Elite Boarding Schools for Technomancers' neglected kids

[HorizonParty2021]

To the Technocracy, any family you had before joining is considered part of your Oldlife. The Union certainly doesn't want their members' children to be easy targets for Tradition spies or worse. Where to put all those neglected kids?

High security boarding schools, of course. This could be an interesting setting location.

How do you imagine this?

[Shakanaka]

Do you mean kids they might have after they've been inducted into the Technocracy? If so a facility like that certainly could be doable. It'll probably be completely nondescript from regular private schools on the outside. In the curriculum proper within the school, the whole system would probably have some light subconscious subliminal lessons, off-cuff phrases by the teacher staff, and specific signaling in various school assignments and homework in attempt to gauge which pupils have the possibility of Awakening; or the various methods I mentioned being able to Awaken them right off the bat.

Though if you purely meant children from their Oldlife, no, those children are simply abandoned completely and given no support whatsoever. Though if that agent all that time ago has reached to a high position in the Technocracy after years of hard work, they'll probably be able to manage something to dispense to their old families with their newfound resources and emerging influence- protocol be damned.

[Konradleijon]

I think a technocrat run school for the children of technocrats seems like a good idea to get control.

[Accelerator]

Do you mean kids they might have after they've been inducted into the Technocracy? If so a facility like that certainly could be doable. It'll probably be completely nondescript from regular private schools on the outside. In the curriculum proper within the school, the whole system would probably have some light subconscious subliminal lessons, off-cuff phrases by the teacher staff, and specific signaling in various school assignments and homework in attempt to gauge which pupils have the possibility of Awakening; or the various methods I mentioned being able to Awaken them right off the bat.

Though if you purely meant children from their Oldlife, no, those children are simply abandoned completely and given no support whatsoever. Though if that agent all that time ago has reached to a high position in the Technocracy after years of hard work, they'll probably be able to manage something to dispense to their old families with their newfound resources and emerging influence- protocol be damned.

Sounds counter-productive. Causing parents to turn against their children means possible alienation and rebellion. Better to tie the children with the Technocracy, to better make sure they stay in the fold.

I say that it's a boarding school like the ones you see in anime. Extremely high academic excellence, lots of money, and in the middle of nowhere. Traditions work by blending into the crowd. Same with Werewolves, Vampires, and whatnot. So it's likely isolated, fenced in, and has a dozen or so defences against Reality Deviants.

[Dwight]

Or better yet an off world construct

[Michael]

I think the point of the old/newlife is specifically to avoid this kind of problem.

I don't doubt that the Technocracy looks out for operatives' families, but it's probably best if they are kept safe with simple anonymity.

Also, a big facility like a boarding school is both a big target, and probably a big drain on resources for defence.

That said, it wouldn't be wildly unrealistic if the Technocracy had such a place.

[Accelerator]

The problem with that is that there are at least a dozen breeds of monsters out there who would *love* to get their hooks on young operatives with families. You know Vampire uses Dominate or the Blood Bond on some young op's family, and now he has to choose? Or, say, obtaining black mail, gambling debts, etc... all the little things that can use leverage to corrupt an organisation due to security risks.

Yes, you are right that it's a big honking target. But it's often a throwup between defense and being able to hide things. Despite all that's happened, the Technocracy is the Conspiracy that Rules the World. There would be attack satellites up there, ready to pound on any massed attack. The school grounds is probably suffused with wards and dimensional blockers to prevent any RD fuckery. And the staff is very likely composed out of combat homuncului and attack robots. And the trees and the birds are probably shapeshifting monsters with psychic powers meant to kill anyone not cleared.

And also, its a pretty good source of new recruits. If one of the kids gets pushed and Awakens? Well, his relatives are now a recruiting pitch. "Join us and work with us, cause your parents already do."

[Shakanaka]

Causing parents to turn against their children means possible alienation and rebellion.

That's the whole dynamic with the Technocracy when you join up. You have to leave your entire life behind. If the Operative is vehement in not agreeing to leave their old life, they are probably mindwiped (or worse, disposed of). But I said before however once that Operative gets a certain point of position in the Technocracy, they'd probably be able to squirt some things on the down low to help their old family out.

[Muad'Dib]

The problem with that is that there are at least a dozen breeds of monsters out there who would *love* to get their hooks on young operatives with families. You know Vampire uses Dominate or the Blood Bond on some young op's family, and now he has to choose? Or, say, obtaining black mail, gambling debts, etc... all the little things that can use leverage to corrupt an organisation due to security risks.

Lucky there is always the New World Order to explain to Technocrats that there is a greater purpose that would suffer if they would be swayed by such actions. After all, the next step after (or before) worrying about kids is trying to keep contact with lovers and spouses. The line has to be drawn somewhere.

The idea of such a school is interesting, but wouldn't the students notice that all of them share an absent parent?

[Accelerator]

Lucky there is always the New World Order to explain to Technocrats that there is a greater purpose that would suffer if they would be swayed by such actions. After all, the next step after (or before) worrying about kids is trying to keep contact with lovers and spouses. The line has to be drawn somewhere.

The idea of such a school is interesting, but wouldn't the students notice that all of them share an absent parent?

*shrugs* The question is Technocrat vs NWO. How sure are you of your programming and indoctrination, and would it be cheaper to just bring them into a witness program?

You can just have it as 'yeah, your parents all work for the same guys, so you have to go there to protect you from terrorists'. That line works. Also put it into several countries, to maintain deniability. You can say 'Your dad found a job at DARPA' or 'Your mother serves as a key witness to a federal crime'.

Then you can play the entire thing for drama when the kids find out.

[Aleph]

*shrugs* The question is Technocrat vs NWO. How sure are you of your programming and indoctrination, and would it be cheaper to just bring them into a witness program?

Since all Technocrats have to be Indoctrinated by default, there's no way an inexpugnable fortress it's going to be cheaper.

Not to mention that such a thing doesn't exist, as the Dimensional Anomaly proved. Autochtonia, the COP, perhaps even the very White Tower itself, all fell for what could be called a "natural phenomena" or an "act of god" - and those places were impregnable fortresses with the best defenses magick can build. An Earth based construct will never have defenses on that level, because they were too Vulgar for Earth (violating Eartly Foundations).
These fortresses were the places the Technocracy deemed most secure in the universe - and thus would be primary choice to put such a school (ergo, the kids are already dead. Heck, this kinda happened to the Progenitors, that used to live and build mortal families off world)

Also: it doesn't solve any problem, not really.

Protecting your family? .

Then what are you going to do with your beloved, non-technocratic, wife (isn't she part of your family too)?, lock her in a bunker? What are you going to do with your mother, and the rest of your older parents?

What are you going to do when the kids grow up, if they don't have the vocation to become Technocracy agents?
All are to be brainwashed so they don't have a choice? You have to be very sure of your programming and indoctrination, as you say, to do *that* - because it sounds a lot like creating more Dantes (Virtual Adept Master Dante's backstory it's that he was made in a lab, and lived his whole childhood learning stuff in a technocratic facility devoid of love - he hates the Technocracy)

---

Let's be real here: You people just want this (clearly anime) school to be a thing because it's cool as fuck.

That's reason enough to make it real, but probably it's better not to focus so much on overprotective fears that can get creppy or unreasonable (and that you should have left behind) but on the idea of having your kids awakening as new potential Technocrats (like Hermetics do) - that's what schools are for, after all.

[Accelerator]

Aleph's right.

This is kinda dumb.

How about a Boarding School for children who due to statistical analysis have been shown to have the gift or high chance of Awakening? Like, say, the best of the best from around the globe. Then you have the ones you don't expect. The street kids who awakened themselves, who have Mind 1 or Time 1 to keep themselves alive and got found by the Technocracy. The Kung fu or Judoist or any other athlete who got caught on camera using the equivalent of Forces 1 during a competition. That kid from the inner city school that nonetheless when he finished the tests, Mind and Entropy rotes told you that he had a high chance of Awakening.

A veritable mish mash of people from all walks of life and circumstance, all of them possible recruits for the conspiracy that rules the world, all of them uniting by the chance to Awaken.

You can make a pretty good story from any time with this.

[Konradleijon]

The problem with that is that there are at least a dozen breeds of monsters out there who would *love* to get their hooks on young operatives with families. You know Vampire uses Dominate or the Blood Bond on some young op's family, and now he has to choose? Or, say, obtaining black mail, gambling debts, etc... all the little things that can use leverage to corrupt an organisation due to security risks.

Yes, you are right that it's a big honking target. But it's often a throwup between defense and being able to hide things. Despite all that's happened, the Technocracy is the Conspiracy that Rules the World. There would be attack satellites up there, ready to pound on any massed attack. The school grounds is probably suffused with wards and dimensional blockers to prevent any RD fuckery. And the staff is very likely composed out of combat homuncului and attack robots. And the trees and the birds are probably shapeshifting monsters with psychic powers meant to kill anyone not cleared.

And also, its a pretty good source of new recruits. If one of the kids gets pushed and Awakens? Well, his relatives are now a recruiting pitch. "Join us and work with us, cause your parents already do."

They can do it with the Operatves family scattered around, like put them at a boarding school and you can monitor them for subversion.

[HorizonParty2021]

There is something I should have included in OP. It would not have to be Exclusively for Technomancers' kids. It could run at a profit and accommodate the children of rich parents whose tuition payments fund the operation. Inject some quintessence with Primal Utility and you can make the business run very well with further effects. While it would be unwise to put a high concentration of Union kids all in one place, having many of these schools run at a profit all over the world would be sensible.

Security-wise, I think they would operate on a contingency basis, rather than making it impervious. If there were an attack, "This day will live in infamy.". The attack would be used as propaganda against the Traditions. Imagine the upper class of a major city losing their kids, how susceptible to propaganda they would be. An important Node the Union couldn't previously dislodge it's Tradition occupiers from is now the target of a concerted propaganda campaign enabled by well connected, angry, grief stricken Sleepers.

An important aspect of security is that it records events via surveillance. Perhaps, instead of an orbital weapons platform, a geosynchronous satellite that is already watching the rest of the city could be used to identify potential intruders. If there is someone standing on the roof of a building trying to angle a stinger missile at the school, gate in and capture them alive. The interrogation video has almost as much value as a catastrophic event and is without incident.

For Verbena, Magick can be hereditary, but that is something special they have that balances for the complete disadvantage they are at with their paradigm. How likely is it that kids would inherit the potential for Awakening from a Union parent?

As for wives and grandmas, it isn't really possible to protect everyone. Deterrence of Tradition war crimes by proportional response is a more reliable strategy. In your average Tradition chronicle, when is a plan to murder innocent Sleepers seriously considered? At what point does that become a Nephandi campaign?

A junior Technomancer is probably at ease and less distracted if he knows his kids are well taken care of. The tuition paid by the Union keeps his "wife" happy and in contact with the school. Her attending parent-teacher meetings yields biometric data taken by security cameras. Everyone is accounted for.

The junior Technomancer isn't going to be thinking about his Oldlife-wife that much, with all the 5 appearance clones he's going to meet. If a female Technomancer was missing her husband one day, getting her needs attended to by the infinite-stamina Synthetic with movie-star looks would be enough to refocus her attention on the benefits of Union membership.

[Accelerator]

Actually, the progenitor thing has some connection with the Verbena.

You can't really do it like they do, but it's not inconceivable for a rote to upgrade anybody who has already awakened, by 'finding genetic markers' and 'inherited genes which help increase the odds of Genius'.