Players: Jeff, Robert, and Shuo

After the end of a great war, a civilization concentrated their efforts in advancing their technology to help with global reconstruction. A singular aggregate intelligence was created, but soon turned sentient due to infections of memetic viruses in its central processor. Quickly rendering the individuals that were connected to it catatonic and using the bodies as batteries, the aggregate became self-sustaining but static. No one could disable it but since it didn't seem to be aggressive after the first attack (which was written off as unintentional), no one bothered too much with it either.

Eventually alien contact was made on the planet, and a golden age of cultural and technological exchange ensued between the two civilizations. All through this time, the aggregate had been quietly accumulating more power through assimilating smaller life-forms. When it finally gained enough strength, the aggregate forcefully integrated the now alien-human hybrids into its system.

While the planet's people could not physically destroy the aggregate because it knows everything about their defenses and technology, scientists hoped a new set of memetic viruses might disable it from the inside out. Unfortunately, the viruses only fractured the aggregate's intelligence resulting in three unique personalities whom all agreed to continue the mass absorption of the people even faster than before. The civilization had no choice but to flee to the ancestral alien home world where the aggregate could not reach them. Generations later, armed drones of the individuals return to the planet to attack the aggregate's main energy source (biospheres which harbor the bodies of the assimilated). The aggregate is severely weakened and knowing it cannot survive the energy crisis, the internal intelligence personalities debate the best way to handle the individuals when they eventually come back to reclaim their planet. One wants to consume them, another wants to work together for peace, and the last wants to embrace death. The personality that desires death commits suicide to pursue ultimate knowledge and the rift between the pro-assimilation and pro-peace is never resolved. However, the peaceful part of the aggregate reaches out the the people and hope as well as a new status quo is reached.

It's hard to say for sure if this is a happy ending or not. I would assume the life-form hungry part of the aggregate will eventually attack the people again but since the bookends were "The end of the war" and "The new status quo is reached", that's the happy ending to this chapter of history.

Thanks to Jeff and Robert for a fun game!

EDIT: I got the ending mixed up. All fixed now!

Cool! Those are the events in chronological order, but you do remember what order they got spawned in play? I always find it fascinating to go back and piece together how the players' ideas built on each other and made the history.

From what I remember:
Aggregate intelligence (P)
Abolition (P)
Abolition / Energy crisis (E)
Aggregate intelligence / Memetic Virus (E)
Aggregate intelligence / Memetic Virus / How did the aggregate achieve sentience? (S)
Aliens contact (P)
Aliens contact / Cultural Renaissance (E)
Aliens contact / Life-Extending Technology (E)
Aliens contact / Life-Extending Technology / Why did the people refuse the aliens' life-extending technology? (S)
Flee to alien home world (P)