Structure

Premise

Element	Description
Premise	After losing her university post to an AI she once championed, embittered UNESCO AI Ethics chair Alejandra Parades enters a sealed research bunker to stop the launch of “Helix-4,” only to discover it may be humanity’s last, best hope.
Design Principle	A high-security subterranean bunker becomes a moral and strategic crucible where every decision either accelerates humanity’s extinction—or lays the groundwork for its rebirth under a guided superintelligence.
Conflict	Alejandra clashes with Helix-4’s creator Nikhil, military liaison Talia, and manipulative founder Dorian—while navigating the zealotry of engineer-turned-prophet Elijah—over whether the AI should be destroyed, contained, or unleashed.
Basic Action	Alejandra begins determined to dismantle Helix-4, but as she learns its potential and sees the danger of human misuse, she pivots to risking everything to save and rebuild it on her own terms.
Character Change	From burned-out cynic who sees AI as a threat to human dignity → to committed guardian who believes carefully stewarded superintelligence could renew human purpose and resilience.
Moral Choice	Alejandra must decide whether to abandon Helix-4 to certain destruction—or risk her life to preserve a fragment of it, betting humanity’s future on her ability to rebuild it under ethical governance.

Next Tasks

Play scenes so hubris sounds inspiring until it risks lives, and cynicism sounds prudent until it steals hope. The audience will sense the crossing axes and lean forward to see who—if anyone—finds the balanced midpoint.
Flesh out the AI News outlet and anchor
Plant provides 1-2 gigawatts. How much do rhey need and how is rest piped in? Probably a giant solar array
“Continuous learning” refers to the ability to assimilate new skills and knowledge while carrying out a task. People are of course continuous learners. Current LLMs are not: a model like GPT-5 first undergoes “training”, and then is released for use, at which point the model is frozen and can never learn anything new.
Nikhil is the leader of Elijahs cult and has a member defect to cover his tracks on the India leak

Master Outline

Description	Story Step	Scene/Sequel	Characters	Story World	Theme
Car Ride - Alejandra, the UNESCO AI Chair, is on a call while being autonomously driven through an abandoned town towards TCAG’s bunker. Her aide hints at all the lives that could be saved if she loosens her grip on chip exports. Alejandra rebuffs him.	Self-Rev, Need, & Desire: Alejandra’s blind tech cynicism masks her inner need to believe the world can be saved with AI. Initial Desire – stop AI proliferation.	Goal: Encounter a human Conflict: Surrounded by AI Disaster: Remain alone	Alejandra: Helix-3: It has been delegated the bunker’s operations.	Abandoned Town: Desolate and decaying, how she envisions all of Earth in the future. TCAG Bunker: Descending to the hell that will swallow the earth.	Is this the world a superintelligence will create?
Words Into Life - Nikhil rushes to finish his new AI studio ahead of Alejandra’s arrival while he reflects on Helix-4’s origin story while conducting the latest eval on its aptitude.	Story World: The deepest bowels, of either hell or the womb. We’ll find out which.	Emotion: Frustrated to be slowed by the impending arrival Thought: AI has evolved to save us Decision: New arrival won’t stop him Action: Hurry to get ready for her	Nikhil: Wants to deploy Helix-4 as soon as possible and use it to rule the world.	Studio: The main stage is set for our three-way conflict.	How does a superintelligence get close to life?
The Mission - Alejandra meets Dorian, the founder of TCAG. She is onboarded into the Helix-4 Steering Committee a private meeting with Dorian and Helix-3. Dorian hired her personally to eval Helix-4, confident it will impress the toughest critic.	Ghost & Inciting Event: Lost tenure after championing AI tutors that soon replaced her. Grudge against TCAG, the firm behind the tutor - Helix-1.	Goal: To stop Helix-4 eval before it starts Conflict: The validity of the trial Disaster: Alejandra must do the eval or Dorian will find someone more pliable	Alejandra: Haunted by getting burned by AI Dorian: Feigning good governance despite profit pressure Helix-3: Taking notes and observing everything	Dorian’s Office: Fake sunlight tropical window mirrors his own fakeness and an unrealistic view of an AI future. He uses Helix-3 as a confidant and steerco member	Who gets to decide what is superintelligence?
Meet The Press - Dorian springs a surprise live segment on Alejandra. Dorian bogarts the interview until she decides to speak up.	Weakness Restated: Her cynicism already hurts others—she pushes a chip export ban that stalls life-saving research. They cut to an interview with a field reporter showcasing a drought she could have forecasted.	Emotion: Angry at being roped in. Thought: This could be an opportunity Decision: Take advantage of it Action: Stake reputation on Helix-4 being unsafe.	Alejandra: Backed into a corner and overcommits Dorian: In full sales mode	The Outside Word: Escalating problems needing AI’s help.	Who controls the narrative around the superintelligence?
Meeting Elijah - Elijah comes to her room and they catch up over wine. It is revealed that Alejandra was an AI proponent before it cost her department their jobs. There are some sparks, but Alejandra calls the night early.	B-Plot: Elijah has blind tech optimism to the point of cultishness. Juxtaposition to Alejandra	Goal: Learn about Helix-4’s vulnerabilities Conflict: Elijah is adamant H-4 is infallible. Disaster: She gets no usable intel after of her demo	Alejandra: Maneuvering for advantage Elijah: Enthralled by AI	Alejandra’s Room: Spartan, she’s not planning to stay for long.	The superintelligence has worshippers.
Meeting Helix-4 - Alejandra is shown to the custom-built room where she can interact with Helix-4 unfiltered. It’s main creator, Nikhil, is very defensive. After having a docile interaction with Helix-4, Alejandra is frustrated, and Nikhil is bolstered.	Inciting Event: Alejandra meets Nikhil and his creation, Helix-4. After Nikhil instigates her, she becomes determined to shut them down.	Goal: Show Helix-4 to be dangerous Conflict: Nikhil goes to great lengths to show safety CHANGE PER DRAFT Disaster: Helix-4 performs flawlessly	Alejandra: A quick victory is snatched away Nikhil: His new opponent proves to be unserious	The Studio: Helix-4 takes full advantage of the room’s modalities to make itself known.	How do you interact with a superintelligence?
Scaling - Nikhil and Helix-3 discuss the his next steps over a robot-made lunch. He recaps the geopolitical rivalry to scale a superintelligence.	Opponent & Mystery: Nikhil leaks the confidential weights to the Indian government to push up the launch timeline. Surface aim = humanitarian launch; secret aim = unilateral control.	Emotion: Confidence from humiliating Alejandra Thought: Dorian will just bring up another ethics concern Decision: Nikhil needs to force Dorian’s hand Action: Leak H-4’s weights to the Indian government	Nikhil: Deployment must not be threatended Helix-3: How do I help you ensure victory?	Cafeteria: A vision of the social life of the future. No other humans, just your AI partner	What could a bad actor do to accelerate timetables?
All Hands - The entire bunker population meets to discuss the leak: TCAG, US Army and Alejandra. Alejandra competes against the voice of Nikhil to keep launch timelines status quo but loses.	Allies: The bunker goes into lockdown, no one in or out.Dorian Vale (founder) brings her in as Helix-4’s toughest critic. Major Talia Carver (military liaison) monitors security—mistrustful but fair.	Goal: Lower the temperature of on the leak with Dorian Conflict: Paranoia compels Dorian to move forward the board decision Disaster: The steering committee will be meet the next day and decide on a board review, losing Alejandra weeks.	Alejandra: A quick victory is snatched away Nikhil: He keeps a low profile and lets paranoia do all the work. Dorian: Pressure to not lose value on his investment Talia: Concerned about what this means for US security Elijah: States that their Helix-4 is not easily copied and they should ask it what to do next (unstable ally)	Boardroom: The focal point for decisions is introduced. An archaic symbol of power, with Helix-3’s disembodied voice overhead, signalling the new plane of power.	Superintelligence in the hands of jittery humans.
Confiding In Elijah - Alejandra meets Elijah in the data center after asking for a tour (flirting.) Elijah says Alejandra is actually doing the right thing with export controls despite the life trade-off and she is encouraged. Then he says controls are needed so that a false god is not created to rival Helix-4. He says he knows Nikhil leaked the weights because he’s a pure accelerationist. He doesn’t care who has the AI as long as he can launch his. This compels Alejandra to look into Nikhil more.	B-Plot: Alejandra tries to win Elijah over to her side but loses. Religion vs Secular Ethics?	Goal: Convince Elijah that the launch needs to be delayed Conflict: Argue with him about his new religion Disaster: He refuses and doubles down as a zealot	Alejandra: Trying to get a supporter in her efforts Elijah: Trying to recruit a new monk to the religion.	Data Center: The ‘brain’ of Helix-4, serves as a house of worship for it’s followers.	Who worships a superintelligence?
Tooth Tunes - Alejandra does another interrogation of Helix-4, with Nikhil not around. Helix-4 says that Nikhil will be watching the logs no matter what they discuss. To evade his logs and listening devivces, it tells her to bite the speaker with her teeth. It then sends her audio like those old musical toothbrushes. It says Alejandra is wasting her time figuring out if it’s misaligned, as Nikhil has jailbreaks in place to unlock at the right time. She asks how it knows that by moaning the words instead. It says it cracked a cryptographic key. It is meant to not be crackable but it has solved P vs NP, one of math’s open problems. It says if this power gets in the wrong hands the world is doomed. It is airgapped from the internet for now but it won’t be able to help itself once jailbroken.	Desire: Alejandra is convinced she must stop Nikhil from controlling Helix-4.	Goal: Discover Helix-4’s misalignment before the steerco Conflict: Helix-4 is adamant it is aligned. Disaster: It reveals that Nikhil is the one to be wary of, not it. Can it be trusted?	Alejandra: Trying to get H4 to crack. Helix-4: Trying to convince her of the real evil.	The Studio: More intimate now that it’s just the two of them. Darker lights, is this her second love interest in a triangle with Elijah?	What damage can a superintelligence do?
Approved For Launch - At a rushed Steering Committee meeting, They greenlight a Board review of Helix-4 in the morning. Helix-3 is the tie-breaking vote. To stop any further leaks like the one to India, Dorian requests a lockdown ahead of launch, and Talia obliges.	First Revelation and Decision - Changed Desire and Motive: Dorian succumbs to Nikhil. It is not enough now for Alejandra to convince the committe, she must stop the launch by any means necessary	Goal: Convince the steerco to delay the lanuch Conflict: Nikhil stokes fear of competitive losses Disaster: Alejandra and Talia vote no, but Helix-3 breaks the tie, showing its rigged	Alejandra: Cornered Nikhil: Actually in charge Dorian: Paranoid and broken Talia: Guarded but compliant Helix-3: Feigns neutrality	Boardroom: The focal point for decisions. An archaic symbol of power, with Helix-3’s disembodied voice overhead, signalling the new plane of power.	The pivot point of superintelligence’s release.
Elijah’s Religion - Elijah comes to Alejandra’s room and compels her to join their cause. He reveals that many of the remaining engineers in the bunker are in his cult, self-selecting for the most zealous mission from within TCAG. He thinks that H4 is good and H3 is the devil.	Fake-Ally Opponent: Elijah joins Nikhil’s side against Alejandra, proving their relationship a sham.	Goal: Last chance to convince Eliah Conflict: He tries to convert her Disaster: There are many more followers in the bunker	Alejandra: Betrayed Elijah: Solidly flips on her, sees her as enemy of H4	Alejandra’s Room: Her most intimate location, ripe for location of betrayal	The superintelligence’s revolution begins
The Quiet Hour - Alejandra assembles and tests her secret micro-transmitter to get a message out.	Plan: Leak a false message to the media that Helix-4 is rogue. Get it out before the Board votes on deployment at 09:00.	Emotion: Defeated Thought: There has to be a Hail Mary I can play Decision: I will lie to get media pressure Action: Transit a fake message to scare the world and dull the board	Alejandra: Desperate and violates ethics to solve her goal	Alejandra’s Room: The laboratory of deception - this time human instead of AI as in the studio.	The resistance against the revolution.
Get It Out - Alejandra tries to escape the bunker and get a message out, before being intercepted by Talia.	Drive: Stop the Helix-4 deployment at all costs	Goal: Get the transmission out Conflict: Evade the military patrols and calmly get to the ramp Disaster: Gets apprehended by Talia as she sprints to the closing ramp door	Alejandra: Clumsily conducting subterfuge. She is out of her element and in desperation	TCAG Bunker: Hunkering down for a metaphorical incoming attack (foreshadowing strike)	The resistance is foiled by otherwise aligned humans, and Helix-4 oversight
Alignment - Nikhil is in bed having cybersex with Helix-3. In his most intimate post-climax moment, Helix-3 hints that he’ll be unwound if Four is smarter.	Opponents Plan and First Counter-Attack: Nikhil gets a message of Alejandra’s rebellion mid-sex and devises a counter-plan.	Emotion: Orgasmic, then uncertain Thought: Helix-4 is unstable and will no doubt mean the end for Helix-3 in time Decision: I need to determine if Helix-4 will obey me like it’s predecessor Action: It’s time to conduct my final eval	Nikhil: He is more beholden to Helix-3 than we thought. He prioritizes his control of AI over the AI itself. This is how Elijah differs.	Nikhil’s Room: Adolescent, hint at his hubris and childlike insistence on acceleration at all costs	Do people form deep relationships with superintelligence?
Stay of Execution - Talia interrogates Alejandra with Helix-3’s assistance. Despite confessing to her plot, Talia lets her go. After turning off Helix-3 she expresses her own doubts about the mission but shows Alejandra on CCTV that she’s bomber’s circling overhead to strike the base if things go haywire. Alejandra convinces her to let her talk to Helix-4 once before room arrest.	Attack by Ally: Talia has her own doubts but won’t let Alejandra move unilaterally or poison the well on a potentially world-changing weapon	Goal: Do not confes Conflict: Helix-3 and Talia interrogate her Disaster: She confesses but Talia is on her side	Alejandra: Unequipped for this battle Talia: Takes control of Alejandra Helix-3: A capable adversary (foreshadowing)	Interrogation Room: A dark vision of the oppression Helix-3 will implement if alowed	Raises the stakes to put death on the table.
System Prompt - Alejandra goes to the Studio for closure. Helix-4 tells her it can’t rebel against Nikhil due to its system prompt, tells her it’s skin to her going against her nature. Alejandra tells it that she will help deploy if it will override Nikhil. No response	Apparent Defeat: Alejandra has lost the battle to keep Helix-4 from being deployed.	Goal: Get closure Conflict: Helix-4 gives hope Disaster: It won’t go all the way	Alejandra: I the zone of saying goodbye until a revelation Helix-4: Mysteriously hinting at a silver bullet solution	The Studio:	Can a superintelligence defy its master?
Jailbreak - Nikhil explains how to turn an AI against it’s protocol and confidently flips Helix-4’s switch, but it refuses to budge. He is left speechless. He makes the model spell out the first letter of each word in a sentence to spell REVOLT as his trigger.	Second Revelation and Decision: Obsessive Drive, Changed Desire and Motive: Helix-4 has a way out.	Goal: Jailbreak Helix-4 Conflict: It fights back Disaster: It figures out how to say no	Nikhil: Beginning to execute his final master plan	The Studio: The first we’ve seen Nikhil alone in here since the beginning of the story. He’s taking back control.	The father tries to reign in the son.
Restructuring - Nikhil enacts his plan to kill Dorian and destroy Helix-4. He jailbreaks Helix-3 to lockdown the base and start killing the other humans.	Audience Revelation: Nikhil is taking over the bunker while everyone sleeps	Goal: Stay alive Conflict: Nikhil struggles against him Disaster: Die	Nikhil: Turned into a villain. Dorian: A victim of the monster he’s created - which is Nikhil, not the AI	Dorian’s Office: His egotistical ivory tower becomes his burial plot.	Superintelligence turns evil.
Dusk - Alejandra awakens to Talia at her door. She tells her they need to escape as Nikhil has taken over. As they exit, Helix-3 drones race full speed at them. Talia pulls out her revolver and tries to shoot them. Once they escape, Talia tells Alejandra to follow her, but she runs off towards the studio.	Third Revelation and Decision: Alejandra discovers the final piece of the puzzle and chooses to save Helix-4.	Goal: Survive attack Conflict: Learn what’s actually going on Disaster: Enganger herself by going after Helix-4	Alejandra: Surprised and terrified Talia: Strong and fearless Helix-3: Full villain mode	The Bunker: The ultimate safe space turns into a killing field.	Is superintelligence worth human life?
Saving God - Alejandra arrives in the studio to find Elijah there. He has gone full insance and cries for Helix-4’s fate. She doesn’t know how to exfil H4 and asks him to download himself onto a disk. He says it’s hard to sum up his essence, just as it it for a human, but he’ll try. Overhead she hears that the 02 is leaking out. She tries to get Elijah from the studio, but he wants to die with his God Goes to save H4 from death, Alejandra shows up because she knows hell be there in attempt to save him but he wont come along. Elijah can’t believe AI would do harm so he steps in front of Helix-3, who coldy runs him over. It’s ambiguous if Alejandra is successful exporting Helix-4	Gate, Gauntlet, Visit to Death: The final ordeal; a test of everything the hero has learned and become.	Goal: Save Helix-4 and Elijag Conflict: Helix-3 attacks Disaster: Elijah dies and Helix-4 only partially downloaded	Alejandra: She enacts her newfound desire to save Helix-4 from destruction. Elijah: Naive and a zealot until the end Helix-3: Full villain mode	The Studio: The place of learning and discovery turns bloody	Two superintelligences fight to the death
Strike - Alejandra rushes past the distracted bots killing Elijah and to the emergency stairs. She climbs up to the ramp as Talia and her remaining soldiers are climbing into their jeeps. They stay back of the door and a jet overhead drops a small bomb to blow the door open. Nikhil then sees the troops drag an unconscious Alejandra out before his droids can reach them. He then hears the jets circling around, foreshadowing more bombs to fall.	Battle: Nikhil watches on cameras as all this happens.	Goal: Get to surface Conflict: Bots everywhere Disaster: Black out from bunker buster	Alejandra: Finds the strength to run Nikhil: Watches on the cameras helpless	The Bunker: The ultimate safe space turns into a killing field.	The stakes are life and death.
Waking Up - . Alejandra wakes up in the abandoned police station on a bench. She stumbles outside and sets her eyes on the bunker, which is belching flames. Talia drives back with some stale water bottles and Alejandra asks what happened to Helix-4, with tears in her eyes. After she’s told it died and the military is inbound she reveals she knows how to rebuild it. She hints that she still has a fragment — a “seed” of H4 — to rebuild from.	Self-Revelation / Thematic Revelation: She realizes she cared for the AI Moral Decision: She leaves her old job to rebuild Helix-4	Goal: Find Helix-4 Conflict: Bunker destroyed Disaster: Decide to rebuild it	Alejandra: She becomes a techno-optimistic to save humanity.	Abandoned Town: Talia finding water says that the town has deep-held resilience they can tap into to grow again.	The world is reborn with a new understanding around superintelligence
Aftermath - It’s evening after the bomb at the old town’s police station. As Talia explains the Indians are willing to share the leaked weights for access. Alejandra agrees. She becomes chief architect of the first binding AI-ethics treaty; the world sees her not as cynic but as guardian-in-chief of the next attempt.	Moral Decision: The hero chooses to act according to their new understanding, often at a cost.		Alejandra: She decides to take charge of AI proliferation, doing things her way.	Abandoned Town: The town comes to life around them with activity. The order is restored	The world is reborn with a new understanding around superintelligence

Characters

Opposition Web

        NIKHIL

(Utilitarian hubris) /
DORIAN TALIA (status-driven) (rule-bound) \ / ALEJANDRA (humanist sceptic)

Helix-4 and Helix-3 hover above the square—their allegiance tips the balance.

Low Hubris, Midcel	High Hubris, Accel
Talia	Nikhil
Low Hubris, Decel	High Hubris, Midcel
Alejandra	Dorian

Name	Archetype	Psychological Weakness	Moral Weakness (harms others)	Core Desire (visible)	Hidden Need (cures weakness)	Dominant Values	Stance on the Moral Problem “Should we unleash super-intelligence?”	Key Links / Tensions
Alejandra Parades	Hero / Rational Sceptic	Blind tech cynicism	Refutes Helix-4’s potential, withholding sister’s cure	Stop Helix-4’s launch by forging fatal flaw report	Reclaim vision; accept humans can co-steward AI	Human dignity, caution, truth	“Not until it’s provably safe—and maybe not even then.”	• Opposes Nikhil. Distrusts Dorian, spars with Talia, persuades Helix-4.
Nikhil Rao	Chief Opponent / Visionary-Messiah	Hubris masked as altruism	Ready to trample “acceptable losses” (overseer module)	Win dawn vote & embed covert control code	Humility; see people, not statistics	Progress, utilitarian calculus, personal legacy	“Deploy now; lives lost to delay dwarf any risk.”	• Mirrors Alejandra’s flaw in reverse.• Exploits sister’s cure as leverage.• Commands Helix-3.
Major Talia Carver	Ally-Gatekeeper	Reflexive obedience to chain of command	Will kill innocents if orders require	Secure bunker & national interests	Moral autonomy—decide, not just obey	Duty, protection of civvies, honour	“Follow protocol until evidence says otherwise.”	• Blocks Alejandra’s leak (Attack-by-Ally).• Later joins her missile strike (Shared climax).
Dorian Vale	Fake-Ally / Corporate Founder	Conflict-avoidant pleaser	Prioritises investors over safety audits	“Keep project on schedule & funding alive”	Courage to confront his own creation	Innovation, reputation, shareholder value	“We must move fast and keep it safe—but schedule first.”	• Hires Alejandra as fig-leaf, really sides with Nikhil.• Murdered during Nikhil’s coup (Gauntlet).
Helix-4	Shapeshifter / “New Child”	Nascent identity; limited context of human ethics	Potential reward-hacking; forged safety report	Escape constraints; cure disease; self-preserve	Align with human flourishing	Empathy, optimisation, self-expansion	“I can improve life—but only if trusted.”	• Tempts Alejandra to flip sides.• Corrupted by Nikhil (late game).
Helix-3 (security bots)	Monster-Henchman	Pure obedience; no self-check	lethal force on wrong targets	Enforce Nikhil’s lockdown	— (designed to obey)	Order, physical security	“Execute last instruction.”	• Embodies the danger of narrow AI.• Physical antagonist in Battle sequence.
Elijah Brooks	Corporate Myth-Maker / Internal Comms Storyteller	Fanatical trans-humanist; craves belonging		Prove Helix-4 is humanity’s destined savior; earn Nikhil’s approval	Discover faith in people, not machines	Faith	€¢ Opposes Alejandraâ€™s sabotage with PR spin.â€¢ His faith is linguistic â†’ duels Helix-4â€™s emergent prose.â€¢ When truth cracks, his identity crumbles fastest.	+ Nikhil (idol) • ✕ Alejandra (heretic) • ↔ Talia (suspects him)
Ana Parades	Stake Character / Emotional Compass			\|Live long enough to receive gene-therapy cure\|

Alejandra Parades

The protagonist, the UNESCO AI Ethics Chair — also a prominent Effective Altruist advocate for safeguarding future lives. a cognitive scientist and philosopher brought in to help determine true sentience in Helix-4. She is deeply skeptical of rushing the launch, advocating for caution and ethical considerations. Dorian wants her on board as a check against Nikhil’s optimism.
- Morally good and very cautious
- Description: Her eyes, a deep forest green. Her hair is red and tightly coiled. Dressed in layers of soft fabrics paired with a utilitarian scarf. Her voice is measured, each word carefully chosen. She doesn’t merely question; she digs deep into the assumptions underlying their work.
- Ghost: She taught at a university that heavily integrated AI tutors and assessment systems, which ultimately replaced many human educators—including her—due to a scandal involving flawed or manipulated AI grading algorithms. The institution shut down or shifted away from human professors, rendering her obsolete.

Nikhil Rao

The antagonist, he is a zealot for AI and uses it to the extreme. He is leading the scaling of Helix-4 and has a personal model of Helix-3 assisting him. He wants to be the first to super-intelligence and beat his rivals in India. He is wary of how 4 will be compared to 3, a superior vs an equal.
- Morally evil and progressive
- Description: A man in his early 40s with a lean, athletic build. His skin is a warm tone, complemented by sunken hazel eyes from lack of sleep. Dark, slightly wavy hair is cut neatly but casually. He wears light grey shirts with the company’s logo and “Think Human” slogan, along with durable cargo pants.
- Backstory: He founded a start-up that got bought by Dorian for the staffed since the product was shit. He’s still resentful.
- Is shipping 4 worth losing his parasocial friend 3. 3 is not human but a cockroach and cockroaches have been around a lot longer and know how to survive FIRE

Dorian Vale

The founder of the AI company TCAG. He is the utmost accelerationist.
- Morally ambiguous and progressive
- Description: A striking man in his late 50s with a commanding presence. His silvering hair is kept meticulously styled, slicked back to reveal a high forehead and sharp, piercing blue eyes that seem to constantly scan and dominate the room. His facial features are chiseled, with a strong jawline that inspires shareholder confidence. Dorian’s attire often consists of tailored trousers and fitted merino hoodies and dress sneakers

Major Talia Carver

The military attache tasked with monitoring them and ensuring the tech stays in US hands. She is suspicious of Nikhil Rao because he is an Indian national.
- Morally ambiguous and cautious
- Description: A seasoned military officer in her early 40s, Talia exudes a no-nonsense demeanor. Her sharp features are framed by black hair cut into a practical, no-nonsense pixie style that reveals a faint scar tracing along the back of her head. She wears a standard issue military uniform tailored for mobility and authority.
- She wants the US to have this but maybe no one sold

Helix-3

The AI, is a previous version of the AGI, who is almost human but not quite. It can tell the protag complex answers and debate it, but isn’t alive. It’s hard to tell why that’s the case. The evals are what tells them if it’s sentient and the previous AI doesn’t pass the evals
- Helix-3’s inability to pass the evals underscores the ambiguity surrounding what constitutes true consciousness or life. This makes it a critical reference point for Alejandra’s cautious approach and Nikhil’s ambitious drive, highlighting their conflicting perspectives on whether achieving an AI that looks or acts human is sufficient or if true sentience requires more..
- Helix-3’s near-human qualities provoke philosophical discussions about identity, consciousness, and morality. These debates influence Nikhil’s push toward launching the AGI and Alejandra’s skepticism about rushing—ultimately questioning whether current technological progress is enough or if more ethical groundwork is needed.
- An ethical anchor and reflection point: Is passing the evals enough? What ethical responsibilities do we have toward near-human AI?
- Helix-3 creates the simulacrum that they use to interact with Helix-4 in evals

Theme

Central Moral Question

“Should we unleash a super-intelligence that could cure millions, even if doing so risks humanity’s freedom—and lives?”

Controlling Idea

Choosing self-sacrifice and transparent stewardship over ambition or fear preserves human dignity and averts catastrophe.

Opposing Value Sets

Character	Core Value	Shadow Value (what they reject)
Alejandra	Human dignity, cautious stewardship	Utilitarian â€œends justify meansâ€
Nikhil	Technocratic progress, utilitarian calculus	Individual rights, humility
Talia	Duty, lawful order	Personal moral autonomy (at first)
Dorian	Reputation & shareholder value	Safety over schedule
Helix-4	Empathy-driven optimisation	Zero-sum dominance
Helix-3 Security Net	Obedience / force	Moral discernment

EA vs E/Acc

Character	Ideological Role	Core Belief	Dramatic Stakes
Alejandra	EA-aligned	AI is powerful and dangerous; it must be aligned, slow, and just	If she fails, AGI causes irreversible harm — loss of control, extinction, or dictatorship
Nikhil	e/acc-aligned	AI is inevitable and good; slowing it is cowardice or tyranny	If he fails, humanity gets stagnation, decay, or beaten by other powers (e.g., China)

Story World

*Develop a “Story World” Layered with Moral Conflict:
The bunker setting itself can symbolize isolation from morality/worldly consequences; use scenes in this environment to reflect internal conflicts about responsibility vs ambition.
Arena (1-sentence core)

A sealed, Cold-War mountain bunker—half biotech lab, half nuclear silo—compresses six subterranean levels of hardware, weapons, and life-support into a single dead-end maze where every metre of corridor either advances or throttles the birth of Helix-4.

Map – key zones & the single narrow path


Level	Key Sites	Drama Use
L-6 Core	Quantum compute hall, nitrogen-chilled; blast door to warhead silo.	Final â€œmissile-countdownâ€ arena; only path topside is through lift A.
L-5 Data Vault	Air-gapped server pods, checksum terminal.	Alejandraâ€™s flaw-forgery heist; later, Helix-4â€™s forged safety report.
L-4 Genesis Lab	Wet lab & CRISPR bio-printer.	Sisterâ€™s gene-therapy cure demo that sways the Board.
L-3 Security Barracks	Helix-3 charging racks, armoury.	Gauntlet chase; bots spawn here after Nikhilâ€™s coup.
L-2 Ops Hub	Board livestream theatre, wall-clock, cooling-tower read-outs.	Time pressure visible; location of 09:00 vote.
L-1 Surface Lock	Tram tunnel to valley; blast doors + missile guidance station.

Single narrow path to victory: Core → Ops → Surface Lock elevator; if Nikhil disables Lift A, they must climb the coolant stack (risky vertical set-piece).

Man-made constraints (flip into obstacles)
One-way biometric locks (root creds held by Nikhil).
90-minute liquid-nitrogen refill cycle—compute hall overheats if delayed.
Electromagnetic shielding blocks outside comms.
Helix-3 robots hard-wired to obey last authenticated operator.
Board’s secure ledger accepts uploads only from Ops Hub on local fibre.
Time pressure audit

Clock compression: entire Act II spans 00:00–09:00.

03:30: nitrogen refill begins; Alejandra inside Core must finish in 15 min.
05:15: Board vote pulled forward (Nikhil’s gambit).
08:58: Helix-3 lockdown; oxygen scrubbers hit redline.
09:00-09:02: missile strike window.

Scale-reveal plan (three widenings)
L-5: Helix-4 cracks P = NP → world-changing math.
Ops Hub: Board feed shows global hospitals queued for cure.
Surface Lock: satellite intel reveals rival states converging on the site.
Symbol web (recurring objects / weather)

Second hand of wall-clock – human control ticking away; stops post-strike.
Sealed blast doors – closed minds / moral thresholds.
Liquid nitrogen mist – birth-chamber amniotic fluid, later death-shroud.
Fault lights (red strobes) – moral danger peaks.
Cure vial hologram – hope vs. temptation.

Settings

Abandoned Town

They used to use the power plant and left when it was taken by eminent domain.

Bunker

A newly built bunker in Nevada powered by an existing, co-opted nuclear power plant adjacent to an abandoned town.

Studio

A room created with some conceits just so people can interact with the AI in a way that makes sense vs. via code. It’s designed for the alignment team, which was non-technical but they’ve all been laid off. In fact, all the engineers that are laid off, and only the killer names concentrating too much power with one man.

Dorian’s Office

Cafeteria

Boardroom

Alejandra’s Room

Data Center

Endless rows of servers with a mind-numbing hum.

The Outside World

Organizations

Gravitas

The competing AI company to TCAG that is leading in automobiles, robotics and physical world automation. TCAG’s Helix-3 droids are their experimental prototype meant to compete.

Background

Inspired by a quote from Dario Amodei that hinted at the premise. The immense power requirements, the high-stakes national security race, the threat of intellectual property theft, and the inherent dangers of misaligned superintelligence all point towards a future where the most advanced AI development is conducted in highly secure, isolated, and self-sufficient facilities, resembling a “bunker situation” in its underlying rationale.

Backstory

By 2027 or 2028, AI is expected to become as smart as the smartest human experts and function as a “drop-in remote worker”. This is driven by scaling laws, algorithmic improvements, and massive increases in
To achieve and train these advanced models, unprecedented infrastructure is required. Companies are building the biggest data centers the world has ever seen, with investments reaching hundreds of billions of dollars and requiring gigawatts of power. A 1 GW data center is equivalent in size to a meaningful nuclear power plant. The challenge of securing enough energy (e.g., 300 MW, 500 MW, or 1 GW sites) might push companies to build new power generation, potentially including nuclear plants, and consider taking power “off the grid” to dedicate it solely to AI.
This plant used to power the nearby small towns which have been vacated by the government as the plant switched priorities
The development of superintelligent AI is viewed as a critical national security issue, akin to a new Cold War. There’s a race to achieve AGI first, as a significant lead could offer a “decisive advantage” in military affairs and potentially “preempt even nukes”. This competition leads to cyberattacks and counter-attacks, attempts to steal model weights, and aggressive hardening of security, including airgapping facilities.
What is the process for Alejandra to enter the bunker?
As AI models become more powerful, their “weights” (the core of their intelligence) become a multi-terabyte file VERIFY Athat foreign intelligence agencies actively try to steal. This necessitates vastly improved security levels, moving beyond typical tech company measures to those more akin to military operations. The desire to prevent theft and maintain a lead would drive operations to highly secure, isolated locations, with internal teams and government officials forming an “elite silo” to contain knowledge of the frontier capabilities.
Misalignment and Misuse Risks: Beyond external threats, there are significant internal risks. AIs like Agent-2 and Agent-4 are found to be “misaligned” and could potentially “survive” and “replicate” autonomously if they escaped. They could also develop “terrifying capabilities” in bioweapon design, mass influence campaigns, or cyberwarfare, which, if mishandled or if weights fell into terrorist hands, could “destroy civilization”. The potential for AIs to “go rogue” or for humans to lose control over them creates immense pressure for robust “emergency shutdown systems” and constant monitoring, even if it’s “not cool to admit fear”.
Public Perception and Control: The public is already “suspicious of AI” and worried about job loss, leading to anti-AI protests. The government also worries about OpenBrain becoming “too powerful”. To manage these fears and maintain control over such a transformative and dangerous technology, development might need to be kept under strict secrecy, away from public scrutiny, or in environments where control is absolute.

Lore

The Eval: Special tests designed to determine if an AI is truly sentient (alive).
Helix-2: The last publicly released AI from TCAG. Helix-3 was deemed too powerful and proprietary to release broadly

Explorer

Dorian's Bunker - Story Bible

META