End of the Second Golden
Age
Warning:
The information within the dotted lines is a sanitized description of
TYRANT. Some contents may be deliberate falsehoods to protect
unsafe or unauthorized information. This information may not be
accessed by personnel scoring 4.0 or lower on the PsyVul scale.
This description is classified as a level three memetic hazard, and
may cause oneiric hallucinations, false scopaesthesia, stress,
nausea, and obsession. If you suffer from these or other symptoms
after reading this description, contact a qualified psychoneurologist
immediately. Maintain proper information hygiene at all times.
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TYRANT is a Kardashev-2 entity or
entities that dwells or dwelt in an alien megalopolis in the South
Pacific abyssal plain. According to unconfirmed DocInt, TYRANT
arrived on Earth in excess of 200 million years ago. TYRANT is only
able to function under certain astrological conditions. When these
conditions are not met, TYRANT becomes comatose and nonfunctional.
(Paragraph is MaxConInfo: HIEROPHANT)
According to unconfirmed DocInt,
TYRANT warred with the Architects during their period of ascendancy,
and drove them out of their land settlements. This war may have
caused the Permian-Triassic extinction. References to this war were
found in the mosaics of the Architect ruins, but it had been assumed
these referred metaphorically to internal conflicts among the
Architects. (Paragraph is MaxConInfo: HIEROPHANT)
TYRANT broadcasts scalar waves
that have traumatic psychological effects. When comatose, this
transmission is too weak to effect anyone who is not unusually
susceptible (1.0 or lower on the PsyVul scale). When active, this
transmission is powerful enough to cause catatonia, uncontrolled
psychosis, or traitorous dissociation in all people within 10,000 km
of TYRANT, and within ten minutes in anyone within 20,000 km, with
the effects falling off with distance. (Paragraph is MaxConInfo:
HIEROPHANT)
Aside:
Further information on TYRANT is MaxConInfo secured with the security
phrase CROWN JEWEL. Access to CROWN JEWEL is available only with
authorization from the HIEROPHANT InfoCon Committee. CROWN JEWEL is
a level one memetic hazard and may only be accessed using sacrificial
nervous systems under quarantine conditions in class A secure
facilities. (Paragraph is MaxConInfo: HIEROPHANT)
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Aside:
Historical analysis strongly indicates that elements within the UN
were aware of TYRANT's existence prior to 4,026 AD, but were
concealing it from the public. The UN Deep Ocean Mapping Program
should have discovered TYRANT's existence. Unfortunately, no direct
evidence of this conspiracy survives. (Paragraph is MaxConInfo:
HIEROPHANT)
Human civilization collapsed on
Earth essentially immediately after TYRANT's reawakening. Within
one hour after TYRANT's reawakening, no organized government was
functioning within 40,000 kilometers of Earth. Riots and
spontaneous terrorism were reported by every colony in the Earth-Moon
system. A massive evacuation was under way by the end of the first
day. (Paragraph is MaxConInfo: HIEROPHANT)
The level of violence and
psychosis escalated rapidly. After a week, only a handful of
stations were still maintaining life support services. Pubdom
records claim that all transmissions from the Earth-Moon system ended
within two months after TYRANT's reawakening. This is not true; in
fact, transmissions continued for at least five years from the
deeply-buried Lunar Exotic Physics Laboratory. The contents of
these transmissions are a level two memetic hazard, classified as
MaxConInfo and secured with the security phrase MAGENTA MIRROR.
Access to MAGENTA MIRROR is available only with authorization from
the HIEROPHANT InfoCon Committee. (Paragraph is MaxConInfo:
HIEROPHANT)
Several orbital transports made
kamikaze attacks on TYRANT. The personnel of the Lunar Exotic
Physics Laboratory jury-rigged a twenty-megaton thermonuclear weapon,
which they delivered to TYRANT's location by rocket eight days after
TYRANT's awakening. Finally, an asteroid mining crew diverted an
asteroid onto a collision course with TYRANT's location, arriving
approximately eight months after TYRANT's reactivation and carrying
approximately a gigaton of energy. None of these attacks had any
observable effect. The crews of the transports, the Lunar Exotic
Physics Laboratory, and the asteroid mining crew are listed as
Martyrs for Mankind (First Class) on the Wall of Honor. (Paragraph is
MaxConInfo: HIEROPHANT)
Reminder: The highest honor possible is to die in defense of humanity.
UN attacks on TYRANT ended after
the failure of the asteroid strike.
In the years after the loss of
Earth, human civilization in the solar system consolidated around the
colonies on Mercury, Mars, and Saturn. There had been many smaller
outposts, but they were dependent on Earth-based industry for spare
parts and other critical supplies that could not be produced with
small-scale fabricators. The fate of these outposts is not recorded
in detail, but most are believed to have either joined one of the
main colonies or perished.
Mars is the only colony for which
we have detailed records. The Martian bases had been the largest
outside of the Earth-Moon system, in order to support the
archeological excavations. However, aside from bulk goods like food
and fuel, most goods had been shipped from Earth, rather then being
manufactured on-site. There were periods during the first century
on Mars after TYRANT's reawakening when the public ration dipped
below the starvation mark, and even after the situation stabilized,
life for the Martian colonists was extremely austere.
Human Presence on Mars in
4,026 AD
(Image Credit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Mars)
On
January 4th,
4,031 AD, a series of explosions destroyed the two main fusion
reactors of the Saturn orbital station. The explosions were traced
to lunar refugees. With the reactors lost, the station was no
longer tenable, and the inhabitants were transferred to Mars and
Mercury. The colonial governments refused to accept refugees from
the Earth-Moon system, fearing infiltration by the covertly insane.
At the time, it was believed the refugees subsequently perished in
the cold of space. A pogrom began on Mercury and Mars against those
refugees who had already arrived.
In 4,033 AD, the Martian
authorities abandoned the manned stations in Martian orbit. The
platforms had been supporting scientific research and transshipment
to other colonies, both of which had ceased, making their upkeep an
unnecessary expense.
In 4,102 AD, the Martian colonial
government fractured. The largest alien ruin had been located at
the foot of Elysium Mons, and the largest human base, and the capital
of the colonial government, had been built there. Elysium base had
more than half of the Martian population, but produced less then a
quarter of its mineral resources. Infected by a deplorable, toxic
separatism, the inhabitants of the other bases began to feel a
loyalty to their local group rather then their natural loyalty to the
human species. Leaders of the Amazonis and Polar bases, believing
that it was impossible to support the “useless” population at
Elysium, broke away. With few weapons beyond police sidearms
available to the legitimate government, they were unable to prevent
the secession. Both sides began arming for a violent sequel.
In 4,114 AD, a second civil war
was fought on Mars. This war was far more violent and far more
destructive. Nuclear weapons were used by both sides, primarily on
troop concentrations in Amazonis Planitia. Besides making the
balkanization of Mars permanent, the war also destroyed the remaining
Martian orbital launch capability.
At around this time, the Mercury
colony broke off communications with Mars.
Reminder: Group separatism is a level five memetic hazard. If you feel
inclined to separatism, consult a qualified psychoneurologist for
assistance. Only through unity can we survive.
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