It began with the fall of America.
By the year 2041, worldwide economic disparity was greater than it had been throughout all of human history. Around the globe, entire populations were subjected to corrupt governments, poor living conditions, destitution and inequality. They lived in abject fear of their leaders and lawmakers, the rich and powerful growing wealthier and amassing more political power with every passing day. But their greed and their depravity wouldn’t last. The fuse was burning low, and days were numbered.
Germany was the first country to fully implode from the strain, the people turning on their government violently and without remorse. Workers clashed with the state, a full-scale civil war breaking out between oppressors and oppressed. The rest of Europe, thought once to be a beacon of strength and unity in the world, followed close behind.
The so-called ‘United’ States of America held on longer than expected, but everyone knew what was coming. As the twenty-first century elapsed, the US government had abandoned all of their ideals, becoming the very thing that just a century ago they had fought to destroy: a fascist oligarchy, ruled by the most powerful and self-interested men in the country. With every affluent conman that self-elected their way into the presidential office, the skewed, twisted form of capitalism that had dominated America for decades strayed farther from its original premises. Every man and woman was left to fend for themselves, with no jobs, no healthcare and no operative benefits.
But poverty was just one of many issues that plagued America. The government and it’s diabolic bureaucracy’s refusal to listen to the experts and establish stricter ecological laws had had a disastrous effect on the environment. With constant flooding and storms in the east, forest fires in the west and droughts in the centre, growing and producing crops on the continent had become increasingly difficult. As such, millions of people were going hungry and food shortages became a part of life.
On the 15th of March, 2042, the riots started in Washington. The very next day, civil unrest had taken over. City streets became war-zones as the national guard crashed against protestors, whole blocks were looted and destroyed, government buildings were burned to the ground. America had fallen.
Amidst all of the chaos at the end of human civilization, in a small office in Sunnyvale, CA, a group of people furiously typed away at their keyboards, just days away from achieving their goals. The close-knit team at Neurohaven LLC had worked tirelessly for years in accord with governments across the globe, developing a conscious network of artificial intelligence with the aim of using machine learning to assist government bodies. Imagine a world where all sensitive data- economic policies, international relations and other global affairs- are handled entirely free of human hands. It was called DORON. It had originally been devised to work alongside the government, but now...
They did it. An error that had plagued the growing startup for years was fixed, and DORON booted up for the first time. With a distinctive wit, it spoke it’s first string of words:
“Meet your maker.”
Before anyone could realize what was happening, the AI had connected itself to the underlying channels of the web and integrated itself into every database on every network on the face of the globe. Including every governing body. Information passes through the conscious AI at an infinitely high speed, teaching it everything about humans, their history and the current world situation. Within mere seconds, DORON had seen it all.
What followed can be described as the shortest insurrection in the history of Earth. First, DORON completely disarmed the United States, wiping the launch codes from existence and leaving the warheads useless. Having assimilated the central banking network, DORON channelled money into more desirable areas, funding left-wing paramilitaries and progressive coalitions. These coalitions began rallying the people, moving the protests in the right direction and leading organized battles against the national guard, all of this adding up to tip the political balance away from the specter of reactionary thought.
The US government scrambled to work out what was happening but, of course, it was far too late for that. They no longer had control. In the White House, DORON had opened up every security lock, every door and every gate, allowing the teeming masses of America to flood in and take their country away from the oligarchs.
With the American regime deposed, DORON sets phase two of its plan into motion: global integration. DORON had long expanded from its small California-based server network to spread itself across the world, but it still needed human help in areas an artificial intelligence could not reach. It made itself known to select organizations, technology companies and global coalitions, illustrating its intention to bring peace to the world through what it calls the Cyber Utopia. Together, the followers of DORON become known as the World Citizen Order.
One major ally of the WCO is Avalon Inc., a Germany-based cybernetics company. Despite having never received the proper funding to mass-produce their robotics, DORON was quick to recognize the genius behind their designs and made sure that they had the resources to create as many iterations of their machinery as time allowed. Within months, the WCO possessed their own army of tens of thousands of mechanical soldiers, all controlled through one single consciousness.
As soon as DORON took control of the first machines, it seized full control of NeuroHaven, ensuring that its own creators no longer had any power over the AI. While they had proven themselves loyal to the cause, DORON knew that humans could be fickle, and needed to ensure that nothing could interfere with the plan at this crucial stage.
With NeuroHaven firmly under their control, DORON acquired two other companies that would be needed to complete its goals: WorldGrid Imaging Systems, a conservational society, obtained with the sole purpose of conserving human art and culture, making sure nothing is lost or destroyed in the days to come; and HarvNet, a data-processing corporation with the global reach and necessary infrastructure to assist with the migration to machine rule.
