PROLOGUE
The year is 2145. Our world is run by something called the Artificial Intelligent Web Service. In the early 21st Century mankind had a breakthrough in creating the first real, sentient Artificial Intelligence, which they dubbed “Theodore” because the creator had some sort of hard on with the Roosevelt family. After the creation of Theodore, a vote was held somewhere in Europe… I’m horrible with geography, I think it was in Geneva? That's probably right, a lot of stuff is decided there. I forget things sometimes, despite my augments, but it’s just a small blip in the story that doesn’t quite matter in the end.
Our benevolent leadership agreed that continued AI development was what was best for mankind; that we had crossed a threshold that we couldn’t step back from. This resulted in Theodore being unleashed to help develop an artificial web of individually linked AI’s, called the Web Service. This service would control every element of human existence to help streamline humanity and allow us to achieve our maximum potential without needing to “waste our time with menial work” (their words, not mine). Thus, AI ran vehicles and taxis replaced human drivers, desk workers were replaced with artificial customer service workers, and so on.
You would think unlocking infinite human potential would enhance mankind, right? Well… It was quite the opposite, but thats a long story, and not really the crux of what I’m trying to get at. You see, despite us having the ability to unlock “infinite potential”, in reality things such as war are inevitable.
On November 8th, 2045 World War III was started when North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon on the eastern coast of the nation of Taiwan, killing nearly 50% of its population. From what I remember from history, not my strong suit mind you, the world at the time was a cesspool of tension - the world just needed a match and everything would go up in flames. Politicians foresaw conflict with China as being the catalyst, but in reality, it could have happened anywhere. For years the North Korean government was lobbing threats at various nations around the world; and the breaking point was the Taiwanese President Hsú Mǐn-jùn promising to “end the tyranny of North Korea” when a pact was signed between several of the East Asian countries, including South Korea, the Phillipines, and so-on.
Despite the United States best efforts to blockade and protect the small nation, there is only so much surveillance, ICBM interceptors, and more could do. The North Korean Supreme Leader, Kim Ju-ae, made good on her families decades-long promises to attack what they saw as “aggressive foreign influence.” So a plan was hatched, and an unmanned submersible vessel made it past every known defense of the small nation state, blowing itself just off the coast of the country. The blast itself wasn’t what killed most of the nation, it was the radioactive fallout, subsequent sickness, and famine.
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This, obviously, could not go unanswered. Its a long story, and I mean… this was a century ago, but the scars still remain today. But for the sake of what I’m trying to get at, this was a catalyst for change. World War III was short - the conflict was resolved in less than a year; Taiwan was left partially un-inhabitable, North Korea (as it was) was destroyed and actually was split into two countries; half controlled by Russia, the other half by China. Several smaller countries bordering China were left wastelands that may never heal, and there are a few pockets within the United States, South America, Africa, Russia, China, and what was once Poland that are in similar… states… of disrepair
However, we did not end civilization as we knew it. Yes, we caused irreparable harm to the planet, but much like taking a deep breath and letting go of anxiety, it settled the world and de-escalated everything into a state where everyone was willing to agree on a way forward. I mean, I wasn’t there for the war, so you know… I’m thankful I didn’t have to live through that hell.
Thus Babylon (????) was born - an AI simulated battleground controlled exclusively by Theodore, with minimal outside influence by us. Humans could resolve large, national scale disputes between countries without the loss of life, destruction of property, and environmental consequences. Traditional “duty”, as it was described on the internet by old Gen Beta folks and their kin, was replaced with logging into Babylon through a rig, and performing your prescribed “job” within the military. Things like Mechanics, Boatswains, Engineers, and all of those still exist, but within a digital realm.
This vastly increased the efficiency of militaries; allowing things that could not happen in physical space, such as instant teleportation, extremely fast repairs of assets and bases, and people could infinitely respawn during conflicts. However, beyond what the military allows to be exposed, very little is known about Babylon. Members in the military explain it as a “piece missing” from their life everyday. They log in, do their time, and once they log out there is a 12 hour lock out window where they cannot log back in. The one thing they could do, however, is send short messages that could be retrieved offline - kind of like a cell phone text, but extremely limited.
Now, you may ask yourself, why would we still use humans to fight, even in a digital space? Why even fight at all?
In the end, we are still animals at heart. Territory, power, money, control… these are things that nations, organizations, PEOPLE, crave. To the AI’s of the world, they see this as folly; illogical nonsense. I mean, afterall, why would any species want to do things that could essentially suicide a species for things so small as a disagreement of territory, or who leads what… what sense does it make?
So, to allow we, humans, to resolve these conflicts we see as “essential”, it made an agreement to oversee Babylon, with the strict guideline that the only involvement the AI would have is in a support capacity. Meaning the violence, fighting, and bulk of conflict would we human on human interaction. And so, here we are… 2145; 99 years after Babylon was created. My name is James, and this is my… our… story.