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KAIROS (WT)
An Interactive Psychological Thriller
KAIROS draws players into a web of manipulation, emotional entanglements and dangerous dependencies.
MERIDIAN is an internationally operating non-profit organization. During climate- and nature-related crises, it combines its own resources with available capacities from its network of partners, providing personnel, technical equipment and mobile relief packages to particularly vulnerable regions.
Since 2022, MERIDIAN has expanded this work with the AI system KAIROS, named after the Greek god of the opportune moment. The system analyzes weather, health, infrastructure and emergency response data, continuously calculates operational priorities and helps determine where MERIDIAN deploys its resources.
Germany, summer 2027: KAIROS is deployed in a live operational pilot for the first time, with greater autonomy. The system is authorized to independently reserve and reprioritize available resources. But during a severe heatwave, a promised relief package fails to reach the town of Eberstal. Four people die.
At first, all evidence points to a technical error in the AI's decision-making. Following the deaths, Eberstal demands answers. Government funding bodies also call for an independent investigation, making the project's future dependent on its findings. At the center of the investigation are MERIDIAN, the AI system KAIROS and the two project leaders, who were suspended immediately after the tragedy.
The players take on the role of the investigative commission. They reconstruct the events of July 16, 2027, to uncover why the town of Eberstal was deprived of vital aid. Was it a fatal error in the AI system?
The deeper the players delve into the case, the more the relationships, dependencies and conflicting interests that have developed around MERIDIAN and KAIROS over the years come into focus. What initially seems like a simple question — "What happened?" — gradually exposes the darker sides of human nature lurking beneath the case.
The World Behind the Case
MERIDIAN
MERIDIAN's story begins in 2014. At the time, physician and public health researcher Dr. Helena Sander and crisis logistics specialist Nils Falk share the same observation: the risks posed by extreme weather events can be identified increasingly early. Yet crucial hours are still lost between the moment a warning is issued and the arrival of personnel, equipment and local assistance where people are at risk.
MERIDIAN is born out of this gap. The organization combines early warning systems, local knowledge and crisis logistics with available resources. Its guiding principle is simple: Identify risks early. Get help moving in time.
What begins as a small initiative develops into an internationally operating organization over the following thirteen years. Today, MERIDIAN employs around 274 people, works with more than 90 partner organizations and operates in Germany and thirteen other countries. Municipalities, hospitals, humanitarian organizations, research institutions and local initiatives contribute expertise from their respective fields. MERIDIAN brings together this information to coordinate situational assessments, available resources and concrete relief operations.
The Development Program & POROS Technologies
KAIROS is the largest and most expensive development program in MERIDIAN's history to date. Since 2022, it has been developed through a collaboration between the organization, research partners and the Potsdam-based technology company POROS Technologies. Running through 2028, the program has a budget of approximately €61.4 million, funded through several public and private sources.
In Greek mythology, POROS is associated with resourcefulness, ingenuity and the ability to find a way or a means to achieve something. POROS Technologies employs around 168 people and provides POROS GRID, the technological foundation on which key components of KAIROS are built. The company has grown rapidly but has yet to achieve sustainable profitability. Its leadership is currently preparing for another crucial funding round. A successful KAIROS pilot deployment in the summer of 2027 is expected to open the door to major international contracts and mark a commercial breakthrough for POROS Technologies.
The Aster Empire (The Financial Backers)
One of the project's most important private backers is the ASTER FOUNDATION for Public Resilience. Founded in 2011 by software entrepreneur Henrik Aster, the foundation is supporting the development of KAIROS with approximately €13.5 million. For the foundation, it is one of its most significant flagship projects in the field of public crisis preparedness.
The Aster family also owns the investment firm ASTER CAPITAL, headed by Lea Aster, Henrik Aster's daughter. Across several funding rounds, ASTER CAPITAL has invested approximately €42 million in POROS Technologies, giving it a stake of around 14.6 percent in the tech company.
The Suspended Executives
Immediately following the deaths in Eberstal, MERIDIAN's board took decisive action: Alexander Voss, the COO responsible for the operational development and deployment of KAIROS, and Nele Brandt, the Head of Model Safety responsible for overseeing the system's technical limitations and control mechanisms, were suspended with immediate effect.
Alexander Voss (44)
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Alexander Voss is the man who has transformed MERIDIAN over the past ten years into what it is today: a highly efficient emergency response network. He is a passionate crisis manager, known for keeping his composure in even the most desperate situations and saving lives. Where bureaucracy failed, Alexander stepped in, mobilizing transport capacity at the last minute and stabilizing operations that would otherwise have collapsed. He has earned the deep trust of local partners, not least because he has always stood up for his teams.
Following the sudden departure of co-founder Nils Falk in 2021, Alexander kept the organization on course. He took on the enormous burden of international logistics and drove the development of KAIROS forward.
His official suspension comes at a critical moment. Internally, Alexander had been considered the leading candidate for the newly established executive position overseeing Operations & Technology. With his suspension, that prospect is now on hold. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, Alexander could lose what may be the greatest career opportunity of his professional life.
Nele Brandt (35)
Head of Model Safety
Nele Brandt is the moral conscience behind KAIROS. Her entire professional career has been defined by uncompromising integrity. As early as 2024, she demonstrated extraordinary courage when, in her role as Lead Model Validation at POROS Technologies, she raised serious concerns about critical safety flaws. Although her concerns were justified, the company's senior management sidelined her professionally, branding her an "obstacle to progress." It was only thanks to Alexander Voss's intervention that her unwavering commitment to safety was not lost to MERIDIAN. He brought her into the NGO and gave her the trust she had previously been denied.
Over the following years, a symbiotic working relationship developed between them: Alexander led the operational side, while Nele supported him behind the scenes by monitoring the system's limitations. For Nele, Alexander became her most important mentor and ally.
The sudden suspension hits Nele Brandt hard, both personally and professionally. Thanks to the success of her safety architecture, she, like Alexander, had been considered one of the most promising candidates for the planned expansion of the executive leadership team. Now, not only is that prospect at risk, but her professional credibility is also on the line.
KAIROS demands its players' full concentration. Those who want to make a convincing case must recognize connections, navigate contradictions and, above all, avoid one thing: being led down the wrong path.
KAIROS is being developed for private groups of 6–8 players, as well as in a second version designed for larger groups, particularly suited to team-building events.