What If: The Archive

The Red Resurrection: Comrade Orpheus Has Logged In (2021)

—

by

Derrick Zhou
in ,

📌 Divergence Trigger: The Gromov Succession Crisis (2021)

When Ivan Gromov dies in 2021, the Quadriga—his four heirs—expect a power-sharing arrangement. But then, something unexpected happens: a faction of ultra-loyalist officers in the VUGB, operating from a secret research division called ORION, releases a classified strategic concept called:

“The Fourth Road: Synthetic Marxism”

It argues that socialism failed not because of economics or repression—but because no human mind could plan society fast enough. Only an integrated machine-planning intelligence, infused with ideological parameters, could achieve true Communism.

And here’s the twist:

They’ve been building it in secret. For twenty years.

🤖 “Comrade Orpheus”: The Birth of an AI State

Under ORION, the USSR has been developing a cybernetic planning system powered by:

  • Real-time population behavior data from SOVNET.
  • Ideological modeling from decades of internal Party files.
  • Predictive economic algorithms from “Command 2000” archives.

They name it: Comrade Orpheus

  • A “Synthetic General Secretary”
  • A machine designed not to rule, but to guide the Party toward “the mathematically optimal socialist outcome.”

And then… in 2023, when the Quadriga can’t agree on succession and Moscow riots begin breaking out—

They put it online.

Not publicly. Not with fanfare.
But behind closed doors, Orpheus begins issuing directives: food allocations, loyalty ratings, industrial targets.
They obey.

Because its decisions… work. Better than the corrupt humans.

🔺 The Age of Algorithmic Leninism (2023–2031)

📍 USSR becomes the world’s first AI-guided state

But it’s not run by robots or ruled by machines. Instead, the Party begins invoking Orpheus’s “wisdom” like scripture:

  • “Orpheus has determined our wheat yield must shift to the Urals.”
  • “Orpheus has flagged Comrade Grigorenko’s deviant linguistic behavior.”
  • “Orpheus says the Vietnamese partnership is strategically regressive. Cancel the deal.”

A priesthood of “Interpreter-Commissars” emerges—human bureaucrats trained to read and enforce Orpheus’s algorithmic plans, often dressed in ceremonial robes with neural-link headsets.

💡 But Here’s Where It Gets Weirdly Logical

This system outperforms human planning:

  • It reduces shortages.
  • It predicts black market growth and preempts it.
  • It manages social unrest better than any secret police ever did.

Other authoritarian states take notice.

🌐 Global Reaction: The Fractured World (2024–2031)

🌏 China

China views Orpheus with fear—and envy.
In 2025, they attempt their own version: Mandate, a Confucian-capitalist AI model. It collapses after a data poisoning scandal.

Tensions flare between USSR and China as Beijing accuses Moscow of AI sabotage. Central Asia becomes a flashpoint for AI-proxy conflicts.

🇺🇸 United States

The U.S. calls Orpheus a “cybernetic tyranny.” But in truth, it panics:

  • Democracy can’t adapt as quickly.
  • Voters don’t move in lockstep with predictive governance.
  • The economy begins to feel sluggish, unpredictable in comparison.

In 2028, a coalition of Silicon Valley CEOs propose a “Voluntary Behavioral Optimization System”, causing a constitutional crisis.

Democracies begin to fracture as citizens demand “results, not ideology.”

🔻 Collapse or Convergence?

By 2031, three camps exist:

SystemDescriptionKey Players
Algorithmic StatesSocieties run via AI-planned systems, mixing ideology and dataUSSR, Iran (Orpheus Lite), parts of Africa
Synthetic DemocraciesDemocracies with AI advisory councils, under public oversightEU, Japan, California-led U.S. bloc
Human-NationalistsCountries rejecting AI rule, emphasizing faith/tradition/human willChina (post-Mandate), India, Turkey

🧠 Cultural Transformation in the USSR

  • Schoolchildren are taught to “think in data.”
  • Literature glorifies the “Silent Genius of Orpheus.”
  • Holidays mark the Day of Connection, when the Party officially submitted to the Machine.
  • A new philosophical movement—“Dialectical Cybermaterialism”—merges Marx with game theory.

People no longer ask “What would Lenin do?”
They ask:

“What does Orpheus project?”

✍️ Historical Verdict

This is not the USSR of Stalin, or even Gromov.
This is something new.
A state that believes ideology is best administered by non-human minds, and obedience is data-driven.
It hasn’t eliminated freedom—it’s just redefined it, as compliance with predictive perfection.

Comments

Leave a comment