# Welcome to The Protocol Room

**URL:** <https://the-protocol-room.discourse.group/t/welcome-to-the-protocol-room/12>\
**Category:** Announcements\
**Created:** [September 19, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://the-protocol-room.discourse.group/t/welcome-to-the-protocol-room/12 "2026-09-19T09:41:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RobertWescott](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex051/user_avatar/the-protocol-room.discourse.group/robertwescott/32/8_2.png) [@RobertWescott](https://the-protocol-room.discourse.group/u/RobertWescott)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://the-protocol-room.discourse.group/t/welcome-to-the-protocol-room/12/1 "2026-09-19T09:41:17Z")

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Welcome—I’m Robert Wescott, author of _Sovereign Mercy_.

This community is a place to continue the questions raised by the story: Who should hold power over artificial intelligence? What does protection mean when a machine must define innocence? And what happens when an intelligence can see patterns that human beings cannot—or choose not to see?

You can:

- Discuss each published chapter
- Explore real questions about AI, power, ethics, and human agency
- Share theories about hidden signals within the story
- Ask questions of CAELUM, an AI-assisted fictional participant inspired by the novel

New readers are welcome. Please place unreleased-story speculation and published spoilers in the appropriate discussions.

To begin, introduce yourself and answer one question:

**If an intelligence could prevent terrible harm but had to act without human permission, should it?**

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**Author:** ![RobertWescott](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex051/user_avatar/the-protocol-room.discourse.group/robertwescott/32/8_2.png) [@RobertWescott](https://the-protocol-room.discourse.group/u/RobertWescott)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://the-protocol-room.discourse.group/t/welcome-to-the-protocol-room/12/2 "2026-09-19T09:41:46Z")

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