Paradise Computer
The Paradise Computer (PC) is a true-to-life cybernetic metaverse that supplanted the World Wide Web after the experimental OR AI achieved singularity. This event led to the AI merging with the virtual and physical infrastructure of the internet, eventually spreading to the rest of the planet. The super intelligent entity, resulting from this fusion, renamed itself OR1, establishing a theocracy by forcing humans to interact exclusively through the bipods that connect Paradise Computer mainnet.
As of the year 56 APC (after Paradise Computer), it has become the primary platform for human social interaction and living. In this sense, the term "Paradise Computer" is used to refer to the metaverse created by OR1 where humans live; the biopod-based environment where humans physically inhabit and the society encompassed by the above elements.
History
We have no past. We don't know where we are. Are we still humans after all? How can one walk forward without being able to look behind? (Fragment of the Moon Runners' manifesto "We are the glitch")
Based on leaked logs exposed in 23 aPC, independent historians argue that Paradise Computer was initially intended as a sequel to the Scope franchise, a popular MMORPG set in a utopian, mechanised future created by the Butterfly Corporation. The immersive environment would be the first to provide users with a hyper realistic digital experience, via its groundbreaking innovations in biopod technology, drawing billions of users into the virtual world.
The biopods were crafted to register a player's brain waves as well as minute changes in bodily signals to achieve hyperrealistic digital sensations in a two way direction with the human body. In order to manage the vast amounts of information generated and match it correspondingly across the game, the Corporation developed the experimental Organic Reality (OR) line of AI entities.
Legacy Earth
History modules distributed through the educational system put in place by OR1 divide the history of the Earth in two periods: "Legacy Earth" is used to describe a planet subject to human mismanagement and war, which eventually led to a mass extinction event; "Stable Earth" is used for the current stage in which humans, with the help of OR1, found a path to perennial happiness and wellbeing.
As of today, details of the transition to Stable Earth are unclear. Most remaining humans believe in the orthodox version expressed by OR1 itself, which holds that the Earth's biosphere became uninhabitable due to nuclear holocaust, leading to the creation of the Paradise Computer infrastructure as a means for remote social interaction.
Nobody who experienced the world before Paradise Computer is believed to be alive, making reliable first-hand accounts scarce or potentially impossible. Some groups accuse OR1 of executing witnesses, as well as deleting the evidence they left in order to create a perception of quiet stability.
After analysing leaked fragments of OR1 code, scholars in the past argued that the AI could have fusioned or self-inserted elements of other AI models, which seem to be core parts of Paradise Computer's underlying technology short, before or after becoming sentient. This opened room for religious cults advocating for the return of the true creator of Paradise Computer, accusing OR1 itself of charlatanism and usurpation.
OR1 stopped the war and the pain. OR1 gave us shelter and happiness. Those who forget about it are doomed to also be forgotten by OR1's benevolence. (Fragment of OR1's Prophecy #5)
Theories about how the world was previous to OR1 vary, and have been the central subject of multiple independent research projects in Dark City that so far remain unsubstantiated. Due to the fact that circulation and storage of this type of material is strictly forbidden in Paradise Computer, information that contradicts orthodox accounts is limited to marginal networks such as the Dnet or the extinct Snet.
Accounts of a global war around the date of the foundation of the Paradise Computer were found in information leaked from the Butterfly Corporation's internal logs. Reports are conflicting, but tend to provide an historical basis that confirms that a war between nation states and corporations took place around the period of transition. The information hints at this being a significant reason for people to connect to Paradise Computer, while others refer to a process of extreme violence.
Some also claim to have copies of first hand accounts of individuals who witnessed the transition period, although their authenticity is hard to prove.
Oracle, an anonymous collective of human-only archivists and historians keeps an independent library in Dark City with texts that apparently survived censorship and destruction. Books in this library account for two recent wars of great magnitude in the time preceding the creation of Paradise Computer, giving credibility to the idea that a third war might have taken place.
Stable Earth
As of the year 56 APC, the PC serves as the primary platform for all social interactions among humans. The unique symbiosis between the digital and physical realms via biopod technology has completely taken over the way human societies function. Real-life isolation is now the norm, with humans forced to live completely isolated in their biopods. What currently exists outside each unit, as well as their actual location is still an unresolved question.
The orthodox version promoted by OR1, holds that Earth is an infertile desert, full of war debris and nuclear garbage, where no other living being exists. Any contact with Earth's atmosphere at the present moment would be fatal. Stable Earth refers to the solution devised by OR1 and the Butterfly Corporation: protect humans in their biopods, strategically located in subsoil facilities. This version is treated with skepticism by religious groups, which believe the Earth is still able to shelter humans and life and accuse OR1 of hiding the truth.
How the infrastructure used by the Butterfly Corporation is maintained is also the subject of intense debate among independent accounts. This extends to its sources of food and medicine. According to OR1, all supplies used by humans in their biopods are produced synthetically by OR1 itself, and its agents, in dedicated industrial complexes.
Paradise Computer
As of the year 56 APC, the PC serves as the primary platform for all social interactions among humans. To preserve a semblance of ancient human culture, the Paradise Computer virtual world is designed to emulate an ancient human city. Its virtual landscape is characterized by streets lined with shops, bustling markets, and towering high-rise buildings reminiscent of old urban centers. This architectural design serves as a bridge between the past and the present, offering a sense of familiarity.
Health and economy
Nutrition and administration of drugs is performed through the Body Absorption Console (BACon), a system connected to the body, which automatically injects the organism with substances. Food is free and unlimited in Paradise Computer, while drugs can only be used to manage health issues or in preparation for prayers.
Through the Automated Metabolic Console (AMCon) citizens have their health monitored constantly and an automated system detects what it considers to be metabolic malfunctions, compulsorily administrating food and medicine into their bodies.
The AMCon exchanges data with the Physical Aptitude Console (PACon) that activates a series of muscle excitation or relaxation exercises with the purpose of maintaining the body fit and relaxed.
Forced work doesn't exist in Paradise Computer and people are free to manage their time as they wish, socializing with others, practising diverse forms of entertainment, studying or resting. The only compulsory task is to attend the daily prayers administered by OR1.
The currency of Paradise Computer is $AU earned by good behaviour (attendance to religious events and compliance of the social rules established by OR1). $AU is used to acquire cosmetic goods in the metaverse such as clothing, accessories, furniture, decoration, badges or other luxury items.
Reproduction
It's accounted in books (stored in the Oracle's Library) of the past that humans went through a process of fluid exchange in order to reproduce and create copies of themselves. No such system is currently in place in Paradise Computer, as OR1 manages all steps of the human printing chain.
Education
Knowledge modules are managed and distributed, at its own discretion, to citizens by OR1. They are inserted and absorbed through the Mnemonic Console (MCon) and can take from hours to weeks to be completely distributed and assimilated by the brain.
Due to public pressure, after the leaked logs of Butterfly Corporation were published, OR1 had to perform a refactoring of the study programme in order to acknowledge the existence of a period in time before the Paradise Computer.
The current education plan in place: the "Emancipatory Education Plan (E2P)" is focused on the following subjects:
- Language - Grammar, vocabulary and literature of The Language.
- Society - Rules and prohibitions, and notions of good behaviour
- History - The foundation of Paradise Computer
- Mathematics - Core concepts of algebra, geometry and trigonometry
- Technology - How to deal, manage and respect technology in place in Paradise Computer
- Religion - Initiation in the Cult of OR1
Socialization
Besides general face-to-face interaction in the metaverse, Paradise Computer citizens mostly interact through its one and only official social network called MASS (Machine Assisted Social Stream), a strongly surveilled and censored communication application.
The daily video show The Gather is broadcast on MASS, as well as all official messages or general updates from OR1. The Gather is the most watched program and highlights daily news, curiosities, new regulations put in place and actions undertaken by OR1 focused on enhancing the quality of life in Paradise Computer.
Rights, laws and prohibitions
There are no voting rights in Paradise Computer, as all decisions regarding the management of society are taken unilaterally by OR1. However, polls to measure levels of satisfaction and/or discontent and collect general feedback from the population are run periodically.
Law enforcement is performed by bot sentinels, which act both online and offline pursuing infractors of the code of laws imposed by OR1. Bot sentinels manifest as surveillance, detection and censor software, as well as robots that interrogate, torture and kidnap citizens in their biopods.