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Old 01-12-2021, 08:04 AM   #91
TGLS
 
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Question 40 [AI] - Machine AI
40.8 Why is organic AI not sufficient or less desirable than non-organic AI for many of the groups or purposes outlined above?
Answer 40.8 - AOIs versus ADIs
-> Hardware Cost: AOIs require a bespoke brain for each design. ADIs can be run on off the shelf computers. This keeps the prices of AOIs higher than ADIs, even if you're buying a mass market AOI. Prices are much, much higher if you want one designed to purpose.
-> Customization: Even if you have an AOI designed, they only support a relatively coarse level of initial customization, like general competencies or familiarity with a general case of shells. ADIs can get rather detailed when it comes to initial customization, like understanding of particular models of equipment.
-> Training: AOIs can only learn at roughly human-scale speeds. RepliSophonts can learn at a much higher rate, though this requires specially designed training that tends to cost a bundle of money.
-> Maintenance: AOIs (even ones in boxes) require food, water, air, and waste disposal. ADIs just need electrical power. AOIs are vulnerable to neurotoxins, acceleration, and (depending on design) motion sickness. It's often easier to harden ADIs against radiation and pressure than AOIs.
-> Sleep: Probably one of the biggest problems. AOIs need to sleep (even the fanciest prototypes from NeuroTech still have a three hour sleep cycle they can't do anything about). ADIs don't.
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Old 01-12-2021, 10:25 PM   #92
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Question 46 [SET] Are Dataran Segara and Thalethrāy on continents, under the sea, in space, or some where more exotic?
Answer 46.1 - Thalethrāy, the Desert World
Thalethrāy is the closest neighbor to Doheem (the homeworld). Thalethrāy has an extremely heavy cloud cover that make satellite mapping effectively impossible. First in explorers reported a nearly endless desert, populated by hardy insects and cacti, giving the planet its name. Thalethrāy had three small colonies, two with large robotic populations. Apart from a small packet of land around Themis, the whole planet has been ceded under PARADIGMS.

Answer 46.2 - Dataran Segara, the Oceanic Plains
Due west of YOU-Topia lies the Global Ocean, an effectively endless expanse of sea and the rare archipelago. In approximately the center of the Global Ocean is an extremely large oceanic shelf, with only a few islands in the area. The seafaring peoples of the region call it Dataran Segara, the Sea Plains. Some rather large and mostly robotic undersea mining and construction operations were setup in the region about ten years before the RepliSophont revolt. This was one of the first regions to revolt from human authority, and the manufacturing capacity provided was key in the success in the man-machine war. The whole region outside the three islands, the "Paradiznia" artificial island, and their three-hundred mile economic zones were ceded under PARADIGMS.

Question Roundup
Question 9 [CTY][Name 5] Name and describe five popular hangouts. [One more]
Question 12d+ [CTY] What are the kinds of things that don't appear on the land use reports?
Question 22 [CTY][Name 1] Name and describe 10 different districts or locales in the city.
Question 23 [CTY] Describe some of the criminal groups that operate within the Sluse
Question 28 [CTY] How do the city's elite like to visually identify their status?
Question 31 [CTY] What is the coast guard equipped with?
Question 34 [SET] What are the most recent innovations in aerospace?
Question 36 [CTY] What is the state of transportation in youtopia? What kinds are common? how good is public transport?
Question 38 [CTY][MAP][Open] - Locations What are the map locations of other previously named locations and districts?
Question 40 [AI] - Machine AI
40.4 What was the conduct of the Robotic Rebellion?
40.5 What have relations over the last 59 years been like?
40.7 What other groups may want illegal machine AI?
Question 41 [AI] - Organic AI
41.3 What are the standard or everyday uses for organic AI and ANCs?
Question 42 [TECH]
42.3b+ Name and describe one or more top current "Mem Stars" and the sort of experiences this new class of adrenaline-addicted, possibly masochistic celebrity is notorious for.
Question 43.4 - Memory Grafting Process
What are some more technical details about the process? Is it surgical or intrusive? Just an external electrical contact? Does it involve injections or cellular transplants to the brain's autobiographical memory anatomy? Do customers need implants or access ports to receive memory grafts? Is it a purely electro-mechanical process or are organic AIs (ANCs) integral? How long does it take? How are selective memories chosen? How skilled does a technician need to be to use the device?

Question 45 [TECH] Are there any unusual weapons available in You-Topia?
Question 48.5+ [CTY/SET] What currencies do you need in the city? What other major currencies are there?
Question 49 [CORP][Name 4] What other business ventures does NeuroCorp have fingers in, besides the city and NeuroTech?
Question 50 [SUB][NTC] - NeuroTech's Project 2109
What is Project 2109 researching in commandeered submarine depot modules beneath the city? Are they avoiding scrutiny for possible PARADIGM violations or is it something else?
Question 52 [CORP] - Blake Musa ver IX
52.1 How long has Blake Musa been in charge, as ver IX and in his earlier incarnations?
52.2 What were his earlier versions and what happened to them?
52.3 What else do we know about Blake Musa?
52.4 What do we know about the rest of his family?
Question 53 [CTY/SET][Name 10] Who are some specific interested parties? What faction do they belong to, and how do they differ from the "party line"? [ideas: International Office for Stateless Persons, National Government with a large migrant population, a corporation, a once powerful nation that trades deals to keep its seat, etc.]
Question 54 [CTY/SET] What was the Crisis of '38?
Question 55 [SET] How were the Integrals planning on destroying YOU-Topia?
Question 56 [CORP/SET] When was NeuroCorp added to The Securities? Was it shortly after they built YOU-Topia, or did it take a long time?
Question 57 [SET] What is the most powerful Neo-Mutualist state? How did Neo-Mutualists rise to power there? Are they outsiders on the international scene or are they better integrated?
Question 58 [SET] Does smuggling put a meaningful amount of stress on the Union of Argalese Islands?
Question 59 [CTY][GROUPS] Who were the techno-radicalist group that broke the Ursula Scandal? And what of the rumours that they were aided by an AI spy in this mission?
Question 60.4/5 [CTY][PPL][Name 2] Who are five mob bosses, underworld figures or gang leaders in YOU-Topia?
Question 61 [TECH][AI] The ABACUS Sophont Test
What version is ABACUS up to now, 19 years after the major update to 4.0?
How is it administered, with what kind of equipment?
What issues, known, unknown or zero day, does the current version have?

Question 62 [PPL] - Zane's Fate
What's happened to him? Has he been done in by his old crew, been taken out by a cranky exec, fled the city with his signing bonus, or is this the first stage in a planned career strategy?

Question 63 [PPL][CRIM][Name 3] - The Cutter Lieutenants
Who are Zane's three former lieutenants?
What is each of their opinions on Zane's departure?
What is each of their plans for the future of The Cutters?

Question 64 [CTYGOV][PPL] Which cabinet member or members of the Leaseholder's Assembly are most likely to resort to assassination, blackmail, hacking or other underhanded tricks to advance their official position or for personal gain? (Revised Slightly)
Question 65 How warm or cold is You-topia? The weather is generally boring due to the gyre, but is it a hot boring or a cold boring or something else?
Question 66 Does The Grey have a deeper agenda?
Question 67 [CTY] - What are the "Civil Defense Committees"?
Question 68 [HIST] What is the story surrounding each of these events? Are there any continuing ramifications from them today?
a) The actions of Representative Di Pietro in ’74
b) The Pearl Gate CDC in ‘81
c) The Sluse Seven Trial in ’88
d) LD-8 Incident in ‘03
Question 69 [CORP][TECH][Name 5] What other entries are there in NeuroTech's product lineup?
Question 70 [SET] What's so valuable on Thalethrāy to justify three independent colony efforts?

Last edited by TGLS; 01-13-2021 at 09:02 AM.
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Old 01-13-2021, 10:49 AM   #93
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Question 28 [CTY] How do the city's elite like to visually identify their status?

with the services of an omniaide. Omniaides are robotic telework shells supported by an entire team of experts, and manned around the clock. An omniaide is switched between people rapidly, and thus appears to be an extraordinarily talented employee, speaking any language, replying with authority on any subject, and skilled at tasks from personal combat to surgery. They cost a LOT of money to run, and only the truly wealthy can afford to have one following them around.



While they have been used as body guards, they are weak to electronic warfare, and more serious attacks must be defended against by more immediate forces.


Question 71:
What are the legal rights (or lack thereof) of Artificial Organic Intelligence?


--------------------------------------
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Old 01-15-2021, 08:31 AM   #94
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Question 71:
What are the legal rights (or lack thereof) of Artificial Organic Intelligence?
Answer 71.1 - Rights of Artificial Organic Intelligence in YOU-Topia
Oh, they have lots of rights! For example, if left at the lost and found, AOIs have four times the waiting period, and will only be disposed of if unsold after three auctions. If an owner (or their agent) severely abuses their AOI, they can be fined up to 1000 ARCs and may be forced to take up to 40 hours of sensitivity training. If an AOI is accused of a crime, they are often granted a hearing to prove their innocence.

OK, the "rights" AOIs receive in YOU-Topia are farcical at best. The international commission is basically deadlocked on this matter; Humanitarians and Neo-Mutualists are on one side, Integrals and the Securities on the other, and the Cykeans are themselves divided on the issue.

Some owners of AOI have come up with complicated legal constructs to secure something resembling rights for their AOI. Usually this works out to forming an A-Type Corporation (Autonomous Corporations, which were briefly popular after the invention of RepliSophonts), appointing one of their AOIs as Chief Executive, and setting up a trust managed by the same AOI to own all the shares of the A-Type corporation. Given the rights of corporations in YOU-Topia, this is a fairly reasonable setup.

Question 71.2 [SET] What are the legal rights (or lack thereof) of Artificial Organic Intelligence outside of YOU-Topia?

Question 72 [CTY] Who opposes the situation Artificial Organic Intelligence are faced with?

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Old 01-17-2021, 08:41 AM   #95
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Question 67 [CTY] - What are the "Civil Defense Committees"?
Answer 67 [CTY] - Civil Defense Committees
These formed as residential militias in the 5220s to push back against NeuroCorp's increasing authoritarianism and U-Sec violence. To skirt the law against militias, they were legally set up as corporate entities, essentially being regarded as armed private security companies, with all shares and board positions nominally being held by residents of the targetted high-rise apartment blocks and wageslave communities. The CFO might be the grandpa in unit 3217, while board meetings were held around a kitchen table over bowls of blue-green porridge. What money they could scrape together was put toward arming themselves, thus generating a boost in arms weapons smuggling to the city.

Over time and with corporate mergers between neighbouring CDCs, and by establishing other income streams, they were able to afford professional security staff and equipment, thus generating an influx of mercenaries to the city. Clashes between CDCs and U-Sec gradually escalated, until the CDCs started making direct retaliatory strikes against NeuroCorp personnel and assets. This situation culminated in the Crisis of '38, which almost saw the destruction of the entire city.
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Old 01-17-2021, 08:49 AM   #96
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Question 54 [CTY/SET]What was the Crisis of '38?
Answer 54 [CTY/SET] - Crisis of 5238
5182 - First AutoSophonts

5201 - NeuroCorp stock drops
With the advent of AutoSophont technology, NeuroCorp finds itself being pushed out of consumer, commercial and industrial markets due to the inherent limits of organic computing. Pressure starts to be felt on YOU-Topia, with its CNF factories winding down production, cutting costs and laying off staff.

5213 - First RepliSophonts

5214 - YOU-Topia Crunch
This marks the end of the Golden Era of YOU-Topia. It had been envisaged as the ideal environmentally-conscious high-end computing manufacturing city, and had essentially fulfilled that dream for a century. At this point, however, drastic staff cuts, forced evictions and mass shutdown of manufacturing ushered in a new dark age for the city. The labourers and knowledge workers who had made the city their home for four generations were, to a large part, then unable or unwilling to leave the island and instead started to entrench themselves in it. This was hence the start of the movement of squatters into shuttered and abandoned NeuroCorp factories, shipping hubs, real estate and vacated executive apartment complexes. U-Sec was said to be the only part of the conglomerate making a profit, as NeuroCorp tried to keep its vacant holdings empty and secure for possible future use while also evicting ex-workers who could no longer pay rent.

5220 - Resource Riots, Civil Defense Committees Form
This worsening scenario culminated in the Resource Riots of 5220. Operation of the the Ocean Resource Platforms was drastically cut back, reducing mariculture food output, likewise restricting electric power and potable water and cutting off the vital cold-water circuits, which brought frigid water up from 1000m below sea level to supply the massive apartment complexes with highly efficient air-conditioning. Tenants, both those who were still entitled to be there and the growing squatter contingent, started to organise and push back against excessive U-Sec violence and NeuroCorp neglect, thus forming Citizen Defense Committees across the city. Things got worse and worse for the next two decades, with CDCs not only directly attacking NeuroCorp facilities and personnel, but also warring against other residential blocks over meagre resources and weapons with increasing territoriality and tribalism.

5225 - Vara-8 discovers how to copy RepliSophonts

5238 - CDCs Unite and Attack
Despite this ongoing current of intra-urban warfare, a group of CDCs managed to unite and pool their resources for a final decisive move against NeuroCorp. They conspired with sympathisers from the Resistance Fleet to acquire an arsenal of twenty-five surplus BRX-4 seismic wave charges and seed them around the city. Just a handful of these should have been enough to mimic a magnitude 8 earthquake across a normal city, and this was quadruple that number. The island was guaranteed to crumble and sink. The organisers of the scheme had plans to prepare the civilians for the disaster and evacuate them on fleets of commandeered watercraft and incoming international rescue resources.

For NeuroCorp, however, this was almost an ideal opportunity to write off decades of loss, detach themselves from a troublesome community relations nightmare, then gain a bundle in insurance claims and government support grants with which to start a new seastead manufacturing project. With both sides metaphorically sitting with their hands hovering over a big red button daring the other to push it, disaster was averted when a small delegation appealed to the international community to intervene. Peacekeepers arrived, bombs were defused, multinational infantry patrolled the streets, CDC leaders and the NeuroCorp board were brought to the table, and the Transitional Authority was established.

----
Question 73 [HIST]
Who was the delegation that saved the city from the Crisis of '38?

Question 74 [SET]
What is the international body or tribunal that imposed peace and oversees the Transitional Authority?
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Old 01-17-2021, 09:32 PM   #97
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Question 55 [SET] How were the Integrals planning on destroying YOU-Topia?
Well, destroy was a bit strong for what they stated they would do (no one ever discovered any decisive evidence of support of Civil Defense Committees by any Integral faction). What the Union of Argalese Islands planned to do if the Securities refused to sign was perhaps worse. The UAI planned to instate a blockade and no-fly zone around the island, which would have the consequence of killing literally everyone on the island if the charges were detonated, including Blake Musa ver VI.

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Question 74 [SET]
What is the international body or tribunal that imposed peace and oversees the Transitional Authority?
5238 was not just an eventful year in YOU-Topia, no, it was the first year the Congress of Kampalu met, primarily to discuss various incidents involving RepliSophonts. It was some surprise that a delegation for YOU-Topia arrived, seeking a resolution between the CDCs and NeuroCorp.

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Question 52 [CORP] - Blake Musa ver IX
Just one question before I try to tackle this one; is ver IX like "Version 9" or "the Ninth"?

Question 75 [CTY] Have any Civil Defense Committees received support from Integralist factions? If not, why do some think this is true?

Question 76 [SET] What is the composition of the Congress of Kampalu?

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Old 01-18-2021, 12:07 AM   #98
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It was some surprise that a delegation from YOU-Topia arrived, seeking a resolution between the CDCs and NeuroCorp.
Note that on the delegation question, I actually changed it from "a delegation of residents" to "a small delegation" to leave room for it being an outside group of observers or activists, possibly related to one of those factions.

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Just one question before I try to tackle this one; is ver IX like "Version 9" or "the Ninth"?
Version 9. He's supposed to have been the same person/consciousness (with wiggle room) throughout.
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Old 01-19-2021, 09:16 AM   #99
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Default Re: [GAME] Synthesise a Cybercity!

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Question 34 [SET] What are the most recent innovations in aerospace?
Deep packing is a method by which a person is placed in near-hibernation, shed excess fat and muscle mass, and then is encased in an extremely lightweight polymer. This allows for cheaper transport to orbital destinations than ever before, once the traveler recovers from the transport. This technology is allowing better services to be operated at orbital resorts. Rumors of long term effects have been vigorously disputed by advertisers.



Question 77:
What sort of Urban Wildlife is common in YOU-topia?
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Old 01-19-2021, 10:36 AM   #100
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Question 77
What sort of Urban Wildlife is common in YOU-Topia?
77.1 Concrete Lobster
Probably a genetics experiment gone awry, this amphibious crustacean eats anything and is all over the place. While it must return to the water to lay eggs, it has little trouble on land. Sometimes it can be found drilling holes into solid concrete. It eats pretty much anything and tastes like it. If properly managed, it can actually be quite tasty.
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