Post by Insano-Man on Sept 18, 2018 19:39:34 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Cloneston article directory.
UP GOES DOWN
No one can truly say when Cloneston appeared. It does not appear in Pioneer Network records, nor does it maintain a coherent account of its own history. Some long-outdated references suggest the present-day Cloneston wasteland was once a restricted area during the time of the Pioneer Network, but there is no suggestion of a city, nor even a wasteland existing at the time. Geodisplacement events, missing information, and Cloneston's status quo of chaos further complicate attempts at charting its foundation.
The earliest known appearance of Cloneston was in roughly 988 OSC, shortly after the Splinter Wars and the Pioneer Network's collapse. Scattered journals and memoirs from towns and traders suggest the blossoming of the wastes from a distance. Many observed a single, monolithic structure at the city's earliest beginnings. Later accounts claim that the structure had grown and branched out into several more. More still continued this trend. Legend and myth about Cloneston's earliest buildings are common. Expeditions to find it, however, are not - and very few expect to find anything more than rubble.
It is generally accepted that, by 1041, Cloneston was roughly similar - if significantly smaller - to its present-day state. The city and wastelands were expanding steadily. Life inside was - supposedly - orderly and comfortable. The city continued to expand. Things continued along as normal, and the wasteland grew with it. Life continued to thrive and business ran smoothly. The city continued to expand. The wasteland grew with it. Daily affairs began to fray at the seams. The city's governing artificial intelligences increasingly duplicated and branched themselves to maintain order. The city continued to expand. The wasteland grew with it.
The first clones in Cloneston appeared at some point between 1090-1120. Initially, they were part of a small, supplemental police force tasked exclusively with armed response actions against hardened criminals. Over time, combat drones were pressed into service to deal with a ballooning mercenary presence in the underworld. By roughly 1126, clones had almost totally replaced the police force, and most ordinary policemen were retrained to monitor and direct clones. By 1130, the clones were given autonomy to subdue, arrest, or kill suspects as necessary. Clones slowly bled into and took over other emergency services as more and more clones were bred to deal with more and more hardened criminals. Ironically, many of those same criminals were human policemen the clones had displaced.
By most accounts, Cloneston was on the verge of uninhabitability by 1136. Several major power plants were on the cusp of overloading and destroying swaths of the city. Many buildings were close to collapse. Few services were still functional. AIs continued to clone themselves into more of the city's taxed, failing networks in a self-destructive attempt to maintain its infrastructure. New cloning facilities were built on a daily basis in an attempt to produce more manpower for critical service. Most residents were in various stages of rioting or evacuation. The wastelands' growth outpaced that of the city and began to stretch west in a useless attempt to support it.
In 1139, Cloneston's future pitched up. It was the date of the first emergence of a prime intelligence; an AI in Cloneston that was not catastrophically incompetent. It titled itself Beth, announced its arrival to the world, and went to work by shutting down at least six hundred other intelligences. In rapid order, Beth took hold of at least half the city's cloning infrastructure, a third of its processing capability, and the entirety of its public transportation network. All the while, the AIs that were responsible for the city's decay remained oblivious to its work.
Beth's lightning offensive ended almost as soon as it began. It was a victory so monumental that there was simply no more it could do; Beth had reached its limits in its ability to control and defend assets by the beginning of 1140. Other intelligences continued to wreak havoc throughout the city with what infrastructure they still had. Many continued to duplicate or expand themselves, adding to the stress. The city itself continued to expand and cultivate the wastelands around it. Swiftly after it had arrived, Beth became a footnote in Cloneston's daily affairs.
No sooner had Beth been forgotten and its achievements been undone, another prime intelligence emerged. Not much unlike Beth, Jimmy erupted onto Cloneston's stage with a birth cry and a whirlwind assault. In 1143, he emerged with control of a quarter of the city's clone army - including a third of its cloning infrastructure - and overloaded three hundred feebler intelligences. He took control of a fifth of the city's power grid and countless mining centers, enacted a propaganda campaign flaunting his successes, and went straight to war with Beth.
That same war made Jimmy's accomplishments largely irrelevant. The city continued to expand, other AIs continued to proliferate, and, by 1145, open street wars between rampaging clone warbands had added to the chaos. Ultimately, in 1147, Jimmy's army was defeated, and he withdrew noisily into the city's electronic shadows. More prime intelligences followed in his footsteps, proclaiming their rise as salvation, and further threw Cloneston into turmoil. On each occasion, the city's crises were stalled only momentarily or put on hold for a later date.
The only change of significance in Cloneston was Beth's dethronement. The influx of competing AIs and the continual chaos of its under-caste eventually forced Beth to cede most of its major holdings. It was forced into a more minor role, just as Jimmy before, and began work to groom factions and agents under its control. Other prime intelligences followed suit. By 1200, the city had been rearranged into a malleable arrangement of AI-dominated spheres of influence, with Jimmy only marginally in the lead.
As prime intelligences proliferated, Loonies of nearby bunkers took an interest in the growing city. Some were threatened by the escalation of AI-driven war close to their homes. Others were simply curious to see what all the noise was about. From 1180 to 1190, Looney reconnaissance teams arrived to investigate. Each team was promptly chased back to their home bunker. Some were harassed by no more than gunships. Others were pursued by clone armies that laid siege to dozens of bunkers. At least sixteen Looney installations were destroyed or forced to evacuate during the period, which earned its name as the Crackdown War.
The Loonies have since quarantined Cloneston - or, at the very least, attempted to. The unimaginatively-titled Cloneston Quarantine was agreed upon in roughly 1198 by most bunkers in the surrounding environs. The agreement requires that no Looney facility will knowingly send travellers or their own personnel to the city. Clones coming or going are to be reported immediately by any means necessary. The same also applies to Space Looney visitations and escapees. While the Cloneston Quarantine was not a unanimous agreement, it has held on for more than a century. Most nearby facilities participate in at least some capacity.
In 1240 OSC, Cloneston began to suffer resource shortages as a result of a depleted underground. The city continued to expand as wasteland mining operations brought resources home, but growth shrunk considerably. For the city's senators, this was an expected, uneventful occurrence. For its citizens and factions, it was a shock and a tipping point. Many launched into all-out war with their weaker neighbors, seeking new territory, new opportunities, and favor from their patrons. Boundaries shifted, intermingled, and clone production doubled to keep up with violent crime. Three years of unrest and fighting earned their name as the July Stampede, for the month that the first shot was believed to have been fired.
The July Stampede ultimately accomplished little. For the AI senators, it was no more than a spectacle. For the factions below them, it was a waste of effort or an untimely end. For the city itself, it was nothing more than noise for its clone guardians. Cloneston continued on, unconcerned with street wars and politics, and went about its business as if nothing had happened. Despite the lack of significance, the July Stampede left lasting marks on many factions and families in the city. Many remain today as gang feuds and blood vendettas.
Today, Cloneston continues on. It expands, heedless of itself, its surroundings, or its population. Its underground continues to grow deeper, more hollow, and more overrun with monsters and mutants. Clones are born each day to wander crime scenes aimlessly or die in needless shootouts. Locals live lives ranging from abject despair up to impervious opulence. AIs expand, duplicate, and proliferate like wild crabs. The senators continue their great gambits for power and influence, as they have since their arrival. It remains to be seen if, one day, Cloneston will collapse, or if it will erupt into the greatest power on Set's surface.
UP GOES DOWN
No one can truly say when Cloneston appeared. It does not appear in Pioneer Network records, nor does it maintain a coherent account of its own history. Some long-outdated references suggest the present-day Cloneston wasteland was once a restricted area during the time of the Pioneer Network, but there is no suggestion of a city, nor even a wasteland existing at the time. Geodisplacement events, missing information, and Cloneston's status quo of chaos further complicate attempts at charting its foundation.
The earliest known appearance of Cloneston was in roughly 988 OSC, shortly after the Splinter Wars and the Pioneer Network's collapse. Scattered journals and memoirs from towns and traders suggest the blossoming of the wastes from a distance. Many observed a single, monolithic structure at the city's earliest beginnings. Later accounts claim that the structure had grown and branched out into several more. More still continued this trend. Legend and myth about Cloneston's earliest buildings are common. Expeditions to find it, however, are not - and very few expect to find anything more than rubble.
It is generally accepted that, by 1041, Cloneston was roughly similar - if significantly smaller - to its present-day state. The city and wastelands were expanding steadily. Life inside was - supposedly - orderly and comfortable. The city continued to expand. Things continued along as normal, and the wasteland grew with it. Life continued to thrive and business ran smoothly. The city continued to expand. The wasteland grew with it. Daily affairs began to fray at the seams. The city's governing artificial intelligences increasingly duplicated and branched themselves to maintain order. The city continued to expand. The wasteland grew with it.
The first clones in Cloneston appeared at some point between 1090-1120. Initially, they were part of a small, supplemental police force tasked exclusively with armed response actions against hardened criminals. Over time, combat drones were pressed into service to deal with a ballooning mercenary presence in the underworld. By roughly 1126, clones had almost totally replaced the police force, and most ordinary policemen were retrained to monitor and direct clones. By 1130, the clones were given autonomy to subdue, arrest, or kill suspects as necessary. Clones slowly bled into and took over other emergency services as more and more clones were bred to deal with more and more hardened criminals. Ironically, many of those same criminals were human policemen the clones had displaced.
By most accounts, Cloneston was on the verge of uninhabitability by 1136. Several major power plants were on the cusp of overloading and destroying swaths of the city. Many buildings were close to collapse. Few services were still functional. AIs continued to clone themselves into more of the city's taxed, failing networks in a self-destructive attempt to maintain its infrastructure. New cloning facilities were built on a daily basis in an attempt to produce more manpower for critical service. Most residents were in various stages of rioting or evacuation. The wastelands' growth outpaced that of the city and began to stretch west in a useless attempt to support it.
In 1139, Cloneston's future pitched up. It was the date of the first emergence of a prime intelligence; an AI in Cloneston that was not catastrophically incompetent. It titled itself Beth, announced its arrival to the world, and went to work by shutting down at least six hundred other intelligences. In rapid order, Beth took hold of at least half the city's cloning infrastructure, a third of its processing capability, and the entirety of its public transportation network. All the while, the AIs that were responsible for the city's decay remained oblivious to its work.
Beth's lightning offensive ended almost as soon as it began. It was a victory so monumental that there was simply no more it could do; Beth had reached its limits in its ability to control and defend assets by the beginning of 1140. Other intelligences continued to wreak havoc throughout the city with what infrastructure they still had. Many continued to duplicate or expand themselves, adding to the stress. The city itself continued to expand and cultivate the wastelands around it. Swiftly after it had arrived, Beth became a footnote in Cloneston's daily affairs.
No sooner had Beth been forgotten and its achievements been undone, another prime intelligence emerged. Not much unlike Beth, Jimmy erupted onto Cloneston's stage with a birth cry and a whirlwind assault. In 1143, he emerged with control of a quarter of the city's clone army - including a third of its cloning infrastructure - and overloaded three hundred feebler intelligences. He took control of a fifth of the city's power grid and countless mining centers, enacted a propaganda campaign flaunting his successes, and went straight to war with Beth.
That same war made Jimmy's accomplishments largely irrelevant. The city continued to expand, other AIs continued to proliferate, and, by 1145, open street wars between rampaging clone warbands had added to the chaos. Ultimately, in 1147, Jimmy's army was defeated, and he withdrew noisily into the city's electronic shadows. More prime intelligences followed in his footsteps, proclaiming their rise as salvation, and further threw Cloneston into turmoil. On each occasion, the city's crises were stalled only momentarily or put on hold for a later date.
The only change of significance in Cloneston was Beth's dethronement. The influx of competing AIs and the continual chaos of its under-caste eventually forced Beth to cede most of its major holdings. It was forced into a more minor role, just as Jimmy before, and began work to groom factions and agents under its control. Other prime intelligences followed suit. By 1200, the city had been rearranged into a malleable arrangement of AI-dominated spheres of influence, with Jimmy only marginally in the lead.
As prime intelligences proliferated, Loonies of nearby bunkers took an interest in the growing city. Some were threatened by the escalation of AI-driven war close to their homes. Others were simply curious to see what all the noise was about. From 1180 to 1190, Looney reconnaissance teams arrived to investigate. Each team was promptly chased back to their home bunker. Some were harassed by no more than gunships. Others were pursued by clone armies that laid siege to dozens of bunkers. At least sixteen Looney installations were destroyed or forced to evacuate during the period, which earned its name as the Crackdown War.
The Loonies have since quarantined Cloneston - or, at the very least, attempted to. The unimaginatively-titled Cloneston Quarantine was agreed upon in roughly 1198 by most bunkers in the surrounding environs. The agreement requires that no Looney facility will knowingly send travellers or their own personnel to the city. Clones coming or going are to be reported immediately by any means necessary. The same also applies to Space Looney visitations and escapees. While the Cloneston Quarantine was not a unanimous agreement, it has held on for more than a century. Most nearby facilities participate in at least some capacity.
In 1240 OSC, Cloneston began to suffer resource shortages as a result of a depleted underground. The city continued to expand as wasteland mining operations brought resources home, but growth shrunk considerably. For the city's senators, this was an expected, uneventful occurrence. For its citizens and factions, it was a shock and a tipping point. Many launched into all-out war with their weaker neighbors, seeking new territory, new opportunities, and favor from their patrons. Boundaries shifted, intermingled, and clone production doubled to keep up with violent crime. Three years of unrest and fighting earned their name as the July Stampede, for the month that the first shot was believed to have been fired.
The July Stampede ultimately accomplished little. For the AI senators, it was no more than a spectacle. For the factions below them, it was a waste of effort or an untimely end. For the city itself, it was nothing more than noise for its clone guardians. Cloneston continued on, unconcerned with street wars and politics, and went about its business as if nothing had happened. Despite the lack of significance, the July Stampede left lasting marks on many factions and families in the city. Many remain today as gang feuds and blood vendettas.
Today, Cloneston continues on. It expands, heedless of itself, its surroundings, or its population. Its underground continues to grow deeper, more hollow, and more overrun with monsters and mutants. Clones are born each day to wander crime scenes aimlessly or die in needless shootouts. Locals live lives ranging from abject despair up to impervious opulence. AIs expand, duplicate, and proliferate like wild crabs. The senators continue their great gambits for power and influence, as they have since their arrival. It remains to be seen if, one day, Cloneston will collapse, or if it will erupt into the greatest power on Set's surface.
