The causes of the Fall were complex and will very likely never be fully understood. However, it is clear that some people and groups did contribute to it. Also, during the Fall while there were clearly some human actions that were praiseworthy (such as the Americans opening the Vandenburg spaceport to everybody) and some that were disgraceful (such as the bombing of the Quito space elevator or the sabotage of the Maghreb farcaster software). Crimes against transhumanity were committed, sometimes out of fear and panic, sometimes just as settling the score with old enemies. Many acts were of unclear morality like the nuking of the Indian moon colonies.
As the direct threat started to abate, many began to look for people to blame. A number of former political, military and scientific leaders were lynched. Most stable polities managed to reign in their irate citizens by promising to pursue the criminals responsible for the Fall and other atrocities.
Since the Fall a number of organisations have been set up to investigate the Fall and bring "Fall criminals" to justice.
- The most well-known and well funded is the Planetary Consortium Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is supported by the PC and many other inner-system fractions, although by no means all: especially lunarians and lagrangians claim it is biased against national states, trying to pin most of the blame for the conflicts leading up to the Fall and especially the construction of the TITANs on national interests. The PCTRC usually responds by pointing at their meticulous, transparent methods and the fairly damning evidence they have already gathered. Other critics think the PCTRC is more interested in showing that it was the fault of the system rather than bringing individual criminals to justice. The Commission does have fairly limited legal powers, but there is little doubt the Consortium would strongly support member action against identified Fall criminals.
- The Consortium Genocide Commission is a part of the Consortium security cooperation and does have pretty hefty de facto legal powers (on paper it is just advisory). It is the part of consortium security that deals with major crimes against transhumanity, and it has caught a number of Fall criminals. It is however hampered by some high-level consortium policies of letting bygones be bygones: several times it has been told to step back from investigations that might have led to embarassing findings about the organisations that were to become consortium members after the Fall. Garden variety monsters, like Emmanuel Hyved (the man responsible for the corruption of the Maghreb farcasters), are fair game.
- The Fall Justice Foundation may be the most successful group in hunting Fall criminals. An Extropian foundation, it places bounties on the heads of identified Fall criminals and dispatches ego hunters to get them. It also employs an information market for tips, information and evidence about who ought to get branded criminal: once the evidence reaches a sufficient standard a bounty is put up. The Foundation is supported by a number of inner and outer system hyperelites, companies and NGOs, and does have cordial under-the-table ties with the CGC and Titanian Commonwealth Security. Some have claimed it is a highly sophisticated lynch mob and that it might be better at catching individuals than groups, but the FJF usually responds by pointing out that a sufficiently advanced lynch mob is indistinguishable from justice.
- The Interplanetary Criminal Court is largely a paper tiger, something vaguely supported by various inner system powers but lacking enough real clout to amount to something. A few solarists, seeking to unify the solar system under a united transhuman government, hope it can eventually grow into something real.
- The Treaty of Uniform Security does contain a clause that allows the extradition of Fall criminals involved with the TITANs, but it does not do much more. In particular, there is no mention of what to do with the merely human atrocities of the Fall, something many think is deeply unjust - but getting the polities of the solar system to sign an updated version is going to be a major uphill battle.
- There are a multitude of small networks dedicated to finding the real truth about the Fall and detecting its perpetrators. Many are just venting ordinary paranoia or prejudice, blaming - and attacking - AGIs, the Jews, uplifts, the Chinese or aliens. Some are more sophisticated and can sometimes dig up interesting information. The Argonaut-aligned Hyperion Group has mapped pre-Fall events with great precision and is comparing that with the disinformation campaigns waged during and after the Fall to find guilty consciences. Their success has been measured in the amount of spin and memetic attacks that their work has stirred up. The People's Court Against Fall Crime is less sophisticated (and downright rude), but tenacious in tracking down especially AI researchers and AGIs with ties (real or imaginary) to the TITANs.
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[I]Raise your hands to the sky and break the chains. With transhumanism we can smash the matriarchy together.[/i]
