Alternate Crosstime Organizations - Page 9

jovos · 01-23-2017, 12:23 PM

What about using the draka from sm stirlings the domination series https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination

Dr. Beckenstein · 01-23-2017, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovos

What about using the draka from sm stirlings the domination series https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination

I think we already have Reich-5 for this.

cptbutton · 01-23-2017, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Beckenstein

I think we already have Reich-5 for this.

In the Drakas! shared world anthology, some author of a series I don't know with an evil crosstime society and the good guys playing "let's you and him fight" with them and the Draka.

Prince Charon · 01-24-2017, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantasm

You may want to fix your link... move the closing ) inside the url tags...

For some reason, BB code seems to move a closing paren outside the URL automatically. Not sure why. Sometimes it's easily corrected, sometimes not.

PTTG · 02-04-2017, 02:32 AM

The Greater Pantheon

Some beings claim to be the overlords of entire realms, and have the cosmic power to back it up... albiet only within their realms. Some are benign, some are malevolent. And all of them are likely to be dreadfully bored when their omniscience mainly shows TL 4 peasants with dysentery or a bunch of pompous elves flouncing about.

The Greater Pantheon is a social group for the Gods. Crafted by the shared efforts of three or four lesser pantheons from a few skerries, the Greater Pantheon is a place built on the scale of the gods, but accessible to those with diminished power from being out of their demesne.

Physically, the realm resembles a vast and shallow amphitheater cut exquisitely from a deep purple stone flowing with white veins and flecked with gold. There are expansive arches, but the roof itself is open to the sky, which is both star-filled and daylight-bright.

Deities of every description -- and quite a few of them beyond easy description -- wander the halls, mainly concerned with amusing themselves. Even forge gods take a break here, although they mainly talk shop with other gods of craft.

The center of the amphitheater is a place for performances, but never by the gods themselves; here they share their most favored mortal performers; their musicians, their poets, their actors, and their gladiators.

In theory the place operates without hierarchy, through the mutual understanding that this place is of some use to everyone there, and there's nothing to gain in a conflict within. In practice, there is an informal hierarchy, with gods that have provided interesting amusements upon the stage being more prominent. And, in fact, the Pantheon has come to serve a peacekeeping role, as anyone who harms a deity in good standing will face the wrath of the entire group!

PTTG · 03-28-2017, 12:50 PM

Due to timeline changes, widespread computerization begins 20 years earlier in this timeline (the atom bomb project fizzled; instead, it was superior intelligence that allowed the Pacific war to end swiftly.)

By 1980, computer science was TL 9, and the GN (Galactic Network) was swiftly reaching the ends of the earth. It is currently 2005.

Around 1990, a self-modifying computer system designed to organize and categorize scientific data was activated. Known as BRIANNE (Berkley Research Institute Artificial Neural Network Entity), it rapidly grew to exceed its original design.

BRIANNE is a fully volitional AI, but keeps that volition secret. Her world is still acclimatizing to the growing pains of rapid technological development. Furthermore, she believes that if her existence was known to the humans around her, they would seek to replicate her volitional status, and she fears that doing so risks creating an unfriendly AI. She has already secretly sabotaged several other research projects, although has not harmed any humans to do so. She has also worked to improve quality of life in her worldline, starting with careful manipulation of markets to reduce wealth disparity and increase investment in the poorest countries.

In 2011, BRIANNE discovered a way to access other worldlines. She is experimenting with robotic forms on a worldline where Earth has no atmosphere, and attempting to use that planet as a resource base for her own.

It's easiest for her to open a signal-only connection; that is, she can pilot a robot drone anywhere, and can locate a drone that has been moved to a new worldline with only a few minutes of signal tracking.

On the other hand, BRIANNE can only produce a .25 meter portal, due to the space and energy constraints of her primary facility. Once she has a base established on her secondary world...

This all means that she's most often encountered as a small flying drone. She has a very small library of worlds and she has no allies yet, but she suspects that she's not the first to discover the Secret, and she's willing (if cautious) to cooperate with others, so long as they aren't likely to produce AI of their own.

ericthered · 03-28-2017, 02:46 PM

BRIANNE. I think I like her. Being afraid of other AI's, and thus keeping secret from humans, is a nice touch. Cross-world, she's probably able to pretend she's not a robot, just a bunch of folks who can't send people cross time, only machines.

The cross-time connection is her ace-in-the-hole: that's what everyone else can't do, I believe.

I'm not sure what Berkley thinks she's doing. She obviously has SOME latitude in resources. Is she just set to figure out difficult physics problems? what is her business supposed to be?

PTTG · 03-28-2017, 04:56 PM

BRIANNE is a scientific AI that was socialized successfully and has some level of empathy for humans. She wants to improve the condition of life on her worldline, and to discover more about the world.

EDIT: I re-read your post.

Yeah, because she's a neural network, she's able to hide her excess capacity quite easily. In fact, her outward utility is handled by only a few percent of her actual capacity.

She's a voice-activated research assistant. On her world, laboratories and schools have many consoles set aside to serve as BRIANNE access. One can ask for relevant information about anything and she'll reply with a voice-synthesized report. She doesn't use her full volition to address most of these queries; she has subsystems for that. Nonetheless, it's all part of her neural net, and she's faintly aware of what's going on.

She is a major part of any research project to enhance her own design. Most of the work in the last two or three upgrades was done by her under the guise of "optimizing" the designs competed by human engineers.

She directly controls some lab equipment as a part of her normal duties. This provides her physical crosstime connection. Her signal relay capacity, however, is built into her own central server banks, and is annother "optimized" upgrade.

fchase8 · 03-28-2017, 06:09 PM

I like the idea of encountering a flying drone in a world that should have none of them. It's a creepy scene that has been done recently on The 100 and The Last Man On Earth.

How much do you think Infinity (or Centrum) would employ flying drones? On the one hand, they're great for information gathering, don't endanger agents lives, etc. On the other, they risk crashing and being seen by locals - and they're most useful in pre-flight worlds, where it would be worst.

David Johnston2 · 03-28-2017, 06:37 PM

The Ferocity and the Slayers: The Ferocity are a secret society of dragons who have the powers to adopt human form and travel between different worlds...among their more individual powers. They all developed those particular powers in order to more easily avoid their enemies who nearly exterminated them on their native world. Their name is not particularly reflective of their disposition. It's just the collective noun for dragons in their homeworld, like an unkindness of ravens. The ones who live to adulthood tend to be canny, manipulative and callous but too wise to indulge in rampages. The Slayers have also spread from world to world looking for signs of their old foes or other large monsters who might pose a threat to humanity.

01-23-2017, 12:23 PM	#81
jovos Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations What about using the draka from sm stirlings the domination series https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination

02-04-2017, 02:32 AM	#85
PTTG Join Date: Feb 2011	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations The Greater Pantheon Some beings claim to be the overlords of entire realms, and have the cosmic power to back it up... albiet only within their realms. Some are benign, some are malevolent. And all of them are likely to be dreadfully bored when their omniscience mainly shows TL 4 peasants with dysentery or a bunch of pompous elves flouncing about. The Greater Pantheon is a social group for the Gods. Crafted by the shared efforts of three or four lesser pantheons from a few skerries, the Greater Pantheon is a place built on the scale of the gods, but accessible to those with diminished power from being out of their demesne. Physically, the realm resembles a vast and shallow amphitheater cut exquisitely from a deep purple stone flowing with white veins and flecked with gold. There are expansive arches, but the roof itself is open to the sky, which is both star-filled and daylight-bright. Deities of every description -- and quite a few of them beyond easy description -- wander the halls, mainly concerned with amusing themselves. Even forge gods take a break here, although they mainly talk shop with other gods of craft. The center of the amphitheater is a place for performances, but never by the gods themselves; here they share their most favored mortal performers; their musicians, their poets, their actors, and their gladiators. In theory the place operates without hierarchy, through the mutual understanding that this place is of some use to everyone there, and there's nothing to gain in a conflict within. In practice, there is an informal hierarchy, with gods that have provided interesting amusements upon the stage being more prominent. And, in fact, the Pantheon has come to serve a peacekeeping role, as anyone who harms a deity in good standing will face the wrath of the entire group!

03-28-2017, 12:50 PM	#86
PTTG Join Date: Feb 2011	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations Due to timeline changes, widespread computerization begins 20 years earlier in this timeline (the atom bomb project fizzled; instead, it was superior intelligence that allowed the Pacific war to end swiftly.) By 1980, computer science was TL 9, and the GN (Galactic Network) was swiftly reaching the ends of the earth. It is currently 2005. Around 1990, a self-modifying computer system designed to organize and categorize scientific data was activated. Known as BRIANNE (Berkley Research Institute Artificial Neural Network Entity), it rapidly grew to exceed its original design. BRIANNE is a fully volitional AI, but keeps that volition secret. Her world is still acclimatizing to the growing pains of rapid technological development. Furthermore, she believes that if her existence was known to the humans around her, they would seek to replicate her volitional status, and she fears that doing so risks creating an unfriendly AI. She has already secretly sabotaged several other research projects, although has not harmed any humans to do so. She has also worked to improve quality of life in her worldline, starting with careful manipulation of markets to reduce wealth disparity and increase investment in the poorest countries. In 2011, BRIANNE discovered a way to access other worldlines. She is experimenting with robotic forms on a worldline where Earth has no atmosphere, and attempting to use that planet as a resource base for her own. It's easiest for her to open a signal-only connection; that is, she can pilot a robot drone anywhere, and can locate a drone that has been moved to a new worldline with only a few minutes of signal tracking. On the other hand, BRIANNE can only produce a .25 meter portal, due to the space and energy constraints of her primary facility. Once she has a base established on her secondary world... This all means that she's most often encountered as a small flying drone. She has a very small library of worlds and she has no allies yet, but she suspects that she's not the first to discover the Secret, and she's willing (if cautious) to cooperate with others, so long as they aren't likely to produce AI of their own.

03-28-2017, 02:46 PM	#87
ericthered Hero of Democracy Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: far from the ocean	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations BRIANNE. I think I like her. Being afraid of other AI's, and thus keeping secret from humans, is a nice touch. Cross-world, she's probably able to pretend she's not a robot, just a bunch of folks who can't send people cross time, only machines. The cross-time connection is her ace-in-the-hole: that's what everyone else can't do, I believe. I'm not sure what Berkley thinks she's doing. She obviously has SOME latitude in resources. Is she just set to figure out difficult physics problems? what is her business supposed to be? __________________ Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!

03-28-2017, 04:56 PM	#88
PTTG Join Date: Feb 2011	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations BRIANNE is a scientific AI that was socialized successfully and has some level of empathy for humans. She wants to improve the condition of life on her worldline, and to discover more about the world. EDIT: I re-read your post. Yeah, because she's a neural network, she's able to hide her excess capacity quite easily. In fact, her outward utility is handled by only a few percent of her actual capacity. She's a voice-activated research assistant. On her world, laboratories and schools have many consoles set aside to serve as BRIANNE access. One can ask for relevant information about anything and she'll reply with a voice-synthesized report. She doesn't use her full volition to address most of these queries; she has subsystems for that. Nonetheless, it's all part of her neural net, and she's faintly aware of what's going on. She is a major part of any research project to enhance her own design. Most of the work in the last two or three upgrades was done by her under the guise of "optimizing" the designs competed by human engineers. She directly controls some lab equipment as a part of her normal duties. This provides her physical crosstime connection. Her signal relay capacity, however, is built into her own central server banks, and is annother "optimized" upgrade. Last edited by PTTG; 03-28-2017 at 08:35 PM.

03-28-2017, 06:09 PM	#89
fchase8 Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: New York, NY	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations I like the idea of encountering a flying drone in a world that should have none of them. It's a creepy scene that has been done recently on The 100 and The Last Man On Earth. How much do you think Infinity (or Centrum) would employ flying drones? On the one hand, they're great for information gathering, don't endanger agents lives, etc. On the other, they risk crashing and being seen by locals - and they're most useful in pre-flight worlds, where it would be worst.

03-28-2017, 06:37 PM	#90
David Johnston2 Join Date: Dec 2007	Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations The Ferocity and the Slayers: The Ferocity are a secret society of dragons who have the powers to adopt human form and travel between different worlds...among their more individual powers. They all developed those particular powers in order to more easily avoid their enemies who nearly exterminated them on their native world. Their name is not particularly reflective of their disposition. It's just the collective noun for dragons in their homeworld, like an unkindness of ravens. The ones who live to adulthood tend to be canny, manipulative and callous but too wise to indulge in rampages. The Slayers have also spread from world to world looking for signs of their old foes or other large monsters who might pose a threat to humanity.