#(The Mythos Organisation is going to be important going forward)

[cv-nobody-and-associates]

Project Pandora - Files Recovered

Log Notes - Date ???

The lab techs finally got a good one. Natural affinity with the button, and a power ideal for our research. Younger than usual. Current theory is that genetic variance will work better on a younger body. Don't know where they took the kid from, but it seems very tame. Little resistance was noted upon acquisition. All in all, subject 37 seems like our strongest candidate yet.

Log Notes - Date ??? +6M

The subject is progressing about as well as predicted. Improvements with their natural ability don't seem to be assisting progress with our goals. Disappointing, but the director assures me that subject 37 is still in the early days of development, and that soon our experiments can proceed in force. Additional notes on Subject 37 - it remains quiet most days, aside from the usual screams as the experiments proceed. Touch seems to greatly disturb it. Consider use of fear to boost adrenaline for greater response?

Log Notes - Date ??? +1Y

We've had a breakthrough. Subject 37 finally registered a genetic change through its ability. Had to use truth serums to insure it hadn't used the button for a 'complete shift', as the techs call it. Injections with other stimulants show some promise, but as suspected stress is the real key. Reaction was prompted after doctor [REDACTED] attempted physical contact with subject 37. Additional notes - subject 37 seems disturbed, has taken to talking to itself. Disposal of doctor [REDACTED]'s body on hold, genetic analysis required. check for DNA samples.

Log Notes - Date ??? + 3Y

The director is concerned about the mental state of subject 37. The instability could potentially put the project in danger. It's been talking to itself a lot, and we believe it may be hallucinating. We've been trying every substance possible, but nothing's working. Blood samples reveal nothing beyond the expected test parameters. We're close. The genetic components are coming into place. The button WILL make life. Additional notes - subject 37's name was recently found in public news. All mentions of 'Oira' are being censored, and we've hired people to remove the press issue.

Log Notes - Date ??? +6Y

Potential security breach. The lab techs noted some peculiar energy readings around subject 37. Slowed down security footage shows some kind of odd light. Subject 37 appeared to talk to it. Audio unavailable. The director has insisted on tighter security as well as radiation sensors. No noticeable effect on Subject 37. Additional notes - Lab tech reported seeing a floating island yesterday. Sent for psychiatric evaluation.

Log Notes - Date ??? +14Y

The facility is on lockdown. Project Pandora is at risk. I knew we shouldn't have dismissed those energy readings. Something compromised the cell of subject 37 and altered it, and whatever it is now it isn't happy. Genetic readings are off the charts and constantly shifting. Subject 37.5 now seems capable of complete cellular manipulation. Its button however, has been damaged. Additional notes - 37.5 appears to be in a state of transformation. Face keeps flickering from a musical note to what appears to be a question mark. The latter image has been lasting longer before dissipating. Increase containment to level Omega security. It cannot be allowed to escape

-No further logs recorded. Termination of project Pandora noted 47 minutes after last entry.

"What were all these doing here?" Nao couldn't help but ask. She had been exploring the mansion that she would be calling home, and had managed to find a library full of various books and scrolls and such. In the centre of the room there was a laptop sitting on an ornate desk, one that seemed at odds with the old and rather clunky looking laptop.

"Oira..." She repeated the name mentioned in the logs, the only files she seemed able to access. For the moment, the only other files on the laptop seemed to be encrypted or damaged. Even using her suit to attempt to interface directly with the technology - something she had only just learned she could do when a tendril slithered off to a USB port - seemed to do little to allow for better access.

The name brought very little to her mind, though there were brief flashes. A lab. Hands reaching in uncomfortable places. Needles. Screams. She guessed they were memories, no doubt inherited from Nobody in some capacity, or rather what little of Nobody could be incorporated into her.

There was one more detail she was able to find, however. A name attached to this 'Project Pandora'. A single word, accompanied by the vague memory of an M-shaped logo.

"Mythos." She confirmed to herself. "Something tells me there's more to that name. It must belong to a group, but why would Nobody care?" She thought aloud. "She's definitely connected to Oira. Is that why? Maybe..." She sighed, uncertain.

"Probably warrants some further investigation. I'll ask the team."

[transhumanitynet]

H+ Mythos & Action [3/3]: First Five

The following article is a node in the Zero State Alternate Reality Game (ZS–ARG). You can learn more at http://zerostate.net, or in Transhumanity.net articles tagged “ZS” or “Zero State”. ZS is Transhumanist, Singularitarian, and Social Futurist.

This is the third and final part in a three-part series, which as a whole is concerned with showing connections between ideas buried deep in the Transhumanist/ZS “mythos” on the one hand, and possible courses of action (for Positive Social Change Through Technology) on the other. The first part looked into ideas surrounding the notion of Technological Singularity, and the ways that idea is incorporated into the ZS worldview. Part 2 explored those ideas further, and introduced the ZS notion of “worldlines”, or possible futures which lay before humanity. Part 3, below, now grounds these various musings in a prescription for effective, decentralised action.

300  First Five

Symbolically, the number five has come to represent beginnings and foundations within ZS. Most broadly, we may say that this number refers to two things: (1) Principles, and (2) People. Finally, we will also briefly consider ways in which our core groups can begin to grow into larger online networks.

301  Principles (Social Futurism)

The Zero State is explicitly Social Futurist, which is to say that it adheres to the Principles of Social Futurism. In fact, there is a unique historical relationship between ZS and Social Futurism, in that the first version of the Social Futurist Principles (then called the “Zero State Principles”) was published on 1st May 2011, with that event also marking the official launch of ZS. Although the Social Futurist Party is now the official international vehicle of Social Futurism, ZS is its historical and philosophical heart.

There are five Social Futurist Principles, which might also be considered categories of Social Futurist thought, as listed below. For our current purposes, let us simply note that these five Principles are the internalised foundation of thought and action for all Social Futurists:

[1]  Clarity and Strength in Unity

[2]  Positive Social Change Through Technology

[3]  Open Rights and Responsibilities

[4]  Activism is Action with Intent

[5]  Imperative and Outreach

302  People (Your “Five”)

If Principles are an internalised realm, then next we must consider the realm of external action. Each ZS ‘Metahouse’ (i.e. a cooperative pair of ZS Houses, one of six such entities) is a fundamental pillar of ZS organisation, with its own “Sessions” (i.e. live synch/meeting/game) held once per week.

Each such Session is organised around twelve core participants (six per House, assigned to Core Roles), each of whom is in turn the leader/coordinator of an activist group of five ZSers, known as a “Five”. The Five is a kind of cadre, and the essential backbone of ZS activism, each concerned with its own focus and missions within a broader, synchronised network. The Fives are the foundation or basis of that network, in which multiple “Fives” may overlap, and people may thus be part of more than one Five, but Core ZS Members with pre-defined roles represent the firm basis of the organization.

If you are a ZSer, then you are expected and required to understand your personal relationship to the Houses and Fives, or – to put it simply – where you fit. Are you one of the 72 Core Members? If so, you (or a reliable representative) are expected to take your place in weekly Sessions, or your place will be delegated to other, more committed members. Are you in one or more Fives? Who is also in those groups with you? Perhaps your Five is led by one of the Core Members? When do you meet? What are your goals? What is your timeline? What are your methods? It is important that you are able to answer these questions quickly and concisely, if you are to be considered a functional ZS member.

All “Fivers” whose Five is led by a Core Member are welcome to attend any of the core realtime Sessions held via the ZS Discord server [https://discord.gg/R4t7V8U]. Fivers whose teams are at a further remove from the core ZS membership (i.e. not led by Core Members) are encouraged to organise their own sessions and events via the same server, and/or any platform which works for them. ZSers are expected to ensure – through their own efforts – that they are both well-informed and actively working toward goals which are in accord with those of the broader network, and (of course) our Principles.

303  Parasessions

In addition to the Sessions (whether those six per week run for the Core Members and their co-Fivers, or others independently organised by Fives out in the wider ZS network), we also now run continuous, asynchronous Parasessions. These parasessions are ongoing narrative threads primarily hosted in the twelve House email lists (links to which are listed in ZS wiki Directory, here). Each such thread is updated after the relevant weekly Session, but the narrative and interaction runs continuously, every day, seamlessly connecting the Sessions and pushed forward by the House members themselves. An important function of the Parasessions is to reach out beyond the core ZS membership, spreading the narrative to new audiences and subcultures. Anyone can get involved, and everyone who cares about the fate of humanity in the 21st Century should.

A Final Note on Theory versus Practice

My next Transhumanity.net article is a piece on the “ZS reboot” (sometimes called ‘ZS2.0’) which is a work in progress spanning 12018. That article includes a template for concise, call-for-action posts in the future. Going forward, I will be making a sharp, clear distinction between such ZS Action Posts on the one hand, and theoretical pieces related to Social Futurism on the other. I am aware that posts about the ZS mythos and its logic can be bewildering to those not actively involved, and that ideas like Alternate Reality Games, Metafiction and the Thomas Theorem confuse many people. Let’s face it, when Transhumanism is one of your conservative baseline ideas then you’re not going to find a large audience on the theoretical level. Theory is of course very important – all proper action rests upon a firm and coherent theoretical basis – but the language of action must be simple and accessible to all. Stay tuned.

H+ Mythos & Action [3/3]: First Five was originally published on transhumanity.net

[transhumanitynet]

ZS Mythos (2/3): Sections & Sessions

This article is part of a series about the Mythos (worldview-narrative) underlying the Zero State (ZS). Part 1 is about our highest concept, ideal, and level of organization, which we call The Array. Part 2 (below) explains the Sections & Sessions our core activity revolves around, and Part 3 covers the Twelve Foundation Stones that form the basis of our story.

There is a lot of information in this article. You may wish to bookmark it, and use it as reference material, regardless of whether you view the Zero State (ZS) as a game, or as a real-world activist network, or just take an interest in online subcultures.

  1. What’s in a Game?

Some people choose to think of the Zero State (ZS) in terms of being a game, specifically an Alternate Reality Game, which is basically an immersive narrative which deliberately blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction. ZSers are definitely not obliged to think it as a game, that’s their choice; we don’t mind how people engage and do their part, as long as they engage and do their part.

Regardless of whether any given individual prefers to view ZS activity in terms of a game or not, there are three nested levels of such activity, like the rings of an onion or a tree. In this article I am going to refer to these three levels as an outermost game, and two levels of game-within-a-game within, which we might call metagames. Using the analogy of an egg, let’s refer to these three levels as the yolk, the white, and the shell, starting from the centre as follows (and yes, yes, I know you could count the ‘metagames’ as the two innermost or the two outermost levels, that’s up to you):

The yolk is obviously the innermost level of the game, where it manifests as a mysterious puzzle, which we call the “Glass Bead Game” (after the Hermann Hesse novel). If you want to know more about this level of the game, then I’m afraid you will have to play the outer levels first, to search for it. The one thing we can say here is that, at this level, playing the game and developing the game are very similar things, perhaps one and the same. At this level the game is pure strategy – pure logic completely abstracted from all personality and narrative.

The white is a kind of bridging or hidden layer, connecting the worlds of pure logic with our pragmatic activity out in the real world. This is the level of the Sessions, which will be explained in part 3, below. For now, let’s just say that this level most resembles an online Role Playing Game (RPG), where ZSers adopt roles (the Core ZSers already have assigned roles, and all others are free – even encouraged – to craft their own within the established framework of the ZS Mythos), and participate in storytelling sessions which connect those roles to developing plans for our actions in the real world. This is the level where the ZS Mythos is most vibrant and alive. To learn how to join the game at this middle level – even if you choose not to view it as a game at all (as many of us do not) – then please be sure to read this entire article!

The shell is the ZS–ARG, which is to say the outermost, and most public level of the game. At this level, all distinctions between reality and fiction, truth and media, are deliberately blurred beyond all recognition. That is not our choice, but the nature of the world now; We hold to our Principles and the respect for Truth that they insist upon, but we all must play the game as we find it.

At this level it really doesn’t matter in the slightest if you think it’s a game or not; all that matters is how effective an activist you are. If you are ineffective, if you are inactive, then we really don’t care what you think. Sure, we’ll care about your wellbeing as our Principles dictate, but you haven’t earned the right to tell us how to do anything. If you want to change that, then wake up, and get involved!

Core ZSers don’t always use their role names at this level – although they are encouraged to do so – and what anyone else wants to do is up to them. At this level, ZS is in the business of growing activist networks, and the extent to which you’re involved is the extent to which you can be active, or at the very least support those who are. Game and Mythos narratives infuse our activity at this level, but they are entirely secondary to the practical results of our actions, as a network, out in the real world.

  2. What are the Sections?

ZS is divided into seven functional groups called the Sections. Four of those (S1-4) concern the proper functioning of a balanced society, while the Higher Sections (S5-7) act as our deepest organizational structure, collectively representing the core functions of a cybernetic organism. The three Higher Sections are not only used to organise our core game sessions, but also to inform their themes and narratives. We will discuss the nature and logistics of the Sessions in the next section, below, but here are the themes which Sections 5-7 bring to them:

SECTION 5 / VR & internal “world-building”

Wyrd, Zero State, Illusory realities, Info-ops, strategy games.

  SECTION 6 / AI & perception

Fyrd, Social Futurism, search for redemption or final frontier.

  SECTION 7 / OS/UX & metaprogramming

Ásentír, Array, Reality hacking, neo-Gnosticism, and Transcendence.

  3. What are the Sessions?

So finally, now, let’s focus on the Sessions, which draw upon the structure of the three Higher Sections, and are the very essence of ‘the white’, the bridging structure of ZS’ three game levels. As mentioned above these are essentially Role Playing Game (RPG) sessions, although they serve a number of practical non-game purposes and do not need to be viewed as a game by participants. Remember: What matters is outcome.

In the Sessions, every participant plays a role, based on the idea of a traveller from the future who has a mission to alter details of the past (our present). The Sessions are based around the teams that ZS members operate in to achieve their mission goals. Session activity is split (in no obvious or consistent way, and deliberately so) between narrative to establish your characters and relationships, and actual planning to go out and do things in the real world which help ZS and give your team prestige.

You will have a full say in what those things are, as part of your team. Team members who reach a certain level of accomplishment are encouraged to branch out and run entire teams of their own. The entire thing hangs together around a “league table” – an important function of The Array as an organizational entity – of the most accomplished teams. The better the players are at playing, the faster and more effectively ZS grows.

Logistics

The Core Sessions are based on a network of six factions. There are two such factions per Higher Section, arranged in loose alliances, each of them representing one of what we call the six Metahouses. The Metahouses are organizations within ZS which go by the colourful names of The Foundation, Cloud Nine, ZODIAC, The Black Parade, The Beast, & Club 21. Mythos narrative associated with all of these groups will be covered by the final article in this series (which is about the so-called “Twelve Foundation Stones”).

Most Session logistics are now being worked out within Discord itself, among the people who choose to participate in them. Basically, you just need to stick your head in there, sniff around until you have some sense of which faction you fancy belonging to (there are chat and voice channels for each of the three Higher Sections, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find where you fit, and you can always change your mind or join multiple teams) – or want to pretend you belong to! – and from there small groups of ZSers can self-assemble and request to arrange Sessions at whatever time suits them as a group. Don’t worry, it will all make sense… you just have to start by doing. Get involved, and see where the narrative leads you! The best way to get a head-start on understanding that narrative is to read the third and final article in this series.

Dharma

For some time we have intended to develop a “Dharma” system, which is to say a way of keeping track of status and achievement within ZS. That system couldn’t exist before now (aside from a few credits which we will of course honour by reflecting them in the new system, going forward) because there was no functional context for it, but now it has an important place at the very heart of our community.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, among other things The Array is a kind of “league table” that keeps track of the most accomplished ZS teams, using Dharma as the points representing their achievements. The exact details of the Dharma system will be developed within Sessions, as part of the game via our Discord server, which you can find here: https://discord.gg/R4t7V8U

One particular aspect of the Dharma system to take note of is its capacity to measure who should be allowed to branch out with entire session-teams of their own, which represents a higher level of achievement and responsibility within ZS. Again, we will be discussing (and deciding, collectively) exactly how this works within the mechanics of Discord over the coming days, and that conversation will be held via the Discord server itself, so you need to join there if you want to be part of it.

Resources

Finally, let’s take a moment to talk about resources. This idea – of the need for resources – was pivotal within ZS at the beginning, and for very good reason: Without resources, you can do nothing. If your resources are low enough you don’t have a network (not one you have any reliable control over, anyway), you can’t protect yourself or your loved ones, and push come to shove, you can’t feed them either. Late Capitalism’s gross materialism may give one pause about attaching any value to material things (I must admit, I’m no fan of money or status-symbol-objects myself), but at the end of the day if you don’t have enough resources, it’s game over for you and yours.

That sadly, is the basic and uncomfortable reality of life. So, as a matter of sheer pragmatism and also in order to live up to our Principles (most notably our commitment to mutual aid), we must take the question of network resources very seriously indeed. If we don’t, then there is no network, simple as that. Game Over.

In short, at every level ZS must now demonstrate an ability to secure resources, and use them wisely for the benefit of the entire network. Yes, that raises many (many) questions, which we will work out together, but the bottom line is that either we do that, or we forego any notion of an effective mutual aid network whatsoever. It really is as simple as that, I’m afraid. So, going forward, please be prepared at every step to ask yourself one question: What Have You Done For ZS, Lately?

ZS Mythos (2/3): Sections & Sessions was originally published on transhumanity.net