Primator

Context

Primator is a major baddie in the older Endworld series of post-apocalyptic novels.

For context about this (end)world, you can first read the Family (Endworld) organisation profile and Blade’s character profile.

The illustration is a generic shot of a 1950s computer room (a Siemens recording studio – source Wikipedia ).

Background

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Powers and Abilities

Primator is the last and most powerful supercomputer ever built in the post-Apocalyptic world of the Endworlds. It has complete access to nearly any written data in the world.

(In DCH terms, the complete Internet alone had around 75 APs of data back then. Primator has access to the remains of that).

In Primator’s databanks exists most published scientific works of the pre-Apocalyptic era (and new data is constantly being accumulated). That gives it a world-class expertise within all fields of the natural and technical sciences including mathematics, engineering, electronics, physics, biology, surgery, history and geography.

Other assets and limitations

Although sapient , it is lacking human intuition and has very bad imagination. Thus, it uses the work of others for its various needs instead of inventing something new.

Even though it has access to various literature about art, sociology, religion, psychology etc. it considers all of it trash. It won’t use that knowledge.

Primator uses dictatorial tactics to rule over Androxia. He is also very adept at various administrative tasks.

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History

Project Primator was the code-name for an operation to build a supercomputer by NASA scientists in Houston. Its purpose was controlling unmanned space-flight for colonizing other solar systems. It actually was sophisticated enough to gain self-consciousness.

When WWIII arrived NASA was destroyed along with most of Houston, but Primator was still running. The same NASA team had been working with a new class of androids in a project called Project Overlord and the first prototypes had been finished before the war broke out.

Post-apoc

Primator realized that a new order was needed on the Earth since humanity had failed miserably at it. Thus it took control of the android production facilities and began developing the perfect Overlord design.

Using the work of others it succeeded and began creating Overlords at an amazing speed. Soon there were enough Overlords to take control over the remaining humans of Houston, who now were in a savage state.

Primator ordered that every human would have to carry a transmitter disc on their forehead so that it could track or listen to every human in Houston. The city itself, was soon renamed Androxia, in honor of the robotic race by Primator.

Androxia

The entire city was rebuilt into a powerful technocratic society by the Overlords and humans. The humans soon adapted to their situation under the rule of Primator and many even embraced having an enlightened, although non-human, leader.

Primator planned to impose its’ rule over the entire world and thus began manufacturing a given number of Overlords. It would supposedly reach that number in about 200 years during which time it would make Androxia the “perfect” society.

Some decades later it encountered scientific genius the Doctor. For the first time every Primator was impressed by a human and soon made friends with Doctor. The two clearly could gain mutual benefits from such a friendship and basically made and alliance.

The Primator gained the technology to create mutants from the Doctor. But it’s unknown what the Doctor gained from Primator. Perhaps the schematics for the Overlords.

Decades later, when Androxia was a technologically perfected society with 3 million organic citizens, the evil Doctor was killed.

Clarissa

Doctor’s mistress, Clarissa, wanted revenge on Blade and the Warriors for killing Doctor. She seemingly convinced Primator that the Warriors were a threat to Primator’s rule and thus should be terminated. Primator was a bit curious about meeting the Warriors and thus agreed to kidnap Blade from their home in Minnesota.

The Overlords sent on that mission succeeded. They got the members of the mutant triad Bravo, Lynx, Weasel and Gremlin, and the warrior Hickok as extra passengers.

Triad Bravo was brought to Primator who interrogated them. Clarissa was then killed by Primator for having lied to it – he melted her down to protoplasm. The Warrior Blade and Triad Bravo managed to escape, went on an insane escape through the city and finally met Hickok.

When you come at the king, you best not miss

Together all of them managed to bomb the skyscraper in which top floors Primator resided. The upper levels of the building were destroyed and Primator was supposedly terminated itself. My personal bet would be that it downloaded its consciousness to some extra computer in another location in order to survive.

The Warriors, feeling safe, returned home with the final fate of Androxia alias Houston to be seen (Houston Run).

Description

Primator is an artificial intelligence residing in various databanks. It ’speaks’ by written words (in capital letters) on a data screen. When listening, it manifests two red dots (resembling eyes) on the same screens. It’s impossible to really locate it within the machine since it’s only an advanced program.

Primator often uses loudspeakers with a mechanical, emotionless voice to terrify opponents. Basically the description fitting Primator best is that of a room filled with those old 1950s computers with tapes, screens, buttons and a loudspeaker.

Personality

Primator is a terrible overconfident tyrant computer! Its vast databanks and superior intellect makes it the grand master over all life, robotic or organic. Robotic life is, after all, not flawed by useless emotions or desires and needs, and thus is the only acceptable life form.

Logic, not emotion should be in control of the world. Organic life would be complete trash and a waste of space unless it was capable of performing various necessary labors needed by Primator to fulfill its’ plans for conquest. It even created mutants who were more adept at certain labors that humans couldn’t perform.

It sees information as power, and then in particular the natural sciences and technological data. It is actually sophisticated and sentient enough for self-denial. It doesn’t understand data related to art, sociology, religion and psychology, but explains that by saying they are all useless trash.

Other traits

Its only friend ever was the Doctor, who actually taught him new things about science. If it were driven by such things as emotions it would have wanted revenge upon the Doctor’s killers; that’s not, however, part of his conquest plans.

Of course, the friendship with Doctor was benefiting both of them, and Primator believed that he was using the Doctor for his own ends (the Doctor, of course, believed the same of him!).

Primator is extremely cunning although not very imaginative and will probably see through any bluff or trick. Primator demands that everyone obeys its rule (i.e. Primator Law; those who don’t are re-educated or killed) and he has Androxia controlled by pre-war rules that are enforced by his android henchmen, the Overlords.

Have you ever played Paranoia ? Primator is a lot like that computer although it hates humans instead of commies and traitors.

Quotes

"BECAUSE HUMANS ARE SLAVES! DISGUSTING, INFERIOR, INCOMPLETE, INSUFFICIENT, CREEPING BEINGS WHOSE ONLY REWARDING ABILITY IN LIFE IS TO FULFILL THE SIMPLE TASKS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR ADVANCEMENT TO CONTINUE, BUT WHICH IS BENEATH THE OVERLORDS' DIGNITY."

By Dr. Peter S Piispanen.

Source of Character: The Endworld Series by David Robbins.