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+ | <blockquote>''"Until all of humanity lives free - not just 'free' in the melodrama of liberty and independence - but free from abject suffering and spiteful division and all the seemingly minute things that can make one's life unbearable, then humanity cannot truly live - it can only 'be'."''</blockquote><blockquote>-Joseph Hightower, ''New Age Technocracy''</blockquote> |
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== Introduction == |
== Introduction == |
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| ⚫ | {{InfoboxCharacters|sex = Male|born = June 28th, 1996|place_of_birth = Outside Las Vegas, Nevada, USA|died = November 1st, 2098|burial_site = Hightower's Crypt, New Rome|nationality = American/Frenkish|status = Deceased|species = Human|eye_color = Green|hair_color = Black|ethnicity = Caucasian|types_of_augmentation = |affilation(s) = Fren Corporation (formerly) |
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| − | {{InfoboxCharacters|sex = Male (before 2098) |
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| − | Archaelect (after 2098)|eye_color = Green|hair_color = Black|ethnicity = Caucasian|types_of_augmentation = Mind and consciousness preserved via mainframe|affilation(s) = Fren Corporation (formerly) |
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United States Department of Defense (formerly) |
United States Department of Defense (formerly) |
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| + | New Frenco Empire|occupation(s) = Businessman, Inventor, Writer, Philanthropist, Revolutionary Intellectual, Consul-Chairman (Three Triumvirates)|moral_compass = |notable_allies = |notable_family = Veronique Hightower (wife; d.2048)|notable_friends = |personality = Blunt, Ambitious, Philosophical, Authoritarian, Egotistical, Charismatic|political_orientation = U.S. Progressive Democratic Party (formerly) |
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| − | New Frenco Empire|occupation(s) = Businessman, Inventor, Software Developer, Filmmaker, Astronaut, Philanthropist (all formerly) |
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| + | New Age Technocracy|religious_affilation = Atheist|sexual_orientation = Heterosexual|image1 = [[File:House.jpg|thumb]]|aliases = Kenneth Tandi|academic_level = M.S. University of California - Berkeley}}Joseph Hightower was a notable pre-war businessman and inventor turned criminal/insurgent revolutionary and is widely regarded as (perhaps the main) "founding father" of the [[New Frenco Empire]]. Sitting at the head of the "[[New Roman 12]]" before and shortly after the [[Great War]], he directly influenced the founding ideals and principles of the [[New Roman Revolutionary Republic]], and what would later become the Empire, later serving as Consul-Chairman of the Empire for nearly forty years before his death. He remains one of the most controversial and/or beloved (depending on who you ask) figures in modern history, and his extremely prevalent legacy can be found in every corner of the solar system. |
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| − | Secretive Autocrat, "Protector"|moral_compass = Lawful Neutral|notable_allies = Jane Smyth |
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| − | Derrick Zane |
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| − | Arkady Simonov|notable_family = McKenzy Tandi (daughter)|notable_friends = OTAN (rivals)|personality = Blunt, Ambitious, Philosophical, Authoritarian, Egotistical, Benevolent|political_orientation = U.S. Democratic Party (formerly) |
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| − | New Age Technocracy|religious_affilation = Atheist-Agnostic|sexual_orientation = Heterosexual|image1 = [[File:House.jpg|thumb]]}}Joseph Hightower is the founder (and secretive current ruler) of the [[New Frenco Empire]]. Being perhaps the most prominent private individual in mid-21st century [[United States of America|America]], Hightower used his power and influence to [[Hightower's Rebellion|seize control of the nation]] in the destructive years after the [[World War III|Great War]] and form the New Frenco Empire; a state that would allow him to "protect" humanity. Before this, however, he went on to crack the secrets of [[Optimised Transcendence Acceleration Nexus|digital immortality]] during the [[Dezhnyov Affair]] after [[Echoes of the Prophet|decades of study]]. With his consciousness [[Hightower Mainframe|preserved in the digital realm]], he continues to be an "invisible hand" that guides the Empire and, by extension, the world. Very few know of his existence, and the only Frenkish officials trusted with the knowledge include [[Derrick Zane]], [[McKenzy Tandi]], [[Jane Smyth]] and [[Arkady Simonov]] (though several outsiders, such as [[Elena Trotskaya]], [[Shinji Sakahara]] and OTAN himself are rumored to be aware of his existence). |
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== Background == |
== Background == |
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| − | Born into a modest middle-class Nevada family, Hightower was considered a "prodigy" of sorts from a young age. He |
+ | Born into a modest middle-class Nevada family, Hightower was considered a "prodigy" of sorts from a young age, taking early interest in computers and programming. He reportedly designed his first computer game at age seven (a simple Tetris-like using freeware code) and programmed a simple operating system (based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_95 Windows 95] legacy code) by age twelve. His talents in the Information Technology field were well-recognized during his upbringing, and he graduated as Valedictorian from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Technologies_Academy A-TECH High School] in 2014, and he was given a full scholarship to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. However, he instead opted to attend [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley UC Berkeley ] so he could be closer to home and be among a more "interesting" student body. |
| + | As per his later memoirs, it was his time at the university that instilled within him a strong sense of justice and a vision for ideology, as he was socially active during one of the most divisive periods in U.S political history. He was reportedly involved in some capacity in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Berkeley_protests 2017 riots] (Hightower himself claimed to be a part of the "peaceful crowd", and the intense partisan violence he witnessed stuck with him for the rest of his life). |
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| − | After meeting Harvard Business Alumni [[Matthew Fren]] shortly after his graduation in 2022, Hightower began an IT company in rented office space. By 2025, Fren's marketing talents and Hightower's technical genius had risen the company to new heights, with the [[DataPal System|DataPal Home Operating System]] becoming a household alternative to Microsoft Windows. By 2030, a lucrative contract with the DoD put DataPal as the standard operating system of the U.S. military, and by 2035, the [[Fren Corporation]] was considered a serious competitor to other software giants, such as Microsoft and Apple. By 2045, FrenCo had overtaken it's competition and was the largest private entity in America and the world until the United States government attempted to shut it down and seize it's assets in [[The Great War|October of 2077]]. |
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| + | He graduated near the top of his class with a Master's degree in Sciences in 2020. According to faculty, Hightower was an enthusiastic student, and was of much help in faculty projects, particularly those dealing with the emerging theory of [[Artificial Intelligence]]. |
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| − | While FrenCo prospered, Hightower built up his personal assets as well. From 2035 onward, [[FrenCo Corporate Security]] grew into the largest mercenary army and (eventually) into one of the largest military forces on the planet, even rising to the 16th top military power on the GFP index by 2077. Should his vast wealth and skills as a shrewd negotiator had ever failed him, he was not afraid to bring in the vast martial assets at his disposal. |
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| + | == Government Employee and Whistleblower == |
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| + | Upon graduating from Berkeley, he was hired by the U.S. Department of Defense as a cybersecurity analyst at a time when the nation was extremely vulnerable to foreign interference from rival powers such as [[Russian Federation|Russia]] or [[People's Republic of China|China]], and the government was scooping up as many CompSci experts from colleges as they could to counter the threat. Despite his young age and general lack of experience, he stood out in his department and would eventually earn prominent places in many research committees and focus groups. His time at the DoD was marked with fierce militancy, and he was among those who believed that guarding against cyber threats wasn't enough - any incursions into America's cybersecurity network should be met with full force and retribution. He often said of himself that he was a "soldier without a rifle, fighting a war not a soul will ever write about". |
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| − | Throughout the 2020s, Hightower and Fren built up their assets at an astounding rate. Starting in a rented section of strip mall, it wouldn't be long until Hightower's revolutionary pieces of consumer software (typically firewalls and antivirus software capable of fighting 'next-generation viruses' employed by the blooming cybercriminal syndicates and terrorist organizations) would buy them a state-of-the-art headquarters in downtown Boston in 2025 - during which his famed "DataPal OS" was beginning to take off. It was at this time that Hightower began to fancy himself an inventor, and worked on various projects on the side, including basic [[Artificial Intelligence|artificial intelligence]] entities, [[Pneumatic Transportation|pneumatic transport tubes]], [[Directed Energy Shielding|pulse exhibitors]], perfections on fully-functioning [[Robotics|automatons]], and even designed the first man-portable [[directed energy weapon]]. |
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| + | In 2023, after it was found out that Hightower was part of a secretive cabal that released key documents implicating Russian involvement in elections and for the past six years and had intricate plans for a "counteroffensive" to undermine the Russian oligarchs in the 2024 election, he was among nearly five hundred government employees dismissed, and among forty-seven to be subject to congressional investigation (though was not charged with any crimes). Despite losing his government job, his work was undoubtedly key in exposing mortal weaknesses in the United States' technological security grid, and contributed directly to the fall of the long-running Republican administration in 2024 (which indirectly also destroyed the two party system of the United States, as the ruling Republican and Democratic parties both split apart that election cycle due to the news of foreign interference with the "ruling elite" of both parties). |
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| − | Though he wouldn't be recognized (immediately, at least) for his side-inventions, his "big break" would come with the wide recognition of DataPal OS in 2030, with an unprecedented switch from traditional Microsoft systems to DataPal within the US Department of Defense...making Hightower's product the official standard within the military. With constant funds from the DoD, Fren managed to take the company to new heights, while Hightower continued to make magic. With Hightower under government payroll, the United States had an unmatched dominance in the cyberwarfare arms race, and Hightower's ideas and hands-on approach led to innovations outside his field. Throughout the 2030s, Hightower was "just the man" to rejuvenate technological progress in America - and it had made him a very wealthy, prolific man as well. |
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| + | Though Hightower wasn't the ringleader or even the primary figure behind the cabal (known to the media as the "Watchdogs"), he became famous to the general public for his conduct during the televised congressional hearings, in which he stood "unwavering and fearless" before congressional investigators, freely admitting all he and his accomplices had done (though without directly implicating anyone but himself, perhaps even "overselling" his role in the ordeal) with an almost "eccentric" eloquence. While he was never charged or harmed in any way by the investigation, Hightower had gained a reputation worthy of older whistleblowers, such as Daniel Ellsberg or Edward Snowden. |
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| − | Between 2035 and 2050, Hightower had become the face of a "New Technological Revolution", and hence, possibly the person who defined an age. Although it was Fren who continued to run Hightower's highly-successful business, attention was diverted to the much more charismatic and interesting Hightower. During this period, he became a legendary figure in the public sphere, taking frequent "joyrides" in NASA spacecraft to explore the cosmos for himself, inventing a myriad of devices that captured the minds of the population, taking up the role of a jazz pianist, becoming a respected (in his own right) Hollywood director and (on some occasions, even) actor (producing a handful of important films and recordings for the era - many of which of the two former are cited by the [[Legacyism|Legacyist]] movement, as Hightower's films always seemed to hearken back to Hollywood's "Golden Age" and his music also called back to earlier artists), and all the while, "taking almost every pretty girl in Hollywood as his friend-with-benefits". Paired with his philanthropic nature, this made him an extremely well-liked figure across the globe. |
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| − | Seeking to build on this image, Hightower purchased the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratosphere_Las_Vegas Stratosphere Las Vegas Hotel and Casino] in his native Las Vegas in 2036, moving his personal estate and operations there (where it remained until New Rome would opened in 2056). |
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| + | After his dismissal from the DoD, he signed on with an IT startup with Harvard alumni and wealthy urban agricultural mogul [[Matthew Fren]] and fellow software developer Michael Walterstein in 2025. The startup was mostly intended to be a development giant, putting research into practical applications of AI for the commercial market, which was quickly emerging in technological feasibility for a wider range of applications. Hightower himself had experimented with AI technology (it being his favorite school subject) during his time with the DoD, and tested many applications in the context of cybersecurity. |
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| + | As per Fren's guidance, the "[[Fren Corporation]]" (FrenCo for short) was started in San Jose, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, where Hightower, Walterstein, and the dozens of other contractors picked up would have first exposure to emerging high technology necessary to fuel their endeavours. While Fren was a "trendy" venture capitalist who had already seen great success with vertical agriculture investments and wanted further success in the field of AI, and Walterstein was a veteran in the field interested mainly in making a name for himself, Hightower saw AI's potential as nothing short of "revolutionary" on the global stage, capable of empowering - or destroying - the current geopolitical situation. A definite holdover from his idealistic college years. |
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| − | == Intervention == |
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| − | Despite his immense charisma and charm to the common man, Hightower was also involved in more ambitious pursuits. By 2040, Hightower was the world's first trillionaire, and the wealthiest man in the world by a far margin. It was at this time that Hightower focused on his legacy, and became interested in power. A self-proclaimed liberal centrist, Hightower kept up to 50% of his total wealth in philanthropic pursuits (his favorite charities being ones that gave underprivileged youth the means to pursue higher education, which he often considered the sole key to self-made success). Though he aligned with the U.S. Democratic Party (until the final few years leading up to the Great War, where he started his own [[New Age Technocracy|political movement]]), he held an almost unprecedented control over electioneering, and funded candidates from both parties when it suited him. Whistleblowers or do-gooder government agents often disappeared when they threatened to expose him. |
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| + | By 2030, FrenCo was a household name, primarily due to Hightower. His already public name had garnered great interest in the company, and in 2027, Hightower put his cybersecurity AI theories into practice with FrenCo's pilot product - "Hunter Killer". Hunter Killer was an extremely innovative home software program, tailored for "full optimization and protection" of individual computers. Using practical AI concepts the likes of which were only (barely) available to government institutions, Hunter Killer was marketed as a "smart" antivirus program, that would perform constant manual program sweeps with precision and strength unmatched by any conventional software at the time. Aside from that, it was also well-received for it's "optimization" protocols, making home computers run faster and more efficiently. Technology experts and publications soon considered Hunter Killer "mandatory" for all home and business computers, and a lucrative government contract made Hightower a millionaire. |
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| − | With the outbreak of the [[Resource Wars]] in the late 2040s, Hightower became a much more prolific figure in the world. While most of the elite 1% sought to horde and protect their wealth in the crisis, Hightower instead decided to jump directly into the fire, so to speak. His vast mercenary army was dispatched all across the planet with the intent of aiding the neglected populace. His actions had a profound effect on Americans, where often enough, the private soldiers of FrenSec and Hightower's officials showed more care towards the people than the government. On many occasions, when a local government "got out of line", FrenSec would often be deployed to employ scare tactics and intimidate the officials, with Hightower's bribery of the higher politics ensuring that no action would ever be taken against him. These actions were mostly nonviolent, but with several notable exceptions. |
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| + | Though Hunter Killer was a great success, Hightower continued to invent and innovate. In 2032, FrenCo released its own operating system, "[[DataPal Operating System|DataPal]]", the name in reference to the (at the time) innovative AI at the helm of the system operation. DataPal would prove to be FrenCo (and Hightower's) best seller, and by 2035, almost half of all new personal computers were being shipped with DataPal as the standard OS, easily overtaking Windows and Macintosh. All the while, tech companies and governments across the world were paying FrenCo royalties for AI templates and codes, of which FrenCo held many ironclad patents to. By 2038, FrenCo had become a trillion-dollar company - not-so-coincidentally colliding with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem 2038 Problem], of which FrenCo products were protected against. |
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| − | In 2056, FrenSec received reports of far-rightist militias taking command from the local government in rural parts of the South. Supposedly, these "Patriots" were rounding up intellectuals, political opponents, ethnic undesirables, and individuals of queer sexual or gender orientation, often killing them or locking them up in hellish prisons. One such prison was Jefferson Penitentiary in Alabama. Hearing of this, Hightower dispatched one of his executives to investigate, protected by a small contingent of FrenSec mercs. For this mission in-particular, he chose the son of Syrians from the 2010s refugee crisis, one Sayid Yussif. When Yussif never reported back, Hightower ordered a force of almost ten-thousand strong to "liquidate" the penitentiary. For several months, FrenCo mercenaries fought a brutal siege against the Patriots within. However, after the commanders learned that they were executing prisoners in preparation for a last-ditch offensive, the mercenaries launched a direct assault on the compound, the superior technology and training of the mercs utterly slaughtering the Patriots' resistance. After this, Hightower demanded to see the conditions of the prison, and after travelling down to it, was shocked at what he saw. It was reportedly after reading the suicide note of a transgender girl who was unlawfully held there that he ultimately decided to execute the surviving Patriots in a particularly brutal and public manner. |
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| + | While Fren was soon the wealthiest man in the world, Hightower was a familiar sight in Washington D.C. An outspoken supporter of the Progressive-Democrat party, he became their largest single supporter (as the PDs didn't often accept large donations from corporate interests), and turned up at rallies to drum up support. His peak involvement, however, was the 2036 presidential election, of which millions of Hightower's dollars were poured into the campaign of Vermont governor and former Senator, [[Alexander Winslow]]. Though Winslow was often labeled an "extremist" by the opposing three parties, he had a tremendous populist following and great appeal with youth, the working class, and minorities, making him an easy choice once the voter base could be mobilized. |
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| − | He also engaged in several "private wars" with competing corporations, likely for reasons of control of Earth's respective resources and political favor. After most of the American private sector was under Hightower by the 2050s, those who continued to oppose him, be it from an ideological or business perspective, fell under the thumb of the [[Proch-Tyminski Polyindustrial Firm]] - the last major business conglomerate outside the influence of FrenCo. The Proch family considered Hightower to be a "grave danger" to their secretive, malevolent ideological goals, and sought to remove him from power as soon as they could. Likewise, Hightower saw "no good" in the Proches and refused to attempt his usual means of buying the competition out. |
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| + | The 2036 election, however, caused a serious divide between Fren and Hightower - Winslow was an anti-corporate candidate, and promised a "new age of trustbusting" intent on "reorganizing a rigged economy". Hightower enthusiastically supported these measures, and some rumors indicate he might have even been one of Winslow's confidential inside sources documented in his 2034 book detailing rising income inequality (which by the 2030s had risen to over .50 Gini) and corporate corruption - some of which was directed at FrenCo, which was shaping up to be the largest tech company in the world by the mid-2040s. Fren confronted Hightower and demanded he stop "working against their interests", though Hightower continued - after all, though Fren was the majority shareholder and primary financer, Hightower owned thirty percent of the company and it was undeniable that, as the foremost expert in Artificial Intelligence in the world, he "was FrenCo". |
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| − | These series of small-scale conflicts would eventually see Hightower emerge victorious (due to his extremely organized mercenary armies and influence on the United States government), and the Proch-Tyminski Firm reduced to a mere fraction of it's former power. However, Hightower's victory would ultimately prove short-lived, as the key individuals and assets of the Proch Dynasty would seek shelter in their series of underwater "haven cities" to escape Hightower, eventually forming the [[Nexus of Man]] after the war. |
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| + | Winslow was elected with 56% of the popular vote and carried almost 500 of the 542 electoral votes. This also came with notable majorities in Congress and state governments. Despite rumors, Hightower was not considered for a spot on the Cabinet. However, as a trusted friend of the President, Hightower was often brought in as an advisor and given security clearance fairly deep into the White House. |
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| − | == Becoming An Archaelect == |
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| − | ''Main Article - [[Echoes Of The Prophet]]'' |
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| + | == New Rome and the "Great Dispute" == |
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| − | By the 2040s, Hightower was easily the most prominent private sector individual in the world, with FrenCo well on it's way to overtaking all competition and establishing an unbreakable monopoly on any field it touched, from hotels to spaceship parts. Hightower, always deeply obsessed with his legacy, would never be satisfied, however. With FrenCo spearheading breakthrough technologies left and right, he sought a new path; immortality. In the 2030s, Hightower recruited Doctor [[Charles Simwell]], a young British nanosurgeon considered a "prodigy" in the field due to performing the first ever successful out-of-body preservation of a fully-functioning brain. Simwell, hoping that Hightower would crack the key to immortality for the greater good of mankind, was eagerly involved at first. For the first several years, the two men put their minds to work on developing a method to keep the human brain preserved and in a sentient state. Some progress was made, but Simwell was eventually disillusioned. Due to Hightower's neglect of human life in his pursuits (his experimentation on preservation methods costing hundreds of lives in a twelve year span. Mostly vagrants and the terminally ill, though Hightower's mistress, [[Veronique Lussier]], fell victim as well), Simwell defected from the project, stealing all of the data and utilizing it for his own means in 2049. |
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| − | After learning that Simwell started his own firm, Hightower ordered his mercenaries to recover the data and silence Simwell for good. Though this put him under the eyes of the FBI for a time, he soon got a new lead to continue his project in 2052; Doctor Vitaly Dezhnyov, a high-ranking defector from the Soviet Union who claimed to have worked on "near-mystical properties" at work in the nation. Acting on a hunch, Hightower bribed Dezhnyov's government escort, allowing his mercenaries to kidnap him and bring him directly to his home. Under the threat of violence, Dezhnyov told Hightower of the mysterious ZIS-1 supercomputer and how it was his duty to keep it operational. He informed him that ZIS-1 wasn't a supercomputer at all; it was the long-dead Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, preserved via an extraterrestrial artifact salvaged from Lake Cheko after the Tunguska Event. However, just as Hightower attempted to extract more information, Soviet sleeper agents infiltrated Hightower's home, assassinating Dezhnyov in the process. Hightower would be saved at the last minute by his guards. |
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| + | == The Empire and Later Years == |
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| − | Disregarding the mentions of extraterrestrials and "mystical power", Hightower cared only for the immortality the artifact provided. While brainstorming ideas (blackmail and covert military infiltration all being thrown out the window early), Hightower eventually decided that soft bribery would be his answer. For three years, Hightower waited and waited, until one day, a blueprint from an anonymous source was delivered to his office. The blueprint captured everything about the OTAN complex to the exact detail. Many technologies present were foreign to him, but he was sure he could improvise where needed. However, as he looked over the blueprints, he came under psionic attack from an unknown source; likely OTAN himself. His exceptionally strong-mind eventually repelled it, but the scarring would last for the rest of his existence. In the attack, he caught glimpses of the future. A "dark, hopeless future, surrounded by a [[Great War|ruined landscape]] where [[Mechanocratic Russia|armies of Red]] trampled over everyone and the [[The Nexus of Man|fanatical and insane]] that oppose him in the present would return, an entity of pure evil hell-bent on fulfilling their [[The Global Crusade|doomsday prophecies]]". |
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| + | == Death == |
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| − | This encounter was a total epiphany for Hightower. He still sought the power that OTAN possessed, but instead of merely lusting for the immortality aspect, Hightower hoped to contain the great power, so that he might use it to protect the world, free from the constraints of mortality, morality and ideology. In 2052, he contemplated how he would do this, sensing the impending collapse of civilization in the next few decades. Using his deep insider knowledge, he unsuccessfully negotiated with fellow businessman [[John Blair]] to purchase exclusive rights to his secretive "[[Ardavia|Arcadia Project]]" in Antarctica. He also thought of usurping the United States government, knowing full-well that his mob of bought congressmen and popularity with the common people would keep controversy at a minimum. However, he eventually decided that shaping the USA into an "apocalypse-proof" entity would take far too long, extending well into 2100; well past the projected "doomsday". However, after news spread that a massive, "city-sized" cavern was discovered deep inside the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky, Hightower bribed officials of the National Parks Service for a closer look. True to the news, this newly-discovered cavern was dozens of miles wide, over a thousand feet tall at many sections, and stretched for almost a hundred miles. Using his political connections, Hightower ensured overnight legislation to privatize that area of Mammoth Cave. After it passed, Hightower bought it out immediately and structured it for habitation, spending almost one billion dollars in the process. |
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| − | Hightower announced plans to build a private city in the so-called "Hightower Cavern", though this was merely his secondary objective. In all actuality, he needed a secluded, protected place to build the massive complex needed to store the Archaelect Mainframe. After engineers spent a year analyzing the structural integrity of the city, construction began immediately. Hightower designed the Mainframe himself, and programmed a small army of construction automatons to do the physical work. Using his limited knowledge of architecture, he constructed a massive skyscraper at the center of the cavern to be utilized as the mainframe's cover project. Resembling a massive, gothic pillar, this structure would serve as the city's tallest building and a future seat of government. Construction took just a year to complete, and afterwards, Hightower had all the robots destroyed, so that no one could ever learn of the secrets within. |
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| − | Hightower contemplated moving over to the Mainframe immediately, but ultimately decided against it, as he knew the true nature of it should never be revealed to the populace, and he would be needed to guide the people toward his envisioned tomorrow. |
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| − | == |
+ | == Quotes == |
| + | * ''"We have an abundance of rifles, shielded suits, and men to wield and wear them, yes? Then why do we remain still? Get to work, Julian."''<blockquote>-(Supposedly) Joseph Hightower's nonchalant first words to Chief Provisional Marshal Orwell after being informed of the devastation wrought by the nuclear firestorm of 2054</blockquote> |
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| − | With Imperial Tower and the mainframe within complete, Hightower opened the cavern up to the public in 2056, calling the future city "New Rome" in honor of what it would come to represent. Publicly, New Rome was a private resort, where citizens could live and work as they would in the outside world, but away from all the trouble that plagued the above ground. FrenCo constructed basic housing and business utility, and invited any private firms that wanted to set up shop in New Rome to do so. |
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| − | Hightower is, undebatably, a highly-motivated genius who, in contemporary words, "turned everything he touched into gold". Guided by sheer ambition and a desire to leave a suitable legacy, Hightower chooses his moves extremely carefully, and is a master leader in that regard. He also refuses to back down from any task he sets his sights on, and for that, he was rewarded with the gift of immortality and immense power. Hightower's interests also range widely, and combined with his immense intellect, made him a modern ploymath who specialized in everything from software, weapons, spaceship equipment, robotics, medicine, and artistic pursuits such as filmmaking and music. |
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| − | While many of his motives are of a morally questionable nature, Hightower genuinely seems to have a decent heart, and abhors all manners of "senseless violence and cruelty". In his own account, he saw to the Empire's foundation to "rescue mankind from not just the aftermath of the war, but the previous millennia of ideology-driven backwardness", where he could set the human race on the path he felt was right. He feels no regret for any of his actions. |
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| − | Hightower also has peculiar methods for interacting with people. For one, after his "death" in 2098, he decided to escape the public eye by making his preservation a state secret. He typically spends his days tinkering with new concepts and technologies, keeping watch on the overall state of the world while his closest associates (including his daughter) runs his Empire. Despite the coldness between the states, he maintains a healthy relationship with his chief rival OTAN, whom Hightower considers his only real "friend" in this day and age, often engaging in friendly chess matches - which often sees Hightower the victor. |
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| − | Hightower, as can be expected, is a tad bit arrogant (although he is very aware of this, justifying it with "why should I not be? Are they not aware of who I am?"). However, Hightower speaks in a rational, balanced manner when addressing others. His manner of speaking reflects his educated background, as he sports a rich vocabulary and rarely uses contractions. |
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| − | * His first in-person appearance in either canon is in the [[2151 Hammerfall Games]], when he shows up to diffuse the situation following Tandi's botched assassination attempt of [[Elena Trotskaya|Trotskaya]]. After revitalizing [[Fred Harrigan|Harrigan]] and [[Teleportation|teleporting]] both he and Tandi back home, he took the grievously wounded [[Sonavier Opal]] under his care, fitting her with cybernetic augmentations and a psionic exhibitor in the hopes that she would accept his offer of becoming his personal gun after it became clear Harrigan was more of his daughter's creature than his. |
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| − | * The micro-series, [[Echoes of the Prophet]], revolves around Hightower and his search for immortality and takes the form of a series of audio recordings featuring him and the events surrounding his search. |
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== Trivia == |
== Trivia == |
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| + | * Hightower's appearance and some aspects of his personality stem from Howard Hughes. |
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| − | * The appearance and personality of Joseph Hightower stems from many sources, primarily from real-life business tycoon, aviation engineer and Hollywood playboy Howard Hughes and preserved pre-war mogul/scientist Robert House from the video game ''Fallout: New Vegas. ''Other inspirations include Charles Foster Kane from the 1941 cinematic masterpiece ''Citizen Kane ''(Kane is modeled after 20th century media giant William Randolph Hearst) and Andrew Ryan from the ''Bioshock ''game series. His appearance is derived from Hughes/House. |
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* His birth-date is shared with the individual behind the New Frenco Empire, Frencoverse co-founder and creator of Hightower. |
* His birth-date is shared with the individual behind the New Frenco Empire, Frencoverse co-founder and creator of Hightower. |
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| − | * Based on dialogue with OTAN, he enjoys collecting snowglobes; a trait shared with Robert House. |
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| − | * It is subtly implied that Hightower may have engaged in homosexual activity at least a few times in his life, although all of his notable lovers have been women. |
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| − | * There is a vague implication that Hightower had prior knowledge of the Great War, yet did nothing to stop it (presumably because his plans for the world revolved around it destroying itself). Some evidence even suggests he had a hand in ''starting ''the nuclear exchange. |
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| − | * As seen as he develops in ''Echoes, ''Hightower can be labeled as an interesting inverse to the character Kurtz from the 1899 Novella ''Heart of Darkness. ''Kurtz was a European ivory trader who entered the Congo a righteous man with the best of intentions but was morphed into a corrupted megalomaniac by his surroundings. Hightower, on the other hand, is a businessman living in a dying world who began his rise to power as a cold, cruel, power-hungry individual but slowly becomes more sympathetic and benevolent after slowly realizing the horrors both he and his surroundings have caused. |
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[[Category:Characters]] |
[[Category:Characters]] |
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[[Category:New Frenco Empire]] |
[[Category:New Frenco Empire]] |
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Latest revision as of 08:53, 15 August 2018
"Until all of humanity lives free - not just 'free' in the melodrama of liberty and independence - but free from abject suffering and spiteful division and all the seemingly minute things that can make one's life unbearable, then humanity cannot truly live - it can only 'be'."
-Joseph Hightower, New Age Technocracy
Introduction
Joseph Hightower was a notable pre-war businessman and inventor turned criminal/insurgent revolutionary and is widely regarded as (perhaps the main) "founding father" of the New Frenco Empire. Sitting at the head of the "New Roman 12" before and shortly after the Great War, he directly influenced the founding ideals and principles of the New Roman Revolutionary Republic, and what would later become the Empire, later serving as Consul-Chairman of the Empire for nearly forty years before his death. He remains one of the most controversial and/or beloved (depending on who you ask) figures in modern history, and his extremely prevalent legacy can be found in every corner of the solar system.
Background
Born into a modest middle-class Nevada family, Hightower was considered a "prodigy" of sorts from a young age, taking early interest in computers and programming. He reportedly designed his first computer game at age seven (a simple Tetris-like using freeware code) and programmed a simple operating system (based on Windows 95 legacy code) by age twelve. His talents in the Information Technology field were well-recognized during his upbringing, and he graduated as Valedictorian from A-TECH High School in 2014, and he was given a full scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, he instead opted to attend UC Berkeley so he could be closer to home and be among a more "interesting" student body.
As per his later memoirs, it was his time at the university that instilled within him a strong sense of justice and a vision for ideology, as he was socially active during one of the most divisive periods in U.S political history. He was reportedly involved in some capacity in the 2017 riots (Hightower himself claimed to be a part of the "peaceful crowd", and the intense partisan violence he witnessed stuck with him for the rest of his life).
He graduated near the top of his class with a Master's degree in Sciences in 2020. According to faculty, Hightower was an enthusiastic student, and was of much help in faculty projects, particularly those dealing with the emerging theory of Artificial Intelligence.
Government Employee and Whistleblower
Upon graduating from Berkeley, he was hired by the U.S. Department of Defense as a cybersecurity analyst at a time when the nation was extremely vulnerable to foreign interference from rival powers such as Russia or China, and the government was scooping up as many CompSci experts from colleges as they could to counter the threat. Despite his young age and general lack of experience, he stood out in his department and would eventually earn prominent places in many research committees and focus groups. His time at the DoD was marked with fierce militancy, and he was among those who believed that guarding against cyber threats wasn't enough - any incursions into America's cybersecurity network should be met with full force and retribution. He often said of himself that he was a "soldier without a rifle, fighting a war not a soul will ever write about".
In 2023, after it was found out that Hightower was part of a secretive cabal that released key documents implicating Russian involvement in elections and for the past six years and had intricate plans for a "counteroffensive" to undermine the Russian oligarchs in the 2024 election, he was among nearly five hundred government employees dismissed, and among forty-seven to be subject to congressional investigation (though was not charged with any crimes). Despite losing his government job, his work was undoubtedly key in exposing mortal weaknesses in the United States' technological security grid, and contributed directly to the fall of the long-running Republican administration in 2024 (which indirectly also destroyed the two party system of the United States, as the ruling Republican and Democratic parties both split apart that election cycle due to the news of foreign interference with the "ruling elite" of both parties).
Though Hightower wasn't the ringleader or even the primary figure behind the cabal (known to the media as the "Watchdogs"), he became famous to the general public for his conduct during the televised congressional hearings, in which he stood "unwavering and fearless" before congressional investigators, freely admitting all he and his accomplices had done (though without directly implicating anyone but himself, perhaps even "overselling" his role in the ordeal) with an almost "eccentric" eloquence. While he was never charged or harmed in any way by the investigation, Hightower had gained a reputation worthy of older whistleblowers, such as Daniel Ellsberg or Edward Snowden.
Business Success and Political Influence
After his dismissal from the DoD, he signed on with an IT startup with Harvard alumni and wealthy urban agricultural mogul Matthew Fren and fellow software developer Michael Walterstein in 2025. The startup was mostly intended to be a development giant, putting research into practical applications of AI for the commercial market, which was quickly emerging in technological feasibility for a wider range of applications. Hightower himself had experimented with AI technology (it being his favorite school subject) during his time with the DoD, and tested many applications in the context of cybersecurity.
As per Fren's guidance, the "Fren Corporation" (FrenCo for short) was started in San Jose, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, where Hightower, Walterstein, and the dozens of other contractors picked up would have first exposure to emerging high technology necessary to fuel their endeavours. While Fren was a "trendy" venture capitalist who had already seen great success with vertical agriculture investments and wanted further success in the field of AI, and Walterstein was a veteran in the field interested mainly in making a name for himself, Hightower saw AI's potential as nothing short of "revolutionary" on the global stage, capable of empowering - or destroying - the current geopolitical situation. A definite holdover from his idealistic college years.
By 2030, FrenCo was a household name, primarily due to Hightower. His already public name had garnered great interest in the company, and in 2027, Hightower put his cybersecurity AI theories into practice with FrenCo's pilot product - "Hunter Killer". Hunter Killer was an extremely innovative home software program, tailored for "full optimization and protection" of individual computers. Using practical AI concepts the likes of which were only (barely) available to government institutions, Hunter Killer was marketed as a "smart" antivirus program, that would perform constant manual program sweeps with precision and strength unmatched by any conventional software at the time. Aside from that, it was also well-received for it's "optimization" protocols, making home computers run faster and more efficiently. Technology experts and publications soon considered Hunter Killer "mandatory" for all home and business computers, and a lucrative government contract made Hightower a millionaire.
Though Hunter Killer was a great success, Hightower continued to invent and innovate. In 2032, FrenCo released its own operating system, "DataPal", the name in reference to the (at the time) innovative AI at the helm of the system operation. DataPal would prove to be FrenCo (and Hightower's) best seller, and by 2035, almost half of all new personal computers were being shipped with DataPal as the standard OS, easily overtaking Windows and Macintosh. All the while, tech companies and governments across the world were paying FrenCo royalties for AI templates and codes, of which FrenCo held many ironclad patents to. By 2038, FrenCo had become a trillion-dollar company - not-so-coincidentally colliding with the 2038 Problem, of which FrenCo products were protected against.
While Fren was soon the wealthiest man in the world, Hightower was a familiar sight in Washington D.C. An outspoken supporter of the Progressive-Democrat party, he became their largest single supporter (as the PDs didn't often accept large donations from corporate interests), and turned up at rallies to drum up support. His peak involvement, however, was the 2036 presidential election, of which millions of Hightower's dollars were poured into the campaign of Vermont governor and former Senator, Alexander Winslow. Though Winslow was often labeled an "extremist" by the opposing three parties, he had a tremendous populist following and great appeal with youth, the working class, and minorities, making him an easy choice once the voter base could be mobilized.
The 2036 election, however, caused a serious divide between Fren and Hightower - Winslow was an anti-corporate candidate, and promised a "new age of trustbusting" intent on "reorganizing a rigged economy". Hightower enthusiastically supported these measures, and some rumors indicate he might have even been one of Winslow's confidential inside sources documented in his 2034 book detailing rising income inequality (which by the 2030s had risen to over .50 Gini) and corporate corruption - some of which was directed at FrenCo, which was shaping up to be the largest tech company in the world by the mid-2040s. Fren confronted Hightower and demanded he stop "working against their interests", though Hightower continued - after all, though Fren was the majority shareholder and primary financer, Hightower owned thirty percent of the company and it was undeniable that, as the foremost expert in Artificial Intelligence in the world, he "was FrenCo".
Winslow was elected with 56% of the popular vote and carried almost 500 of the 542 electoral votes. This also came with notable majorities in Congress and state governments. Despite rumors, Hightower was not considered for a spot on the Cabinet. However, as a trusted friend of the President, Hightower was often brought in as an advisor and given security clearance fairly deep into the White House.
New Rome and the "Great Dispute"
The Winter War
The Empire and Later Years
Death
Personality
Notable Appearances
Quotes
- "We have an abundance of rifles, shielded suits, and men to wield and wear them, yes? Then why do we remain still? Get to work, Julian."
-(Supposedly) Joseph Hightower's nonchalant first words to Chief Provisional Marshal Orwell after being informed of the devastation wrought by the nuclear firestorm of 2054
Trivia
- Hightower's appearance and some aspects of his personality stem from Howard Hughes.
- His birth-date is shared with the individual behind the New Frenco Empire, Frencoverse co-founder and creator of Hightower.