Welcome to A Mind Forever Voyaging (which, for brevity's sake, will henceforth be
referred to as AMFV). In this story, you will be PRISM, the world's first sentient
machine. Before you "boot up" your disk, make sure you read the short story in the first part of the booklet.
The story begins in the world of 2031, a world on the brink of chaos.
The economy of the United States of North America (USNA) has been stagnating for
decades. Crackpot religions are springing up all over the place. Crime and urban decay
are rampant. Schools have become violent, chaotic places ill-suited for educating
children. Today's youth frequently use joybooths to "tune-out" the world, leading in the
extreme case to joybooth suicide, where a psychological addict wastes away in his or her
private nirvana.
The global situation is even grimmer. The calcuttization of the Third World has almost
reached its limit, causing extreme overpopulation and poverty. This has created a climate
ripe for East Bloc adventurism, exploiting instability and fanning the numerous flash points
around the globe. The superpower race to build an impenetrable missile defense has ended in
a tie, with the foreseeable but unforseen result that an even more dangerous arms race has
begun -- a race to build miniature nuclear weapons, some as small as a cigarette pack, and
smuggle them into enemy cities -- a race which threatens to turn the USNA into a giant police state.
Things are bad, and it appears that they can only get worse. So when Senator Richard Ryder,
along with a small group of leaders from government, business, and the universities, announces
the Plan for renewed national purpose, everyone is only too willing to embrace it.