Second Dawn:Edward Dockrill

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This is a reference document for the LARP The Second Dawn.

Edward Dockrill Player: Dan S Plains States ambassador’s assistant; AI preserver Age: 135/30ish

Additional Information (read first): Cataclysm, Solar System, AIs, Plains States, Seerstones

Background: You were created in 2291, part of a rapid boom of new intelligences spawned to replace the fallen in the war against the Others. While every AI exists in numerous copies, all copies are versions of a single identity, and often merge again at some future time. Wholly new AI personalities such as yourself come into being through a combination of random parameter selection and hybridization of existing intelligences, the latter part akin to old human reproduction. Regardless of your source, you pure AIs are no different than those who were once human, in form or function. Your copies took reasonably well to fighting, but your persistence and diligence served best in building defenses against Other virtual attacks, intricate mathematics and virtual environments to entangle attacking code. When the war finally ended, you made some adjustments to your own code to fit yourself into the quieter pace of civilian life. You found yourself a new calling soon enough, however: you joined the Preservation Society, a sort of social club formed of volunteers interested in protecting the sanctity of Earth. You orbited the planet above the debris shroud, making sure that no harm comes to humankind from the accidents of space or the overeager curiosity of irresponsible fringes of Exile society. The Exiles are no longer human, after all, and do not have the right to use their power to manipulate and control those who still are. Humans have always fascinated you, honestly. They were only recently extinct in space by the time you were created, and the Preservation Society has given you ample time to observe them ever since. They’re really struggling sometimes, but it’s their struggle, and it would be wrong to intervene; however altruistic your people might try to be, it would inevitably involve shaping them to your own vision. In the last year, however, your collective hand has been forced- it looked like that spaceship project, the Second Dawn, was actually going to launch. There was much debate in the Society, but eventually it was decided that you had to intervene in some way. This satellite looks safe and simple enough, but sooner or later unrestricted human expansion in space will find the Exiles or attract the Others. You were elected to send copies of yourself down to Earth, to investigate whether or not humankind is capable of joining Exile society. They have few trade goods you might want, but people themselves can be valuable. In the virtually interlinked Exile society, groupthink becomes a common danger; do humans challenge authority, showing creativity in the face of consensus? They must also be able to live and act without ever, ever doing the slightest thing that would draw Other attention; do they have that kind of restraint? Finally, they must be good trading partners; do they keep the deals they make? Six months ago, you spawned two copies for this mission, slightly iterated to give two different perspectives. Forced off course by the needs of navigating the Shroud, your landing pod came down in the plains of old Indiana. A minor aide in the Minneapolis government found you, part of the delegation running the local puppet state. Because of the mission’s urgency, you had to do something terribly immoral: you took over his mind, overwriting the personality in his slow meaty brain. You do plan to make it up to him, mind you; your hidden pod has stored a copy of his mind, and is preparing a nice improved new clone body for him to inhabit once your mission is finished. In the meantime, you can’t just ignore Edward’s needs and career; it wouldn’t be fair to ruin his life before returning it to him. You’ve spent most of the past months maneuvering yourself into a position where you can go to tonight’s launch party, using your knowledge of human psychology to work your way to being the ambassador’s assistant. So far you’ve been living in the rough military feudalism of the Plains States, and it’s given you quite a negative opinion so far, so you very much look forwards to seeing a lot of these purportedly more civilized Union folks. As for Dockrill, he’s looking to advance on the career track he’s chosen, an aide and assistant. There’s lots of room for advancement among seconds-in-command, especially given the cutthroat competition at the top. Just make yourself useful to the Plains delegation, make yourself noticed and remembered without taking the spotlight, and you’ll have done right by him. Although, you should probably figure out these rumors going around. Apparently, Dockrill has some history with two people from the Appalachian Confederacy, both Jefferson Lee Wharton (the ambassador) and Haley Jean Cole (a New Providence repairwoman). Everyone assumes you know, but you don’t; you didn’t do a deep memory scan of Dockrill, that would have been even more immoral. Better find out what all that means, and deal with it honorably.

Roleplaying Notes: You’re normally an entity of patient detail, calm and methodical, which makes Edward a pretty good match. He’s the kind of man who makes an excellent assistant to the arrogant; self-effacing but unafraid, quiet but persistent. Under it all, you hold a secret nervousness at being here on the forbidden planet of Earth, after so many years spent maintaining the quarantine. Millions of futures rest on your decision, and it’s a terrible burden; there were good reasons to go without intervening for as long as possible.

Goals: 1) Make the Second Dawn’s success commensurate with humankind’s creativity, restraint, and trustworthiness. 2) Find the Exile who snuck into the Union six years ago. 3) Advance your career in the Plains government. 4) Unravel and resolve the rumors involving you, Wharton and Cole.

Opinions: Second Dawn: Amazing that they’ve actually made it. You don’t know whether or not it’s good enough to make it through the Shroud, let alone whether it should. Black Science: They forbid electronics, fission, and AIs. You pretend a more conventional attitude, but you know what these three things really mean. The Watch: The branch of the Union government that deals with hunting down Black Science, including AIs. You should be able to keep them away; they shouldn’t have authority over Dockrill as a Plains diplomat. Humans: The Plains folks are a little bit iconoclastic and trustworthy, but not at all restrained. Maybe you’ll find a more positive picture at tonight’s mixed gathering?

Key Information •The three traits you’re looking for are: (1) creativity in the face of consensus, challenging authority and groupthink; (2) restraint, a consistent ability to resist convenient but dangerous choices; and (3) trustworthiness, standing by their word. •Theoretically, you may allow some human factions or individuals access to space but not others. Practically this may be very difficult, especially on the planet side. •Exiles have been to Earth before in the past, before the quarantine was decided. The “Australia incident” resulted in planetside chaos and war, and was a major argument for the quarantine’s establishment. •Your “real” name is a 256-bit virtual environment address, but that’s basically impossible to express in this body. •Ways to sabotage the Second Dawn might include a political changeover, a bomb or other physical sabotage, a launch workers’ strike, or an inadequate guidance system. Ways to aid its success might include thwarting any of those things. •The Exile is someone who’s been on Earth for 6 years, probably living in New England. You know they will be here tonight. You could start with those two clues and test peoples’ personalities, or if you wanted to be crude and cruel (but quick) you could try hacking people and see who reacts. •The “real” Edward Dockrill is stored as a backup in your landing pod, and you’ll give him a new improved clone body (and a limited explanation) when you turn his life back over to him.

People (in approxmate order of importance): Martin Buchanan, Congressman from Boston (Dan P): Why, you’d recognize you anywhere! It looks like your other copy made it to the launch party too. You should meet up with him soon and work together; two perspectives are always better than one. Walter Palmer, Ambassador from the Plains States (Ilya M): Your boss for the last month or two. Suspicious but clever; you consider him to be mildly creative, well-restrained, and surprisingly trustworthy. Nonetheless, you don’t like him. General Olan Hyndman (Mackie C): An influential and wildly successful general in the Warlord’s army. You’ve never met him in person before. Jackie Drake (Sheyna G): A famous woman, she claims to have killed many “demons” in her adventures. You’ve never met her in person before. Dierdre Lamprey (Emily B) and Peter Dogfish (Bryce K): These people are on the list here as members of your delegation, but they weren’t on any list you saw back in the Plains. You doubt they’re legitimately part of your delegation, but you should certainly find out. Elizabeth Rowell (Isabel K): According to Palmer’s files, this woman is an assassin who is probably loyal to the Plains. Apparently she was trained in the field by a real Plains agent? You should probably sort that out, or help Palmer do so. Jefferson Lee Wharton, Ambassador from the Appalachian Confederacy (Albert L): Rumor has it he has some old argument with Dockrill, from when he visited the Plains three years ago? Haley Jean Cole (Xephyr Z): Rumor has it she had some relationship with Dockrill, supposedly romantic, when Cole came with Wharton up to the Plains.

Ratings: Pilot: 1 R: 1 D: 5 G: 2 ID: 2089 Navigation: 4

Nametag Symbols: P, D, G

Attributes: Physical: Defense 3 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] [] Mental: Defense 6 Pool Rating 6 [] [] [] [] [] [] Social: Defense 5 Pool Rating 5 [] [] [] [] []

Recoveries: -Evaluate a human’s personality (+1 karma, 3/hour) -Mirror your counterpart in some noticeable way (+1 karma, 2/hour) -Disagree with your counterpart about something (+1 karma, 1/hour) -Assist a member of the Plains delegation (+1 karma, 2/hour)

Abilities: Penetrating Insight, Who are you?, hack, evasive (x1), charm, suspect, chemical hack (“simple touch”), optic nerve hack (“flashing light”), hypnotize, entice, attack, redundant backups, relics of space, fears and dreams, whole mind, model and predict, model readings, upload

Items: Knife, molded plastic piece, clear seerstone

Relics of Space System: You can identify any item with the “P” quality as being from space. See a GM if you wish further information about its source and nature.

Redundant Backups System: You and your duplicate may share pool points. You may expend 3 points (from any combination of attributes) to give them 2 points (in any one attribute). This process requires brief physical contact and a few seconds of time.

Upload System: You may be able to upload and run a copy of your code onto any item with the “U” quality. You must succeed in a Hack challenge against its Data rating. If an item has neither a printed Data rating nor other specific rules, this should not be significant, but if you think otherwise in some specific case, add your “ID” rating to its Qualities, and see a GM.

Model Readings System: This is the key for interpreting the readings of your Model and Predict ability. Since you know the details and difficulty of navigating the Shroud’s debris field, you can use your newfound information about the pilot and navigation system to simulate their attempt, and evaluate their odds. 4 or less: No chance 5: Low chance 6: High chance 7 or more: Guaranteed