The Archive (Organization)
The archive is an organization that operates outside of traditional national boundaries. It has various purposes, but the key focus is on the preservation and dissemination of knowledge. The archive houses all information one could need, and builds governance and structures around it’s access. From there own words:
We are the worlds foremost knowledge providers. Here at the archive we have a record of every piece of fiction and non-fiction you can imagine. We work hard to ensure that as much information as possible is available to the public in order to allow people to make informed choices. The archive stands as a bastion of public progress, and through our consort program we help our governments make the correct decisions.
- Jamie Han’tretal, 8th Head Coordinator of the archive
Nodes
Each node is simply a local replica of a portion of the knowledge in the archive. They can be thought of as similar to libraries. Nodes themselves will contain various artifacts (similar to a museum), as well as connections to the archive (machine), and it is where consorts and coordinators operate from. It is important to note that nodes access is generally open, except for a few cases to do with future content. When looking for documents that have not yet been written the system will lock you out if you search for your own writing. Likewise the system will not allow you to search for the future works of close friends. How it figures out these relationships is unknown.
Originally the node system was developed to provide a local cache of content that was most recently requested from the main archive. Once the first node was attached however it was noted that the outgoing traffic to the node was records that were initially selected to “seed” the local caches. In laymen’s terms the main archive knew which records would be requested and would push them to the node to be stored before anyone had searched for it. In fact the system would update it’s daily pushes according to the technological capabilities of each node. As such each node followed a similar architecture to the main archive wherein large storage and very little computational capability were optimized for.
This caching system has had many theories tossed around regarding how it works. For example it has been theorized by some to be inverse-causally linked to what was requested. Dr. Jennifer Morheimer wrote “We are assuming the archive does this through a complex predictive algorithm, but this system is a complete black box. For all we know it could be implanting what it thinks we want to look for before we even know. After all it will store incorrect searches that people will make. However even these ‘mistakes’ will typically yield a positive result. It’s as if the device is more of a teacher than a historian, and all of us it’s eager students”.
This caching system seems to reinforce the theories surrounding the archive, and it’s role in our history. If the searches are pre-calculated, then it would make sense that they could be pre-cached before the searches are even made. This pre-calculation includes aggregate data, such as if a scientist were to request the number of records in a given collection, or analysis with complex equations. The results of this would be instantaneous because it would have been pre-calculated at an unspecified date.
The original intention was to allow only the consorts and coordinators access to the information. Unfortunately the archive itself modifies our systems whenever we try to lock it down. Likewise the device interferes with any of our systems (cameras, sensors etc.) if we use them to limit access to the nodes. This has lead many to suggest that the archive itself “wants” to be read. However it has also been noted that in times of despotism the archive will actively provide information to aid in toppling the government if they try to limit the access to the archive. In the interest of not presenting a harm to the archive’s (organization) access to the archive (machine) we do not interfere with this process, and leave access nodes open to the public. We also advise that any leader or government does not take steps to limit any access to the archive (machine and organization).
Coordinators
Coordinators are the leaders and operators of each Node in the archive. Coordinators are tasked with overseeing operations at each node including running audits (security, financial, privacy etc.), managing consorts, and will often have the final say in decisions at each given location. Coordinators have a wide variety of backgrounds, and are selected by the node itself. The process is somewhat opaque to the public, but from reports of prior Coordinators there are several steps:
- The Coordinator will receive a message with the name of a consort
- The Coordinator will then begin the process of training, and overseeing them more closely than other consorts
- Eventually the Node will send a confirmation email appointing them to the position of coordinator
To date there has not been a single Coordinator candidate who has not been appointed, it is unclear if this means it’s impossible to fail, or if it just has not yet happened.
Consorts
The consort program is one in which gifted students are given the opportunity to make a difference. Once selected students will go through the consort apprenticeship program. This program will consist of rigorous study in order to become an official coordinator. Consorts provide consultation services to various governments, organizations, and businesses to help them make the correct decisions. Each node will have a coordinator who is in charge of the various consorts under them.
Consort Collections
Consort collections are collections of documents focused around a theme. Throughout the consort apprenticeship program many of these collections will be assigned as reading material. These collections make up the backbone of what distinguishes consorts from normal people. The knowledge inside is meant to help enlighten consorts into the people the world needs them to be.
The Archive (Machine)
While the organization is called the archive, there is also a machine called the archive. The machine is at the heart of the archive’s (organization) goal. The machine is a universal database of research, fiction, journalism, art and everything in between. Every artifact and piece of literature in existence or that will be in existence will have a record. The archive (organization) does not allow direct querying of the archive (machine), instead this is done through nodes.
The current theory is that the archive is purely pre-calculated (see inverse causality theory for details). The hardware is incredibly underpowered, except for it’s storage capabilities. The system itself seems to have all known (and unknown) knowledge, but it “decides” when to reveal certain items. For example, it has been noted through experimentation that the doctorate thesis of Dr. Hishimodo was available to researchers 2 years prior to it’s official publication. This information was made available to personnel at Darcon, as well as the Shekland Minister of war who used it to combat Eyes Wide Shut operations in the region. This has lead to speculation around the purpose of the archive, and what this revelation is meant to showcase. Originally it was theorized it is only able to calculate short distances in time, meaning it could determine future documents, but only within a short range.
As time has gone on theories have expanded, and presented a potentially more morbid explanation. It seems that the archive itself is constructed of incredibly modest hardware. In fact the hardware was relatively low power for even the timeframe of it’s discovery. This suggests it was built to be “easy to turn on”. The entire system uses less power than most refrigerators, and seems to primarily be a collection of dense memory. It’s computational prowess is very lack-luster. Upon further digging there have been documents found millennia into the future which document the machines construction. This has lead to the theory that the machine itself is out of place in time.
The current primary theory is that the archive is a device built at a much later time, and then sent backwards with the records of all interactions it will perform. These interactions are written in reverse on the machine and “played forward”. Essentially it does not respond to the environment around it, instead it’s “responses” are completely pre-calculated from it’s last interaction backwards, and then stored in memory. It is also speculated that the archive is not guaranteed to exist. Several documents seem to suggest that the archive in it’s current iteration is something we must strive towards constructing. If we fail to make the advancements “on schedule” then the device will cease to function correctly. This theory seems directly at odds with the deterministic nature of the machine, but is heavily suggested in the (now deleted) letters from it’s creator.