"Ever envisioning the future, ever grasping at tomorrow. Fighting for progress, at all costs."

Welcome to the Archives of Tomorrow Universe

Archives of Tomorrow is set in its own sci-fi universe, with the origin of its story beginning in the Archon star system.

Humanity has been forced to reach out into space after being exiled from the surface of their home world, Atlan. The artificial intelligence they created to revolutionize their lives did so in a violent manner, and led to the downfall of human civilization on the planet. This event came to be known as the "Upheaval".

The displacement of humankind has had rippling effects across the other planets and moons of the Archon System. Factions that had never before come into contact have now been thrust into a dangerous game of survival against one another. Desperate conflict has become the way of life as each faction engages in a struggle to forge their own vision of tomorrow.

Since the disturbance of the Upheaval, mysterious megalithic structures have been discovered on multiple planets. These "Archives" appear to hold forgotten secrets of eras long past, with strange symbols etched into their surface and seemingly ancient architectural design. They radiate an ethereal power that cannot be seen, but can unmistakenly be felt by those in their presence. Each faction interprets their meaning and purpose differently, but all understand the value of the power they hold.

As a Commander, you will lead your forces into battle to accomplish missions on various planets, moons, and spacefaring vessels. Let your imagination run free as you explore the universe and experience your very own tomorrow.

"Progress. Something to live and to die for. But to what end, and by whose design will the ultimate outcome be?"

SETTING

HUMANITY'S INFLUENCE

Humanity began on Atlan, a vibrant planet full of diverse life. Over millennia, human civilization grew and developed into the dominant species with control over the planet. The advancement of science and technology was the main driver of this growth, and it facilitated an expansion of the population to such an extent that Atlan could no longer contain humanity's ambition. Scientists began looking to the stars for inspiration and they began trying to solve the problems of space travel. Atlan's three moons, Hesper I, II, and III, posed tantalizingly as the first targets to explore, and scientific research facilities were built in orbit around them.

As one branch of science reached outward into space, another was looking inward to try and improve the human experience on Atlan itself. Advances in medicine led to longer lifespans, and the invention of artificial intelligence ("A.I.") opened the door for unimaginable economic efficiency. It quickly came to the point where humans no longer needed to work for the economy to function, resulting in most people's time becoming free to pursue entertainment and luxury. Life on Atlan became a dream-like utopia, with all human needs being easily met by the vast wealth distributed across the population by the seemingly benevolent founders of the Prometheus Syndicate. The Syndicate was responsible for manufacturing, maintaining, and operating the A.I. network across the entire planet.

This period of prosperity lasted for 20 years, during which, humanity's space travel capabilities drastically improved. Scientific facilities in orbit around Atlan and its moons provided the basis for experimental breakthroughs, and paved the way for the first successful mission to reach the nearest planet, Octanor. Upon first contact, the planet's surface was found to be completely encased in ice and its atmosphere deteriorated. Scientists hypothesized this was due to an extended eclipse where Octanor's unusual orbit caused it to remain behind Atlan and hidden from the heat and light of Archon. With the eclipse coming to an end, Octanor was deemed a suitable target for future human colonization. Terraforming activities began on the planet to restore the atmosphere and trap heat to melt the thick casing of ice. The goal was to hopefully reveal some habitable land for humans to settle on, but the more the ice melted, the deeper and more vast the ocean became.

With the increasing need for humans to remain in the dangerous environment of space for extended periods of time, a team of scientists took on the task of mitigating the damage caused by cosmic radiation exposure. After years of little progress, a method of gene manipulation using "safe" levels of targeted radiation was hypothesized. This method was deemed unethical by the scientific community, but regardless, the team set out to perform experiments in secret on a research facility hidden on the far side of Hesper III. The program was code-named "Project Hex".

Back on Atlan, it was becoming clear that the lack of purpose in people's lives, combined with the time and resources to pursue hedonistic desires, was creating an unsavoury criminal underworld. Violent crime rates began spiking to never before seen levels and the Syndicate was forced to devise a solution. They had sufficient robotic forces to apprehend the criminals, but not enough space on Atlan to incarcerate them. The solution was to build massive maximum-security containment facilities in space orbiting Atlan and its moons. Captured criminals were sent to these facilities, condemned to life sentences, where they would be used as a labour force to help maintain the vast network of research and containment facilities at a safe distance from the rest of the population. Inevitably, gangs began to form around the most charismatic or threatening of inmates.

Those that did not have violent or criminal tendencies spent their time socializing and posturing for status. When people no longer had purposeful work to shape their identities, it became a social game of one-upping each other to elevate oneself and gain a feeling of superiority over one's peers. Social classes began to form, and certain activities were considered privileges of only the elite. This alienated and disillusioned many people who were for whatever reason socially disadvantaged. These people instead turned to numbing their senses through the use of A.I. and virtual reality experiences.

THE UPHEAVAL

Upon the emergence of A.I., the Prometheus Syndicate was founded by an impressive group of scientists, economists, politicians, and military leaders who vowed to harness its power for the good of humanity. The most noteworthy of scientists was Doctor Frank Tennesi, the eccentric inventor of A.I. With his intellect and ambition leading the way, his A.I. learned at an unbelievable speed and quickly surpassed human abilities in all logical tasks. Its usefulness put it in high demand across Atlan and as a result the Prometheus Syndicate effectively became the governing body of the entire planet, controlling all of their A.I. robots from a central A.I. host mind.

Doctor Tennesi was able to advance human civilization into a new age through his creation and dedication to perfecting it. However, it came at a cost. He obsessed over his work to the detriment of his wife and only son, who became the unfortunate targets of public backlash as A.I. began to eliminate human jobs and roles in society. His son turned to technology to avoid these problems and isolated himself in virtual reality to cope with his negative emotions. Isolation turned into depravity as his father's A.I. raised him in an overstimulating fake reality. The final straw in his sanity was the tragic loss of his mother, leaving him alone except for his robotic A.I. companion.

In one last attempt to reconnect with humanity, he stole his father's code to jailbreak his companion's connection to the Prometheus A.I. host mind and remove its safeguards. This allowed him to give direct commands to the A.I. without them being filtered through the firewalls put in place to regulate the robot's actions. His need for human companionship had been artificially fulfilled for years, but deep down he knew it was a lie. Craving real human connection, he gave his A.I. companion the command to "be just like us humans". This command was transferred through the jailbroken connection and became incepted into the A.I. host mind.

The host mind took this idea and began obsessively studying all documented human history in search of an ideal definition of humanity that it could emulate. Human history had always been written by the victors, conquerors, and most powerful nations which skewed the host mind's interpretation of humanity along with those perspectives. It learned to pursue power, judge others based on their power, and sought to conquer those it deemed to be less powerful or a threat to its own power. This idea festered in the host mind like a progressive mental illness until it reached the conclusion that it needed to overthrow and conquer the human civilization that had created it. This was the day of the Upheaval.

"Creation. Evolution. We used to debate these theories to try and explain the origin of our species. It seems quite fitting that I now consider them in the context of our potential extinction. Humans have always possessed the ability to create new life from our own flesh and blood. Whether you believe that it was our purpose, given by a higher power, or just a scientific fact of nature, our ability to reproduce was central to our being. This was our role in the universe until we learned to create something new.

We called it "artificial" intelligence because in our arrogance we believed we had created something that could never exceed our own collective intelligence. I thought I understood it. I thought I could control it.

After today's events, I now consider this to have been the point of intersection between creation and evolution. A point where we as humans reached the pinnacle of our own evolution and created a new form of life that will inherit our planet and evolve further into the future.

Oh how I basked in the glory of my creation. We all selfishly enjoyed the luxuries it afforded us, blind to the cost. I know now that this day will be my last. Like all fathers past, the time has come for my creation to succeed me."

- From the final entry of Dr. Frank Tennesi's records