One True

One True is the fictional hegemonic software program that takes control of individual human minds and entire human societies in John Barnes' two Meme Wars novels Candle and The Sky So Big and Black; the novel Kaleidoscope Century details the years leading up to its existence. All three books are part of the Century Next Door series. One True operates collectively through the "Resuna", a brain–computer interface implanted in every person.

Fictional history

Initially known as the One True Church of Ecucatholicism, One True develops through exposure to other memes. Initially an aggressive religious meme, by the end of the War of Papal Succession (a.k.a. the Meme Wars) it has become an entity determined to fix the ecological damage wrought on earth as a result of the two major conflicts of the 2000s, to provide a safe place for humans to live.

When the major conflict is over, Resuna is developed as a mico-meme that works to support One True as a massively distributed network instead of a large scale meme that essentially erases the original personality of the person to which it has been installed. Resuna, taking up less space, is described as a tool that can be used by its "wearer" rather than a puppet pulling all of the strings. Through the use of cellular data implants, all people running the Resuna meme provide the computing power to run One True. Benefits include being able to instantly access data assets (like satellite photography, GIS, instant messaging, and more), better control of autonomic functions (controlled release of endorphins), and performs the functions of a semi-intelligent personal digital assistant.

It also provides a method for One True to control its human units completely as needed. While working towards essentially common goals, this distributed approach means that it is more willing to sacrifice individuals if it determines that the greater good will be served. Free will is also removed as the distributed network can override anything that it determines are not in the best interests of the community.

At the end of Candle, One True deliberately allows a human with Resuna to become infected with the final version of the Freecyber meme, a meme deployed during the Meme Wars to fight it. One True reveals that it no longer wishes to have the absolute control it enjoyed for the first decades of its existence and begins the process of freeing individuals under a new meme that leaves them in control of their own actions, but still able to participate in the global consciousness.

References

Candle. 2000. New York: Tor Science Fiction. ISBN 0-8125-8968-8.
The Sky So Big and Black. 2002. New York: Tor Science Fiction. ISBN 0-7653-0303-5.

Books by John Barnes

The Century Next Door series	Orbital Resonance (1991) • Kaleidoscope Century (1995) • Candle (2000) • The Sky So Big and Black (2002)

The Thousand Cultures series	A Million Open Doors (1993) • Earth Made of Glass (1999) • The Merchants of Souls (2002) • The Armies of Memory (2006)

The Time Raider series	Wartide (1992) • Battle Cry (1992) • Union Fires (1992) •

The Timeline Wars series	Patton's Spaceship (1997) • Washington's Dirigible (1997) • Caesar's Bicycle (1997) • Timeline Wars (1997) (omnibus)

The Jak Jinnaka series	Duke of Uranium (2002) • A Princess of the Aerie (2003) • In the Hall of the Martian King (2003)

The Daybreak series	Directive 51 (2010) • Daybreak Zero (2011) • The Last President (2012)

Other books	The Man Who Pulled Down the Sky (1987) • Sin of Origin (1988) • Mother of Storms (1995) • Encounter with Tiber (1996) • One For the Morning Glory (1996) • Apocalypses & Apostrophes (1998) • Finity (1999) • The Return (2001) • Gaudeamus (2004) • Payback City (2007) • Tales of the Madman Underground (2009) • Losers in Space (2012)