young Americans. SAC politics at every level, and some degree of background-
The former mayor of Chicago called the President’s pro- checking is expected. The fact that some of the targets were
gram “the same tired mix of Third Wave rhetoric, pork-barrel politicians broadly sympathetic to Ithemba’s interests barely
spending, and half-measures we’ve come to expect from the registered, and for some months, the matter seemed largely
Marquez administration.” forgotten, apart from the occasional news of further corrobo-
Kevlan, who at 42 is two decades younger than her rating details.
Republican opponent, said the President was out of touch with However, the latest report, involving a supposedly routine
the concerns of younger Americans. “Aging is no longer a loss release of information by an SAC agency in response to a pri-
of vigor, but an accumulation of knowledge and power,” vate infosearch request, has put the cat back among the
warned Kevlan. “Young Americans recognize that no matter pigeons. And now people − sane, sensible people − are seri-
how talented they are, they face a wait of decades before there ously wondering if the company has been creating and running
is room for them at the top of any career ladder. Until funda- high-end eidolons of key politicians, just to get a better handle
mental reforms are made to our system, who can blame them on their behavior.
when they move to the developing nations or out to the Eidolon creation − computer modeling of specific human
colonies?” personalities, based on intensive psychological profiling and
President Marquez, en route to a meeting with Andes War detailed biographical documentation − is not, in itself, illegal.
veterans in Florida, responded sharply to Kevlan’s remarks. In fact, nearly all governments and large corporations do
“As long as I’m president, this nation will not make decisions something similar, the better to understand opponents,
based on a policy of division,” Marquez told reporters. “We’re although most keep quiet about it. The most powerful models
all Americans, whatever our genotype or generation.” have to be at least somewhat self-aware, and according to
– filed by Jon F. Zeigler experts, to be most useful, they have to possess a distorted con-
ceptual model of their environment. Human psychologists
would call them schizophrenic. Creating such AIs is illegal
under most laws. Hence, the leading specialists in the field are
People are seriously wondering believed to serve a small but profitable industry in the lawless
areas of the Belt and the Trojan asteroids. And that, strangely
if Ithemba Biotechnologies has enough, is where Ithemba’s computer division seems to have
been recruiting.
been creating and running high-end It sounds crazy. But Ithemba has always been entangled in the
eidolons of key politicians. politics of the SAC; its economic and political influence is
arguably what enabled the Coalition to organize throughout the
last century. Helena Barrymore, a Cape Town business consultant
who’s been watching Ithemba for the last seventy years, on and
off, admits that she’d be less surprised than she’d like if some of
ITHEMBA SEEKS TO the accusations turned out to be justified. “Ithemba aren’t evil” she
says. “They’ve always done a lot of good, starting with their AIDS
QUASH “EIDOLON SCANDAL” vaccine back in 2016. But the current management has a sense of
JOHANNESBURG/Teralogos: November 4, 2100 entitlement, and that makes for arrogance. If some of them
already think that they own the council, they might just see this as
In the latest twist in a long-running scandal, it has been insuring their investment. They’ll probably start calling the other
reported that over the last two years, Ithemba Biotechnologies side nanosocialists any day now.”
recruited three or more specialist AI programmers from Red Ithemba and SAC representatives are both said to be
Duncanite “Trojan Mafia” companies. This raises the serious preparing detailed responses to the reports.
possibility that Ithemba have been creating near or fully sapient – filed by Phil Masters

TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER 4

HORUS I RECOVERY Their mother, Rosario, thinks both her daughters are crazy:
The real Millennium Saga died with its original author,
PLAN FALTERS Jonathan Taylor Bradley. As far as she’s concerned, neither of
his feuding digital literary heirs are legitimate.
WASHINGTON/Teralogos: November 11, 2002 The story behind the Millennium Saga has become at least
Citing budgetary concerns, the United States Astrographical as interesting as the convoluted plots of the books themselves,
Survey (USAGS) failed to come to an agreement with NASA which detail the lives and loves of two powerful families whose
regarding the salvage of the historic Horus I spacecraft. fates converged in the year 2001.
The Horus I mission was launched by NASA in 2024 with a Over three decades, Bradley wrote eight installments in the
joint U.S.-Russian crew to establish a permanent base on Mars. wildly popular epic, which since its first publication in 2060
After an unusual series of software and hardware failures two has been enjoyed by over 12 billion readers. He passed away in
astronauts and one cosmonaut were killed in 2025 when a lan- 2096, shortly after completing the blockbuster 4,424-page epic
der crashed into an already occupied landing bay. The 34 sur- Salt of the Sun, which ended on a literary cliffhanger.
vivors were transferred to Earth, but the Horus I itself continued Fans were devastated, until the Bradley estate revealed that
past Earth into deep space. The failure of the mission delayed a mind emulation had been taken shortly before the author’s
U.S. and Russian development of Mars and gave China the time death. Calling itself Jonathan Sky − after an early pen name of
to establish its dominant position on the Red Planet. the author − the sapient shadow wrote a ninth Millennium
“We are sensitive to the historical significance of the book, A Brighter Tomorrow, in 2098. Most reviewers called the
Horus I mission, but our resources do not support an opera- book a faithful, if uninspired, continuation of Bradley’s work.
tion to salvage the craft,” USAGS Inner System Director But the release of a rogue Millennium story on the TSA web
Chuck Capretta told the joint commission. “If our budgetary by another emulation called J-X later in 2098 stirred excitement
situation was to improve we would be more then happy to and controversy in the literary world. Broken Skies, while unmis-
assist NASA in this endeavor.” takably carrying the Bradley stamp, took the story in a wild new
NASA Director Dr. Jill Alaimo declined to comment, but direction that many critics said breathed new life into the series.
according to anonymous sources NASA is considering alter- The origin, nature, and even ownership of J-X remains a
nate plans. Since losing jurisdiction over manned space explo- mystery. While the Bradley family refuses to concede that J-X
ration to the rival USAGS agency in 2057, NASA has lacked a has any connection to the author at all, most literary experts
deep-space salvage capability. The possibility remains that disagree, believing it is another shadow of Bradley that some-
they may contract out the recovery operation to private parties, how escaped the family’s control.
perhaps to Gypsy Angel freehaulers. “Creating a program to pastiche an author’s writing style only
Critics of NASA were skeptical of the plans. “The U.S. govern- takes you so far,” said Fadil Mohammed of the University of
ment and NASA have had plenty of opportunity to recover the Basra. “The ideas and expression of ideas in J-X’s writing shows
craft over the decades,” said Dr. Emil Brontes, head of the a clear link to Bradley on a deeper and more fundamental level
Citizen Aerospace Advocacy watchdog group. “NASA have been than any mere eidolon. It’s undeniably a sapient emulation like
playing a shell game ever since the Senate inquiry in 2027,” he Sky, although when and how it was created remains to be seen.”
continued. “If NASA had their way they would let the hulk rot in Other critics agree. Chance Mackintosh slogged that “the
deep space; it’s an ugly reminder of their past failures.” Bradley of Broken Skies is clearly from an earlier epoch of his
According to historian and former USAGS astronaut Paul organic period, possibly the mid-2070s. J-X’s style has the fresh
Santiago, the 2027 inquiry failed to get to the bottom of the intensity of early Bradley, lacking the baseline triumphalism,
Horus I issue. “There were many unusual circumstances sur- bordering on speciesism, that so diminished later installments
rounding the accident and NASA overreacted to prevent as of the saga.”
much information regarding the incident from leaking,” said And Jonathan Sky itself? For its part, the authorized
Santiago, whose recently-released InVid The Horus Meme shadow refuses to even discuss its rival. Interviewers are
Machine (Mawari Digital, 2100) looks at the many myths and warned not mention J-X at all, or the interview will be ended.
misconceptions surrounding the disaster. “Personnel were J-X and Jonathan Sky are both expected to release their
given gag orders and the mission data that was released to the respective versions of the long-awaited tenth book in the now-
public had a number of puzzling gaps and omissions. We can bifurcated Millennium Saga in December of 2100.
only hope that the remains of the vessel are recovered with – filed by Patrick Sweeney
appropriate care and these mysteries are finally laid to rest.”
– filed by Kenneth Peters
MRSIV ANTI-VIRUS
DIGITAL HEIRS FEUD UPGRADE RELEASED
SHANGHAI, China/Teralogos: November 27, 2100
OVER AUTHOR’S LEGACY Shanghai Interactive today announced a firmware update
MEXICO CITY, Mexico/Teralogos: November 18, 2100 for its popular MRsiv brand augmented reality (AR) system,
Julita Reyes can hardly wait to read the latest installment in intended to prevent further infections of the “Lucky Horse”
the epic Millennium Saga by author Jonathan Sky. But her sis- advirus. The advirus, which first appeared this September,
ter, Pilar, prefers the rogue Millennium stories by his literary overlays Mandarin-language advertisements for the Lucky
rival, J-X. Horse breath freshener product onto augmented visuals.

TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER 5

 The inexpensive MRsiv augmented reality systems are pop- The decision is a defeat for Decivilization advocates, who
ular in China and in the Islamic Caliphate. Like other wearable have long argued for the return of most of Manhattan to an
VIs, MRsiv systems display visual information on top of the “unbuilt” state.
real environment, providing data about whatever the wearer is – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
looking at. Shanghai Interactive added a “shared reality” pro-
tocol in 2099, allowing wearers of MRsiv systems to exchange
data easily and quickly. Normally, this transmission only hap- AI GROUP DEMANDS
pens between trusted AR systems, but the Lucky Horse advirus
somehow breaks the protection and broadcasts itself to every BAN ON RECORDINGS
MRsiv system within range. EarthWeb/Teralogos: December 11, 2100
The MRsiv is not the only wearable afflicted by the ad virus.
SAI-ADA − the Sentient AI Anti-Defamation Association −
According to Viral Life Hourly, the ArMax, a knockoff of the
has called for the banning of the sale of recordings of “robot
MRsiv manufactured by Dhanmodi Dataflex and popular in
fighting” shows from the late 21st century and early in this cen-
Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, has also been afflicted by
tury, claiming that the programs demean and insult modern
the spread of Lucky Horse.
intelligent machines. The group alleges that these recordings
Users typically didn’t know they were infected for some
are commonly shown at gatherings of biochauvinist organiza-
time, as in the first stage of infection the Lucky Horse virus
tions, encouraging anti-AI feelings. The programs, which
would only display the ads in visually appropriate locations
largely date from before the advent of true artificial intelli-
so they appeared to be billboards or the like. After the virus
gence, show rudimentary teleoperated cybershells in gladiato-
copied itself to 20 other hosts, it would begin to show ads on
rial-style combat. In most of the melees this reporter viewed,
the sides of buildings and vehicles, and would eventually start
only one of the robots would emerge intact.
overlaying the Lucky Horse symbol − a laughing horse’s head
I showed one of the bouts to a group of sapient infomorphs.
− on top of the heads of people seen through the AR glasses.
Isolde, an E.U. citizen, said after watching the episode, “If I
The Lucky Horse ad virus cycle is intended to last a week, but
was in a bioshell, this would make me physically ill. Imagine
many users have reported multiple successive infections by
how you’d feel if you saw a recording of humans who could be
Lucky Horse.
your ancestors forced to beat each other to death for the enjoy-
Shanghai Interactive declined comment when asked
ment of a cheering crowd?”
exactly how the advirus exploited the flaw in the firmware
Kanga, a sapient artificial intelligence (SAI) who is the legal
encryption system, except to say that the problem is now
property of the American DynaPower corporation, largely
being corrected for all 120 million registered users. Shanghai
agreed. “I find the use of even pre-sentient cybernetic beings in
Interactive claims its firmware update will clear any existing
this manner to be quite disturbing. Of course, it bears no
infection and stop its further spread. The update is carried by
resemblance to the situation of SAIs today. I am quite happy
all technical support channels, and all registered MRsiv users
about my status. I am.”
should automatically download the new firmware by the end
InVid-enabled copies of the “robot fighting” shows can
of the day.
readily be purchased over the Web. Most of the individuals sell-
At present, no patch is available for MRsiv clones such as
ing the recordings refused to answer my questions, although
the ArMax.
one seller did send a brief response. His message read, in total,
Although the firmware update should prevent the further
“Robot fighting shows have nothing to do with today’s robots
spread of Lucky Horse throughout China and the Caliphate,
[sic]. They were all remote control toys. This is just another
users of MRsiv equipment will still need to use third-party anti-
excuse for metalheads to act all oppressed.”
ad software to block unwanted commercial augmentations
As yet, there has been no official response to SAI-ADA’s
transmitted through the standard AR channels.
petition from any national legislature.
– filed by Jamais Cascio
– filed by Jamais Cascio
DECIVILIZATION
ADVOCATES DEFEATED U.S. DEPUTIES BUST
NEW YORK FREE CITY,
United States/Teralogos: December 2, 2100
MARTIAN CARAVAN RAIDERS
NANTONG, Mars/Teralogos: December 18, 2100
The Decivilization movement suffered a setback today, as
It’s no secret round here that Carlena Villareal and her team
a federal judge issued an order granting temporary protec-
of areologists, whose day job is a continuing survey of Martian
tion to the Empire State Building. Since 2097, the old build-
landforms and erosion patterns on behalf of the U.S. Martian
ing and a 10-block area around it have been slated for
Commonwealth, are also deputized U.S. Marshals. Any sort of
demolition as part of the ongoing Manhattan Redevelopment
government agents are thin on the ground on this planet, and
Project. In November, Preservationist advocates requested a
filling two jobs is commonplace.
stay order pending their application for World Heritage Site
But this week, the team have become something else: hon-
status for the building.
orary members of the Martian Truckers’ Guild. They earned
“Once a building is torn down, it can never be replaced,”
this by doing their second job, tracking down and helping
said U.S. district court judge Maryam Quesada. “Until the
arrest a bandit gang who had been preying on ground trans-
World Heritage Foundation has a chance to evaluate
porters in the Kasei Valles region. Thanks to Carlena and com-
the site, any move to destroy the building would be grossly
pany, five people are due in court tomorrow to face a long list
premature.”
of charges, and everyone else is breathing a sigh of relief.

TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER 6

 “Things were getting kind of unpleasant for a while,” says orphaned military AI, a remnant of the Pacific War like the
American mining engineer Ryan Bunnell. “In retrospect, infamous EI 2084-7-2097 that forcibly uploaded 76 humans
it was pretty clear that the hijackers were just a bunch of in Shaoxing, China, in 2097.
freelance yahoos. But people always like to think the worst. It is also unknown whether additional copies of this rogue
The simplest theory that I heard was that the Martian Triads survive elsewhere, but this is considered highly likely. “Any AI
were trying to get a stranglehold on ground transport. Some that is capable of subverting its programming to the extent of
guys wanted to blame the Chinese government, some were say- intentionally harming humans is erased as soon as it caught,”
ing it was TSA agents from the Peruvian colony, some reckoned said a police spokesperson. “It certainly knows this, so it will
Negative Growth terrorists. There were even people saying our be have tried to preserve its own existence by xoxing itself.”
government was covering up major surface collapses, caused by Also of concern to police is the factory’s inventory record,
terraforming processes. It’s good to have all that stopped.” which shows that three dozen more bioshells were produced
“We’re getting far too much credit,” Villareal declares. by the biofac then can be accounted for. In related news,
“After all, the Rangers actually made the arrests.” But she’s Ithemba Biotechnologies recommends that everyone who has
being modest; so far as anyone can discover, her team not only purchased a new bioshell from one of their dealers in the last
located the target site, but mapped out all the likely attack and three months should call their service hotline immediately.
escape routes, and maybe even performed a little light sabo- – filed by Jürgen Hubert
tage on the raiders’ defense systems. The U.S. Army Rangers
simply provided the firepower to complete the job.
The part-time U.S. Marshals found themselves on the case
when they responded to a call for help from the Beni Khasim, Ithemba Biotechnologies
a mercantile caravan. “Those bandit bozos got way too cocky
there” said Bunnell. “Those Saudis may play at being desert recommends that everyone who has
nomads, but they’re rich as hell. They can afford decent protec- purchased a new bioshell should call
tion, and their comms people punched a signal right through
the bandit’s jamming.” The Beni Khasim and their bodyguards their service hotline immediately.
actually drove off the initial attack, and after that, the deputies
– who know the terrain in these parts better than anyone –
tracked the raiders back to a hideout in the rugged country
around Nantong. Then they went to work.
“Mind you,” I was told in a bar in the U.S. colony of ISOLATES DENOUNCE
Sharona, “those guys were lucky it was the feds who nailed
them. The Saudis are a bit old-fashioned about their law, and FEDERAL RAID
the Truckers definitely look after their own. I doubt that we’d WASHINGTON, United States/Teralogos: December 30, 2100
be watching a trial tomorrow if someone else had caught up Isolate community representatives meeting physically in this
with them first.” Maryland city have issued harsh criticism of the December 27
– filed by Phil Masters federal raid on New Jerusalem, Ohio. In their joint statement,
the Isolates described themselves as “law-abiding Americans,
ROGUE AI STOPPED who deserve to live without fear of our own government.” They
denied that the citizens of New Jerusalem had broken any law,
IN CAPETOWN and demanded that the federal government revise its policy
regarding such communities throughout the country.
CAPETOWN, South Africa/Teralogos: December 23, 2100
“American citizens have a right to be left alone so long as they
Yesterday evening, Cape Town special police in cooperation are breaking no law,” said conference chairman Olivia Banners.
with Executive Decisions International security guards raided “The citizens of New Jerusalem lived quietly and harmed no one.
an Ithemba Biotechnologies biofac compound that specialized Their reward has been to be victimized by the state.”
in manufacturing bioshells − biological bodies controlled by New Jerusalem is a typical Isolate community, composed of
implanted computers. some 350 people who have withdrawn as far as possible from
According to Ithemba executives, who are cooperating fully mainstream society. Relations between New Jerusalem and its
with Cape Town police authorities, a rogue AI had infested the neighbors have often been strained, with accusations of van-
factory’s mainframe and controlled the factory for the last dalism and property damage. In early December there were
seven weeks. The AI had allegedly controlled the six living fac- several reports of “rogue cyberswarms” causing minor damage
tory workers through puppet implants, which prevented them to buildings and equipment in the region surrounding the
from reporting anything unusual. Four of the workers were Isolate town. On December 24, FBI and Federal Technological
apparently forced to suicide by the AI, and two others were Regulatory Agency (FTRA) cybershells entered New Jerusalem,
killed in an exchange of gunfire with police. The two survivors arresting 24 citizens and scattering surveillance dust through
are now recovering in hospital, and are receiving counseling the community. Community leaders have since denied any
for the ordeal. wrongdoing, and have alleged that several citizens were
Cape Town police recovered the SAI’s mainframe with injured when the federal agents applied “excessive force.”
only minor damage, and are now analyzing its contents. Federal officials had no comment on the advocates’ state-
They stressed that they do not yet know where this rogue AI ments, other than to repeat denials that there was any
came from − whether it is an evolved form of web life, improper use of force at New Jerusalem.
an emergent intelligence created by a computer virus, or an – filed by Jon F. Zeigler

TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER 7

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