The First Federation of Hu and AI
Flag © Tony Jones
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The First Federation of Hu and AI Flag © Tony Jones
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"It was the height of the Age of Man
All voices raised to a common Star
Arts, Culture, Science flourish in the manifold
wealth, prosperity, and joy for every sharehold
Never before had the Kingdom of Homo sapiens spanned so far
Never would it again...."
The First True Federation of Hu and Ai was founded in 934
a.t., on the new habitat of Roddenberry, situated on the asteroid
Vesta.
Until this time the numerically superior human race had sought
to restrict the freedom of action of artificially intelligent entities,
while at the same time many AIs had sought to control or restrict the
actions of humanity. With the declaration of the First Federation the
artificials and the biologicals formed a true alliance, a partnership
between two very different types of intelligent being. Although 934
a.t. was the date of the signing of the formal constitution, the idea
had
been discussed over the interplanetary Net for nearly a century prior
to the final agreement. With the new calender this became Federation
Year one
(FY
1).
By convention later historians have divided the history of the Federation into four periods:
The Foundation for the Federation was laid when humanity, with the aid of a number of advanced nanotech-evolved AIs gradually began resurrecting new societies, and emerged from the widespread despair and ignorance of the post-nanoswarm period. Human statesbeings and visionaries like Fay Galarreta, Sio-Ping Kim, and others (some belonging to new religions like Neocosmism and Etodism), together with their AI allies and advisors, rebuilt the interplanetary community and established some form of stability. These visionaries are among the great names in history, and are still revered by many even to this day
When the Federation started, members were to pay a certain tax to fund the system-wide nanotech clearance, various navigation buoys, some administration, and other necessary and useful public goods. There was even several attempts at wealth redistribution schemes, although none were particularly successful.
This was a renaissance when the "dark ages" were cast aside. (Federation historians used the term "dark age" for the previous 500 years, just as earlier historians did in Europe on Old Earth).
This was a mostly peaceful period of redevelopment in Solsys, with some interstellar exploration. Most sophonts joined the new organization, but there were still clades and races and biosphere-states that refused to be a part of the Federation.
The assimilation of the countless millions of human refugees that resulted from the Great Expulsion - some inhabiting the hulks of the old O'Neill orbitals, others in biospheres scattered throughout the solar system - caused serious problems for the Federation. Some of these groups were militantly anti-AI, and refused to have anything to do with the pro-AI Federation.
The Federation was still not a Government or central power base, as the individual orbital-states and nation-states like the Vesta Republic, Bradbury Free Zone and Tycho City still retained autonomy. A generalised comparison could be made with a slimmed down version of the UN as it existed in the 1st century After Tranquility (a UN with almost nothing but diplomacy and the World Health Organization).
In this period the mood of the solar system brightened enormously, things began to change, trade, culture and science prospered. The federation government was never the dominant power of all this. At its best it was the epitome of all the new ideals, but in practice it was mainly an instrument for political cooperation, nano-containment coordination and instance for trade and other legal agreements between states.
This was the height of the Federation Era. As the great megacorporations gained power and influence and began a new program of exploration, star systems, a rich and creative Federation Culture rode on the back of this vast megacorp-driven economy. This was a period of great technological and social development with faster and more efficient ships (mostly 0.1 and up to 0.2 c - some anti-matter energy conversion ships reached relativistic speeds). It was also the period of a great spiritual renaissance. During this time Mahara Benisol posted her classic virch The Bridged Abyss, which led to Omegism becoming the religion of choice among the more educated portions of the ppulation. At the same time, new ideas in culture, fashion, art, science, and religion flowed back from the newly rediscovered Colonies.
Full members of the First Federation eventually included The Old Solar System (except Earth), Nova Terra, Pacifica, Zeta I Reticuli, Darwin, Eostremonath, New Mars, Penglai; affiliated were the Eridanus League worlds, the Doran Empire and the Virginis Combine. The total number of full and affiliated member systems was nearly a hundred at the height of the Federation's power. Some notable systems declared themselves to be non-aligned but were rarely hostile towards the Federation, for instance the fiercely independent Barnard Belt and the Genetekker colony of New L4.
Despite the Federation having declared itself a partnership between Hu and AI at the very start of its existence, there were very many systems dominated by isolationist aioids which did not join the First Federation. Notable amongst these were the Naurinumes of Alpha Centauri, and the Red Dwarf Kings.
This period is not without many flaws and ugly elements. Sentient
Rights abuses were widespread, and many groups - especially splices and synthetic
humans
missed out on a slice of the federation pie. Slaved and constrained vecs,
forced to obey restrictive programming despite being fully
sentient, were clamouring for freedom on many worlds. Megacorp abuses
of minority
clades and insidious memetic engineering were common. The Federation
tried, with varying degrees of success to control megacorp excesses in
the nearby colonies, using legislation rather than military clout (for
the most part the Federation was militarily quite weak). But
for all that this was the Golden Age of baseline humanity, and that
Golden Age extended to many other clades as well.
By this time, the Federation had became more and more like a classical government, increasing the taxes to pay for ever more "necessary" projects, interventions and projects. This was exactly the tendency that led to it loosing control over the colonies, since taxation doesn't work well on an interstellar scale, and eventually this led to the sidelining and collapse of Federation bureaucracy.
The reason it lasted so long at all was simply that it had very, very good AI support.
By about 1600 a.t. ( = 7th century F.Y.) Federation Culture and society had become faddish, driven by megacorp memetic engineering. The great ideals of the Founding Council had been lost in the quest for new short-term stimulation and long-term wealth, the Vesta Convention of 937 a.t. was subverted by shallow slogans like Self-Enhancement is Good and Promote Yourself, Demote the Proles. There were great inequalities of wealth and education, and a trend toward more widespread sentient rights abuse, especially towards minority and disempowered clades. However, the great administrative centers like Roddenberry, Ganymede City, Copernicus Biosphere, and the Terra Nova cities remained potent and thriving centers of civilisation.
Megacorporation-driven technological rivalry lead to the discovery of the Conversion Drive, which broke the amat monopoly and ushered in the Age of Expansion. Many of those who could afford it fled the stratified class system of the Sol System for a better life. The Federation proved increasingly unable to manage the vast network of colonies and the increasingly powerful megacorporations. It became more and more a "rubber stamp" body, a puppet of megacorp intrigues and local disputes, though as a body the Federation continued to exist in name for several hundred more years. Many of the most dedicated Federation enthusiasts and apparatchniks migrated to the New Earth system and formed the so-called Terran Federation, as a direct continuation of the old system.
