Sci-Fi Itinere Ad Tenebris

I wanted to start a sci-fi storyline and universe and while wondering how to do so, I decided that the best way would be to see what hardcore sci-fi fans want.

Add "Tenebris" to the thread to show your interest.

I will start writing when we reach 20 different people who have shown their interest
 
I wanted to start a sci-fi storyline and universe and while wondering how to do so, I decided that the best way would be to see what hardcore sci-fi fans want.

Add "Tenebris" to the thread to show your interest.

I will start writing when we reach 20 different people who have shown their interest
Dramatic illumination? I don't follow your question?;) be more specific, elaborate about your subject material then I shall respond....;)
 
Somebody wanted me to tell them my ideas, so here goes:

It's 2263 and the Perennis corporation has cracked the code to immortality. They have created mechanical bodies filled with data chips that transmit the memories and existence of the user throughout the body thousands of times per second. These new bodies are impervious to disease and cannot be killed by gun wounds. The Perennis corporation forsees that immortality cannot be sold, for fear of creating an immortal upper class. They decide to start the Ultimum project.

254 people will be sent in a single ship, known as the Tenebris, to overlook the future of humanity. The captain of the ship is general Jack Harris. As the Tenebris leaves for the stars, the Perennis corporation fades into obscurity, run solely by a chosen few, hiding in the shadows of the universe, calling upon the Tenebris when humanity needs it most.

The story will hopefully be mostly made out of fan ideas, with some of my own sprinkled in as well. However, there are a few rules:
1. No aliens. All life in this universe originates from earth.
2. I want to keep continuity, so I'd like you guys to help me.
Tell me if you guys have any questions.
 
mechanical bodies filled with data chips that transmit the memories and existence of the user throughout the body thousands of times per second
So basically - "Mind Uploading" ?
Are we talking Ilia V'ger probe mechanical?
Are the Ultimums aware they are in a mechanical body?
Are the Ultimums limited to the human shape and function?

Considering the limitations of mechanical over organic, how much of the human mind is in the ultimums?
Without the need to procreate, many things will be different in decision making.
Not only will emotional responses change, it could impact creativity and imagination.
Perennis corporation forsees that immortality
Immortality impacts many different aspects of life.
Part of being human is being mortal.
Since there are no mechanical immortals indigenous to planet Earth, the Ultimums will be 'aliens'.
They will not 'think' like humans, 'act' like humans or have 'commonalities' with humans past their outward appearance.
Plus, being a mechanoid, their body design is not limited to the human form.
Not only could they be designed as any known life form, there could be custom designs determined by function.

Why make them anything individual, why not make their entire ship a composite of systems that are sentient.
Without an organic body, there will be no need for life support or comfort.
There is however, a flaw in your reasoning concerning immortality of a mechanized body using data chips for life essence.
Electromagnetic Pulse
A single EMP blast to the ship will kill every ultimum on board.
The ship could be fitted with shields but that indicates immortality is not true.
Plus, there are natural sources of magnetism and electromagnetic pulses in space.
Then there are computer virus and malware that could infect your ultimums.
Code degradation, fragmentation and capacity overload makes them vulnerable too.

Its the immortality that is the issue.
Without the threat of death, the story will have no risk.
The second issue is that without an organic body, the human mind is no longer a human mind.
People are driven by desires of the flesh. We are geared to sensation and reactive to stimuli...of the flesh.
All our emotional states and reasons for imagination are slanted to optimizing pleasure or dealing out pain.

As far as indestructible qualities of a human body go, nanotechnology using cell repair nanobots would preserve the human mind, sensations and emotions but allow a body to self-repair. Even then, there would be changes in human thought patterns that reflect the new level of physical freedom. Value systems would change, more risks would be taken. However, you would retain your baseline human body and personality.
 
The Perennis corporation
Corporation indicates it is a public entity with shareholders. If PCorp dissappears, shareholders will raise alarm.
Chances are, if the ultimums are a PCorp invention, the R&D is funded by the shareholders and a patent has been at least applied for.
However, if one human based corporation can invent the ultimum technology, what is to stop rival corporations from also developing similar technology. What stops rivals from developing a superior model?
to overlook the future of humanity
Why does humanity's future need overwatch? What qualifies a human construct to determine if the future of humanity is progressing as intended? Even the technology that created the atomic bomb has beneficial applications.
254 people will be sent in a single ship
Why 254? Why not 500? Why not 10? What is so significant that requires 254 people?
Why a single ship? Why not two ships, exactly the same with the same name. Only the entities on each ship know which is which? Why not a fleet of ships? Why not bases and outposts?
Right now, information has already been sent from Earth to space quantumly (its known, real science). Why even have ships? Why not just quantumly communicate the essence directly to strategically placed mechanoids right here on this planet?
captain of the ship is general Jack Harris
Captains are not generals, you are mixing forces. Ships have Admirals and Fleet Admirals.
Why even have a chain of command? How could a chain of command establish authority if all parts of the chain are immortal? You could write the directive to the data chips in each mechanized unit but then again, why have a chain of command?
Tenebris leaves for the stars
So, are we traveling FTL or some other means? Can we reverse course or do we have to slow down, stop and reverse course?
Consider that the closest Star is about four and a half years away at the speed of light. When you say Stars (plural) it indicates more than one star which increases the trip duration significantly.
calling upon the Tenebris when humanity needs it most.
So when Tenebris is called back to Earth because humanity needs it the most, by the time it gets here, whatever reason it was called back from the stars has probably already happened.
 
In case you didn't know (oh boy, here it comes again), there is already a high quality community based science fiction Universe established called The Orion's Arm Project.
You should have a good look around the site to get ideas on how to set your creative project up so it works for many members to participate.
If you go to the credits, you might be able to contact some of the original designers to get some insight on how to get your project started.
 
I like the nanobot idea.

As for why to have the human-esque bodies instead of a fully automated ship, the crew of the ship (not called Ultimums originally but i think I'll use that) was originally human and they have other things to do to pay for repairs, weaponry, etc.

They don't go back to earth when called upon, they go to a different planet, where the Perennis Corp. needs them.

The ship is moving from star to star, planet to planet, in order to fulfill income needs and at times, to decide whether or not a planet needs them.

Because I figure you are going to ask, the way that there are other inhabited planets is terraforming.

I will change General Jack Harris to Admiral as I do see the dilemma with a general leading a starship.

Also, I will look at the Orions arm project
 
Hey, don't get me wrong, I applaud your ambition. It is YOUR creation, I'm just giving you the feedback you asked for on the little info you provided. I'm sure the ideas in your head make more sense but I only have what you wrote to go on.
other things to do to pay for repairs, weaponry, etc.
With nanotech, things can be built at the atomic scale, all you would need is a supply of raw materials that you could mine from any asteroid or comet. No money would be needed, if you needed money for an encounter, you could just make some.
they go to a different planet, where the Perennis Corp. needs them.
So the Tenebris is not the overwatch, Perennis is?
the way that there are other inhabited planets is terraforming
Terraforming is a planet-wide change that takes hundreds of million years to complete. However, with a large enough supply of nanobots it could happen in a relatively short time span because nanotech like that changes atomic structures. The thing is, you would need an very advanced AI to oversee all the obstacles due to the butterfly effect.

For more on nanotechnology and how it might provide benefits to your story have a look at Drexler's Engines of Creation. I have read it a few times and the implications for use in science fiction are astounding. Love the nano spacesuit.
 
As for why to have the human-esque bodies instead of a fully automated ship, the crew of the ship was originally human
They have created mechanical bodies filled with data chips that transmit the memories and existence of the user throughout the body thousands of times per second.
Consider this...

A robot, fully mechanized unit, requires no organic sustenance to function. Think Robby the Robot. It require energy in the form of electricity but has no need for food. It requires no face no reproduction equipment and no creature comforts. It is controlled by programming or remote signals. In this case, it is controlled by the will of the human that is mimicked in the "data chips".

A Cyborg requires organic sustenance to maintain its organic components. Think RoboCop. It also needs energy in the form of electricity but it may or may not have a face or other original organic components.

A mechanical body in entirety is a robot. It may be controlled internally by data chips that function as the essence of the original human but it will lose many of the qualities that make it human. A major component of being human is maintaining our organic bodies.

No need for sleeping quarters because the body won't get fatigued.
No need for food because the body will not burn calories.
No need for clothing or space suits because the body will not need to be protected from the environment, it won't need to breathe, sleep or eat. It won't be able to reproduce so no need for gender.

When you start removing all these needs, the mind will conflict or stagnate.
Just think of your own routine and the things you think about during the day.
How much of that is due to organic needs?

A keyboard and mouse is a method of transitioning your direction to computer language.
If you were mechanical, you would not need a keyboard and mouse to interface with your computer.
You wouldn't need a chair to sit in. You wouldn't need a monitor to look at. Not only would you interface directly with your computer, your computer would directly interface with you.
Plus, with current wifi, you don't even need to be near it.

So, you're on a ship, in space, going to different stars. What are you doing while you're traveling? You don't eat, you don't sleep, you don't have sex. Chances are the technology that makes you work is common enough that the ship doesn't require constant attention or maintenance.
Basically, you just stand (float) around waiting for something to happen.
You might create something that requires maintenance just for something to do.
Maybe start a garden and grow some plants to give to the colonists you visit?

The point is, your human mind is trapped in a machine that requires nothing that you are familiar with.
Even if you want to eat, your machine body will get no pleasure from it because you won't 'feel' full from the food. Even the simulated senses your mind creates will pale in comparison to actually consuming food with your organic body.

BUT...
With an organic body that uses nanobots, you retain all your human senses and can enjoy the food, sleep to recharge and even have sex. Your body just now has the ability to nearly instantaneously regenerate. You don't need to eat as often but you still need to consume materials for the nanobots to atomically rearrange as your body needs.
 
While the idea of nanobots is extremely interesting and insightful, for the purpose of the story, it makes things far too easy for the characters.

As for a machine requiring nothing that you are used to, what things do people do when they're bored? Are those affected by our mortality. Is playing cards tied to us being mortals?

I thought about Perennis Corp. and thought about what if the ship was simply one in a massive group of ships used for transportation across the galaxy. This would require the Tenebris to camouflage itself, in a way, as a transport ship. The ship would need two crews. One for people coming onboard and one for those going offboard in order to drown out suspicions of a crew that never ages.
This would make the Tenebris simply a regular ship besides the secret hidden within.

Terraforming could work due to the immortality of the crew.

Plz tell me if there is anything I missed
 
Somebody wanted me to tell them my ideas, so here goes:

It's 2263 and the Perennis corporation has cracked the code to immortality. They have created mechanical bodies filled with data chips that transmit the memories and existence of the user throughout the body thousands of times per second. These new bodies are impervious to disease and cannot be killed by gun wounds. The Perennis corporation forsees that immortality cannot be sold, for fear of creating an immortal upper class. They decide to start the Ultimum project.

254 people will be sent in a single ship, known as the Tenebris, to overlook the future of humanity. The captain of the ship is general Jack Harris. As the Tenebris leaves for the stars, the Perennis corporation fades into obscurity, run solely by a chosen few, hiding in the shadows of the universe, calling upon the Tenebris when humanity needs it most.

The story will hopefully be mostly made out of fan ideas, with some of my own sprinkled in as well. However, there are a few rules:
1. No aliens. All life in this universe originates from earth.
2. I want to keep continuity, so I'd like you guys to help me.
Tell me if you guys have any questions.
They kind of remind me of Star Trek's Kahn and his people that are also super human. With any space adventure, the characters could bump into many things, dimensions, space oddities, Heck even aliens that are of the same make up as them. Tenebris is Italian for shadows and darkness, so the ship will be easy to imagine, no Close Encounters Ufo here.;) If all life originates from earth, then you need a mars setting, a Jupiter setting, any planet, because the life forms are immortal, so they will not need air, sub zero, and molten magma atomosphers wont have any effect on them. I would like to see inter dimensional creatures mess with them, that would prove interesting.....:cool:
 
Tenebris could be a group of linked ships that function as one ship until an assignment is called or a space battle is waged. Imagine each mechanoid assigned to their own ship but docks as a component of Tenebris. A battle is happening and the enemy ship fires at Tenebris and Tenebris splits apart before the weapon blast reaches it.
During the battle you could have 4 or 5 or 12 or 50 individual ships grouped at the same time because they would be piloted by their own Ultimums, all under the command of Admiral Jack Harris in the command ship.

During normal operation, the Tenebris looks and functions as a single ship commanded by the Admiral. Each Ultimum is responsible for the maintaining and operating their component while docked together but they have access to all the other ships by portal interior passages. That way, if one 'component ship' is damaged or out of service, the Ultimums can group up to make repairs.

Admiral Harris could call the Ultimums together in the command ship for briefings or assignment discussions.

"When we leave orbit, all Ultimums report to Admiral Harris for encounter download and discussion"

"We are approaching planet YAW886c, All Ultimums report to Admiral Harris for planetfall assignments"

"Ultimums 226 thru 254 prepare to undock and reform as an assault group. Specific assault commands from Admiral Harris can be found on channel 54,000. Download and proceed with instructions"

Each component ship has the same functionality but the command ship groups them and assigns Tenebris functions. This results in sensor, thrust, navigation, etc to be multiplied, functioning as a super powerful single unit while docked. When groups of ships are undocked it doesn't affect the Tenebris as a whole as long as the command ship is still docked with at least 50% of the other ships.
Also, the undocked ships can group up for an increase of their smaller functionality. While not as powerful as the Tenebris as a whole, it gives them abilities beyond that of a single ship.
Ten component ships grouped and docked together give that unit a ten-fold increase in all functions, allowing for FTL travel at lower speeds and for shorter distances than the Tenebris.

Tenebris is "Unified" while existing as a single Unit. The act of coming together as a single unit is referred to as "Unifying", A complete Tenebris ship is referred to as "Unified Tenebris".

When Tenebris is incomplete (Ultimums on assignment) it is referred to as "Partial Tenebris".

The Command ship is always referred to as "Admiral Tenebris" or "Harris Tenebris".
Admiral Harris is "Ultimum 1"

Individual Ultimum ships are referred to as Ultimum Tenebris + number of the Ultimum.
Example: "Ultimum Tenebris 168", "Ultimum Tenebris 44", "Ultimum Tenebris 250"

Additionally, Ultimum Tenebris groups are referred to as a "SubTenebris"
SubTenebris groups are designated by their function.

"Scout Tenebris" refers to Ultimum ship groups of 2 to 20 ships
"Assault Tenebris" refers to groupings of 50 or more ships and so on.
"Unified Tenebris" commonly called just "Tenebris" is all 254 ships together as one ship.

Admiral Harris received a PCorp command to send a Scout Tenebris to planet KKV1468g to confirm and resupply the mining colony. Admiral Harris orders 17 Ultimums to undock and reform as a Scout Tenebris.

This is fun...
 
And when the ship breaks apart and lands, the so called pilots can come out in a human-like form to fight any kind of ground battles.

The inter-demensional thing is interesting. I'd just like to try to think of what type of being it should be. Should it be like Little Pete in "Fear" by Michael Grant? Or a biological being that has used technology to travel throughout dimensions?

We could also have a race of possible aliens from billions of light years away that have used teleportation technology to move from galaxy to galaxy.

I'm really liking where this idea is going. I think that one of the most fun things about this is going to be finding powerful match-ups to take on the Tenebris and crew.
 
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Lucas film had Howard the Duck, and these fellows came from another dimension, Overlords if I recall correctly,
299802_full.jpg
Howard and the pretty Lea Thompson were the hero's, the gang stopped an invasion of the critters from another dimension. I Remember Phantasm with the dimension chamber and the critters, two metal poles will transport you somewhere scary...
p2Otherdimension.jpg
3b47b-cm2bcapture2b4.jpg
vlcsnap-2015-05-11-17h46m35s29.png
That might help...
 
As for the interdimensional beings thing, I'd rather go with an enemy more human than those. For example, a spy from another dimension with the ability to teleport. Maybe an interdimensional warlord looking for a new universe to conquer. Something like that.
 
As for the interdimensional beings thing, I'd rather go with an enemy more human than those. For example, a spy from another dimension with the ability to teleport. Maybe an interdimensional warlord looking for a new universe to conquer. Something like that.
So, like humans from a mirror dimension?...Mirinoids?
Miri-Humans
Miri-Ultimums
Miri-Tenebris
Miri-Perennis Corporation
Miri-Earth
That concept could get pretty interesting.
 
I'm really liking where this idea is going. I think that one of the most fun things about this is going to be finding powerful match-ups to take on the Tenebris and crew.

PCorp Directive: ALERT ... Anomaly Signature Detected in Quadrant 226/Nalmanacy System

Admiral Harris Eyes Only: Take Unified Tenebris To Coordinates and Investigate Anomaly Re-post Findings to PCorp ASAP...Highest Priority.

Personal Note from Chancellor W.T. Remus to Jack Harris:
Jack, this anomaly has an exact opposite signature as Tenebris. So much so, I thought it was you but you were having some kind of power fluctuation happening? Thing is, I detected your Tenebris at your present location normally. Be Careful Jack...We haven't been able to figure out what this thing is but it could be as powerful as the Tenebris. You have full authority to act as you determine. Just be careful.
 
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As they approached the anomaly, Admiral Harris turned on the comm, “Identify yourself or face annihilation. You have ten seconds. One… Two… Three…,” the other end picked up, “Four… Five… Six…,”

A sound came from the other end as a vaguely human shape started to form in the video feed, “I… am...,”

“Seven… Eight… Nine…”

The feed cleared and Jack saw a splitting image of himself staring back at him, save for a deep gash clear across the forehead, “You,” A barrage of missiles then shot from the craft ahead of the Tenebris.

“Fire and dissolve!” Jack blared on the alarm. The Tenebris fired a wave of missiles and split into 254 different ships. Only one, Ultimum 174, was hit. The ship was grazed by the explosion and seemed immobilized. “Link up into Quinn formations!” 50 groups of 5 ships and 1 of 4 formed out of their collapsed ship. Jack turned his attention back to the projectiles.

The missiles approached their target. 5km, 4km, 3km, 2km, 1km. The missiles kept going. Not a single one hit its target. But the light from the backs of the missiles revealed the terrible truth.

Admiral Jack Harris was now fighting against an exact copy of the Tenebris. The enemy formed into Sept formations with two groups in Oct formations. The enemy boosted suddenly, in unison, at the tenebris fleet. “Attack!” Jack instructed. The Rammers at the front fired the first volley, and in a single moment, all Hell broke loose...

 
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