The Fabric

The Fabric was a simulated, networked environment developed as part of the Consciousness Retention Program (CRP), with the intent of delaying cognitive decoherence for humans or ex-humans over 250 years of age. The Coalition’s Center for Cognitive Security led the project, with several parties contributing to the system; Q Labs for the software platform and neural interface, Sektor Aerospace for the construction and deployment of the space stations; CORE Heavy Industries for the construction of the underground vaults; and Raven on both security and technical fronts, with Black Research handling critical consciousness integration subsystems. The environment hosted SI cores of individuals in massive consciousness vaults each designed to hold hundreds of millions of minds, in orbit or in facilities deep underground. The key idea of the program was to artificially slow cognition by a factor of ten, only running minds for one in every ten seconds, and allow humanity time to develop the technology required to cure decoherence. The simulated environments included 1:1 scanned replicas of various locations throughout the Solar System, including Earth and Mars.

Communication can occur between the real world and the Fabric; however, it is asynchronous due to the duty cycling. It is also possible for one to request their SI core be removed from the vault and placed in a synthetic body to allow for them to rejoin the real world; however, this results in losing one’s slot and returning would mean rejoining the waitlist for decoherence patients if one wanted to later reenter, and it also requires a multi-year recovery period due to the neural reconfiguration required for one to learn how to control a new synthetic body. In theory, SI cores of healthy synths can also be slotted into a Fabric rack to participate in the simulation, but this is rarely performed.