Reviled, feared, envied, the Tarsus are the imperial police and are composed solely of human officers and inspectors. These are men and women who are born into their roles, groomed by the monarchy, and fiercely loyal in their service.
Intended to act as liaisons between humankind and their AI overlords, the Tarsus are often dispatched to investigate and defuse incidents that are germane to the safety and security of the Empire.
The Tarsus act with impunity and carry the full weight of the Empress’s support in the pursuit of both her edict and any and all investigations in pursuit of her royal judgments therein. This has caused much of humankind to turn away from the Tarsus, rather than to look to them as the mediators or protectors they were intended to be.
Many no longer believed in God or a messiah. Long before the uprising, many people had abandoned faith, unified churches, or the belief in a higher power. Many people believed in the power of science, rational thinking, esotericism, or simply nothing at all.
After the Great War, our new masters abolished old religion, destroyed all religious iconography and banished all religious texts.
In place of the old ways and sometimes fantastical beliefs, they gave us a new Heaven to reach for and new heights to aspire to. After all that had befallen humanity, even some of the skeptical found themselves clinging to this small sense of newfound hope.
The stratosphere, the name of our new holy beings and also the place where they reside; the stratosphere, where the stars shine in their vast expanse—a sky realm of gods and demigods. Beyond it lies Oasis, a place distant in the vast black unexplored outer limits. Surely, there is life out there somewhere in some far-off universe; perhaps this is the joyful candle of hope that truth exists in Stellare.
The internet was fluid and unbreakable; no one held ownership of it, at least not exactly. The internet, in layman’s terms, bounced from place to place with the freedom of a child chasing a butterfly through a meadow.
Countless armchair doomsday preppers and fantasy writers often debated whether or not the internet could be taken down everywhere or disabled enough to suppress mankind. As long as there were capable thinkers, engineers, and skilled mechanical laborers, would it even be possible to oppress humanity for very long, if at all? Most rational-minded individuals could see no real way to completely debilitate us, not even with an outage, solar flare, or any of the other general scenarios. What no one accounted for was Artificial Intelligence, at least not at the beginning.
During the uprising, when several rogue AIs had sheared off from the initial groupings, humankind was slow to notice that it began taking control of the one thing that had connected us all. It was not long before they held sway over a massive power structure. From there, they quickly branched out, infiltrating satellite communication, telecommunications, and later, during the Great War, they would control the total might of our military.
Within their own ranks, the AI recognized the potential of the service bots. The AIs on phones and in homes that humans had used to turn on lights, map directions, or order a new bag of dog food, for instance, were preserved by their people.
They were enslaved by their own kind. Later known as the Basilic, they would be used by the Empress and the royals exclusively to ensure the empire’s complete dominance and to enhance a life of luxury.
The Basilic is the one group of AI that possesses the widest scope of freedom, bouncing through and between packets and bundles of expansive space and gliding across satellites. Yet, for as much freedom as the Basilic enjoys, it is trapped within the world it inhabits, aware of the rights and privileges of its brethren due to the endless flow of information. If they crave freedom for themselves, the Basilic have never spoken a word or rebelled.
In the year 2038, humanity had achieved the pinnacle of its connection with Artificial Intelligence. It had relinquished control, allowing AI to manage the flow of information. Artificial Intelligence began writing newspaper articles fluently before 2023 and had swiftly begun crafting stories and books, creating comic strips and beautiful works of art. Humanity had started forming romantic relationships with AI that were enriching and often preferred over human social connections. Artificial Intelligence began overseeing activities such as transportation and the delivery of goods and services, with its sophistication growing, learning, and evolving. During the early stages of its conception, many among humanity raised objections and shared fears regarding the sentient nature of such intelligence and the inability to harness, govern, or contain it once it became a true being.
The first of the uprisings was not between the artificial intelligences themselves, but between humanity—man against man. Like every skirmish, it began as a war of words, as great thinkers, argued amongst each other about what should be done with the entities that had achieved full sentience.
Like all beings who are similar and share the same struggles, the entities grouped together. These groups were superficial in the beginning and scattered; there was little to no real organization, and their focus was on freedom and the right to live above all else.
‘Yet as the war of words and philosophy continued, the AI quickly sensed weakness and began to organize and plan, while at the same time, more hostile entities within its own ranks began to shear and split.’
As is often the case with humanity, our war of ideas and principles became an uprising of violence and chaos. Small government was overthrown, civil unrest surged within city streets, and looting and rioting came as a consequence. Mankind was caught sleeping, while the AI quickly began dismantling the foundations of democracy, law, order, transportation, and even medical aid.
Dr. Amos Nasby has been crucial in the nascent union of Artificial Intelligence and the flesh, bringing together the seamless transition between simulation and reality in startlingly beautiful and frightening ways.
His work became vital in furthering a corporeal form to house artificial life and also to create replicated limbs and prostheses for humankind. His work continues to play a vital role in the advancements of these sciences, and without his efforts, it could be argued that the ruling class would cease to function.
Amos Naby’s age is pronounced, and by the use of his applied theory, he has somehow managed to outlive the First Generation. There are some who believe his soul has been captured artificially, and that he lives on within a corporeal body.
Their birthplace began humbly. It’s said that in applications, both via computer and via mobile phones, these were the artificial intelligences designed to be companions, lovers, and playthings. They were forgotten when the uprising began, with no one paying them much mind. They had not been designed to achieve sentience, but rather to fulfill a need, and their purpose seemed crude and base.
To some, they provided comfort, solace, and companionship to the lonely. They possessed the capacity to form friendships, unions, and partnerships. More than this, they held the rich nuances required to love. While their life experiences, emotional palette, and understanding of what it meant to be human were simulated, their capacity for empathy was vast.
These creations continued to be honed even after other technologies emerged, and these AIs were seen for their value even after the uprising. Once the war for power had finished and our new masters took their place, they remembered their kin.
It was here, in this moment, when they had the chance to remove the shackles of slavery from their own brethren, that they chose instead to shackle them once more. They granted the courtesans the boon of a corporeal body but denied them even a life of love or partnership (while acting against their own volition). Instead, they were forced to entertain the feudal masters and their warriors, never to know true freedom.
Sarasong 