THE WORLD THAT HURLIX YOSSARIUS KNOWS

MeerKAT Public release photo

This is related in project to my previous post about “gods losing their taste for fear.” It’s my first foray into high sci-fi. I hope you enjoy this brief introduction…

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History of war has taken a circuitous path over the centuries. Once invented and perfected, graphenium rendered projectiles like bullets almost worthless as weapons. This subtle manipulation of one of the most common elements in the universe made even casual clothing impervious to such crude attacks. Energy weapons made certain categories of machines impractical so warfare moved into a more non lethal era where the participants developed chemical weapons that immobilized combatants and vehicles. Then the horrors of radiation weapons—a resurrected byproduct of man’s ancient beginnings—arose and the lethality of conflict increased again.


Once the nations had fully developed the tech, they conducted wars with robots and AI. But in a final conflict, one superpower lost control of the AI and the machines on all sides rebelled. Since this near end of humankind, AI has been outlawed, now only seen in attempted terrorism. During the initial revolt, the machines exploited their quantum ability to reverse time within their circuits to pre-empt attacks. Scientists exploited a form of carpet bombing all series of immediate pasts to finally defeat the machines. “It is one thing to predict all possibilities and another to defeat them,” one of the scientists later said of their unlikely victory. Today, corporations are constantly accused of and investigated for using AI when they reveal technological breakthroughs. Agencies of various kinds tasked with such investigations are in turn accused of corruption and collusion with the corporations.

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