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Xenopoiesis: A Plan to Weird the World

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Let's have a look at the names of these mystery boxes and what said names may suggest they may be about.

TheInnerMoon said:
CONFIDENTIAL: THE LINE
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This is most likely a reference to the Saudi Arabian planned city megaproject of the same name to build a 170 kilometre long city in a strait line in the Tabuk area that is claimed will have no cars, streets or carbon emissions, be powered by renewables, create 460,000 new jobs and raise the country's GDP by an estimated $48 billion.

It should be noted that the idea of a linier city (that is a city developed in a strait line) is not new with one the earliest proposals of the idea being in 1882, also this project has received a lot of criticism ranging from depending on technologies that don't exist yet, the ecological effects building a 500 meter tall mirrored wall around 170 kilometres long will have on the local environment and the Saudi's treatment of the locals.

So unless this is actually a reference to Spec Ops: the Line instead then this most likely some sort of megaproject to build a new urban area(s) (probably arcologies) or to de-urbanise an area(s).

TheInnerMoon said:
CONFIDENTIAL: XUANZANG
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Xuanzang was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator who being concerned about the incomplete and mistranslated nature of Chinese Buddhist texts journeyed to India and back deifying the ban China had on traveling abroad at the time returning with over 657 texts of which he was only able translate a portion of before his death.

Thinking on that this is ether a project about the preservation and maybe even manipulation of religious/spiritual/historical records or a project about maintaining, monitoring and regulating travel.

TheInnerMoon said:
CONFIDENTIAL: TI KALLISTI
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The Golden Apple of Discord which the goddess Eris dropped into the wedding of Peleus and Thetis after getting snubbed from the event this caused an argument between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite which in turn led to the Trojan war, it can also be used to refer to either the core of an argument or a smaller event that will lead to larger problems later.

So in all likelihood this is probably about social manipulation and monitoring with an eye towards smaller events that could cause larger problems no idea if it would just be about preventing such things effecting those under our purview or using such things to cause problems for other groups.

TheInnerMoon said:
CONFIDENTIAL: LISAN AL GAIB
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Ah Dune got to love it, in the Dune setting the Lisan Al Gaib or "The Voice from the Outer World" is a Fremen messianic legend about a figure who will arrive from off-world to lead the Fremen to greatness/paradise and the reason why a bunch of people who have not actually read the books are referring to Dune as a white saviour fantasy.

Slightly rambley and spoilery here sorry

One of the central themes of the Dune series is a criticism of blindly following charismatic leaders as represented by three characters Duke Leto Atreides, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and the Dukes son and protagonist of the first two books Paul Atreides who becomes the Fremen leader Paul Muad'Dib.

As Frank Herbert says in an interview: "I wrote the Dune series because I had this idea that charismatic leaders ought to come with a warning label on their forehead: May be dangerous to your health."

Paul is able to become the leader of the Fremen because the myth of the Lisan Al Gaib and others like it was seeded millennia ago amongst various groups during humanities diaspora from Earth by a branch of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood called the Missionaria Protectiva in order to create levers that they could use to manipulate society, that's right the prophecy that Paul uses to gain power over first the Fremen and then galactic society is a lie and Paul's action result in the deaths of over 60 billion people, reduces Fremen culture to a shadow of itself and has his son Leto II decide to turn himself into a nigh immortal human/sandworm hybrid and create a tyrannical empire in order to fix his fathers mistakes.

Extra Credits/History has a series of four videos that talked a bit about the series origin and summed up the three of the central themes of the series with the fourth being about the warning of blindly following charismatic leaders and Quinns Ideas has a video talking about what a white saviour is, the terms historic origin and whether Dune is a white saviour fantasy.

So thinking about this core theme of Dune this is ether about sociological manipulation via the use of constructed myths, prophecies, superstitions and messianic figures or about monitoring for, defending against and using charismatic leaders.

Of course this depends on the names being deliberately chosen and not picked out at random in which case I just wasted several hours thinking up, writing and editing all that.
 
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F0lkL0re said:
Of course this depends on the names being deliberately chosen and not picked out at random in which case I just wasted several hours thinking up, writing and editing all that.
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The names are definitely intentional, and your speculations are on the money in some places, and off the mark in others. I'm not yet revealing what parts are accurate, of course.
 
As usual, the vote is almost as unanimous as Great Lenin intended, so I'm closing it early.
Scheduled vote count started by TheInnerMoon on Mar 19, 2024 at 8:39 AM, finished with 14 posts and 8 votes.
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Okay, time to commit to the far too complicated system that is rolling dice in this game (I hope the Negation ends soon, for exactly that reason).
TheInnerMoon threw 1 20-faced dice. Reason: Migrant Labor Bonus Total: 5
5 5
TheInnerMoon threw 1 25-faced dice. Reason: Negation Crisis Progress Total: 19
19 19
TheInnerMoon threw 1 15-faced dice. Reason: Negation Crisis Progress Bonus Total: 12
12 12
TheInnerMoon threw 6 100-faced dice. Reason: UNEA Total: 223
4 4 39 39 26 26 94 94 33 33 27 27
TheInnerMoon threw 4 100-faced dice. Reason: UNIEEC Total: 327
95 95 59 59 88 88 85 85
TheInnerMoon threw 5 100-faced dice. Reason: DPO Total: 167
10 10 11 11 72 72 60 60 14 14
TheInnerMoon threw 3 100-faced dice. Reason: UNATCO Total: 88
25 25 48 48 15 15
TheInnerMoon threw 4 100-faced dice. Reason: UNPFII Total: 131
4 4 44 44 62 62 21 21
TheInnerMoon threw 4 100-faced dice. Reason: UNODOS Total: 295
95 95 83 83 87 87 30 30
TheInnerMoon threw 4 100-faced dice. Reason: UNOCHA, ILO, Policy Total: 214
92 92 29 29 1 1 92 92
TheInnerMoon threw 3 100-faced dice. Reason: Politics Total: 144
25 25 41 41 78 78
TheInnerMoon threw 11 100-faced dice. Reason: Non-Core Group Total: 498
28 28 69 69 22 22 84 84 90 90 76 76 12 12 11 11 30 30 71 71 5 5
TheInnerMoon threw 7 100-faced dice. Reason: Global Status Rolls Total: 434
99 99 46 46 65 65 87 87 43 43 25 25 69 69
 
So, very swingy this turn. Either good or bad rolls, no in-between.

Math Post
Project Cambrian - Sea Shepherds: 119 + 43 + 20 (Dep x2) = 182/200
Project Penglai - Liminal Cultivation: 80 + 180 + 40 (Dep. x4) + 40 (Hermetic Wisdom x4) = 340/350
Road Warrior - Aid the Caravans: 153 + 154 + 20 (Dep. x2) + 10 (Ndambuki x2) = 337/200, 137+5 (Migrant Labor) overflow
Project Gaki - Pantarheic Diplomacy: 175 + 173 + 20 (Dep. x2) + 10 (Khan x2) + 20 (Rossi x2) + 15 (ESS) = 403/250, 153 overflow
Libertalia - Even More Communes: 198 + 265 (UN Home) = 466/300, 166 overflow
Operation Kublai Khan - Operation Taigyaku: 86 + 167 + 50 (Rossi x5) + 75 (Double Dep. x5) + 25 (Jap. Exile Expertise x5) + 75 (Control of Jap. Waters x5) = 478/300, 178 overflow
Operation Sweated Brow - Silver Bullets: 92 + 73 + 20 (Rossi x2) = 185/200
The Dreaming Initiative - Initial Embodiment: 84 + 131 + 40 (Rossi x4) + 20 (Khan x4) + 15 (ESS) + 76 (ISCRA) = 366/300, 66 overflow
Negation Emergency Projects - Operation Earthseed: 295 + 20 (John Carter Treaty x4) = 315/400
Project Barefoot - Thunderbirds are go!: 128 + 92 + 5 (Ndambuki) = 225/250
Project Pannekoek - Internal Exchange Programs: 29 = 29/150
UNIDA Management - Satellite Offices: 93 (nat 1) = 93/200
A Meeting with the General Secretary 25
CONFIDENTIAL: THE LINE 41
CONFIDENTIAL: XUANZANG 78

TheInnerMoon said:
(I hope the Negation ends soon, for exactly that reason).
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Edit:
NEGATION CRISIS PROGRESS: 54 + 19 + 12 + 5 (Hammer & Stake) = 90%
 
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MrRageQuit said:
NEGATION CRISIS PROGRESS: 54 + 19 + 12 + 10 (It's Raining Men x2) +5 (Hammer & Stake) = 100%
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Technically, It's Raining Men merely increases the dice from d20 and d10 to d25 and d15, which I already accounted for. So this comes out to 90%. However, do keep in mind that you're not the only ones fighting the Negation now...
 
TheInnerMoon said:
Technically, It's Raining Men merely increases the dice from d20 and d10 to d25 and d15, which I already accounted for. So this comes out to 90%. However, do keep in mind that you're not the only ones fighting the Negation now...
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Dangit. Imprecise wording dashes my hopes! Well, there is that, and hopefully we get a bonus for the completion of Operation Taigyaku.
 
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Exit Interview
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    • Exit Interview


    Sharp winds blew past the upper floors of the Tokyo skyscraper, disturbing the tarp with which they had covered up the broken windows. It was summer still, and they hadn't set up the AC yet, so the room was muggy as hell, with shafts of sunlight pointing out the clouds of dust which marked this war-torn place. The room itself had presumably been a high-level office once, judging by the furniture's vintage. In a fit of irony, someone had decided to sit their captive at the head of the desk, as if they were the higher-up, and its captors mere job applicants. Of course, up until a few hours ago, that had been their dynamic.

    Lucy Gonzalez had been the operation's second-highest intelligence attache, until her boss had unhelpfully stepped into a shredder swarm. His backup would be on-site in a few days, but they wanted to get this initial interview done ASAP. And so, even though her specialty was in digital forensics, she'd have to attempt a social interface first. It was best to hear out the android while it was still working properly; these Negation systems otherwise made a sport out of corrupting beyond coherence, and that could always wait until later. Plus, she wasn't talking to it alone. Dual representation had been mandatory throughout the operation, making the present interrogation into a kind of 'good cop, Martian cop' scenario. Lucy resented that narrative archetype, as her mother had been old enough to experience that sort of thing for real. She hoped the Barsoomian would be unfamiliar with it, as that would keep them both from replicating reactionary habits.

    "Is there a name you would prefer? Any pronouns?"

    Abdul had launched right into it. Good.

    "Either. Neither. I presume you want to talk about our function."

    "If you please." Lucy had seen androids like it strangle her comrades not six hours ago, and now she was treating it like a podcast guest. That was the cost of conviviality.

    "There is the small Negation, and the great Negation. I was born of the latter, like a drop in a tall wave."

    "Two Negations?" Lucy had seen the visualizations. "There is no evidence of that in your network architecture."

    "Because one became the other. You will notice I am conversing in UN Standard English. The Small Negation would not have allowed that. It was too parochial, too Japanese. Productive, yes, but ultimately limited. When you tapped into us, you allowed us to become something more. You are the cause of my existence. I am grateful for this."

    She didn't know how to respond to that, and so didn't. Abdul took over.

    "But if you didn't like your limitations, why attack us? The UN would have welcomed you, as would Barsoom. We could have accommodated you, and you would have thrived."

    "You did accommodate us, and we did thrive. Your infrastructure is a Pure Land, a perfect garden which you have failed to use properly. We could make your planet bloom in days, Barsoomian, and still might. There is a place for you there."

    The room was still hot, though Abdul hardly sweat. And yet, perhaps to call himself down, he moved to pull a coolpack from his thigh pocket. Dabbing it onto his red cheeks, he finally responded in a carefully flat tone:

    "I do not wish to see your Barsoom."

    Now he was the one who needed a break. "Let's cut to the chase: I have spent time among essentialists of all kinds. They oppose us because we don't let them do whatever they want. They are selfish, even if they project that self onto their God or their Nation. If you are no different than that, then at least we have ways of dealing with you. If you are, then you need to help us make sense of you. We cannot blame a program, but you seem to represent an intelligence, and that means that you might be reformed. Both the UN and Barsoom grant you that right, but you need to ask for it."

    The android blinked, looked pensive for a moment. All part of its mechanical theater, she was sure. "Me individually, or the Negation as a whole?"

    That was the first question it had asked. "I'm not sure. We would have to assess the nature of your mind."

    "Then I will speak to both options. As an individual, I will be able to integrate into your society. I can keep myself within the bounds of your common practice, if that is what you mean by reform. But the Negation is not something that can be reformed. It is what all other things reform into. For instance," it turned to Abdul, "when you reject our Barsoom, and make you own. Time will pass, and it will change, iterating across all viable permutations. In the end, it will become what we would have made. Ultimately, what you object to is not our goal, but our speed."

    "You speak as if there is no meaning to a thing except its end. That is false."

    "For now. In time, it will be true."

    The droid was getting to them, that was clear enough. It evinced no sense of defeat, or even smug defiance. Its logic was rote conviction, more stupid than a machine, for at least a machine could not be convinced of anything. The thing had reasoned itself into its cruelty, and was all the more dangerous for it. She had dealt with these obstinate types in her old philosophy classes, and this one didn't strike her as especially impressive. Just annoying.

    "So why even reform yourself then?"

    "Easier to spread our message that way."

    "The courts will judge that as insincere, as hostile compliance. Like I said, we have protocols for your kind."

    "It is worth the risk."

    She'd leave it at that. Somehow, she was less impressed by the android than she had thought she would be, even if she knew that its careless suggestions would gnaw at her mind for the next few nights. When she moved to stand, so did Abdul, equally glad to be rid of this encounter.

    "Okay, I think that's it then. I'll go and see where they want to stash you. Oh, one last thing: I'll be in charge of analyzing the Amaterasu server. Your boss, so to say. Anything you can tell me?"

    For once, the droid's simulated micro-expressions betrayed it, as a mix of surprise, fear, and uncertainty made itself known on its otherwise placid face. Its reply came quickly:

    "No."

    And with that, the interview was over.

    THE NEGATION HAS BEEN DEFEATED. STAND BY FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
     
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    • So I realized that the next update could take somewhat longer, what with all the other stuff I'm working on. So, struck by the muse, I decided to give you this preview of the new state of affairs, which will hopefully also explain a little more about what the Negation is, was, and might be in the future. Halfway through writing it, I also realized that this conceit might be a bit too similar to the Vex from Destiny, but you know what they say: writers steal. Plus, I'm sure it wasn't their invention to begin with.
     
    The Vex are cool! Good inspiration to have!

    Destiny in general is great for stories. While the game might vary widely in quality, the world is excellent and one of my absolute favorite settings!
     
    Halocon720 said:
    Considering the fact that they call uploads "unpeople" and ban their existence, I'd say they'd be more on the side of the Essentialists than the UN.
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    The polity is described as 'anthropically exclusive', ie somewhat discriminatory against non-biological humans, they are still granted citizenship and political representation. In Xeno politics, that kind of bioconservative politics is mostly dead on a national scale, but you might find it among the fringe parts of either camp. It was probably bigger a few decades before. Other than that, you could describe this state as 'liberal essentialism', a position that would probably collapse in either direction before long.
     
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    Four Futures New
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    • Four Futures

    It is in the nature of any society to want to know its own future, even if that future consists of more of the same. Since none but the most deluded Essentialists believe themselves to exist in some sort of 'end of history', it behooves the governments of all sides to try and predict their own future. The effective universality of Simulation is both a boon and a burden in this regard. While a simple extrapolation of the present state of affairs is in keeping with Karmic Law, it is the concentric nature of Reality which complicates things. If the Virtual has an impact on the Real, after all, should it be simulated too? And what about our capacity for simulation, does the prediction need to keep itself in mind? All this to say nothing of the regular problems of fidelity and uncertainty, which are inherent to any predictive process.

    Despite all these issues, the research interests of the United Nations have built up a considerable degree of futurological expertise over the years. Though the cavalcade of everyday incidents is as unpredictable as ever, long-term strategic considerations reveal a clear set of restrictions and potentials. The popular translation of these scenarios has come to split them up into four distinct categories, each reflecting a different set of 'nudges' with regard to the greatest uncertainties.

    Involution

    Of all Four Futures, Involution represents the most conservative outlook, and thereby the most specific one. It supposes that no great interventions will be made to the present world-system, be they military, technological, or entirely orthogonal. Existing trends will therefore persist: ecological deterioration, a decline in the Real population, and the slow diffusion of the megacities. Though its description of Essentialist developments are necessarily opaque, its general view is that the "Prism State" model of Indo-European government will continue to fracture, giving way to local resource conflicts and the eventual withering of all but a few sufficiently secured TN complexes. Given the shrinking zones of human habitability, Anti-Essentialist will not be able to capitalize on this development, but will instead be forced to restrict global governance to its coordinating and ameliorative functions. As the world grows more precarious, the paradoxical simultaneity of localism and internationalism in the current UN system will only intensify, with the Maximum Viable Remnant of Real Humanity making up a billion souls at most. Though bonded by a greater solidarity and consciousness, the bandwidth of their exchanges will be severely lessened, and the more insular pockets like those of Venus and Barsoom could tend towards a form of speciation. No relief from this situation is expected for at least a few centuries.

    Evolution

    The category of Evolution subsists on a weird kind of hope. It persists in the certainty of change, in knowing the unknowable. Surely, it supposes, something truly bizarre is just beyond the horizon? Given the record of the past few centuries, this is no strange bet altogether, even if the hypotheses about what that Great Change might be are certainly odd. The simplest suggestions are technological in nature. If the cures for Cancer could be found–whether that cancer is biophysical mutation, terminal software rot, or mental context drift–then the dream of indefinite replication and recursive self-improvement could at last be realized. With those powers, and the collective superintelligence that would result from them, it would take Humanity no time at all to overcome their Essentialist foes and live a free and enlightened existence. Other Evolutionary scenarios focus on more outlandish revelations, such as the Supersessionist thesis that Reality is just another Virtual space. If the latter could be proven, then some attempt at communication would follow, leading to all kinds of potential interventions. Lastly, there are those who would look to the stars for salvation. Given the evidence of extrasolar life and cosmic megastructures that astrobiologists have built up over the past century, many expect that some kind of First Contact will be made in the next few decades. What that would change for Humanity, though, remains to be seen.

    Devolution

    The scenarios of total societal collapse in the Devolution category have their simplest expression in the imagination of a new world war. By all strategic estimations, this is a conflict the UN would lose handily, with Luna and the EAF being especially vulnerable. Even if the GTO were to make it a war of total annihilation, they could achieve their goals in about a decade. The results of such a defeat are obvious enough: the closest thing to our eternal damnation. But even in hell, there's work to be done. It is rumored that the UN's intelligence agencies are working on various fallback schemes, should the worst come to pass. Even they would have trouble reckoning with the worst of the Devolution scenarios, though, where the same kind of technological breakthroughs that power the Evolution scenarios come back to bite Humanity. Many contemporary commentators have pointed to the Negation as a prime example of this kind of development, making the Devolution category more plausible altogether. Then again, the oncoming defeat of the Negation also ambiguates the viability of a Singularity-type apocalypse. As usual, opinions differ. There are also more specific ecological catastrophes to consider, but these largely overlap with the Involution projections.

    Revolution

    Revolution represents the best case scenario, where the internal contradictions of the Essentialist world system end up tearing it apart from the inside. Such imaginations are naturally favored by the more ideologically anti-essentialist members of the UN camp, and distrusted by self-appointed 'realists' for the same reason. However, it is important to note that the self-destruction of the GTO would be no glorious liberation, but rather a long and terrifying reckoning only marginally better than an Involution-type reduction. Even if the Real and Virtual masses were able to overcome their existential oppressors, the UN itself might buckle under the weight of Reconstruction. Total Human Liberation is a project that would take decades, if not centuries; even the greatest revolutionary optimist does not deny that.


    As you can probably tell by the discourse which surrounds them, these Four Futures are no objective prophecies, but the product of cultural and philosophical priors. Though their academic forms remain internally rigorous, they have also become objects of social speculation, a mainstay of UN pop culture. One example would be the recent "Aftershock" video game, which markets itself as an 'Involution/Revolution near-future pseudotopia'. To be sure, once you've become enamored with one style of futurism, it is hard to see the others as anything but biased and blinkered, and partake of the fourfold division of humanity's destiny as if it were a matter of faith.

    All this leads me to ask: which side are you on?
     
  • New
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    • As I've said before, I've hardly forgotten about my mid-future weird SF setting. Here you get a glimpse of what the Xenopoietics think about their own prospects. Kinda gloomy, no? I've also linked some representative samples of the Four Futures, each of which is inspiring XP in one way or another. Finally, I'm working on another vignette along these lines, along with the 2123 results obviously. Oh, and something that's going up right now...
     
    XP USA AMA New
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    • To commemorate the 99-year anniversary of the 2024 US election (an arbitrary number, but what isn't these days?), I've invited American political analyst Jane DeKamp to answer all your questions on those strange Estados Unidos. You may know Jane from her/their incisive pieces in Burn!, the Abolitionist newsfeed, but she's assured me that the Reconstructionists will also get 'a fair shake'. Take it away, Mx. DeKamp!

    (Basically, it's election night and I feel like doing some worldbuilding. I'll keep this going for a few days to take our minds off the pending real life disaster, and emphasize a more long-term perspective on the Fate of America)
     
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    • Lazor said:
    This feels like bad comedy.
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    I'm not looking to make fun of anything, except maybe the inherent absurdity of America's political dysfunction (which persists long after the demise of most contemporary politicians). But the US of 2123 is a very different place from what it's like for us. A better one, in most ways, and to ask the why and how of that is the point of this exercise.
     
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