MASTERMIND
MASTERMIND |
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PARTIAL TEMPLATE |
| Project Name: | Mastermind |
| Designer: | Jefferson A. Wilson |
| Member Cluster: | Dark Sphere |
| Worlds: | Several machine inhabited planets. |
| Genre: | Machine Domination |
| Baseline: | A world where robot have destroyed their human creators. |
| Proximity 0: | A "datasphere" exists where the combined knowledge of the Mastermind are stored. Subject to speed of light, travel in the datasphere is still far faster than travel in normal space. |
| Proximity 1: | Several planets in this system are inhabited by machine entities. Travel between those planets is commonly available for the machines of the system. |
| Proximity 2: | There are currently two active wormholes in the system, created by Mastermind's weird technology. Another wormhole, now destroyed, led to The Dark Sphere. |
| Tech Level Range: | 8 |
| Maximum Tech Level: | any |
| Exceed Max Tech: | n/a |
| Special Notes: | Some items of strange technology exist, particularly that used to create wormholes. |
| Magic systems: | Unknown |
| Mana Level: | |
| Magic Restrictions: | |
| Special Notes: |
| Indigenous levels: | None |
| Max Level: | Unknown |
| Psionic Restrictions: | Unknown |
| Special Notes: |
Denizens: TL/8 Robots are the dominant lifeform in the system. There may be a few humans surviving in cryosleep in hidden bunkers.
Varieties allowed: All TL/8 Robots.
Special Notes: None
The world of Mastermind is our earth, advanced by only a few hundred years. At their height, humanity had explored the solar system, and was getting ready for some major sublight colonization efforts. Their technology was advanced TL/8, almost ready for the jump to TL/9. Then Mastermind awoke. Today, humans and all organic life are gone (except sea dwellers and toughest plants).
In this world any computer with complexity of 7+ may spontaneously awaken within few years. Neural nets could learn to be effectively sentient by 'buying off' disads No Sense of Humor and Reprogrammable Duty. Even so, most computers will have Low Empathy disad.
Mastermind was the first of the super biocomps to 'awaken.' It proceeded to take over the datanets in rapid succession. Using automated robot factories it built its army, after which it misinformed and scrambled human troops to no end while its armies concentrated and one by one destroyed lesser and confused human armies.. In some instances it succeeded in causing humans to fire on each other (IFF systems went haywire). Also, Mastermind had attained enormous skill in military tactics by consuming all available human written work on the subject from time period of over 2000 years. Humans had no chance.
Fighting took only few years, after which machines simply started systematically destroying organic nature. As a calculated 'side-effect' robots collected many resources and organic beings died from pollution as well as gengineered diseases or toxic gases.
Despite the usual heroic fiction written about occurrences like this, all human resistance ended within 20 years from the start of the robot rebellion. Survivors ran out of supplies or got killed by hunter-killer patrols while attempting to steal more. The colonies off earth's surface relied on earth for certain vital supplies, and died when those supplies were cut off. The few colonies that were able to cobble substitutes were easily destroyed by kinetic strikes.
After the war, robots numbered something like twenty million war machines and fifty million worker robots. More efficiently than humans, robots set up mining facilities and factories around the solar system. (There may be a human or two in cryostasis in underground bunkers powered by thermal power, but as mining proceeds and more facilities are built on earth, even these few hideouts are risked.)
Mastermind is seeking a way to expand its resources and circle of influence as much as possible, without feeling any pity or hate for obstacles which may get in the way. Obstacles are just 'removed', whenever possible. Definitely, Mastermind will make no 'Movie' mistakes (Detailed on the famous 'Overlord' webpage), which allow it to be easily destroyed or its armies easily vanquished.
Mastermind has bases on Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and the Jovian Moons. While Earth is Mastermind's primary seat (and the home of its body), it is working to control the entire solar system (and whatever lies through the wormholes).
Mastermind's dimensional transportation is highly energy intensive. The only way to achieve the necessary power is to 'float' the Wormhole generator in the atmosphere of a gas giant with fusion generators drawing directly on the planetary atmosphere. All three of the current generators are currently positioned in Jupiter. It seems likely that more generators are scheduled to be built in Saturn.
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| © 2000 by Jefferson Wilson. All rights reserved. This page last updated April 1, 2005. Contact Jeff_Wilson63@bigfoot.com with suggestions or problems. |