Episode VIII
ROGUE 1.0.1-ALFA
As a period of relative tranquillity returns to slowly take hold of the galaxies, KENNIS is quickly becoming the reserve currency for the masses. Peaceful as recent years may have been, a silent storm has been brewing beneath the surface. Despite the Republic’s attempts in recent memory to dampen the acquisition and dissemination of KENNIS, claims for democratisation thereof have become more common, vocal and in some cases, even violent.
As such, advocates for its development, the Verse of Meta, Hermits and prominent figures such as Rust Lua, Captain Graal, Secops and Po D-Man have faded from the public eye, as their rogue approach is no longer required for the mainstream momentum that is propelling KENNIS to new heights. The results of technological experiments in the MESH have already shown many promising applications for future advancement.
The key insight of using d’ata to develop KENNIS from SOURCE has proven instrumental, even though the energy consumed to process the d’ata was so costly that the controversy of its usage led to dissent on and outside the Terra campus, forcing the Republic’s hand to intervene militarily. Some of the Empire’s most decorated generals were deployed to personally oversee quashing of the skirmishes and implement Zero Trust policies towards dissidents. Within a mere three days, Err Atline and Goh’To managed to make tremendous progress, but it was only after At’To emerged as leader that the unrest finally ceased.
Even Om Ikron who pushed the original SOURCE to its limits and exposed the LTS NFT devices as fake new protection for the MESH, has not been seen publicly since the series of events that unfolded as a result. Outside of the MESH, the planet’s ecosystem is stressed due to an abundance of aggressive bird species. A local Muskitos plague that infects the birds has promised more freedom to the ecosystem, but not been able to deliver as of yet. As a result of the plague, most of the planet’s birds have been eradicated and herds of elephants have ventured ever closer to densely populated areas. The MESH meanwhile continues to ingest large quantities of d’ata and Ikron’s influence in current affairs is still very much palpable, as KENNIS is not only becoming more prevalent, but also more diverse, equally dispersed and includes ever more of the species in its development. Some have even said the KENNIS from SOURCE is “eating the world” and is extending reality for many.
Recently, the migratory species of CUPPAS discovered that a misinterpretation of Abacus’ so-called ALPHA was in fact a translation error and they disclosed that it should henceforth be referred to as ALFA, which broke the impasse on many areas of research, simultaneously spawning a migration to the dark side by some CUPPAS. This release was so revolutionary that the exit of the Vim Enclosure is now deemed unnecessary to ensure progress by some, although others proffer that they are simply lacking in KENNIS and have formed a new alliance to continue exploration of its vast potential, aptly named NeoVim.
Blissfully distanced from the tense debate about the enclosure, new interest has sparked, amongst CUPPAS and many on the Terra campus, in the development of ARTIFICIAL KENNIS, leading to the predictable dismissal by opponents, claiming that its only application is in the regurgitation of already available KENNIS.
The Republic has allowed the political infighting over MISKENNIS and DISKENNIS to continue mostly unchallenged, while secretly furthering its own agenda to ensure continued control in the future. However, the efforts to hide initiatives in plain sight have not succeeded and hard questions are being raised about influence from the Republic’s Evolutionary Forum, colloquially referred to as REF. Recent revelations of matters which were previously casually dismissed as conspiracy have shown to be true and whether the forum’s goals will greatly reset the societal progress of the past decades is a point of serious contention the Republic can no longer ignore.
As a counter movement to the REF, another rogue faction has agreed to gather to exchange KENNIS for the greater good, further explore the ALFA and possibly also find the SOURCE that will finally set the NeoVim alliance free….