In the story, the computer programmer terrorist explains that HMS memories were being readied for public introduction, to replace hard drives and other storage mediums. The computer was an experimental one, designed for the military, as an AI experiment machine--- and the terrorists hijacked it.
I ADMIT-- if one tries to over analyze things, they will find plenty of factual errors. But, in a fictional story, you have some leeway--- NONE of this is meant to be applicable to the real world--- HAL wasn't (then, or now), nor is Omni-One, Starshield or the Neutron multiplier--- they are known as PLOT DEVICES.
In the story, the computer programmer terrorist explains that HMS memories were being readied for public introduction, to replace hard drives and other storage mediums. The computer was an experimental one, designed for the military, as an AI experiment machine--- and the terrorists hijacked it.
I ADMIT-- if one tries to over analyze things, they will find plenty of factual errors. But, in a fictional story, you have some leeway--- NONE of this is meant to be applicable to the real world--- HAL wasn't (then, or now), nor is Omni-One, Starshield or the Neutron multiplier--- they are known as PLOT DEVICES.
True, sometimes it is easy to look for a real life parallel that is the same in this worl or at least plausiable enough to make it work given some tinkering and engineering. I was talking about this to my co-worker and I mentioned your RCA 2000 where it was made in 1969 using the then avaiable TTL and MOS computer chips and he came up with a good phrase, "building tomorrow's future with today's technology" where you are building the typical TV set of 1980 to now with what is available in the late 1960's. Many times you get good results like the TV. I know in The Morrow Project we have cryotubes to freeze people to wake up in the future and fusion reactors to power our vehicles as well as having stationary fusion power plants. I've talked to on occasion to one of the authors of the game (which came out in 1980) about how they made the fusion work and to make a long story short, it is based on conceptual designs for fusion reactors. I have the second volume of "The Way Things Work" which was written in 1967 or so with possible concepts on fusion reactors. Some other gamers debate on using hot or cold fusion or some other power source entirely. In my game, the Project was started in 1963 and the Project vehicles before the changeover to fusion was in the mid to late 1980's, they were hybrids running off of batteries being charged by a small gas turbine engine from time to time using 1960's technology. The idea behind that is in the game, the Project is supposed to help people, rebuild America as best as they can and fight bad guys while not degrading into "fuel trek" by spending a lot of effort in getting fuel or distilling alcohol as a motorfuel substitute like in the game "Twilight: 2000." So the fusion reactors and to a lesser extent, 1960's era hybrids, are more or less a "dues ex machina" in the game to prevent "fuel trek" or at least cut it down. The founder of the Project, Bruce E. Morrow is said to be a time traveller and/or a slider to the future/alternate Earths where he managed to bring back high tech and use it in the Project like the fusion reactors.
The downside is if we overconceptualize, hot fusion in something as small as a V-150 armored car or a Hummer would most likely be a pain in the butt when you need a lot of energy to start up the magnetic containment fuel and then to start the reaction, hence some gamers use cold fusion or something else like micro black holes in a containment field or "Zero Point Energy."
Here is a link about it on one of the Morrow Project gaming sites:
Fusion Power in the Morrow Project
BTW, "MARS One" and "Science One" are huge special purpose vehicles, think of "Ark II" or the Landmaster from "Damnation Alley" on steroids, MARS is a special Project strike force, like Special Forces, to take on tough enemies or to pull a recon or science team's butt out of trouble and the Science version is a lab on wheels/tracks. BTW, in my game, the fusion reactors last longer and one of the game's authors explains it to where you turn a crank to fire up the reactor much like an old lawnmower or Model-T Ford.
Another link of use is:
You and your V
About Project vehicles in general including the field computers used by the Project.