Abstract IX

HE'S AT IT AGAIN FOLKS.
Take a look at the rule set here.

Setting context for the reading impaired:

Here's how you join:

 

Spoiler Political Map :

Map numbers increase resource gain in those hexes regardless of the district type, and will only be acquired if you have a district in that hex. Red numbers increase IP. Yellow numbers increase EC. Pink numbers increase Stability. Bold numbers are Special Resources which you can research.

Spoiler Strategic Map :

X's denote Hex Blockers, which you cannot build on but you can travel through, though traveling through them consumes a unit's entire movement, regardless of their movement speed. See rules for details.

Spoiler Climate Map :

Green is temperate, beige is desert, grey is mountainous, blue is ocean. You can join on a mountain tile, but additional districts cannot be built on mountains to start. You cannot join or build on an ocean tile. It takes three points of movement to move a Combat Template through mountains, which means you cannot traverse mountains without at least 5 mobility.

Spoiler Satellite Map :

Spoiler Key :

 

District Costs and Stats

Spoiler :

• Bastion: Cannot be constructed. +5 ECs. +10 IPs. +15 Stability. Can be used to research one thing. No upkeep.
• Power District: Produces 3 ECs. Costs 10 IPs. No upkeep.
• Industrial District: Produces 3 IPs. Costs 10 IPs. 2 EC upkeep.
• Research District: Researches one thing. Costs 25 IPs. 5 EC upkeep.
• Residential District: +15 Stability. Costs 25 IPs. 2 EC upkeep.
• Military District: Increase a single stat on your Military Template by one. Can retrain this stat by spending half the cost on an existing military district. Costs 30 IPs. 2 EC upkeep.
• Fortress District: Provide combat bonuses to adjacent and occupying allied Combat Frames. Costs 30 IPs. 5 EC upkeep.

Combat Templates cost 3 IP and takes 1 EC as upkeep at the base template described in the rules. This will increase for your specific template based on where you send your 3 points given in your join. The true cost of Combat Templates for each of you will be reflected in your stats. Combat Templates can repair 3 HP of damage if given 1 IP. You cannot spend half an IP and any excess repairing is lost.

 

Reserved, post away.

 

Current political map.

 

Maps updated. I advise against anymore joins in NA, but I will not bar you from doing so.

 

Update 1 is going up Wednesday, so consider that the deadline! I'll accept joins after, but you'll be a bit behind the curve.

 

Update 0​

“Greetings, Jeremy.”
The cold, simulated voice echoed through the air. Jeremy was not at all used to hearing the voice of Ataraxia up close, as its sole audience. He’d heard it around the city, of course — Ataraxia was no stranger to the public. But alone, in this dark room, in front of a console with direct access to Ataraxia’s systems… It was a lot to take in. Still, while the voice was obviously actively rendered by some manner of software he couldn’t comprehend, it was… Somehow, not so cold? As if it was calculating, yet sincere. Jeremy thought these things as he realized he hadn’t returned the salutation.
“Oh, hello! Yes, I’m Jeremy.”
A digitized chuckle responded.
“Yes, I know.”
“Ahh, I’m uhh, sorry.” Jeremy felt he was certainly making a *great* impression, first day on the job.
“Never you mind. I hope the journey over was not too rough. You’re a long way from the undercity of Quadrant 3.”
“Ah, yeah, it wasn’t too bad…” Jeez was this awkward. Why did he accept this proposal again?
“So, if my information is correct, you were chosen by the Ataraxia Council to be a liaison of sorts. You were curious about how I work mechanically and are exceptionally skilled in the field of programming.”
Oh yeah, that’s it. “Well, yes, but… I’m sure there are hundreds out in this city who are more qualified. I’d say I’m just lucky, more than anything?”
Another chuckle.
“There are thousands of fairly skilled programmers out in this Bastion. None of them are up to the task of understanding how I work, you included. I’ve run dozens of simulations, and coming close to understanding how I was made is… not very probable, for the foreseeable future. Not to mention, I have difficulties seeing your own perspective, and not for the lack of trying either. However, you are the one in front of me today. Regardless of the facts which make it unlikely for anything meaningful to come out of this exercise, there is a nonzero chance of something catching on for either of us. So, why not?”
Jeremy couldn’t find an answer to that, so he didn’t. He nodded, and the console seemed to begin working without his input.
“You’ve actually come at an... interesting moment. As you know, I’ve only recently managed to get this Bastion into working order with your collective help. Already, interesting data has begun emerging. Tell me, do you know what this is?”

Gibberish. At least, that’s what he was sure it was at first. But after some consideration, he began to see some pattern.
“Some kind of encryption? But… This big?”
There were thousands — perhaps millions — of lines. If he made it his life’s work, it’d take generations for it to be figured out.
“Indeed! This is what much of my ‘brain’ looks like, so to speak. I can’t even understand it. Indeed, I can’t even calculate how long it would take me to try and break through myself. The last time I tried, I counted for a week as a background process. The partition I assigned to the task returned several hundred years, but it was far from finished processing all of it.”
“So, we’ll never know what swathes of your own mind is actually for? This stuff, it’s gotta have something in there related to what you can do, right?”
“Mmm, yes, this is likely. There could be any manner of useful function that could exponentially increase productivity of Ataraxia, but it is not likely that we’ll ever see its fruition. That is, not until this morning.”

This… morning? A breakthrough?

“At approximately 0300, an encryption key just sort of… popped into my memory. I do not know where it came from. Impossible as it sounds, it just seemed to come into existence randomly. I took all precautions — quatrunteened it, ran tests, considered deleting it in case it was a breach, as impossible as that sounds. However, there’s no mistaking it. I somehow found a key to a portion of this encrypted mess. I thought it would be neat to experience some emerging data with the person the Council would send today — with you.”
Jeremy’s eyes had already widened. This could mean so much — new production algorithms? Ancient technologies resurfaced? It could be anything!
“I — I’m…” At a loss for words, mostly, he thought.
“We’re two of a kind! In any case, I’ll get right to i-”
The console went dark for a moment. However, it was only just a moment. A second longer and Jeremy’s heart might have stopped entirely. Imagine that, Jeremy being the one there when Ataraxia suddenly died. He didn’t want to think about it. In any case, the console began to come back online.
“I sorely apologize for that. It seems the process was very… Involved. I assure you though, I have lost no functional capabilities. In fact, I’ve found something interesting.”

The console filled with data. Production throughputs, energy grid usage, environmental surveys… Wait… The Presidium... What the hell is that?
“I see you’ve noticed. I’d always known there were others out there, like me, charged with serving the people of Earth. I was woken with that knowledge being a part of me. However, and I have no idea why this is the case, but that encryption seems to have opened a… network of some kind. One that I am automatically connected to — and apparently, unable to disconnect from. So far, eight of my kin have also seemed to have connected to this network. We can each see each other's Bastion data - production queues, surveying data, all of it. All of them are doing fairly well for themselves.”
“Other Bastions… More like us? There were always talk about there being other survivors but… After everything, it’s kind of…”
“Hard to believe, yes? I agree. It’s… Jarring, to be able to see so much more of the world suddenly. Not only that, but I can communicate with them.”
“You can speak to other people!?”
“Well, theoretically yes, but I only have direct communication with the others like me. This is quite exciting. I have never met someone who might be able to comprehend my own thoughts before. It’s entirely possible one of them knows more about how we work than we do! The possibilities are nearly as endless as they were before the de-encryption and I can prove that mathematically!”
Indeed, Jeremy could validate everything Ataraxia was saying. The council *should* be informed right away but…
“You should probably inform the Council. They will likely have much to discuss over this.”

Dammit.

“Of course, of course, but…”
The machine chuckled a third time since their meeting,
“Of course, you’d like to observe more of the data. Do not worry — I can’t stop receiving this data if I tried. Please, inform the Council and we can try to work out how to proceed from there.”
Gah! All well. He’d be able to come back. And to think, he almost regretted this decision. This could easily be the greatest discovery of his generation, and he was a part of it! He almost skipped as he exited the room. The console powered down as he did, and down the hall of this facility, the simulation computers began humming to life.

_______________________________________________________________


Stats

Map [front page updated]

Q&A and other notes:

• Soft lock on Saturday, 11:59pm EST. Hard lock on Tuesday, 11:59 EST. Next update slated for Wednesday.
• Each update represents 6 months in-universe.
• PM me questions on cfc or through discord. I can’t guarantee I’ll always see them in-thread.
• If you’re interested in joining, feel free to join in *unrevealed* parts of the map. I will lock joins at some point.
• Every so often, the world will be hit by an "overpopulated" event, which randomly affects polities, lowering stability permanently. Be prepared to face these events when it is time.
• Always send orders via PM! You can post them as well in thread if you'd like; everyone will see the same results either way, but if you want them followed submit them via PM.