Olympus Mons Historical Series

The Olympus Mons Historical Series was a series of virtual worlds created during the early years of the Valerian Empire in an attempt to make historical documentations of ancient Earth. They are populated by virtual life forms who are programmed to reenact major events while still being dynamic enough to fill in the gaps of documented history.

The simulations were designed to run in real-time and would reset once time had progressed past the scope of the desired time period. The virtual life forms believed themselves to be humans within that time period, but when approached by a visitor, they would enter a lucid state and become aware that they are in a simulation. This would allow them to answer questions and provide historical context and reasoning for what is currently happening. Essentially, this allowed for scholars and students to study history in far greater detail than ever before.

These simulations were also the main source of training data used in the construction of the Oracle. Most of them were destroyed during the Blackout, but surviving copies exist throughout the galaxy in the form of redundant backup drives and data caches from old vrNet servers. However, most of them are heavily degraded and infested with Rampants.

The Federation of Stellar Systems has heavily regulated the exploration of these virtual worlds due to their photorealistic appearance. Aside from the presence of Rampants, visitors also risk becoming afflicted with a condition known as virtual reality psychosis where someone may lose the ability to distinguish between the virtual and real worlds. These simulations were designed primarily to be viewed by Valerians who had naturally more advanced cognition and perception that would effectively made them immune to the condition.

Known time periods

• Construction of the Pyramids of Giza
• Rise and Fall of Julius Ceasar
• Reign of Oda Nobunaga
• Life of Joan of Arc
• American Civil War
• World War I
• World War II
• Founding of Bee-Sus

Experimental variants

These experimental variants of these simulations were never made available publicly to citizens of Valerian Empire due to their unfinished and/or risky state.

• Complete History of Earth - An ambitious project that was meant to consist of all time periods in one giant simulation, even going back as far as the formation of Earth in the solar system. The project was never finished due to budget constraints and the tremendous amount of energy needed. It is speculated that it could have been completed within another few thousand years if the Singularity War never happened.
• Alternate Histories - While the original time periods were designed to be alterable and adaptable to visitors, a series of speculative alternate sagas were planned to explore scenarios of what would happen if the outcomes of wars played out differently. Ultimately, this ended up being used solely for military and scientific purposes with no suitable release being made public.

Fictional works

A later iteration of the Olympus Mons Historical Series began to adapt literary works and early films after the immense value of entertainment was discovered. They are considered just as valuable as the main historical series given their insight into human nature.

• The works of Shakespeare
• The works of Robert Louis Stevenson
• The works of Sir Arther Conan Doyle

Notable virtual life forms

Some virtual life forms that originated from these simulations have become notable in having become entirely independent.

• Abraham Lincoln - Originated from the American Civil War simulation, a copy of Abraham Lincoln became a street vigilante hunting and destroying Rampants.