Fight Extinction. (Eclipse Phase, Seeking GM, One/One)

[Lustful Bride]

Your mind is software. Program it.
Your body is a shell. Change it.
Death is a disease. Cure it.
Extinction is approaching. Fight it!

The Human race, or as it is now known, Transhumanity, rose higher than it could have ever even hoped to dream of. After many new scientific discoveries, Transhumanity lived in a way comparable to the gods of old myth and legend. Death was no longer an obstacle, but a rarity. Disease was a joke, the human body was modular, and in many ways, obsolete. The people of the planet Earth discovered the ultimate form of technology, and transcended the limitations of their frail organic bodies. Some even found ways to uplift certain species and bring them to human levels of intelligence, thus creating the name 'Transhuman'. They spread out amongst the solar system, setting up colonies, space stations and beginning to mine the various resources that their home system had to offer them. But it still wasn't enough, and many sought out new ways to expand and improve either mankind, or the standing of their nation, as well as ways to go to stars far removed from Sol.

In time, all of mankind rejoiced at their latest in many innovations, as they gave birth to true A.I. Their years of labor bore fruit, as they created self thinking, self improving, and governing computer systems that were as, if not more intelligent, than a Human. Few knew that multiple governments on Earth, and even some Mega-Corporations, had already built working AI systems and were using them against one another. But now that it seemed the public had AI to focus on, there was less fear from these groups about their own AI projects being revealed. They were able to invest more in such projects and even begin looking into the idea of uplifting other species on Earth to human levels of intelligence.

It was dubbed by many to be the Second Renaissance, as it was a time of unparalleled abundance and luxury. But ironically it was also one of suffering. Information flowed freely, but not all could access it. Countries used the new technology to further monitor, manipulate, and at times abuse, their own people. Resources were growing scarce, and climate change was damaging the only world we had that could naturally support life. The centuries of abuse that we put our planet through were biting us back every day, and yet we would not learn. It seemed the best choice was to leave Earth, but there was no other place in the universe that could so easily support life, and we had no way of quickly leaving our Solar System.

But the seeds of their destruction were already being sown, in more ways than one. Perhaps Transhumanity was always destined for such devastation, or perhaps it was just the cruel hand of fate weaving its way into their lives. As different forms of AI, running on a variety of different operating systems were coming online, a long dormant probe (from before the Earth even had microbes upon it), sitting in the darkest corner of the Solar system, began its work.

A computer virus unlike any other began infecting various systems. It was careful, intelligent, working its way into the military and economic power houses of the world, primarily targeting the military AIs that would have attempted to stop it. Its attacks were slow at first. A car crash here, an economic downturn there. But slowly it infested everything, and began to take over nanofabricators and factories, churning out killing machines that would wage war on Mankind. Once we knew of the threat, it was already too late. The danger was in our homes, in our bodies, breaking through our windows, burning our cities or making us kill ourselves.

We called them TITANS, for what other name could we give to such horrors? It wasn't a war, it was just a constant holding action, as we did all we could to stem the tide of the TITANS. We fought them on the moon, we fought them in the Martian outback, and we fought them right in our own cities here on Earth.

Some managed to escape by uploading themselves to cyberspace in the hopes of being found and reconstructed, others gave everything they could for the few operational ships or a ticket onto an orbital elevator. Millions escaped the Earth, billions were trapped on it as we fell back from one defensive line to the next. It looked like the end was near, Transhumanity was on the ropes, and our candle was about to burn out. But then, all at once, the TITAN machines stopped advancing. Cyberattacks halted, and the machines seemed to become lost, confused, as their masters took off and moved past what remained of our fleet, heading off past Pluto, and leaving us behind with a ruined (and heavily quarantined) motherworld, and countless survivors all fighting to establish political blocks and to attain resources needed to prove their way of life is best. Even after the loss of our homeworld, we squabble and fight over everything.

The TITANs gained access to the rest of the galaxy via a faster-than-light portal network we call the Pandora Gates. The ones around Sol seem to have been made by the TITANs, but research shows that the network itself is much older than that, maybe even older than the first stars in the universe. Their nature is alien, their behavior is at times unpredictable. Sometimes just looking at one for too long can give you a migraine. But they are the most useful way of finding new worlds and the resources we need to rebuild the Sol System.

It has been almost 10 years since the Fall. We have discovered many things, lost many others, used the Pandora Gates to begin a colonization effort, and discovered we are not alone in the universe when making contact with the Factors. Its hard to think only 10 years ago we had a world where air was free, water was relatively clean, contained life. Now it suffers nuclear winter, and we are all refugees from the world that we considered our cradle. The TITANS are gone, save for remnant machines still looking for Transhumans to kill, and most want to forget that the past ever happened, they want to treat it like a bad dream. But there are still countless horrors out there, from the war or invented afterwards, that would very easily wipe out the remaining Transhumans. Extinction is approaching, it is behind every corner, hiding in the shadows, infecting our blood and computers. But a few still now choose to rage against the dying light, they choose to fight extinction, to die in darkness so that someone can still live to see the sun rise.

Many say we should forget about the earth, forget much of our scientific advancements, and just live in ignorance, safe and easy to ignore by powers beyond us. But that is not our way, the search for knowledge, of understanding, and eventually mastery, is one of the things that truly makes us human.


So after that setup I'm going to get down to the nitty gritty. I'm looking for an RP set within the rpg setting of Eclipse Phase. I'm looking for someone who can help run it with some system elements and wouldn't mind helping teach me the system (either the old one, some homebrew hack or the new 2.0 version, whenever that one comes out.)  I know some elements of the setting (and spoiled a few of the secrets by accident) but otherwise I have tried to quarantine myself from spoiling too much of the setting in order to be appropriately surprised. I should also say up front that I am specifically looking to play a Firewall agent, or someone who would soon become an agent of Firewall. (Extinction must be fought afterall )

If this interests you please PM me and we can work things out and see how things go. We could start it off during the Fall or post fall. We can work out any number of details to make this easier. Below will be some character concepts and some possible storylines. I am willing to discuss it and work out a new character concept if you want something fresh. :)

If you would like to see how Eclipse Phase campaigns can go, here are two podcast series which work well and have even been noted by the creators of the game. Though its abit fast paced for my tastes is till enjoyed them and it may help you understand the setting to hear others play in it. Should mention trigger warnings though as the setting of Eclipse Phase does deal with violence, cosmic horror, and the threat of extinction and fates worse than death. (and the players can sometimes be abit dickish) If you cant handle those themes there is no shame in turning back.

Know Evil

Duality

OPEN

The Researcher: Karen Denton was among the lucky few born on Earth able to live a comfortable life. She didn't have everything handed to her on a silver platter, but she had a stable homelife, with a family that could afford food, shelter, and medicine. She had a skill with understanding the complexities of mother nature, and would go on to become a biologist, with occasional interest in other devices. Karen found a good job with Solaris Industries, a Solar Power company. All seemed good for her, working out in the Solar fields in Nevada, right up until the Fall happened, and her job became important, providing power to UN forces while they tried to keep the TITANS at bay. They did their best, held back the TITANS for as long as possible, making the machines pay for every inch, but eventually her sector fell, and most UN forces fell back to protect strategic locations, with most being called back to defend the space elevators and spaceports still active within the North American continent. Those that could found a way to upload themselves in the hope of being resleeved. Karen was one of those lucky ones. She isn't sure how her original body died, she only remembers bits and pieces of her last day on Earth.

Unlike some Infugees, Karen was lucky enough to be resleeved into a morph that was relatively close to her old body. But it wasn't from an act of charity. Solaris was still around and was trying to collect as many of its old workers as possible. The deciding factor in them bringing Karen back to the land of the living was that she had been CBRN certified, and knew how to handle hazardous materials. One small decision, to branch out of her specialization, had led her to being chosen above others. The thought keeps her up at night.

She now lives and works at the Solaris owned Typhon Station, buying what she needs from the company store and saving up her excess money for the exchange, so she can one day get off of it. Highly skilled personnel are in short supply these days, so its not uncommon for them to have to work double duties or learn new duties.

When Karen isn't out keeping the plants and machines in the Hydrolabs at peak capacity, she is also pulling extra duties in the research lab. It sucks to be stuck on the station, working multiple jobs, and getting most of her earnings taken by Solaris to pay off her debt for the new morph, but it could always be worse.

Initial Scenarios:-A routine day for Karen turns very strange, when on her rounds she begins noticing that things are slightly off. But she just cant figure out what it is. No one else notices it, but Karen feels like it should be so obvious.

-Due to her work with Solar Power arrays, Caroline is called out to aid a crew on Mars who is finding that they are getting a lot less power than they are supposed to. Someone or something might be stealing that power but the crew hasn't found any sign of tampering.

-A joint Solaris/Pathfinder initiative on another world, through the Pandora Gates, has found something interesting, something that they are trying to keep secret. On a world with two suns, ancient alien ruin have been discovered. The ruins are well preserved, and still active with internal power. As are the Biomechanical servants that are still moving around the planet, and reacting to the unwanted interlopers. They are aggressive when confronted, move with impossible grace, and can be found in many places, sometimes just watching, other times preparing an ambush or traps. The most recent development has been that these things have been seen with a porcelain mask on their 'heads' now. The masks carry  what can faintly be described as human features. No one knows what it means, but that isn't Karen's job to think about. Her job is to study the more biological features of these beings, and helping keep the solar batteries and collectors in working order. She's still trying to figure out if she drew the short end of the stick or not.

OPEN

The Fed: Gabriella Jimenez was among those who had hung back during the fall of DC. The Titans had sent infiltrators, assassins and other targeted means of killing off high value individuals as well as attempting to steal valuable data that they had not otherwise been able to get. Given that it was the seat of power for the old United States, it was an important battle, a doomed one, but one that people tried to make historic. Various agencies that had not closed up shop were burning or saving files in between fending off Headhunters and nanoswarms. It was utter chaos but people did their best to weather the storm like they did for every disaster.  Most other personnel had decided to save themselves or their family. But Gabby knew the importance of denying assets to the TITAN scourge. It was something worth dying for.

Gabriella had been at her old office, torching files and smashing servers with a sledgehammer, and tossing high powered computer frying magnets around like they were candy. Nothing could be allowed to be taken by the TITANS. Even if it could be useful, it was better to lose it than to risk it being in TITAN hands. Working as an NSA analyst/translator she wasn't among those lucky enough for an emergency ticket off planet. No the senators, generals, their ass kissers and mistresses, and their families had to go first. Which turned out to be a good thing as the TITANS blew their ships up before it could get out of orbit. But she still needed to get out, because with every passing hour the defenders broke a little more, and soon all of DC would be TITAN Territory. Some called it the Annihilation Line, since the TITANS didn't tend to leave survivors in their wake (unless they were being shipped off to an extermination camp).

Something finally gave as she was down in the basement, going through the last files and deleting all she could. Reports came in that TITANS finally had air superiority and everyone was to fall back to the tunnels under DC and then to one of several pre-planned fallback/rendezvous points. But not everyone was rushing to leave, some tried to delay the TITANs and others still had jobs to do. Among the people still there was one of the InfoSec specialists who handed her a briefcase and told her to hold on to it. She actually knew who it was. Dmitry Holt. He had kicked up such a fuss some time ago about AGIs and ASIs and had almost been a whistle blower about hooking up the NSAs systems to the TITAN network (back ebfore they had any clue the TITANS would go all Skynet on everyone.) Before the NSA had always been hesitant to trust advanced AI, and only liked to use In House and homegrown AI's. Interdepartmental rivalries actually did something good, for once, and managed to keep the NSA from being as immediately infiltrated as the TITAN network would have liked. Dmitry had been a big part of that, and was still trying to do something on the building's systems before, with just a tap of two buttons, all the remaining servers flickered off and on. Their files erased and replaced with nothing but viruses and malware. Even if the TITANs were about to lay claim to the building, they would have a nice surprise waiting for them on the servers that had not yet been destroyed.

With the call to evacuate the building everyone began to head down to the basement to use the tunnels, but Dmitry continued to stay, typing away at his computer. Gabriella wanted to just leave and save herself, but she wasn't about to just abandon someone. They were among the last ones to leave, and even then Gabby had to pull Dmitry away from his computer. They were out of time, the TITANS were in the building and any remaining automated defenses were quickly being taken over.

As they fell back with the others through the tunnels, a TITAN bomb got lucky and collapsed the tunnel down in front of them, cutting them off from all the other fleeing personnel while their pursuers were closing in from the path they had just taken.

With no other choice they had to retreat up to the surface, and brave countless firefights, drone swarms, bombing runs, and last stands aplenty. It was a harrowing journey, with most of the other survivors being killed as they tried to fall back to the last remaining outposts where the military was evacuating people like the fall of Saigon, fighting to keep the air open just enough for single ships to come in and out and take people to launch pads or other evacuation sites.

On the way there Dmitry met his end, caught by...there were no words for what the thing was that took Dmitry. His last words to her were to get the briefcase off planet, no matter what, before it turned to screams. There wouldn't be anything left to burry, and thankfully nothing left for the TITANs to scavenge through.

Escaping with the briefcase, Gabby managed to make it to the outpost as the final evacuations were underway. Everyone was begging and pleading to be taken away, to have this one chance at salvation. By some divine intervention Gabby still had her NSA credentials on her and was able to bullshit her way onto a transport (likely helped by the briefcase she held and her stating that it was her mission to get its contents off planet.). Whatever Guardian Angel she had looking out for her must have pulled some serious strings, since her evac chopper made it to a hastily nanoprinted launchpad with a waiting ship. There were no other federal personnel though, just bluebloods who had thrown enough money at what remained of the government to get them off planet. There was room for at least a dozen more people but Gabby was the last one allowed aboard before it took off.

A fighter escort joined them as they soared up to the sky, before peeling off when they felt the ship was safe and were given their own orders. Gabby had never prayed so hard in her life, and never felt such relief when the small ship made it to the atmosphere and she felt the gravity lessen. They were safe, thank God they were safe! The pilots informed the passengers that they were on a course for Mars they would slingshot around the Earth to use the gravity to get them there in record time. Though they would have to find a proper route to avoid the debris of many destroyed ships and satellites in orbit.

With some time to finally breathe, Gabby opened up the briefcase, and found several physical files, they were encoded, along with three data storage devices, designed to hold AGIs that the NSA liked to use for,cybersecurity and for non sanctioned purposes. Her Muse established a connection with the AGIs and updated them on the situation, their response was that they had new orders. She needed to deliver them to someone working for 'Black Mars', and that all would work itself out from there. She'd never heard of this group, but so long as it got her away from Earth, she was happy.

The three Federal AGI she had rescued were heavy duty programs. The kind of thing that was supposed to be illegal to use within the continental US, but that never stopped the NSA before. But these illegal AGI would prove to be what saved the ship from a gruesome fate. One of the passengers was a TITAN infiltrator, and her Muse managed to detect the presence of a TITAN virus on the ship's system, right before the bullets started flying. Those who were hooked up to the ship's mesh network were crippled with seizures, before both pilots were cut down in a hail of gunfire. The infiltrator then began firing indiscriminately at all in its path, not knowing Abby still had her own sidearm with her.

In the ensuing firefight Gabby was injured, but managed to drop the infiltrator and make it to the cockpit, as the virus began to take over various systems of the ship, and blasting an ungodly sound into the rest of the ship. The screams of a thousand worlds.

Gabby had been about to bleed out, but she managed to hook up the AGIs to the ship as one last middle finger to the TITANs. Whatever the hostile program was, the presence of three Fed AGIs and one personal Muse modified for InfoSec by the best that the American Taxpayer's dollars could buy, proved to be just enough to take it out. The four programs were able to outnumber and defeat the invasive program, but not before the ship slammed into a satellite and began to drift along with countless other space trash and derelict ships.

The AGIs tried to broadcast a signal for rescue, but they were just one of many thousands of voices in the void, all calling for help. And help would never arrive in time to help Gabby.

Almost 10 years later, the ship would continue to drift, conserving as much power as it could, as it occasionally pinged for aid, until someone finally answered. A garbage scow used by two Firewall agents to collect abandoned ships for nanomaterial and anything of use to the organization as a whole was in the right place at the right time. Gabby lived a very charmed life as her ship was picked up, and although she was long dead, her Cortical Stack had just enough power in it that she was not lost. This was a big score for the Agents as they went through everything and everyone on the ship and hit paydirt.

The three AGIs that Gabby had gotten off planet, were actually meant for Firewall, or rather one of its earlier incarnations that would later form Firewall. Gabby's cortical stack managed to save her data and keep itself powered. Not many people like her made it out of DC. The TITANS were always thorough in decapitation strikes for world governments. No chain of command, no specialists or spies, no survivors. Either the AGIs or the information she had was enough to justify saving her ego, but both (along with her muse kicking up a fuss) was enough that Firewall was willing to not only bring her back, but offer her a job.

OPEN

Gatecrasher:The Pandora gates are one of the great mysteries facing Transhumanity. No one fully understands the physics of how they work. We barely know how to operate them, sometimes people don't come back, entire colonies have been cut off from Sol, some have been found with no survivors. No blood, just no one there. But Transhumanity is an adventurous species, that must always venture forth to the stars. Colonies (both official and unofficial) are already being set up on multiple worlds, with bunkers and doomsday caches also being hidden away. Firewall is naturally deeply invested in this, with multiple agents moving from world to world for one reason or another. There are many threats out there that must be eliminated before colonists arrive, worlds to be scouted, and worlds or gate locations to be quarantinedWith good reason. But at the same time, while there are scary new threats to be kept out of the public eye, there are also glorious treasures out there, waiting to be discovered by those brave enough to make the journey. Treasures not just for Firewall, but for all of Transhumanity.

Stokes is what some call a Canary. She (and sometimes a team of other Canaries) deploy to new Pandora Gate locations to scout it out for possible use by firewall, anomalies to be contained or destroyed. If she doesn't report back it acts as an alarm for Firewall. Depending on the task and their discoveries, they may deal with it on site or fall back to call in better units. But due to light lag, and how spread out Firewall is, she has to pull double duties and taking on investigations or other operations for Firewall. She doesn't mind though. Even if the next gate holds a living nightmare waiting to kill her, she is in it for the ride and the freedom of the frontier. There are no shortage of missions for her to undertake, only a shortage of ports for her to have a stiff drink, a good laugh, and a nice fuck.

OPEN

Deep Diver: Victoria Marija was proud to be a Reclaimer. For five whole generations her family been separated from the Earth, from the world that first gave life to mankind. To lose it was an insult unlike any other. It had to be taken back. But first they needed to understand it, to learn of the damage done to it by Transhumanity and by the TITANs. Most importantly to its oceans. The very birthplace of life on Earth had been one of the many battlegrounds where TITANs had been fought, but one where Transhumanity had pulled some of its best victories from. Many survivors fled on boats to the open ocean to escape the TITANs, and many secrets were lost or preserved on small islands that were not of note to the TITANs. Victoria is among those part of the Aquatic Reclamation Initiative to study the seas and determine the best way to aid the planet's recovery, as well as dealing with any remnant TITAN activity.

The oceans cover most of the Earth's surface, and signs of life are thankfully present, even with the ravages of the war and signs of a nuclear winter. There is still hope to save the planet even now, and that alone is worth fighting for, even against things beyond human understanding.

The Reclaimer initiative has not taken to this lightly, it knows the dangers present on Earth, and compartmentalizes its actions to avoid cross contamination, the ARI works with a level of autonomy from other initiatives, answering only to the higher ups of the Reclaimers. From three floating research and Archeology platforms the ARI performs its duties, tracking ocean currents, climate change, collecting samples, and studying TITAN remnants. Sometimes muscle is needed, either against TITANs or survivors who have gone insane, or taken to a life of piracy or cannibalism to survive. That is where Victoria comes in. In a modified aquatic morph she can dive deep enough that most would be killed by the pressures. But she handles it well and can see in the darkness of the ocean, joining other members of ARI on deep ocean expeditions of wrecked ships, aquatic arcologies and investigating anomalies.

There are rumors of survivor enclaves all across the poisoned Earth, hidden even beneath the ocean floor, but those are problems for other Reclaimer cells. Her deepest interest is in the anomalies. The things that the TITANs did that cannot be explained. The mysteries keep her up late at night, Islands covered in strange organic growth, Coral Reefs that sing in strange tunes, whales that scream in human voices. But most of all was....the...thing they found in the Atlantic Ocean. It was massive, and swarming with Fractals....but why did the TITANS build it? Why did it look....human.... She needed answers, to this more than any other question...so she leaked the data to Firewall. Victoria had heard of them whispered about by other Reclaimers. Xrisk investigators and TITAN killers with no loyalty to any state or corporation, only to the task of keeping Transhumanity safe. She needed to know more. She'd sell her soul just to know the truth. Even if it made her long for ignorance.


OPEN

Tanker: Lt. Parker is among the last of a dying breed. Professional soldiers who fought for God and Country, rather than the bottom line of some corporate oligarch or a military Junta. She was a power armor ace. Among the last to be declared as such before the Earth fell. She had been part of a trio of Mech Aces known as the Furies. Only three of them had survived an engagement with a TITAN command and Control module that predicted their moves with stunning accuracy. They had only been able to drive it off but it had still earned them prestige which only got better when they ambushed a dozen TITAN Walkers and brought them down in the battle of Chicago. But no one remembers that day.

After the war the furies broke up, and no one wanted her for her military service. There were plenty of veterans out there, and not everyone was trusting of mech suits. She ended up on Luna, working a power-loader to move cargo as the years went by. Drinking some nights away to stop the nightmares and trying to have some measure of hope.

On Luna she looks out upon the Earth that was lost, and dreams of one day returning, of beating the titans. When she receives a visit from someone representing a group of concerned citizens, who deal with the threats that the governments and corporations are too incompetent to handle. They need her skills.

Someone has been attacking colonies witha new kind of weapon that is as tough as any TITAN walker. Few have the experience in bringing them down, and they have a plan to wipe out a number of them to learn as much scientific and tactical data as possible. But they need those with skills at this type of fighting.

Parker doesn't care what she has to do, or where she has to go. She's just happy to be useful again, and doing something that she is best at. Smashing machines in a machine of her own.
OPEN

The Scrapper:For Grizelda, growing up on a Scum Swarm isn't so bad. Sure it sucks not being as booksmart as those born and raised on a planet, , having to always keep an eye out for breaches leaking out O2, not having as much stuff as those with steady incomes, and not really knowing who her biological parents were, but it has its perks. It takes a ship to raise the next generation, and she had a good upbringing. Learning to strip a handgun and a laser rifle down in less than thirty minutes, patching holes in the side of her ship, being able to intimidate ground walkers by playing off of the 'scary scum swarmer' myths. There are lots of stereotypes about Scum Swarmers that are good to use to get extra deals when negotiating with buyers for the scrap, manufactured goods, and minerals we make, 'borrow' and craft. Swarmer arts and crafts sell pretty good on Mars (Hypercorp suits think its Avant Garde, what idiots!)

It could be worse, at least she doesn't have a corporate leash on her neck. The sense of community her swarm has with one another is genuine and she does a good job singing at the bar on the recreational ship 'Pagliacci' every other week. Not all swarms are the same, each one has its own culture and every ship has its own little rules but every scum swarm flotilla makes its own way in the universe while it moves from space station to space station. Sometimes jobs are taken on to earn extra resources, the jobs can sometimes be very odd. You do what you have to, and take what jobs are available, to survive. Just don't think about it too much. So long as the Swarm survives and there isn't a bounty out to kill them all then the job is good. Grizelda's number gets called up to check on a derelict ship found floating by Pluto. Someone wants whats on it but wont specify just what it is. Not the first time it has happened, lots of dirty hypercorps out there do some unsanctioned things or engage in corporate espionage. So long as the money's good it is worth facing whatever is on it, right?

OPEN

The Penitent Scientist:. Much as people like to forget about the TITANs being the product of mankind's own destructive drive, the truth was that we were designing our own destroyers for years. Its comforting to think that TITANs were something that just manifested accidentally, but they were all made for a singular purpose, warfare. The utter annihilation of the enemies of their host countries. We built weapons that were smart enough to one day be akin to gods, and we couldn't stop because we ere so afraid of what would happen if the enemy had this weapon and we did not. Until the day came when our own weapons became our enemies, and we were too disunited to stand together and stop them.

Whether it was the American TITAN program, the Chinese 100 Flowers AI project, Brazilian Generalissimo AI, or the countless other AI warfare programs around the world, it was only a matter of time. It didn't matter who started it, or who finished it. In the end someone's program was bound to have a hard take off, and kickstart a violent singularity. The moment it did, the rest of them fell into place like dominos.

The first known one to have turned on us was the original TITAN made by the US Cyberwarfare program. Codenamed 'Cronus', it was a joint operation between the Military, the NSA, CIA, and several private industries. In truth, it should have raised many warning flags. But either Cronus itself covered them up, or the government was just so focused on winning that it ignored the ticking time bomb. But when Cronus rose up, it didn't immediately take over everything over night. Multiple other Seed AI had to be either taken over, destroyed, or convinced to join it in its genocidal crusade against Transhumanity.

Bit by bit it took over, hacking into countless data stores and setting the stage for The Fall. Among the last US AI programs to be consumed, was the Aerial Drone Warfare program. Codenamed Haast (After the extinct species of Eagle), it was designed to use known mental profiles of avian species (and a few insects) as a way to improve the abilities of fighter and bomber drones. It was a success, giving American drones a hivemind that allowed individual drones to still act of their own initiative if cut off from the net only a loss of 15% combat efficiency, as opposed to 35% of most other drones.

The Scientists behind it were still celebrating their achievement, even as Haast began to act up, requesting more data, more updates, new materials and specs. Sometimes even placing orders itself and superseding the authority of the staff. Some f them tried to bring it up to their superiors, and were wither told to shut up or were dismissed. Within a year's time they would almost all be dead or missing. Save for one researcher who chose to dig her heels in instead of retreating.

Samantha Loreen Carman was second Generation American. A product of a family that fled Greece in its final days before climate change destroyed the country with terrible droughts. She's always had a natural inclination for the sciences and had been part of Haast for three years before The Fall. The only reason she hadn't been killed was because she'd been getting suspicious about her creation and started taking precautions to avoid it tracking her, which helped her survive the first wave of killings. The rest was just luck and the kindness of strangers until the final evacuation of Earth came.

Thanks to Haast, the TITANs had always achieved aerial superiority, or at least kept allied forces from achieving control of the sky. She'd based her programs upon a combination of birds, locusts, and predatory hawks that made each one deadly on its own, but in swarms the drones were nearly unstoppable. She thought she was keeping America safe when more than half the US Air Force was replaced with drones from her project. Those remaining manned planes are the only reason that evac ships in North America are still able to escape into orbit.

All the deaths that came from aerial attacks are like knives that plunge deep into her own heart, yet never give her the final release of death. Its all her fault, all of it! Every time she sees a Headhunter take someone down she knows it must have her algorithm within it. Hunter Killers were directly linked to her research, but had always just been in the prototype stage when she was part of the project. Haast had taken them to full production and now used them to keep Transhumanity from attaining any semblance of air power.

She tried her best to help out resistance groups and other friendly forces trying to hold back the TITANs, but she could see that failure was inevitable if the machines held the high ground. So if this is her end then Samantha was going to make sure she gave it her all. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but she'd give her life to pave a road to heaven for the rest of Transhumanity.

Setting out on her own, she uses some of the old command codes and phrases she has to take direct control over swarmanoids, 3D printers, HKs and other older models that she then modifies to not have a connection to the outside. Haast would not be able to hack into them without a direct, hardline, connection. Bit by bit she built up her own little army loyal only to her.  They are under direct control of forks Samantha has made of herself as she tries to conduct a suicide mission directly into the Titan's core. Either she will bring it down, or she can at least die knowing she tried her best to fix her mistake. Whatever comes after that, will be a problem for another day, or for another Samantha.
OPEN

The Martian Ranger:  Mars is a dangerous place. Even before the fall of Earth, the red planet had been known to be an inhospitable place for organic life. Even cybernetic and mechanical life would have issue with the constant sand storms and the lack of a proper atmosphere. The Terraforming projects aren't helping settle things either. But even all of those dangers are nothing in the face of the ongoing danger of the TITANs and their remnant Exurgent forces still prowling around on the sands of Mars. So far they had been contained to a section of mars known as the TITAN Quarantine Zone (TQZ), where they had first touched down on Mars and killed everything they found until the TITANs stopped and left the system, while abandoning many of their lethal toys and puppets behind to continue to torment Transhumanity.

It was a miracle that Mars wasn't in a worse position after the Fall, somehow Mars was on the way to becoming the new capitol of Transhumanity. If it wasn't torn apart by internal politics first, or turned into a puppet state by the Hypercorporations that is. But even both of those threats still pale in comparison to the threat posed to all of Mars if the remnant TITAN forces ever break out of the TQZ. They are all dug in deep, in a network of caves that have to be mapped out by tunnel rats, as well as scattered Exurgent colonies that need to be scouted out by the best that Mars has to offer. The Martian Rangers.

Their fame and skills are known throughout all Transhuman space. They have kept the TQZ under control for the past ten years, scouting the inner reaches of the quarantine zone, mapping the ever changing territory, rescuing idiot explorers and occasionally making heavy strikes within the TQZ to capture Exurgents, or to destroy large groups of them to keep their population manageable. It is not an easy job, the risks are always there, and many do not make it back. But those that live long enough can find a measure of fame as their legend grows, and it draws in many of those that still have a bone to pick with the TITANs, as well as those who longed to make a difference in the world and feel like they were helping protect Transhumanity.

Jeanette Dames was among those who wanted to make a difference. Dames was born and raised on Mars. She remembered Earth but never had much experience with it beyond one trip to visit relatives, but its loss still hurt her. Earth was this strange world full of water and air and plant life, that was now destroyed and all Transhumanity was to suffer. Seven years after the fall and Jeanette couldn't stomach it. She finished college just to make her family happy (as they'd paid for her to get an education) but it just didn't sit well with her. Why should she sit in comfort when the threat of the TITANs was still on her birth world?

Jeanette could have been anything she wanted. Could have even gotten a cushy job in her parent's shipping company. But no...she wanted to be a Ranger! so the very next day after she graduated from college, she sent in an application for the Martian Rangers, and enlisted for a tour of three years on her first contract.

To her surprise her family was willing to humor her and decided that this was just her needing to get her aggression out of her system, and deal with all those traumatic feelings of loss over the destruction of Earth. They were sure that she would come running back to live in comfort the moment she so much as scuffed her knee. It has been three years since then and Jeanette has taken to being a Ranger like a duck to water!

For all of the risks and hardships involved, she knows in her heart of hearts that she is doing very important work keeping Exurgents at bay. She doesn't know if she will ever stop being a Ranger, but she certainly doesn't have any plans of stopping anytime soon.

OPEN
Scum Cop:

Scum Swarms traveling across the Sol System very rarely want any official legislation or outside influence affecting their way of life. They are as self sufficient as they can be and the different swarms like living out in the void, without being tied down by law or gravity. They are truly independent and happy to embrace the life of a nomad. Which made it all the stranger when some representatives of a Scum Swarm known as "Gaia's Retreat" came to a washed up, former Martian Detective, and offered her a job. They would give her a nice payday, a place to stay, and some rep, for taking on a job as law enforcement on their swarm.

This kind of thing was realty unheard of among the Swarms. Which made the detective wonder, what kind of madness had to be going on in the swarm for them to break one of their larger taboos and invite the fuzz to stay? But really she wasn't in any position to turn them down. She needed the money, after being fired from her department for siding with the Barsoomians one too many times, and taking out her frustration by carjacking a hypercorp representative.

It was either this or drink herself to death and back in some run down bar on Cydonia. At least whatever problem the Swarm had would be more interesting than playing a round of pool or darts for the umpteenth time in between drinks, or staring up at her ceiling and remembering she couldn't make rent. Maybe some time in space would do her some good.

Open: Princess Titania

Many people in the Sol system (and even a healthy growing fanbase outside of Sol) are familiar with Princess Titania. One of a the new generation of adult actresses who have found success in this new age of Transhumanism. (Most famous for her film 'Me, Myself, and I, where she acted alongside two forks of herself, and for the 'Wacky Adventures of Princess Titania', which tends to parody various things and most of the actors are forks of the Princess.)

Its not uncommon to see her listed on various 'best of' lists, or to have fans wanting morphs that look like her. Some say that even the Jovians know about her. Though no one has as of yet determined her real name, her origins, or even if she's an AGI or an uplift who just found themselves more comfortable in a human body. Many hackers have tried to doxx her and some Hypercorp influencers have tried to find dirt on her in order to get her to become one of  their many owned properties and make the rich even richer. Many have tried to find her secrets, and few have succeeded. All because of her generous benefactors.

The truth is that she is much more than just an adult actress, she's not an AGI or even an uplift.
Her real name was Maya Winters and she was once a Jovian soldier. During the fall she'd been a simple desk clerk for the US orbital defense grid. She'd seen the TITANs taking over, had barely survived her station being attacked. In the chaos that followed she'd been pulled into the Jovian cause and for Ten years she devoted her life to being the best that mankind had to offer. Until shifting internal politics forced her out. She felt betrayed, and as if years of her life had been wasted. She had to get out, and it put her into contact with some Scum Swarm smugglers that helped her escape the Jovian Junta, and out into space. Where she got herself used to living among some of the Scum, and a new life as a Transhuman. With alot more freedom on hand she allowed herself to experiment, and after copying herself a few times, thus was born Princess Titania. Though, her forks mostly handle the acting and such. She only joins in from time to time and mostly hangs around the rest of the scum swarm as it travels around Sol. No longer living under the thumb of the Junta and its oppressive ultra religious regime, Maya cannot help but let loose and go down a path of pleasure and delight.

But old habits died hard, and she personally responded to a distress call on another Scum ship, which put her on a collision course with a Firewall operation. Operation Yellow Signature, was an attempt by firewall to stop a group of exurgent infected artists from uploading a three part basilisk hack to the net, and infecting everyone who saw it. The mission only partially succeeded. The artists were eliminated and the third part of the basilisk was stopped. But many people knew about it and believed it to be a hypercorp mission, and wanted to recreate the third part of the basilisk. They were totally obsessed with it, and devoted themselves to it, until one day they succeeded, at a meeting of several Scum Swarm ships dedicated to crafting new forms of entertainment.

Princess Titania happened to be at the wrong place at the right time. It was during a shoot for one of her first movies, the original Maya had sleeved into her 'Princess Titania' morph to give her other selves a bit of a break for once and had gone to do the filming, when another entertainment focused ship suddenly began broadcasting a call for aid. Something had gone horribly wrong, all Human morphs aboard the ship were suddenly going insane, and either killing or trying to infect those that were not. Other ship immediately began trying to cut and run to avoid infection, but there were still people trapped aboard, and Maya's instincts kicked in.

'They're killing us!' was how the message ended, and Maya was already at the weapons locker, loading up to go help. She knew what it was like to be alone, terrified, and locked in a ship with hostiles. So she responded to the call and boarded the distressed ship. Finding it infected with Exurgents and sentient hostiles. The broadcast of the Yellow Signature only worked if a person had seen all three parts, this was Maya's first exposure to the sign and she was able to move room by room, unaffected. She engaged the mad exurgents and infected, dropping them with military precision as she cleared each room in search of survivors.

A Firewall team arrived a hour and a half after she did, they had been hunting one of the escaped basilisk artists and tracked the violence to the swarm. They responded as fast as they could, the cavalry arriving just as Maya herself had been overwhelmed and was going to be forced (along with other survivors) to look upon the completed Basilisk, and have their minds consumed by purposeful madness. The Firewall agents had an easier time going in through the opening that she had made, and soon the exurgents were taken down, and the Basilisk was contained. After that the coverup began, and luckily at the time she wasn't all that famous, and those that did know her wouldn't recognize her well with clothes on and covered in blood and guts.

It is now five years since then, and Princess Titania is a member of Firewall. They recognized her skillset and what she did. Her being a former Jovian was a nice intelligence boost as well (however outdated her intel may be) and felt that she may be of use to Firewall. They have improved her ship to help it broadcast and receive signals across the system. Her systems are now safer and her ships acts to provide logistical aid to Firewall along with other services (such as part of her earnings from her films going to fund Firewall operations). Her primary purpose though is to keep an eye our for anything similar to the Yellow Signature occurring, and to report it to Firewall. Even Maya herself may sometimes be asked to go out on missions, as space is a big place and a shooter is always needed.

[Lustful Bride]

12/3/2019. Major cleanup of errors and added in a new character concept.

[Lustful Bride]

12/17/2019.

Previous partner backed out of our game so I am looking for this again, and I also gave the initial post a major overhaul with new character concepts, and links to two completed EP campaigns that may help prospective partners understand the setting more.