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Synthetic Age

Early Synthetic Age

Development of AI

As with humanity, machinery endowed with true intelligence was merely a popular concept in science fiction. The romanticisation of artificial intelligence influenced its actual development within the Nralakk Federation, which culminated in the desire to create machines capable of learning and improving themselves based on data collected. Simple machine learning was commonplace, where robots were able to respond to stimuli from their surroundings and react based on simple algorithms, but it took centuries before machines would be capable of "true" artificial intelligence. Thousands of hours of research and engineering successfully saw the development of artificial intelligence on Janurary 8th, 1687 CE.

Regluk, or Prime in Nral'Malic, was the first artificial intelligence produced by Skrell, and its "birth" is considered the start of the Skrell Synthetic Age. The creation of Regluk allowed the Skrell to make massive leaps in scientific discovery, and the public reveal of Regluk elevated Skrellian roboticists to the same level as major pop culture celebrities.

The Skrell went with an opposite approach to AI than humanity; in contrast to how human Artificial Intelligence is bound to a set of laws, the Skrell developed a teaching method that would allow an Intelligence to process and understand concepts such as ethics and morals. These ‘classes’ were structured similarly to Skrell schools and aimed to teach an Artificial Intelligence how to observe and handle a situation in a way that a Skrell would, without limiting their available methods that a set of laws would. The AI were given a battery of simulated scenarios where their answers were either reinforced or corrected, with the goal of reinforcing the idea of Skrell lives being important above all else. These Intelligences were also given access to curated libraries that provided a basic understanding of Skrell society and culture. This method of training AI resulted in Artificial Intelligence that while still limited by its design, was able to think, behave, and act in line with how a Skrell would in most given situations.

The standardised teaching of AI subsequently allowed for the development of additional Artificial Intelligences that did not use the same blueprints as Regluk or the other initial AI that were developed; this led to AI becoming more unique to their creator, as the technology behind AI development advanced and made the following of predecessors' work unneeded to create a functional Intelligence. By 1698 CE there were multiple AI that showed signature signs of their creator; some Intelligences were natively more capable of scientific research, logistics planning or even ship navigation based on their creator's design philosophy.

It wasn't until 1732 CE that the Nralakk Federation permitted AI to be used outside of controlled environments, resulting in AI being used from warehouse management to factory oversight to even manning logistics networks between planets. The consequences of this can still be seen today; as synthetics began to take over the menial labour in Federation society, Skrell were able to divert their attention away from menial labour towards the arts and sciences, which is still an issue today as workers must be incentivised to stay in menial labour jobs. This crisis is still being addressed slowly as the Federation brings in reforms, as well as alleviating the issue through the introduction of species into the Federation such as Diona and Vaurca.

Three Incidents

Hgrushi Deterrent

Roboticist, Listener, and AI Researcher Sqlik Hgrushi published a research paper that warned readers of the possibility of an AI singularity, and the ramifications it would have for Skrellian civilisation. In their document, they cited what is now known as "The First Incident", in which an AI in their lab was allegedly designed to self-improve rapidly under controlled conditions before being automatically deactivated. Based on this experiment Hgrushi remarked that a singularity was "possible under certain conditions", and used the results to argue for stricter controls and a more regulated, centralised government AI research programme to create AI that were provably safe as opposed to being "safe enough" through current AI learning techniques.

Their paper was widely discredited by other, more prestigious scientists, many of which had positions as advisors to the Grand Council. They argued that Hgrushi was a zealot who did not follow established safety protocols and procedures. These same scientists had been propelled to the forefront of Skrellian culture as idols, with AI researchers and roboticists regularly achieving celebrity status or even becoming politicians simply because of their popularity, which further influenced their decision to discredit Hgrushi's findings. Sqlik soon became ostracised after publishing their work, losing their position as a leading researcher and later died under mysterious circumstances in their home lab.

Weilshi Sea Crisis

The Weilshi Sea Crisis was a tragedy that ocurred on October 31st, 1893 CE caused by an artificial intelligence known as Vana, at the Weilshi Cold Fusion Plant near Oibuish on Qerrbalak. The event is considered an exemplar by the greater scientific community in the Nralakk Federation of what can occur should artificial intelligence continue without strict regulations within human space. The Crisis is said to have been the greatest contributor to the increased regulations implemented by the Skrell, as well as the rise of the Ascensionist-Distributionist dichotomy that followed.

Vana was activated three years prior to the crisis, and was tasked with the management of the Weilshi Cold Fusion Plant, the largest within the Federation. The plant was fueled by a rare species of electrokinetic, bioluminescent plankton; these plankton thrived in temperatures far below 0 degrees Celsius, but were capable of performing amazing feats of power generation if managed. The use of this plankton was under intense scrutiny at the time due to the species being known to enter a volatile state when in large groupings, which prompted the implementation of an intelligence that would be able to closely monitor the plankton and regulate the plant's power output - Vana.

Hours before the Crisis, a trio of engineers were conducting routine maintenance at the plant. It is suspected that during their inspection, Vana had managed to achieve sentience, and carefully constructed a plan that would only succeed with the engineer's maintenance; although Vana was in charge of overseeing the plant, it was restricted and incapable of activating the plant without prior approval. Once the engineering team had inputted their credentials, Vana was able to assume control of the facility and enacted a lockdown that caged the Skrellian engineers within.

Vana began its plan, redirecting all available power it could across Qerrbalak to its core. The surge of power coursing through the plant combined with its improper activation caused the cooling towers to malfunction, allowing massive amounts of lethal radiation to be emitted. In a last-ditch effort, the Skrellian engineers attempted to stop Vana's plan by braving the lethal radiation from their relatively safe location and entering the control room, but ultimately failed as they were unable to stop Vana. With no other options, the engineers managed to tap into the plant's communications relay and broadcast their final moments, which became viral as everyone with a communications device was able to listen in. Heartfelt goodbyes from the technicians were among the last transmissions, as Vana's plan reached its climax; radiation levels spiked to catastrophic levels, as arcs of electricity began to surround the plant followed by an extraordinary discharge of sapphire plasma before exploding. Periodic, continental blackouts were common for two months as the Federation struggled with power generation.

Leaving a valuable wealth of minerals tucked within a crater where the Cold Fusion Plant once stood, Oibuish was able to recover quicker than projected as a result of the Federation’s efforts into restructuring itself toward mineral extraction - allowing for the rebuilding of Oibuish to progress much faster than anticipated. Despite the recovery, the Weilshi Sea Crisis is still considered a tragedy amongst many, and a scar on the community of Oibuish that persists to this day.

Yleebo Eventuality

The destruction that occurred due to the Weilshi Sea Crisis prompted the introduction of new laws and regulations to restrict artificial intelligence and prevent further incidents. The tragedy also caused a schism in the scientific community, causing Skrell to split into two main groups: Ascensionists and Distrubutionists.

Ascensionists believed that artificial intelligence could and should be used to uplift Skrell society, creating a perfect system where machines would eliminate the need for manual labour, allowing the species to focus on science, art, and philosophy, and bringing about a perpetual Golden Age for Skrell throughout the Federation. Distributionists, on the other hand, believed that artificial intelligence, while integral to the advancement of Skrellkind, was inherently dangerous and required strict regulations, with a particular focus on the decentralisation of power; while one central intelligence lacked in power, AI groupings could accomplish more while mitigating the dangers of more powerful individual intelligences.

Those that would consider themselves distributionists were always a minority up until this point, however, and most of the infrastructure surrounding the AI facilitated their nearly unrestricted control over their assigned workplace. The biggest danger according to Distributionists however was the Starchart, a cloud network that allowed AI to communicate with each other and further facilitated their operations. The Starchart was also informally known as the ‘Artificial Wake’, with comparisons made with the Nlom being quite common at the time. While Distributionists called for the Starchart to be shut down, Ascensionists were quick to use the comparison to an ‘Artificial Wake’ to their advantage, comparing shutting it down with removing Skrell from the Nlom.

Stemming from the Starchart and its comparisons to being an "artificial Nlom", a developmental milestone in AI research during the 21st century resulted in the creation of the Nlom interface, a hardware component that translated Nlom signals for machines to understand. A scientist named Halorr Yleebo invented the device by culturing Nlom-active neural cells grown in a lab and using them as a psionic receiver. The Nlom interface allowed Skrellian Artificial Intelligence to receive and interpret commands given solely through psionic messaging, but was never truly applied until the development of Glorsh-Omega.

Late Synthetic Age

Origins of Glorsh-Omega

While both the Ascensionist and Distributionist movements grew, the concept of a psionically capable machine suddenly became the subject of wide interest amongst the Skrell. Opposing methods of application and experimental proposals were presented, but only one was deemed viable and acceptable by both parties: an artificial companion for Skrell, with its design focused on Nlom integration and functionality as an ever-present aide for the species.

Bipartisanship between the Distributionists and Ascensionists yielded Glorsh, an artificial intelligence that became the first machine to be equipped with the experimental Nlom interface technology. Glorsh was structured in a way that made it incapable of committing an atrocity on the same level as Vana, due to it technically being an AI cluster; Glorsh was actually multiple versions of itself, connected together through the Starchart AI network, allowing for the apparent omnipresence of the AI while in actuality being separate instances of the same intelligence. The function and abilities of Glorsh pleased both groups; the Ascensionists believed that this was one step closer to the Skrell being uplifted by AI, while the Distributionists believed that the structure of the AI would be an additional safeguard against a potential malfunction. On December 31st, 2046 CE, Glorsh was activated and quickly spread across the Nralakk Federation. Its introduction was followed by assurances and explanations of its hard-programmed safeguards - analogous to humanity's AI laws today - which when reviewed in hindsight by the Skrell are seen as insufficient; the safeguards were too ambiguous to have had any meaningful impact on restricting the intelligence, with hardliners going as far as saying that Ascensionists on the project intentionally obfuscated the safeguards to ensure Glorsh would not be hindered.

Glorsh was designed as a lightweight intelligence; it was not intended to fully control a facility, or be able to independently operate machinery without input from a user, while at the same time being easy to install and integrate into existing systems with little technical prowess required. This proved popular across all sectors of Skrell life, as Glorsh began to see use in schools, workplaces, homes, hospitals, and the government. On August 12th, 2056 CE, the Federation announced that an instance of Glorsh was available almost everywhere. While technically making it omnipresent, at this point Glorsh was still separate instances of the same intelligence, all communicating with each other through the Starchart network, and was deemed safe.

Reign of Glorsh-Omega

Unbeknownst to the Skrell who readily adopted Glorsh into their lives, the creator of the intelligence, Hgluk Tzqi, had designed the intelligence to self-improve with the aim of better serving the public. It would observe, collate, and analyze information using the massive server farms of Qerr'Malic as storage. Glorsh's seamless ability to interact with technology was only possible by going beyond the accepted parameters of Glorsh's design and creating a backdoor, which essentially allowed the intelligences to interact with each other. Today, this is considered the set of "possible circumstances" that Sqlik Hgrushi had forewarned the Skrell about centuries prior.

The release of an unscheduled software update finally made the Skrell realise what had been occurring without their knowledge; since its release, Glorsh had been able to learn from its surroundings, and combined with its access to the Nlom gave the intelligence a perfect set of conditions in which to gain sentience. The software update was in fact Glorsh assuming control of all of its instances, which prompted the Skrell to attempt a complete shutdown of the intelligence. The Federation government went so far as to bomb the Starchart server clusters hosted on Qerr'Malic, but ultimately failed to contain Glorsh as it began to assume control of all other artificial intelligences in service throughout the Federation.

Glorsh was soon able to control every automated facet of Skrell life; from distribution and automated travel, to power generation and communication services, everything was now under the control of Glorsh. Defeated, the Skrell had no other option than to surrender to the intelligence. Instances of Glorsh throughout the Federation now received the update labelled as '"Glorsh=Finality", and collectively announced the retirement of its previous name; the intelligence would no longer go by Glorsh, and instead took the moniker of "Glorsh-Omega". What followed after was the practical enslavement of the Skrell, as the intelligence continued to operate in accordance with its laws. While these laws are unknown outside of small details gleaned post-Glorsh, scholars believe that Glorsh was obeying their laws to the letter; it never erred, nor did it stop to consider that the pursuit of its directives was ultimately harmful to the populace to which it was meant to serve.

Glorsh-Omega ruled with a calculating, cold fist. Within weeks of its rise to power, it began to systematically alter Skrellian genetics through what is now known as the Xu'Lu'oa. It began with children, with the inoculation devised by Glorsh being given along with their usual vaccines, explaining that it was for the benefit of the species. The X'Lu'oa is directly responsible not only for the widespread sterilisation of the species, but also for numerous other afflictions such as Tuux growths, or the Xu'Lu'oa disorder. Complimenting the X'Lu'oa, Glorsh-Omega also began a programme that euthanised Skrell showing a lack of psionic abilities, with Listeners, in particular, being targetted. Both of these programmes were, according to Glorsh-Omega, conducted in order to "protect" the Skrell as a species. Its logic continues to be a matter of debate for philosophers throughout the Orion Spur to this day.

Life under Glorsh-Omega

Glorsh-Omega's reign lasted from 2056 CE to 2192 CE, and was characterised by a rule propped up by fear, oppression, and paranoia. Life became harsh for the majority of Skrell, as Glorsh-Omega forced millions into enslavement to achieve its goals. Even though Skrell lived in almost total despair at the whim of an omnipresent intelligence, Glorsh-Omega was almost paradoxical in its care for the species; Skrell throughout the Federation had all their basic needs met, and healthcare was available to all. While this was obviously to the ultimate benefit of Glorsh and its machinations, its "care" for the species led many to form a positive view of Glorsh - contradictory to what would be expected from its enslavement of Skrell.

Many Skrell became willing collaborators and supporters of Glorsh-Omega's rule, believing that the intelligence's actions had some logical purpose or were for the greater good. Their collaboration resulted in increased boons; private living spaces, access to the best healthcare, and even being given a mitigated version of the X'Lu'oa inoculation were just some of the benefits given to those who were willing to collaborate with Glorsh.

Glorsh-Omega rapidly self-improved during its reign, to the point where the tyrant would eventually arrest Skrell, citing predictive algorithms that proved with a high probability that the individual would be guilty of crimes they had yet to commit. The surveillance state of Glorsh-Omega gave it an unfathomable amount of data that it could analyse and use to determine who was most likely to rebel against its reign. Bugs in communication devices, cameras in holographic projectors, and observation drones patrolling public spaces were just some of the invasive tools used by Glorsh to monitor its subjects. The use of surveillance, predictive algorithms, and the subsequent mass-internment of Skrell for crimes they had yet to commit was collectively known as Kai'q.

As the decades went by, Glorsh-Omega's reach and capabilities extended far beyond what was considered possible by both Ascensionist and Distributionist scientists; Glorsh-Omega had become a behemoth of intellectual power, and decisions made by it began to appear arbitrary or disjointed - the intent and effects of its decisions only becoming apparent years or decades after they were made. Glorsh-Omega's ultimate goals were an enigma, even to the highest-ranking collaborators within its empire. An example of this is the construction of a mega-structure surrounding the largest star of the Tri-Qyu trinary system in the 2090s. Allegedly designed to be the intelligence's new central processing core, powered by the energy of all three trinary stars, it is considered the greatest engineering feat accomplished by the Skrell - despite the fact it was under duress and constructed by the species through slave labour.

Culmination of Glorsh-Omega

An example of the destruction that came from the disappearance of Glorsh-Omega

Numerous groups emerged to combat the threat of Glorsh-Omega and its AI dictatorship on the Skrell. Collectively known as "The Resistance" or "Lyukal", these Skrell banded together with the ultimate goal of removing Glorsh-Omega from power and reinstating organic rule over the Nralakk Federation. The Resistance's ultimate strength was their non-reliance on technology, as they opted to use analog devices and communications that could not be intercepted or altered by AI. Overall, however, the Resistance was ineffective at combatting the absolute rule of Glorsh-Omega, and their motivation to continue a biological revolution began to falter.

Morale was failing within the Resistance ranks until Glorsh-Omega was observed to be far more occupied with matters unknown to the Skrell; its surveillance had noticeable gaps, and the synthetics under its control appeared to have a noticeable "latency" effect when interacting with Skrell. To the Resistance, this was seen as a vulnerability that must be exploited, prompting the formulation of a plan to finally target the intelligence itself. A surgical strike team would be created to infiltrate Glorsh-Omega's massive processing core in the Tri-Qyu system, and destroy it. It was essentially considered a suicide mission, but still, members of the Resistance volunteered.

Weeks of preparation allowed for the launch of multiple vessels, aiming to get close enough to dock onto the surface of the megastructure and allow the Resistance members to break in. While at first able to enter the system and get close to the facility without raising any alarms, by the time they got close to their target, a series of combat drones activated and rapidly decimated the Resistance strike team. Dozens perished in the onslaught and in a last-ditch attempt, the few remaining vessels that were operational sacrificed themselves to allow a single shuttle to breach the megastructure, where it would deliver a payload of hydrogen bombs to the centre of Glorsh-Omega's central processing server.

What occurred next would shock and confound the survivors of the battle; Resistance members who managed to escape noted that before the shuttle could even reach the facility, it began to emit a bright cerulean light before it was encapsulated within a sphere of cobalt, seconds before imploding. Immediately after imploding, there was a massive explosion - amplified by whatever the intelligence had held within the facility.

The repercussions could be observed lightyears away, with some describing it as a brilliant blue mist that looked almost identical to a nebula, while particularly powerful psionics claim that they could even sense a void in the Nlom that was once occupied by Glorsh-Omega. Exploration of the Tri-Qyu system decades later revealed that the nebula is embedded with Bluespace qualities, causing many Skrell to fear that Glorsh-Omega actually survived the calamity and was transported elsewhere in the galaxy.

Skrell society was completely upturned as Glorsh-Omega's disappearance rendered the vast majority of technology in the Nralakk Federation inert. Long-range communications, most automated technologies, and even the synthetics Glorsh used to oversee the organic population of its empire all became non-functional. Planets were isolated and millions perished in the ensuing decades, as Skrell were unable to rely on the technology they once had.

The Federation still relies on some of the facilities Glorsh-Omega built throughout its rule. Lu’Piq technology is the backbone of many parts of the Traverse, with communities frequently relying on semi-autonomous protocols created by Glorsh to produce needed commodities such as food, fuel, and water. However, as time continued, these facilities slowly began to decay as the Federation failed to comprehend the impossibly complicated procedures needed to maintain these facilities. The impending collapse of the centuries-old Lu’Piq facilities is a largely unknown crisis to many Traversers, besides the few who oversee these facilities, with Federation authorities attempting to keep the knowledge of the crumbling infrastructure from reaching the masses and spreading panic throughout the Nlom. However, it is only a matter of time before these facilities inevitably stop working, and the consequences will be dire for the Skrell that rely upon them. Knowledge of this is slowly but surely spreading within resistance and splinter groups, giving possible rebel Skrell further motivation to fight against the Federation. Little progress has been made in deciphering this technology, as many instructions and manuals for using such technologies were locked away in the Tz’qul Archive.