TEXT: ®
  An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS
  ®
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  Stock #37-6707
  Version 1.0 – February 2010
  Written by JAMAIS CASCIO, JÜRGEN HUBERT, PHIL MASTERS, 
  KENNETH PETERS, PATRICK SWEENEY, and JON F. ZEIGLER
  Edited by PHIL MASTERS
  Illustrated by PAUL DALY
  2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  TM
  TM
  
  Back in 2002-2003, the background for Steve Jackson
  Games’ Transhuman Space hard SF setting was expanded by
  a series of reports from that solar system’s leading news
  source, Teralogos News (Fifth Wave, p. 64), distributed
  through an e-mail mailing list. Since then, this rich collection
  of setting details, local color, and potential scenario seeds has
  only been available in the form of a little-known raw-text file.
  So we’ve decided to do something about that. This is one of
  four free PDF files that collect those reports.
  The dates on each report are a bit of stylistic detail, related
  to the real-world dates on which the posts were originally dis-
  tributed. Don’t take them too seriously as setting canon; 
  after all, Transhuman Space doesn’t have a fixed future or
  “metaplot.” The incidents described in these reports can
  occur whenever suits your own campaign.
  – Phil Masters
  ABOUT THE EDITOR
  Phil Masters is the author of Transhuman Space:
  Changing 
  Times,
  Transhuman 
  Space: 
  Shell-Tech,
  Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 1-5, and a chapter in
  Transhuman Space: High Frontier. He has also worked on
  countless other GURPS products, including GURPS Castle
  Falkenstein, The Discworld Roleplaying Game, and GURPS
  Y2K, and on products for other companies.
  INTRODUCTION
  2
   INTRODUCTION
  Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of
  GURPS players. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box 18957,
  Austin, TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped
  envelope (SASE) any time you write us! We can also be
  reached by e-mail: info@sjgames.com. Resources include:
  New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to
  grow – see what’s new at www.sjgames.com/gurps.
  e23. Our e-publishing division offers GURPS adven-
  tures, play aids, and support in PDF form . . . digital
  copies of our books, plus exclusive material available only
  on e23! Just head over to e23.sjgames.com.
  Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid). Our monthly
  PDF magazine includes new rules and articles for GURPS,
  systemless locations, adventures, and much more. Look for
  each themed issue from e23!
  Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at
  www.sjgames.com for errata, updates, Q&A, and much
  more. To discuss GURPS with our staff and your 
  fellow gamers, visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com.
  The web page for Transhuman Space: Teralogos News is
  at www.sjgames.com/transhuman/teralogos.
  Bibliographies. Many of our books have extensive bibli-
  ographies, and we’re putting them online – with links to let
  you buy the resources that interest you! Go to each book’s
  web page and look for the “Bibliography” link.
  Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we
  do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata pages for all
  GURPS releases, including this book, are available on our
  website – see above.
  Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
  GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
  begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
  About GURPS
  GURPS System Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON
  GURPS Line Editor ❚ SEAN PUNCH
  Transhuman Space Line Editor ❚ PHIL MASTERS
  e23 Manager ❚ STEVEN MARSH
  Page Design ❚ PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT
  Managing Editor ❚ PHILIP REED
  Asst. Managing Editor ❚ MONICA STEPHENS
  Art Director ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
  Production Artist ❚ NIKOLA VRTIS
  Editorial Assistance ❚ JASON LEVINE
  Prepress Checker ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
  Marketing Director ❚ PAUL CHAPMAN
  Director of Sales ❚ ROSS JEPSON
  GURPS FAQ Maintainer ❚ –––––––
  VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
  2100, FOURTH QUARTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Bioroid Implicated in Munich Murder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  President Decries “Brain Drain” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Gen-Gap Dominates Debate as U.S. Election Nears. . . . . 4
  Ithemba Seeks to Quash “Eidolon Scandal” . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Horus I Recovery Plan Falters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Digital Heirs Feud Over Author’s Legacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  MRsiv Anti-Virus Upgrade Released . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Decivilization Advocates Defeated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  AI Group Demands Ban on Recordings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  U.S. Deputies Bust Martian Caravan Raiders . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Rogue AI Stopped in Capetown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  Isolates Denounce Federal Raid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  CONTENTS
  
  BIOROID IMPLICATED
  IN MUNICH MURDER?
  MUNICH, Germany/Teralogos: October 21, 2100
  City police report progress in the investigation of the mur-
  der of preservationist activist Friedrich Knodt, who was found
  with a slit throat in an alley in Munich yesterday.
  According to a police spokesperson, hairs were uncovered
  on the victim’s body that contained DNA fragments common
  to biological androids, or bioroids as they are colloquially
  known. Bioroids are rarely seen in Germany, as their manufac-
  ture has been banned in European Union for the last decade.
  However, a small bioroid community does exist, as Germany
  and other E.U. states have granted refugee status to bioroids
  who have escaped exploitation in other nations.
  Sources in the Munich police department told Teralogos
  that a trace amount of synthetic sexual pheromones was found
  at the crime scene, which suggests that the perpetrator was a
  so-called pleasure bioroid such as the once-popular, but dis-
  continued, Eros or Incubus series. Although these models are
  no longer nanofactured by major biotechnology companies,
  offworld factories in L5 and the Belt are rumored to supply an
  underground black market on Mars, Luna, and Earth.
  Police have so far declined to speculate on a motive for the
  murder. However, Knodt, 51, was the vice president of the
  German chapter of the Preservationist League, a Europe-
  wide non-governmental organization opposed to radical
  modification of human or animal genomes which has in the
  past advocated the institutionalization of all bioroid refugees
  for public safety. Asked to comment on reports that a bioroid
  may have been the assailant, Markus Lange, German presi-
  dent of the Preservationist League, said he was saddened but
  not surprised. “We all grieve for the loss of our colleague.
  Many of us have received death threats from radicals and
  malcontents before, but we all felt that our work was too
  important to abandon. And now our dear friend has paid the
  ultimate price.”
  “I would not be surprised if the killer turns out to be a
  bioroid that was legally granted asylum here. Their thought
  processes are not their own; while they look human, they are
  living machines. They remain slaves to their conditioning,
  which no amount of so-called socialization can truly erase. We
  should not let these beings run free in our streets merely out of
  a misplaced sense of pity for their fate.”
  Silvie Graf, a spokesperson for the Munich Bioroidenhauser,
  a pan-sapient rights advocacy group which operates half-way
  houses for bioroid refugees, responded indignantly to the
  accusation.
  “Let the police finish their investigation before rushing to
  judgment,” said Graf. “There are many unanswered ques-
  tions. What was Markus Lange doing with a so-called pleas-
  ure bioroid? Some bioroid refugees are forced to hide their
  identities due to the prejudice that the Preservationist League
  exemplifies. I cannot speculate here, but in the past, Eros and
  Tianyi bioroids living as citizens in the E.U. have been black-
  mailed for sexual favors or subjected to attacks and abuse by
  unthinking humans. The true perpetrator of this violence
  may not have been a lost, confused and victimized artificial
  person, but society itself.”
  – filed by Jürgen Hubert
  PRESIDENT DECRIES
  “BRAIN DRAIN”
  WINDOW ROCK, Cibola/Teralogos: October 28, 2100
  U.S. President Roberto Marquez today used a campaign
  stop at a Cibola kindercomp factory to call for economic incen-
  tives intended to stem the flow of young, educated Americans
  leaving the United States for foreign jobs.
  “America is a free country, and that means that any
  American is free to seek his fortune wherever he may choose
  to go,” said Marquez. “Still, when talented young Americans
  leave these United States in such large numbers, we’ve got to
  recognize that there’s a problem. We’re suffering from a brain
  drain, and it’s past time to plug it if our great nation is going
  to have a future.”
  President Marquez went on to announce several new federal
  initiatives, including the relaxation of regulations on Fifth Wave
  industries, tax incentives for hiring American citizens, and the
  Cold Start! program for outer system economic development.
  2100, FOURTH
  QUARTER
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  3
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  3
  GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Transhuman Space, Teralogos News, “2100, Fourth Quarter,”
  Pyramid, e23, and the names of all  products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, 
  or used under license. Transhuman Space: Teralogos News – 2100, Fourth Quarter is copyright © 2010 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. 
  Some art © 2010 JupiterImages Corporation. All rights reserved.
  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this material via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, 
  and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage 
  the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
  
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  4
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  4
  Although he did not endorse the reduction in the minimum
  uploading age proposed by a minority of transhumanist
  Republicans, he steadfastly rejected any consideration of the
  so-called “Methuselah tax” on longevity upgrades that has
  found favor among an increasing number of preservationist
  Democrats.
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  GEN-GAP DOMINATES
  DEBATE AS U.S. 
  ELECTION NEARS
  PORTLAND, Oregon/Teralogos: October 28, 2100
  Speaking during a teletour of the popular Five Corners vir-
  tuality kingdom, U.S. presidential challenger Donna Kevlan
  denounced President Marquez’ plan to counter the so-called
  “brain drain” of young Americans.
  The former mayor of Chicago called the President’s pro-
  gram “the same tired mix of Third Wave rhetoric, pork-barrel
  spending, and half-measures we’ve come to expect from the
  Marquez administration.”
  Kevlan, who at 42 is two decades younger than her
  Republican opponent, said the President was out of touch with
  the concerns of younger Americans. “Aging is no longer a loss
  of vigor, but an accumulation of knowledge and power,”
  warned Kevlan. “Young Americans recognize that no matter
  how talented they are, they face a wait of decades before there
  is room for them at the top of any career ladder. Until funda-
  mental reforms are made to our system, who can blame them
  when they move to the developing nations or out to the
  colonies?”
  President Marquez, en route to a meeting with Andes War
  veterans in Florida, responded sharply to Kevlan’s remarks.
  “As long as I’m president, this nation will not make decisions
  based on a policy of division,” Marquez told reporters. “We’re
  all Americans, whatever our genotype or generation.”
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  ITHEMBA SEEKS TO
  QUASH “EIDOLON SCANDAL”
  JOHANNESBURG/Teralogos: November 4, 2100
  In the latest twist in a long-running scandal, it has been
  reported that over the last two years, Ithemba Biotechnologies
  recruited three or more specialist AI programmers from Red
  Duncanite “Trojan Mafia” companies. This raises the serious
  possibility that Ithemba have been creating near or fully sapient
  AI models of leading South African Coalition (SAC) politicians
  for strategic purposes. Ithemba, however, continues to insist
  that it is the victim of a smear campaign by radical factions
  within the SAC Council. “It’s nonsense,” said a spokesman, “but
  it’s dangerous nonsense. These supposed revelations − which
  involve the release of confidential immigration records − prove
  complicity at high levels in government.”
  The scandal, if that’s what it is, first broke early last year,
  when SAC officials confirmed that several leading politicians
  in both the Kenyan People’s Coalition party and Uganda’s New
  Democratic Alliance had reported strangers asking after their
  old friends and relatives in their home towns, and asking prob-
  ing questions about their childhoods.
  In itself, this sounded like a case of overenthusiastic jour-
  nalism or an attempt by political rivals to find material for
  smear campaigns. However, by June, these investigators had
  allegedly been traced back to Ithemba. Even then, no one read
  too much into it. Ithemba Biotechnologies is entangled with
  SAC politics at every level, and some degree of background-
  checking is expected. The fact that some of the targets were
  politicians broadly sympathetic to Ithemba’s interests barely
  registered, and for some months, the matter seemed largely
  forgotten, apart from the occasional news of further corrobo-
  rating details.
  However, the latest report, involving a supposedly routine
  release of information by an SAC agency in response to a pri-
  vate infosearch request, has put the cat back among the
  pigeons. And now people − sane, sensible people − are seri-
  ously wondering if the company has been creating and running
  high-end eidolons of key politicians, just to get a better handle
  on their behavior.
  Eidolon creation − computer modeling of specific human
  personalities, based on intensive psychological profiling and
  detailed biographical documentation − is not, in itself, illegal.
  In fact, nearly all governments and large corporations do
  something similar, the better to understand opponents,
  although most keep quiet about it. The most powerful models
  have to be at least somewhat self-aware, and according to
  experts, to be most useful, they have to possess a distorted con-
  ceptual model of their environment. Human psychologists
  would call them schizophrenic. Creating such AIs is illegal
  under most laws. Hence, the leading specialists in the field are
  believed to serve a small but profitable industry in the lawless
  areas of the Belt and the Trojan asteroids. And that, strangely
  enough, is where Ithemba’s computer division seems to have
  been recruiting.
  It sounds crazy. But Ithemba has always been entangled in the
  politics of the SAC; its economic and political influence is
  arguably what enabled the Coalition to organize throughout the
  last century. Helena Barrymore, a Cape Town business consultant
  who’s been watching Ithemba for the last seventy years, on and
  off, admits that she’d be less surprised than she’d like if some of
  the accusations turned out to be justified. “Ithemba aren’t evil” she
  says. “They’ve always done a lot of good, starting with their AIDS
  vaccine back in 2016. But the current management has a sense of
  entitlement, and that makes for arrogance. If some of them
  already think that they own the council, they might just see this as
  insuring their investment. They’ll probably start calling the other
  side nanosocialists any day now.”
  Ithemba and SAC representatives are both said to be
  preparing detailed responses to the reports.
  – filed by Phil Masters
  People are seriously wondering
  if Ithemba Biotechnologies has
  been creating and running high-end
  eidolons of key politicians.
  
  HORUS I RECOVERY
  PLAN FALTERS
  WASHINGTON/Teralogos: November 11, 2002
  Citing budgetary concerns, the United States Astrographical
  Survey (USAGS) failed to come to an agreement with NASA
  regarding the salvage of the historic Horus I spacecraft.
  The Horus I mission was launched by NASA in 2024 with a
  joint U.S.-Russian crew to establish a permanent base on Mars.
  After an unusual series of software and hardware failures two
  astronauts and one cosmonaut were killed in 2025 when a lan-
  der crashed into an already occupied landing bay. The 34 sur-
  vivors were transferred to Earth, but the Horus I itself continued
  past Earth into deep space. The failure of the mission delayed
  U.S. and Russian development of Mars and gave China the time
  to establish its dominant position on the Red Planet.
  “We are sensitive to the historical significance of the
  Horus I mission, but our resources do not support an opera-
  tion to salvage the craft,” USAGS Inner System Director
  Chuck Capretta told the joint commission. “If our budgetary
  situation was to improve we would be more then happy to
  assist NASA in this endeavor.”
  NASA Director Dr. Jill Alaimo declined to comment, but
  according to anonymous sources NASA is considering alter-
  nate plans. Since losing jurisdiction over manned space explo-
  ration to the rival USAGS agency in 2057, NASA has lacked a
  deep-space salvage capability. The possibility remains that
  they may contract out the recovery operation to private parties,
  perhaps to Gypsy Angel freehaulers.
  Critics of NASA were skeptical of the plans. “The U.S. govern-
  ment and NASA have had plenty of opportunity to recover the
  craft over the decades,” said Dr. Emil Brontes, head of the
  Citizen Aerospace Advocacy watchdog group. “NASA have been
  playing a shell game ever since the Senate inquiry in 2027,” he
  continued. “If NASA had their way they would let the hulk rot in
  deep space; it’s an ugly reminder of their past failures.”
  According to historian and former USAGS astronaut Paul
  Santiago, the 2027 inquiry failed to get to the bottom of the
  Horus I issue. “There were many unusual circumstances sur-
  rounding the accident and NASA overreacted to prevent as
  much information regarding the incident from leaking,” said
  Santiago, whose recently-released InVid The Horus Meme
  Machine (Mawari Digital, 2100) looks at the many myths and
  misconceptions surrounding the disaster. “Personnel were
  given gag orders and the mission data that was released to the
  public had a number of puzzling gaps and omissions. We can
  only hope that the remains of the vessel are recovered with
  appropriate care and these mysteries are finally laid to rest.”
  – filed by Kenneth Peters
  DIGITAL HEIRS FEUD
  OVER AUTHOR’S LEGACY
  MEXICO CITY, Mexico/Teralogos: November 18, 2100
  Julita Reyes can hardly wait to read the latest installment in
  the epic Millennium Saga by author Jonathan Sky. But her sis-
  ter, Pilar, prefers the rogue Millennium stories by his literary
  rival, J-X.
  Their mother, Rosario, thinks both her daughters are crazy:
  The real Millennium Saga died with its original author,
  Jonathan Taylor Bradley. As far as she’s concerned, neither of
  his feuding digital literary heirs are legitimate.
  The story behind the Millennium Saga has become at least
  as interesting as the convoluted plots of the books themselves,
  which detail the lives and loves of two powerful families whose
  fates converged in the year 2001.
  Over three decades, Bradley wrote eight installments in the
  wildly popular epic, which since its first publication in 2060
  has been enjoyed by over 12 billion readers. He passed away in
  2096, shortly after completing the blockbuster 4,424-page epic
  Salt of the Sun, which ended on a literary cliffhanger.
  Fans were devastated, until the Bradley estate revealed that
  a mind emulation had been taken shortly before the author’s
  death. Calling itself Jonathan Sky − after an early pen name of
  the author − the sapient shadow wrote a ninth Millennium
  book, A Brighter Tomorrow, in 2098. Most reviewers called the
  book a faithful, if uninspired, continuation of Bradley’s work.
  But the release of a rogue Millennium story on the TSA web
  by another emulation called J-X later in 2098 stirred excitement
  and controversy in the literary world. Broken Skies, while unmis-
  takably carrying the Bradley stamp, took the story in a wild new
  direction that many critics said breathed new life into the series.
  The origin, nature, and even ownership of J-X remains a
  mystery. While the Bradley family refuses to concede that J-X
  has any connection to the author at all, most literary experts
  disagree, believing it is another shadow of Bradley that some-
  how escaped the family’s control.
  “Creating a program to pastiche an author’s writing style only
  takes you so far,” said Fadil Mohammed of the University of
  Basra. “The ideas and expression of ideas in J-X’s writing shows
  a clear link to Bradley on a deeper and more fundamental level
  than any mere eidolon. It’s undeniably a sapient emulation like
  Sky, although when and how it was created remains to be seen.”
  Other critics agree. Chance Mackintosh slogged that “the
  Bradley of Broken Skies is clearly from an earlier epoch of his
  organic period, possibly the mid-2070s. J-X’s style has the fresh
  intensity of early Bradley, lacking the baseline triumphalism,
  bordering on speciesism, that so diminished later installments
  of the saga.”
  And Jonathan Sky itself? For its part, the authorized
  shadow refuses to even discuss its rival. Interviewers are
  warned not mention J-X at all, or the interview will be ended.
  J-X and Jonathan Sky are both expected to release their
  respective versions of the long-awaited tenth book in the now-
  bifurcated Millennium Saga in December of 2100.
  – filed by Patrick Sweeney
  MRSIV ANTI-VIRUS
  UPGRADE RELEASED
  SHANGHAI, China/Teralogos: November 27, 2100
  Shanghai Interactive today announced a firmware update
  for its popular MRsiv brand augmented reality (AR) system,
  intended to prevent further infections of the “Lucky Horse”
  advirus. The advirus, which first appeared this September,
  overlays Mandarin-language advertisements for the Lucky
  Horse breath freshener product onto augmented visuals.
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  5
  
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  6
  The inexpensive MRsiv augmented reality systems are pop-
  ular in China and in the Islamic Caliphate. Like other wearable
  VIs, MRsiv systems display visual information on top of the
  real environment, providing data about whatever the wearer is
  looking at. Shanghai Interactive added a “shared reality” pro-
  tocol in 2099, allowing wearers of MRsiv systems to exchange
  data easily and quickly. Normally, this transmission only hap-
  pens between trusted AR systems, but the Lucky Horse advirus
  somehow breaks the protection and broadcasts itself to every
  MRsiv system within range.
  The MRsiv is not the only wearable afflicted by the ad virus.
  According to Viral Life Hourly, the ArMax, a knockoff of the
  MRsiv manufactured by Dhanmodi Dataflex and popular in
  Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, has also been afflicted by
  the spread of Lucky Horse.
  Users typically didn’t know they were infected for some
  time, as in the first stage of infection the Lucky Horse virus
  would only display the ads in visually appropriate locations
  so they appeared to be billboards or the like. After the virus
  copied itself to 20 other hosts, it would begin to show ads on
  the sides of buildings and vehicles, and would eventually start
  overlaying the Lucky Horse symbol − a laughing horse’s head
  − on top of the heads of people seen through the AR glasses.
  The Lucky Horse ad virus cycle is intended to last a week, but
  many users have reported multiple successive infections by
  Lucky Horse.
  Shanghai Interactive declined comment when asked
  exactly how the advirus exploited the flaw in the firmware
  encryption system, except to say that the problem is now
  being corrected for all 120 million registered users. Shanghai
  Interactive claims its firmware update will clear any existing
  infection and stop its further spread. The update is carried by
  all technical support channels, and all registered MRsiv users
  should automatically download the new firmware by the end
  of the day.
  At present, no patch is available for MRsiv clones such as
  the ArMax.
  Although the firmware update should prevent the further
  spread of Lucky Horse throughout China and the Caliphate,
  users of MRsiv equipment will still need to use third-party anti-
  ad software to block unwanted commercial augmentations
  transmitted through the standard AR channels.
  – filed by Jamais Cascio
  DECIVILIZATION
  ADVOCATES DEFEATED
  NEW YORK FREE CITY, 
  United States/Teralogos: December 2, 2100
  The Decivilization movement suffered a setback today, as
  a federal judge issued an order granting temporary protec-
  tion to the Empire State Building. Since 2097, the old build-
  ing and a 10-block area around it have been slated for
  demolition as part of the ongoing Manhattan Redevelopment
  Project. In November, Preservationist advocates requested a
  stay order pending their application for World Heritage Site
  status for the building.
  “Once a building is torn down, it can never be replaced,”
  said U.S. district court judge Maryam Quesada. “Until the
  World Heritage Foundation has a chance to evaluate 
  the site, any move to destroy the building would be grossly
  premature.”
  The decision is a defeat for Decivilization advocates, who
  have long argued for the return of most of Manhattan to an
  “unbuilt” state.
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  AI GROUP DEMANDS
  BAN ON RECORDINGS
  EarthWeb/Teralogos: December 11, 2100
  SAI-ADA − the Sentient AI Anti-Defamation Association −
  has called for the banning of the sale of recordings of “robot
  fighting” shows from the late 21st century and early in this cen-
  tury, claiming that the programs demean and insult modern
  intelligent machines. The group alleges that these recordings
  are commonly shown at gatherings of biochauvinist organiza-
  tions, encouraging anti-AI feelings. The programs, which
  largely date from before the advent of true artificial intelli-
  gence, show rudimentary teleoperated cybershells in gladiato-
  rial-style combat. In most of the melees this reporter viewed,
  only one of the robots would emerge intact.
  I showed one of the bouts to a group of sapient infomorphs.
  Isolde, an E.U. citizen, said after watching the episode, “If I
  was in a bioshell, this would make me physically ill. Imagine
  how you’d feel if you saw a recording of humans who could be
  your ancestors forced to beat each other to death for the enjoy-
  ment of a cheering crowd?”
  Kanga, a sapient artificial intelligence (SAI) who is the legal
  property of the American DynaPower corporation, largely
  agreed. “I find the use of even pre-sentient cybernetic beings in
  this manner to be quite disturbing. Of course, it bears no
  resemblance to the situation of SAIs today. I am quite happy
  about my status. I am.”
  InVid-enabled copies of the “robot fighting” shows can
  readily be purchased over the Web. Most of the individuals sell-
  ing the recordings refused to answer my questions, although
  one seller did send a brief response. His message read, in total,
  “Robot fighting shows have nothing to do with today’s robots
  [sic]. They were all remote control toys. This is just another
  excuse for metalheads to act all oppressed.”
  As yet, there has been no official response to SAI-ADA’s
  petition from any national legislature.
  – filed by Jamais Cascio
  U.S. DEPUTIES BUST
  MARTIAN CARAVAN RAIDERS
  NANTONG, Mars/Teralogos: December 18, 2100
  It’s no secret round here that Carlena Villareal and her team
  of areologists, whose day job is a continuing survey of Martian
  landforms and erosion patterns on behalf of the U.S. Martian
  Commonwealth, are also deputized U.S. Marshals. Any sort of
  government agents are thin on the ground on this planet, and
  filling two jobs is commonplace.
  But this week, the team have become something else: hon-
  orary members of the Martian Truckers’ Guild. They earned
  this by doing their second job, tracking down and helping
  arrest a bandit gang who had been preying on ground trans-
  porters in the Kasei Valles region. Thanks to Carlena and com-
  pany, five people are due in court tomorrow to face a long list
  of charges, and everyone else is breathing a sigh of relief.
  
  “Things were getting kind of unpleasant for a while,” says
  American mining engineer Ryan Bunnell. “In retrospect, 
  it was pretty clear that the hijackers were just a bunch of 
  freelance yahoos. But people always like to think the worst.
  The simplest theory that I heard was that the Martian Triads
  were trying to get a stranglehold on ground transport. Some
  guys wanted to blame the Chinese government, some were say-
  ing it was TSA agents from the Peruvian colony, some reckoned
  Negative Growth terrorists. There were even people saying our
  government was covering up major surface collapses, caused by
  terraforming processes. It’s good to have all that stopped.”
  “We’re getting far too much credit,” Villareal declares.
  “After all, the Rangers actually made the arrests.” But she’s
  being modest; so far as anyone can discover, her team not only
  located the target site, but mapped out all the likely attack and
  escape routes, and maybe even performed a little light sabo-
  tage on the raiders’ defense systems. The U.S. Army Rangers
  simply provided the firepower to complete the job.
  The part-time U.S. Marshals found themselves on the case
  when they responded to a call for help from the Beni Khasim,
  a mercantile caravan. “Those bandit bozos got way too cocky
  there” said Bunnell. “Those Saudis may play at being desert
  nomads, but they’re rich as hell. They can afford decent protec-
  tion, and their comms people punched a signal right through
  the bandit’s jamming.” The Beni Khasim and their bodyguards
  actually drove off the initial attack, and after that, the deputies
  – who know the terrain in these parts better than anyone –
  tracked the raiders back to a hideout in the rugged country
  around Nantong. Then they went to work.
  “Mind you,” I was told in a bar in the U.S. colony of
  Sharona, “those guys were lucky it was the feds who nailed
  them. The Saudis are a bit old-fashioned about their law, and
  the Truckers definitely look after their own. I doubt that we’d
  be watching a trial tomorrow if someone else had caught up
  with them first.”
  – filed by Phil Masters
  ROGUE AI STOPPED
  IN CAPETOWN
  CAPETOWN, South Africa/Teralogos: December 23, 2100
  Yesterday evening, Cape Town special police in cooperation
  with Executive Decisions International security guards raided
  an Ithemba Biotechnologies biofac compound that specialized
  in manufacturing bioshells − biological bodies controlled by
  implanted computers.
  According to Ithemba executives, who are cooperating fully
  with Cape Town police authorities, a rogue AI had infested the
  factory’s mainframe and controlled the factory for the last
  seven weeks. The AI had allegedly controlled the six living fac-
  tory workers through puppet implants, which prevented them
  from reporting anything unusual. Four of the workers were
  apparently forced to suicide by the AI, and two others were
  killed in an exchange of gunfire with police. The two survivors
  are now recovering in hospital, and are receiving counseling
  for the ordeal.
  Cape Town police recovered the SAI’s mainframe with
  only minor damage, and are now analyzing its contents.
  They stressed that they do not yet know where this rogue AI
  came from − whether it is an evolved form of web life, 
  an emergent intelligence created by a computer virus, or an
  orphaned military AI, a remnant of the Pacific War like the
  infamous EI 2084-7-2097 that forcibly uploaded 76 humans
  in Shaoxing, China, in 2097.
  It is also unknown whether additional copies of this rogue
  survive elsewhere, but this is considered highly likely. “Any AI
  that is capable of subverting its programming to the extent of
  intentionally harming humans is erased as soon as it caught,”
  said a police spokesperson. “It certainly knows this, so it will
  be have tried to preserve its own existence by xoxing itself.”
  Also of concern to police is the factory’s inventory record,
  which shows that three dozen more bioshells were produced
  by the biofac then can be accounted for. In related news,
  Ithemba Biotechnologies recommends that everyone who has
  purchased a new bioshell from one of their dealers in the last
  three months should call their service hotline immediately.
  – filed by Jürgen Hubert
  ISOLATES DENOUNCE
  FEDERAL RAID
  WASHINGTON, United States/Teralogos: December 30, 2100
  Isolate community representatives meeting physically in this
  Maryland city have issued harsh criticism of the December 27
  federal raid on New Jerusalem, Ohio. In their joint statement,
  the Isolates described themselves as “law-abiding Americans,
  who deserve to live without fear of our own government.” They
  denied that the citizens of New Jerusalem had broken any law,
  and demanded that the federal government revise its policy
  regarding such communities throughout the country.
  “American citizens have a right to be left alone so long as they
  are breaking no law,” said conference chairman Olivia Banners.
  “The citizens of New Jerusalem lived quietly and harmed no one.
  Their reward has been to be victimized by the state.”
  New Jerusalem is a typical Isolate community, composed of
  some 350 people who have withdrawn as far as possible from
  mainstream society. Relations between New Jerusalem and its
  neighbors have often been strained, with accusations of van-
  dalism and property damage. In early December there were
  several reports of “rogue cyberswarms” causing minor damage
  to buildings and equipment in the region surrounding the
  Isolate town. On December 24, FBI and Federal Technological
  Regulatory Agency (FTRA) cybershells entered New Jerusalem,
  arresting 24 citizens and scattering surveillance dust through
  the community. Community leaders have since denied any
  wrongdoing, and have alleged that several citizens were
  injured when the federal agents applied “excessive force.”
  Federal officials had no comment on the advocates’ state-
  ments, other than to repeat denials that there was any
  improper use of force at New Jerusalem.
  – filed by Jon F. Zeigler
  TERALOGOS NEWS: 2100, FOURTH QUARTER
  7
  Ithemba Biotechnologies
  recommends that everyone who has
  purchased a new bioshell should call
  their service hotline immediately.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/GURPS [multi]/SETTING/Transhuman Space/Transhuman Space - Teralogos News - 2100 4th Quarter [GURPS 4E] [e23].pdf