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Welcome to the wiki for The Fourth Branch - the definitive fandom page for the scifi series created by T.B. Kramer. This fandom is reserved for those who are fans of the series and would like a dedicated space to discuss all things Fourth Branch. The Fourth Branch: 2076 released 5 November 2024 and is available where books are sold online. The sequel novel, The Fourth Branch: Sentients will be released 4 July 2025 with a third series installment planned for spring/summer of 2026.

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The Fourth Branch: 2076

Motivational propaganda poster (USA, circa 2076)

In the year 2076, we're still ruled by technology and those with a lust for power, but our collective anger has been weaponized and it's reached a deadly boiling point...

After the war in Haiti, all Victor Gates wants is to return home to Philadelphia and reconnect with his friends.

Instead, he's pitted against Omega, a terrorist syndicate hell-bent on destroying American Cyberocracy. And Victor, America's greatest war hero, has had to fight hard to get out from under the shadow of the most detestable person in the world, his father, the purported leader of Omega.

The all-powerful Fourth Branch of the US government governs the artificial intelligence used to power the nation's Cyberocracy. Victor has become an unwitting player in Omega's and the Fourth Branch's sinister game. A cryptic message with schematics of the world's most destructive weapon puts the pieces on the board.

He'll need to connect the dots, and confront his father, to prevent the weapon from tearing 'The City of Brotherly Love' to shreds on 4 July 2076. That is before it tears itself apart first.

Read full synopsis here: I. 2076

The Fourth Branch: Sentients

Victor Gates was sure he left the disastrous summer of 2076 in the rearview mirror; no strings attached.

The trial of the century changed all that. His mother’s life and The Fourth Branch’s hold on power, both hang in the balance. Their fates are now at the mercy of the cyberocracy’s master puppeteer, the mysterious Sentients – whose own existence is in peril.

Attacks by Omega are taking their toll, and The Fourth Branch is barely keeping everything afloat. If there’s any hope to patch the cyberocracy’s holes, and bring the Sentients back online, the embattled Grand Architect must enlist Victor’s help.

The battle for The City of Brotherly Love rages on in 2077, even as global war looms on the horizon. But hope remains, even in the most unlikely places. And if Victor follows his orders like a good soldier and rescues the man behind the curtain, he may find who’s been pulling his strings all along.

Victor Gates

Victor Gates in 2076 Philadelphia

Victor Gates is the protagonist and main character in The Fourth Branch: 2076 and The Fourth Branch: Sentients. He is anticipated to be the protagonist and MC for the third, yet to be named, installment of the series.

Born in Philadelphia in the year 2055, during a period of immense socio-political tumult in the United States called 'The War of the Moderates.' Victor's biological mother is Carmenta Gates, and for most of his life he believed that Mobius Gates, the infamous alleged leader of the Omega terror syndicate, was his father. On 4 July 2076, Victor learns that Mobius is not his biological father, but it is not revealed who is father truly is.

Victor was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on 4 July 2076 for his actions at the battle of Les Rouge, Haiti which directly led to the rescue of dozens of his comrades, and the neutralization of hundreds of enemy combatants. He harbors an immense amount of guilt that he survived the battle, yet all of his fellow Soldiers in Tengo squad were killed on the beachside battle that raged for hours.

Soon after the battle, he returned home to Philadelphia to be reunited with his friends and family. During his mandatory procedure to receive a neurograft at the ECHO Chamber, he encountered a young boy named Innocius and they shared a strange experience inside the chamber whereby they experienced each other's traumatizing memories. Victor walked Innocius back to his home (he is wheelchair bound), and rescued him from a group of bullies. The two soon discovered that they are the subjects of a unique phenomenon that can occur after entering the ECHO Chamber called The Theta Wave Phenomenon. This allows them to manipulate certain mechanical devices that utilize theta as a particular source of power.

Victor's girlfriend is a vivacious, and wealthy, woman named Abiana Earhart. Her father is the CEO of Lucier Corps, and he recently hired Victor to work for him as a Junior Vice President in the Applied Defense Division.

Flag of The Fourth Branch (USA, circa 2076)

T.B. Kramer is an American author and former US Army Officer. He got the idea for The Fourth Branch series by thinking of what it would be like if a supreme AI ran the government and what the implications would be for a society that never seems to run short on anger. When he’s not writing, he can be found in central Pennsylvania spending time with his wife and two children. T.B. Kramer's official author website is: https://www.kramersremarks.com