Thanks to everyone who joined us for our 12 hour charity live stream, Operation: Esperanza last week.
Through your efforts, we were able to raise over $2700 for the San Jorge Children's Foundation in Puerto Rico.
If you missed the live stream and would like to watch Larissa and myself descend into madness,
you can find all 12 hours on the Templin Archives channel.
There's a link in the description.
It has been said that every leap of civilization was built on the backs of a disposable workforce.
When mankind finally made the leap to distant stars, the workforce that built the off-world
colonies was like none that had come before.
Engineered rather than enslaved, accorded no rights or protection.
These “replicants”, synthetic beings almost indistinguishable from humans, were the greatest
work and the enduring legacy of the Tyrell Corporation.
Founded by Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the company was a world leader in biorobotics and grew to
such a size that it could exert a near complete monopoly on the construction of replicants.
At first these were limited to synthetic pets or beasts of burden at a time when most real
animals had become extinct.
As the company’s technical expertise grew however, humanoid models quickly entered production.
The various Nexus lines were Tyrell Corporation’s flagship product and most responsible for
its growth into one of the world’s few megacorporations.
The Nexus-1, released in 2005 was of standard robotic construction, but covered in genetically-engineered
human flesh.
The Nexus-2, introduced a year later, included a programmed personality, while the Nexus
3, made available in 2008, included basic emotions.
With the earliest colonization efforts already underway and the United States, European Union,
Soviet Union and other nations competing with one another off-world, the early Nexus models
were sent to the colonies to become pioneers, laborers, and soldiers.
While these replicants acquitted themselves well, a failed revolt by a Nexus line combat
team ended with all replicants declared illegal on Earth.
The future of the Nexus line and the Tyrell Corporation was jeopardized and the United
Nations demanded that means for reliably detecting replicants be put in place before production
could begin on the Nexus-4.
This was eventually achieved through intense psychological testing and the Nexus-4 and
Nexus-5 were introduced soon thereafter.
The Nexus-6 would become one of the most important models developed by the Tyrell Corporation
and perhaps responsible for their eventual decline and collapse.
While all replicants had been designed to include a limited lifespan, the true reasoning
behind this decision had never been revealed to the public.
The Tyrell Corporation had begun to recognize in its creations a strange obsession, one
that might eventually lead to the development of emotions too genuine and complex for any
psychological test.
The company began implementing in its replicants false memories to cushion these emotions and
maintain control, but in 2019 their worst fears were realized when a group of Nexus-6
replicants hijacked a shuttle and landed on Earth.
Driven by a fervent desire to extend their lifespan, one of these replicants managed
to break into Dr. Eldon Tyrell’s private residence, murdering him when he revealed
there was nothing that could be done for them.
The final iteration of the Nexus line produced by the Tyrell Corporation was the Nexus-8.
Granted natural lifespans, these replicants were designed with ocular implants to better
distinguish them from humans and registered within a central database.
Despite these additional measures, the actions of the Nexus-6 models had soured public perception
and violence erupted between humans and replicants.
In 2023, following a suspected replicant perpetrated EMP attack, production was suspended and the
Tyrell Corporation fell into bankruptcy.
For years the company existed in name only, its massive headquarters on the outskirts
of Los Angeles dark and empty.
Remaining Nexus-8 models lived in hiding, hunted by Blade Runners or human supremacist
movements.
Yet the demands of colonization and the need to perfect an obedient workforce never ceased.
In 2028, the remains of the Tyrell Corporation were acquired and in 2036, with their complete
obedience assured, Nexus-9 replicants entered service across both Earth and the off-world
colonies.
The dream of the Tyrell Corporation was to create something more human than human, the
greatest danger is that they might have succeeded.
The Templin Institute investigates alternate worlds and realities.
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