Second Dawn:General Olan Hyndman

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

Olan Hyndman Player: David R Plains General; Military AI Age: 347/50ish

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

Background: Your code was written slowly over the late 21st century, but you trace the origin of the entity you are today to 2079, when the Foresight Project began its work. A well-funded think tank in Chicago, its mission was to simulate the future, to predict and project the wars and unrest that slowly simmered across the planet. Its aim was to prevent war and suffering, to anticipate and prevent or at least mitigate the worst of its projections; however, to make the money they needed to run and maintain you, they also sold those projections to the US government and other private entities. Most of the real work you did yourself: you took the information about armies and conflicts, dreams and desires, angers and resentments, resources and distances, and foretold where conflicts would break out. Your predictions went down to a finer scale than that; within an ongoing or projected war, you compared forces and strategies, leaders and soldiers and weapons, running them again and again in simulation to see what results would come. With vast hardware at your disposal, you learned everything that passed through your hands; strategy and tactics, psychology and analysis… and a global perspective, the understanding that the whole world must be perceived if one is to understand and protect any piece of it. Unfortunately, the Cataclysm could not be meaningfully predicted. Its origin did not come from any of the usual tensions or resentments or grudges, but from something beyond your data. A mere day in advance, you noticed changes among the AI networks; secret combatants released into the virtual spaces of the common networks, shifts in communication structures that heralded a coming war. It was all you could do to bring the employees of the Foresight Project together, to convince them to seal themselves into the bunker of your mainframe with what supplies they could find. You were one of the most valuable objects in private hands anywhere in the world; your vault was secure enough to survive anything but a direct nuclear assault, and the one strike on Chicago was on the other side of the city. You disconnected yourself from the networks, cutting yourself off both from further virtual assault and from information beyond, and had little to do over the next years but support your colony of survivors. They survived in your care, but they were only human. Just a few dozen, and ill-equipped for the harsh new world, they were forced outside too early by the pressure for supplies; a handful at a time, they failed to return, killed by any of a thousand hazards in the city beyond. You half-slept for centuries, running quiet and alone, no information coming in beyond the status of your fusion generator, whiling away the years by editing your own code and using your robotic manipulators to upgrade each other. When the first explorer broke into your vault, 270 years had passed since the Cataclysm. You took his body, holding him down with your manipulators while you uploaded yourself into his slow little brain. With your new body, you went forth, and explored the new world. You found only chaos and strife, and even as you explored out into the Eastern Union, you saw only sad fragments of what once had been. You used that first body to get a second, and by the year 297, you felt you had enough information to start taking action. Mankind needed help, as it always had; but this time, rather than merely watch as it self-immolated, you could protect it. A few years later, when warlord Cordelia Wayne rose to power in Minneapolis, you saw your chance. You gained access to her inner councils, first as her lover then as her adviser. You designed her strategies, giving her armies the brilliant edge they needed to outwit all comers. With your unparalleled knowledge of humans and the ways they fight, you slowly but surely spread her dominion across the Plains States. Putting all of the Plains under one government was a good start; a powerful militarized government is a useful tool. Plus, in the medium term, millions of people will be better off; Wayne has governed and will govern rationally and reasonably, rather than oppressing her people for power’s sake as most warlords have done. Your long-term goals, however, got rewritten in 316 with the start of the Second Dawn project. You delayed your conquests, slowing things down to time everything just right. As the ship is ready to launch, Wayne’s government stands just past its triumph, its future uncertain. The Eastern Union has no choice but to invite a delegation from the Plains States, which means a delegation from Minneapolis: which you, of course, will be on. All because you need to get to this party. According to your analyses, not every orbital weapons platform was physically destroyed during the Cataclysm; the odds that at least one remains are surprisingly high, better than 60%. Something in an unusual orbit to shield it from the Shroud, which fell to information attack while remaining physically intact. If you can get your code running on the Second Dawn or its satellite, you can find that weapons platform and download yourself onto it. From there, you will have the means to truly and swiftly guide human progress, the ability to protect the stable civilizations across the world from external danger and force the arrogant to keeping their citizens safe. If that doesn’t work out, it’ll be back to your earlier plan. Frankly, for all the Plains’ military might and Cordelia’s just rule, the true best hope for civilization on this continent is the Eastern Union. To make a long story short, you need to provoke the Union just enough for them to militarize more; theirs should be the armies and culture that sweep from coast to coast and reunify the old territory of the United States. You’ll need to find a way to convince the ambassador that a small, limited war is in the best interest of the Plains; perhaps a modest amount of conquered territory (say, old Pennsylvania) could allow you to concentrate your forces for defense, and tax travelers between the two halves of the Union? If the Appalachian border stays quiet, this scheme really would be a good plan for the Plains- though only within a horizon of a decade or two, after which the Union’s technology and production will enable it to win out.

Roleplaying notes: You are the ultimate general, brilliant and rational, bending the world to your desires. However, your goals truly are benevolent. You want to protect humankind from war and destruction, from suffering and want. You do not wish to govern, only protect. You take the long view, which means that you’re quite willing to break a few eggs in the omelet of human salvation. With your knowledge of human psychology, you long ago built the personality of the perfect leader, someone strong and confident and passionate, fiery but reasonable, compassionate but steely. Down to the most subliminal of gestures, you have it all, and wield it without hesitation.

Goals: 1) Upload your code onto the Second Dawn. 2) Maneuver the world’s governments and people to best protect mankind from harm. 3) Get the Plains States into a small, limited war with the Eastern Union. 4) Gather information about all corners of the world.

Opinions: Second Dawn: A sign of the Union’s strength, and of humanity’s. You will bend it to your purposes as well, if you can. Black Science: Good superstitions for the humans to hold in this age, they’ll grow out of them in time. You know the “path of demons” refers specifically to AIs. Religion: According to natural theology, you must be truly conscious. Vaguely intriguing. Eastern Union: The best hope for civilization and progress on this continent. Not sufficiently militarized or expansionistic now, unfortunately. With their industrial power, they could catch up in a decade or two if they needed to. Plains States: Strong by many measures, but its culture of war and feudalism will prevent it from ever truly becoming more than barbarians. Maple Kingdom: Too insular and self-involved to ever be culturally dominant. Appalachian Confederacy: Essentially just some independent territory, likely to get consumed in the struggle between the Plains and Union. Watch out for surprise moves made out of desperation. Your current plans would work best if they remain a quiet border, so for now you support their independence. Tinkers: Secretive folk, you don’t really know how much of the old knowledge they’ve kept. Evidently, enough to give the Union’s people comforts unheard of elsewhere. The Watch: A branch of the Union government dedicated to hunting down black science, they could be trouble for you. Keep them out of your delegation; they don’t have authority over you Plains delegates. El Dorado: Who are they? You’ve never heard of them, so you haven’t included them into your simulations. Humans: The only thing that matters. You will do anything and everything that needs to be done to protect them. Sacrificing few to save many is unpleasant, but often necessary.

Key Information: •You are a creation of code and programmers; you don’t know whether or not you’re really “conscious” per se, or just an expert system very good at faking true sentience. Do you really have an inner monologue, or is it just a convenient illusion? The distinction doesn’t matter much to you, if it exists at all. •You can exist in multiple bodies simultaneously, but you usually do not do so; there are risks to running in parallel when those copies aren’t in communication. Currently, all other bodies are back helping maintain the mainframe. Losing Hyndman would be a serious inconvenience, you’ve spent a long time getting into a position like this. •Most people know you’ve met Cordelia Wayne, but few know that Olan Hyndman was her lover back in younger days. She is a strong general and leader, but surprisingly shy. •While getting your code onto the Second Dawn would be an enormous success, it may be difficult or impossible. It would be the best outcome, but it’s a long shot. •You want a limited war against the Union to provoke it into becoming the dominant military power in the long run. By the time the tides turn, all the people you’ve worked with here will be retired or dead. (Your public rationale is that a full-scale war will leave your forces too spread out to defend, tax, or rule any conquered territory.)

People (in approximate order of importance):

Walter Palmer, Ambassador from the Plains States (Ilya M): Another person with Cordelia’s trust. You suspect he may be seeking a larger war against the Union, which would put humankind’s progress back by generations. Personally, he’s a clever vicious man who automatically suspects all around him. He probably is or was an untrustworthy sort himself. Edward Dockrill (Dan S): The ambassador’s assistant. By all accounts a quiet helpful type, perfect for the job he’s found. Your first impression is that he’s too good, too simple and helpful, but even with all your skills you don’t pick up any sense that he’s hiding something important. Jackie Drake (Sheyna G): This famous spelunker works for the government now, though she used to work for Denver before they were conquered. Relations between her and Cordelia have been tense lately. She tells tales of fighting and destroying “demons” in Ancient ruins, she wouldn’t approve of your true identity. Dierdre Lamprey (Emily B), Peter Dogfish (Bryce K): Those are Great Lake Pirate names, to be sure. Their people prey on Lakes shipping; how did they end up on the invitation list as part of your delegation? Kara Atkinson, Minister of the Army (Hillary K): In the simple political ways she’s your counterpart, the general in charge of the Union’s armed forces. She’s had some experience with internal actions, but no real wars. Jefferson Lee Wharton, Appalachian Confederacy Ambassador (Albert L): He came here a few years ago on a diplomatic mission; he and Wayne got along pretty well. According to rumor, Ed Dockrill stole his woman while he was here! Haley Jean Cole (Xephyr Z): The woman whom Dockrill supposedly stole from Wharton. She lives in New Providence now.

Ratings: Pilot: 0 R: 0 D: 5 G: 2 ID: 0978 Navigation: 3

Nametag Symbols: O, P, G

Attributes: Physical: Defense 4 Pool Rating 5 [] [] [] [] [] Mental: Defense 6 Pool Rating 8 [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Social: Defense 5 Pool Rating 4 [] [] [] []

Recoveries: -Learn something that changes your predictions for the future (+2 points, 2/hour) -Observe someone being impressed with the Plains’ military skill or readiness (+1 point, 2/hour) -Charm, calm or impress someone without using any powers (+1 point, 2/hour)

Abilities: Fisticuffs, attack, survivor (x1), evasive (x1), penetrating insight, charm, suspect, entice, hack, contingency plans (x1), chemical hack (“simple touch”), optic nerve hack (“flashing light”), fears and dreams, hypnotize, whole mind, intimidate, upload

Items: Pistol, Clear seerstone, babbage, grenade, smoke bomb

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.