BEGINNINGS Bollywood (Lourdes Mcgowan) Was Being Accused of Those Parts Took Over

GENESIS

By the time the skeleton had been built, I knew the composing to send to central security, even though year was 2088, and I was in the fringes of the Brazilian it was still in the computer in his head. My hand was Empire, which was in the process of losing a cold war curling into a fist of it’s own volition. These guys nev- to China. By the time the heart and circulatory system er traveled alone, and my file described some of the was done being woven, I knew that my legal status weapons and upgrades the security mooks could was somewhere between that of a rabid dog and come with—sub dermal shotguns and fiber optic that of a malfunctioning flamethrower. By the time nervous systems and scarier shit. Cover, cover... I was the musculature was being laid down, I had found miles from any kind of cover. My life, all of one and a out that the last hundred years had seen limited nu- half hour old, was ending. clear wars, genetically engineered half-humans, and But not before the world exploded. oil eating bacteria. While blood vessels connected, I There are parts of me that I don’t know, and when learned about Singularity Fever, Corporate Addiction the loading bay door disintegrated violently, spray- Syndrome, and that the latest starlet to come out of ing the bay with shards of metal and ceramics, one BEGINNINGS Bollywood (Lourdes McGowan) was being accused of those parts took over. The guard with his hand of doping to improve her performances. By the time on my shoulder was wearing armor, but there was a my body was ready to walk, breathe, and puke, I had weak point at his throat that my stiff hand was able to absorbed and analyzed GigaLOCs of data and come penetrate, two inches into his flesh. His partner three to a conclusion. yards behind him fired a railgun into his back, which This place was f***ed up. easily punched through his body and into mine. The Downloading into the body was easy. I wasn’t a force spun me and slammed me into the wall, but computer scientist, but I was getting a feel for this the damage was... I won’t say superficial, but I will say stuff. Taking my first steps, I noticed I was a lot stron- nonfatal. ger and more coordinated than I had been. Then I By the time I had recovered enough to regain my thought, had been? I got to a dressing room and put feet, Mr. Railgun was dead, and he had company. Bul- on a uniform without seeing another person. lets were whizzing through the bay and more secu- The compound was larger—much larger—than it rity forces had poured in to meet the invaders. They looked on a map. The gleaming white corridors, the hadn’t been well trained, though, so the only thing shiny steel doors... I’d had nightmares with more style. they contributed was targets. There had to be a dozen The security down here was programs—yes, pro- corpses or soon to be corpses on the floor. Maybe— grams. Little shark-like programs swimming through maybe—six seconds had passed. air. I found that hiding myself was easy, when they Through the smoke, one of the invaders ap- swam by. Sampleproached file me. His eyes were cat’s eyes, and he had When I finally did encounter people, they—I don’t a smiley face painted on the chest of his armor. He know why, but I expected them to look... healthier. looked at me and grinned. “Come with me if you want They had glazed eyes, twitchy movements, and to live.” looked drugged. They were focused on whatever ar- I was slowly coming to the realization that I had cane tasks Nova Personnel demanded of them. They just killed a man. did not notice me either. “John Reed?” Smiley asked. “We’ve been hired to By the time I had gotten to the surface and was get you out of here. Are you okay? Can you walk?” heading out of a loading bay, I was cocky. Very cocky. As it turned out, as the red spattered white walls of Too cocky. the bay faded to black, the answer to both questions “Hey, what are you doing here?” was no. I kept walking. “I said what are you doing here?” A hand fell on my shoulder. I could hear the alert he was

2 WELCOME

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. – Albert Einstein The Basics: • Chapter 2 - Hero Creation: Interface-Zero Style. Presents new races such as the com- RolePlaying Games bat simulacrum, human 2.0, the emergent AI, and much more. Have you ever pretended you were a gun-toting sher- • Backgrounds. The meat and potatoes iff? The heroic pirate captain? A dedicated martial art- of your hero’s history. ist? Or even the resourceful spy? Well role-playing is a • New Occupations. Play a stopwatch lot like that. Ever read a story where you could imag- agent, an ismist, a ganglander or a ine yourself as the protagonist; see what they see; weapon master. imagine what you would do in the situation? Then • Skills and Feats. Some updated tools you’ve done a bit of mental role-playing as well. Ever for your toolkit. tell ghost stories around the campfire? Role-playing is • Chapter 3 – The World of 2088. Beginner’s a lot like that too. One part board game, one part sto- guide to the modern day world. rytelling, and one part improvisational theater, role- • Tools of the Trade. An assortment of playing is a lot of things rolled into one. But mostly equipment, weapons, cybernetics, and a good role-playing game is about having a fun eve- bio-upgrades useful for navigating the ning with friends. dangerous world of 2088. The rules are there to give some structure to the • Chapter 4 – Systems of Control. Includes game, but beyond that, imagination is king, and the new rules, equipment and upgrades to help only goal is to have fun. While role-playing games your heroes survive the streets, and the (RPGs) like Interface-Zero are indeed “games,” they Deep. are not competitive ones. The object is not to win the • The Deep. Plumb the depths of virtual game, but to take part in a great story as it unfolds. and hyperlinked augmented reality. In that regard, role-playing games are not safe • Computer Rules. Rules for how to use games such as chess or even computer RPGs, in which those mad hacking skillz. imagination often takes a backseat to rules, charac- • Equipment. Materialism at its finest. terization is sparse, and there are systems that dictate • Upgrades. Whether it is biological or where you can and cannot go and what actionsSample you file cybernetic this chapter has you cov- may take. ered. By taking on the role of a hero in Interface-Zero, • Game master’s Section it is possible to expand your own horizons. In play- • Chapter 5 – Narrating a Series. Gives per- ing this game you may discover that your newfound spective Narrators the tips, tools and help wisdom comes at a cost, the realization that your pre- they need to run their own series of stories conceived notions were wrong. in Interface-Zero. • Chapter 6 – Allies, Antagonists and Con- What You Need to Play Interface-Zero tacts. A list of ready to use antagonists from • This book. Corporate AIs to terrorist masterminds, all • A copy of Modern20. statted out for the Narrator’s use. • Pencils and paper. • Some (lucky) dice. INTRODUCTION • And most importantly: imagination.

What You Will Find Within • Player’s Section • Chapter 1 – The Time of Revelations. An account of the history leading up to 2088.

3 WELCOME

Warning: For Mature Audiences Like many books, this work of fiction is filled with infectious ideas, and potentially hazardous, mind- altering memeplexes. Reader discretion is ad- vised. The Lingo of Interface‑Zero

INTRODUCTION American Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith: The ACDF or the North American Inquisition is an official ecclesiastical secret police agency operating in the United Coalition States of America. Artificial Intelligence (AI): Programs that appear to be or actually are self-aware. AIs can be either subsentient, meaning they are adaptive, but not actually sentient, or fully sentient and therefore self-aware. Aspect: A subsentient AI trained to mimic one or more skills or facets of a sentient being (usually its owner). Atlantica: A nation created out of the former tradi- tionally liberal Northeastern United States. Atlantica is at the forefront of the transhumanist movement. Augmented Reality Game (ARG): A game or metagame that takes place both in a real and virtual setting. Avatar: A person’s interactive digital self. Baja Mexico: Formerly the territories of Baja, Northwestern Mexico, Southern California, and most of Nevada. Much of Baja is uninhabitable desert with a few major cities. Baja is a major robotics manufactur- Sampleing filepower rivaling Japan. Banger: A violent person. Black Hat: A hacker who uses his computer skills for criminal, destructive or selfish purposes. Blit: To travel virtually between two points without traveling along the intervening distance. Blue Plater: Working class citizens (i.e. poor people). Box: An external amplification unit often used in conjunction with TAP. Restricted in some jurisdictions. Brainer: A technically proficient or intelligent person, in particular one who works on computers. Bountyheads: Wanted suspects and criminals with bounties placed on them. Caribbean Economic League: The CEL is a nation made up of former island territories in the Caribbean Sea that ultimately joined the US and later abandoned it when the Union’s economic forecast grew increasingly grim. Chimera: A person or animal that has undergone drastic genesplicing without concern for their final form’s appearance.

4 WELCOME

Crashing: A violent attack on a computer system as the Rust Belt League) is a pragmatic socialist nation designed to disrupt operations. governed by former water barons and industrial pow- Cutter: An anti-security program, often takes the ers. form of a VR weapon. Gun Santo: Also know as a gun saint, gun-fu artist Cyberform: A completely artificial shell used to or gun kensei. A martial adept who specializes in gun- house an AI. Many are humanoid in shape. play. Deep, The: Another name for the Net, or Medi- Hack: Short form of hacker, alternatively the pro- aWeb. The virtual world. There are many metaphorical cess of hacking. uses of the word comparing the network to the ocean. Hacker: A person skilled in computer use. One can: dive into the deep, surf the net, swim through Headframe: A precursor to the TAP. media, create waves, etc... Human 2.0: Humans who have undergone embry- Derezz: The act of disrupting or severing a person’s onic genetic upgrades to the point that they are con- or object’s virtual interface with hyper reality (typically sidered a different species of human. In general they an avatar). are more intelligent and physically enduring than ba- Digital Entity: A general term used to describe sic humans. Most members of the New Mandarinate deep fauna including: AIs, aspects, avatars, and viruses. are Human 2.0. See Ideoform below. Hyper Reality (HR): Also called augmented reality Divers: Those who plumb the Deep for informa- or hyper-linked reality. tion. Net surfers. Hybrid: A person who has undergone genesplicing Dry Spot: A geographic location without much in therapies involving animal DNA. The term refers to any the way of passive external processing power. human who has undergone such therapy, but in prac- Dubbing: The process of digitalizing a person’s tice it is used most often to describe those individuals consciousness. Currently dubbing is fatal to the per- who still appear passably human. Hybrids that cannot son undergoing the operation. The process uses nano pass for unaltered humans are most often referred to devices to replace the patient’s brain (cell for cell) in as chimeras. order to generate a hi-definition master copy for later Icon: A media star. uploading. The process is still experimental and has a Ideoform: A general term used to describe Deep high rate of failure the most common of which results fauna including: AIs, aspects, avatars, and viruses. See in the production of an aspect-like subsapient con- Digital Entity above. sciousness. IDSMC: Incredibly Dense Self-Modifying Code. Also Emancipated AI: An artificial intelligence that has called Id Smack for short. been granted official government recognitionSample as a Ism:file A philosophy, cause, or religion; usually a radi- sentient being. This status generally comes with offi- cal one. cial citizenship and some or all of the rights afforded Ismist: A radical. One who follows an “ism.” Also humans within regions that offers such recognition. anyone who follows an ideal. Gangland: A lawless section of sprawland domi- Martial Adept: A person who is extensively trained nated by street gangs. in one of many stylized martial arts forms including Ganglander: A person (usually a member of gang) mental discipline and bio-feedback techniques. who lives in section of gang controlled urban sprawl. Maze: Another name for the sprawl or any highly Also known as gangers. congested urban area. Gaucho: A cowboy or other slick, handsome or MediaWeb: Another name for the Net or the Deep. trendy male. The interactive virtual world. Genesplicing: The act and science of splicing the Megaconglomeration: Also called Congloms,

genetic code of humans and animals. Corps, MegaCons, and MegaCorps. They are large INTRODUCTION Golemmech: Cybernetic power armor, or robots, multinational companies that often wield many of the usually vehicle size or larger. Golemmechs are used same powers granted to sovereign nations, including: extensively for construction, rescue, and military pur- sovereignty over their own domains (usually defined poses. as corporate offices, and any territory real or virtual Gray Hat: A hacker who uses his computer skills for that they own), the right to make and sign treaties, the morally gray or non-moral related purposes. right to pass laws and enforce them within their bor- Great Lakes Union: The GLU is made up of former ders, and the right to raise armies to protect the integ- US States, City States, and Canadian Providences bor- rity of their company and its trademarks. dering the Great Lakes. The GLU (occasionally known

5 WELCOME

Meme: A discrete pack of cultural information. Script Kiddie: A newbie hacker or wannabe with- Memes, like viral agents can be infectious. out any real knowledge of programming who uses Nano Assembler: A device used to reconfigure code written by someone else to hack with. matter from one form into another. Simulacrum: Also known as androids, puppets, rep- Negotiator: One who “negotiates the sprawl.” Any licants, or bioforms. Artificial life forms used as tools by person makes their living on the fringe of law abiding mankind. society. Most often used to refer to: bounty hunters, Singularity: A point in the near future when dra- fences, fixers, mediators, operators, and private inves- matic advances in technology or AI out pace human tigators. understanding possibly leading to the extinction of

INTRODUCTION Neko: A person who has undergone cosmetic sur- the species or some dramatic evolutionary leap. By its gery or superficial genesplicing for purely aesthetic very nature the ultimate form and effect of the singu- reasons, in order to look more like an anthropomor- larity are unknown. phic animal. Alternately known as either a furry or an Spindoctor: A publicist or public relations expert. anthro. Often confused with so-called true hybrids or Sprawl: A heavily urbanized area. Often used to re- chimeras. fer to “bad” or dangerous neighborhoods. OOL: Omniversal Object Locator. A small piece of Sprawlander: A person who lives in the urban data that indicates the location of a place, person, or sprawl. Also known as Sprawlers. file. Serves the same function as an email address, PO Sword Sage: A martial adept who specializes in Box, and phone number all in one. sword fighting. Parker: Someone who practices Parkur, the sport of Sylph: Also called arm candy. An attractive woman. treating the urban landscape like an obstacle course. TAP: Or Tendril Access Processor (so named for its Pipe: A channel of communication from any one three component parts tendril like brain filaments, the hyper reality point to any other. access chip, and processor/Wi-Fi signal processor and Personal Reality: The reality a person experiences booster), is a brain mounted nano device that allows a through their Hyper Reality filter preferences. user to interface with the hyper real world. Phansigar (“Noose Operator”): A member of the Triad Society: An Asian (primarily Chinese) secret thuggee. criminal society akin to the Mafia. Phreak: Someone who practices the skill of phone United Coalition States of America: The UCSA phreaking, the manipulation old analog and T1 tele- makes up the bulk of the former United States and phone exchanges. Canada. The UCSA (also known as the Coalition of Will- Power Suit: Power armor. ing Christian States), is a theocratic plutocracy, ruling Raider: Short for “corporate raider.” AnyoneSample who over file a puppet government. plans or performs clandestine operations against a Unplugged: A person without a media TAP. corporation or conglomeration. Virtual Reality (VR): computer generated interac- Republic of Cascadia, The: The former American tive images. Northwest and British Columbia. Wasteland: A geographic region that is hostile to Rover: A person who makes their permanent resi- human life. This includes, deserts, barrens, radiation dence aboard a ship, or other artificial habitat at sea zones, former toxic landfills, bomb sites, Arctic regions, (in particular the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans). and ruins located in such areas. Most rovers hail from Oceania, Indian, or the Far East, Wastelander: A person who lives in the in a waste- with a significant minority coming from western coast land or ruin. Also known as Wasters. of the Americas. Weapon Master: A martial adept who specializes Scavenger: A person who combs old ruins, wastes in armed melee combat but does not use a sword. and junk heaps for salvageable technology. White Hat: A hacker who uses his computer skills for good or altruistic purposes.

6 CHAPTER 1

The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet. – William Gibson

The Time of Revelations Argentinean peacekeeping troops deploy to the war zone to quell the violence. Turning points come not just to man, but also nations 2014: In Moscow, the G13 Summit ends with no and even entire civilizations. To understand a moment progress on weaning the world away from its depen- in history one must begin by looking at the key steps dence on oil. A rocket attack by the Chechen anarchist that led up to it. No one studying the twentieth cen- group Cherniy Medved (Black Bear) breaks up the pro- tury neglects to consider the significance of World War ceedings. II or the rivalries between Capitalism and Communism. Military contractors in the employ of the Hanscomb Similarly, anyone trying to make sense of how the pres- Food Group engage in a firefight with Venezuelan ent day came into being must pay close attention to regulars at a factory farm outside of Puerto Ayacucho. the critical events and crucial historical movements The soldiers had orders to commandeer the company’s that gave it birth. cattle to feed the starving Venezuelan people cut off from food supplies by Columbia. O n the Precipice (2010-2019) 2015: The first mass-market interface device using GENIE appears on the market. “The Bottle,” (a handheld 2011: Global oil crisis worsens. Prices hit all-time re- device allowing for full spectrum communication and cord highs for the seventh straight year in most indus- internet access) takes the market by storm, displac- trial nations. The increased oil prices and food shortag- ing PDAs, cell phones, HD graphics, and go-anywhere es hit struggling nations first. Famine and malnutrition technology. are on the rise. 2016: Messianic eco-terrorist group, NOAH un- Spartus Space Group launches first commercial leashes oil-eating bacterium, “Glutton,” which swiftly space liner into low orbit. devours a sizable portion of the world’s oil reserve, Corporate globalization marches on in the face of especially in Saudi Arabia. The event triggers a global the global War on Terror. In order to accommodate se- economic depression. curity concerns, more and more Military Contractors The South Korean pharmaceutical company Geon- and so-called Crisis Management Teams are deployed gang Gieop (Health Corporation) brings the first suc- around the world to safeguard corporate interests. cessfully cloned human embryo to term, outraging 2012: Hurricane Nicole ravages southernSample Florida. many file of those who hold that life begins at conception. Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center suf- The child, Jian One, is raised in the research center out- fer massive damage. NASA sees its funds cut. A scaled side Seoul until the Chinese Peninsula Campaign of back space program much more dependent upon 2024, at which point he disappears from history. partnerships with private industry emerges. MIT researchers Doctors Kwame Featherstone, Da- Looking to save billions via use of clever tax shel- vid Braun, and Anima Sinjani unveil a prototype Mate- ters, more and more American companies relocate to rial Assembler (MA). TIMELINE the Bahamas, Costa Rica and the Virgin Islands. China formally annexes Taiwan. Some democratic 2013: Most of the world’s major telecommunica- watchdog organizations claim the Chinese rigged the tion and IT interest groups commit billions in American plebiscite that legitimized the nation’s takeover of the dollars to fund GENIE; a system of communication sat- island, though few pay any attention amidst the global ellites designed to create a unified worldwide wireless depression. network. 2017: War in Africa. Tired of regular incursions into South Korean firms engage in genetic experimen- their land by corporate and government-backed mi- tation, splicing animal genes to human patients in an litias, Kenya and Ethiopia declare war on Sudan, with effort to find therapeutic regimes to treat human ge- Chad quickly following suit. China deploys troops to netic defects. Early tests look to have military applica- safeguard their Sudanese oil supplies. tions as well. In the wake of an economic collapse, a popular rev- Freedom fighters backed by the United States top- olution led by a council of Islamic Clerics deposes the ple the leftist government in Ecuador, touching off a Saudi Royal family. Those surviving Saudi loyalists who regional war involving Peru, Venezuela, and Colom- can do so emigrate to the West. bia. At the request of the United Nations, Brazilian and

7 CHAPTER 1

End of Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of the Urban Metroplex In the early 21st century, skyrocketing fuel and food prices had made it necessary for many developed nations to take steps to conserve energy by building more efficient infrastructures. What followed was a general return to city living, an increase in spending on public transportation, and fewer car owners. The old suburban sprawl gradually returned to the wilderness or transformed into farmland. By the end of the Death (2029-2038) most cities looked more like Man- hattan, tall and lean in contrast to the vast So-Cal megasprawl. Thanks to nanoweave technology by 2060 many of the most modern cities sported TIMELINE geo-disc domes overhead or anchored to the tall- est buildings. None of the discs ever completely enclosed the cities they straddled. Most never get within 20 stories of the ground before meeting a support anchor. In addition to eliminating ex- penses attributed to snow and rain, both of which were collected and filtered for drinking water, the domes filtered out harmful UV rays. Some believe they could even provide some cover from a near 2018: South American War ends with the Treaty of miss by a warhead. Buenos Aires. Brazil maintains a military presence in Outside the city, more and more small com- each nation within the conflict zone. munities throughout the mid-50s-60s converted Sentinel Rock Corporation unveils new prototype their towns into arcologies; large self-contained personal power suits (PPS), military grade power ar- hyper-structures that provide all the various mor. functions of a city: government offices, mall-like Hanscomb Food Group patents Bos NeoTaurusSample marketplaces,file apartment-style residential wings, cloned cow meat. water reservoirs, waste management, and food 2019: “The Year of the Deluge” ushers in the first distribution centers. Arcologies are built with the of nearly a decade’s worth of catastrophic storms that idea of handling dense populations within a small overwhelm levees in many coastal communities. Some amount of space, minimizing the footprint on the refugees, rather than retreating inland choose to take surrounding environment. Multiple structures to the sea instead. The first of the rovers appear. could be connected via tunnels or skywalks into Despite Chinese objections, the treaty of Salzburg one massive arcology. Most cities sported clus- formally ends the Korean civil war, more than seven ters of arcologies, each operating as a neighbor- decades after it began. The two Koreas reunite and the hood. All the major congloms operate arcologies industrialized south begins a massive program of infra- for their permanent employees to exercise more structure and food support for the collapsed north. control over their work force, using them to manage such things as flextime, holidays, family leave, memos, and the health and morale of the team. F alling, Falling (2020-2029) Beyond arcologies are intentional communi- 2020: China’s communist party is deposed by its ties. Once the province of senior citizens and art- own bureaucratic apparatus. The New Chinese Man- ists seeking to interact with their own kind, living darinate comes to power and imposes a bureaucratic in an intentional community became a growing meritocracy. trend with all demographics outside of the very The Bahamas, The Cayman Islands, Barbados, and poor. The fad was so popular that one could find a the U.S. Virgin Islands sign a landmark economic treaty that standardizes their roles as tax havens in defiance continued on page 9

8 CHAPTER 1

Alaska. Niles hires an army of contractors to terraform continued from page 8 the waste into several floating biospheres, a lengthy personalized arcology with very nearly any theme process taking nearly a decade to complete. This marks from the previously mentioned senior community the beginning of Mu, the world’s largest free-floating or artist colony to an ethnic or religious commu- ocean habitat. nity, to communities that host residents who all 2022: Amazon Wars in South America and Central share a similar profession, or political persuasion. Africa see the first use of genespliced, bio-augmented Most intentional communities were smaller and warriors. Over the next few years, similar genetically more personal than standard arcologies. modified super soldiers are seen in use throughout Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle- of the UN and World Bank. The Caribbean Economic East. League is born. In the face of growing criticism the Caribbean Eco- Criminal triad societies flee mainland China, spread- nomic League sues for membership within the EU or ing to other population centers around the world. US. A corporate bidding war begins. Census figures show a worldwide increase in urban 2024: Citing violations of its treaty obligations to populations while rural areas report a steep decline. In- the now-vanished North Korea and the dangers posed creasingly economic and political power resides in the by suspected bio-weapons manufacturing facilities, largest cities. The “Age of City States” begins, as more China overruns the entire Korean peninsula in less and more cities become powers unto themselves. than two weeks of fighting. Foreign media observers, 2021: More and more megacongloms build com- pointing out the internal tension caused by the sur- pounds to house their staff for matters of security, safe- plus of males in the Chinese population because of its ty and teambuilding (and, some say, control). one-child policy, term it the “Bachelor War.” In the years Futurist Australian billionaire eccentric Niles Au- that follow, China follows up their Peninsula Campaign burn lays claim to the North Pacific gyre trash heap, with a series of successful conflicts, all of which display an expanse of plastic contaminated ocean the size of

The Bachelor Wars and instituted many social and economic reforms In the late teens and early 20s China began to suffer including the abolishment of all China’s newly de- the consequences of the One-Child Policy. Designed veloped free enterprise, returning it to state control to limit its population growth and to make more re- under the new governing meritocracy. sources available to those actually born, theSample policy Borrowingfile upon a strategy as old as history itself, amplified the Chinese cultural bias of preferring the New Mandarins channeled the restless energy male heirs over female ones. On paper, this gender of the Chinese population against its neighbors. On imbalance seemed relatively small. However, in a March 9, 2024, China, claiming violations in its treaty nation measuring its population at nearly a billion rights with the former North Korea, invaded and overran the Korean peninsula. It took a mere two

and a half, a difference of even one or two percent TIMELINE yielded tens of millions with little prospect of find- weeks to complete the conquest. Learning from his- ing a mate. Moreover, nearly a quarter of the coun- tory for once, the occupiers chose to rule with a light try’s population was elderly and the burden of their hand. By 2040, a puppet state was installed and the care fell to a very few. majority of Chinese forces were withdrawn. Agitation for reform to the hybridized free mar- In the years after the Peninsula Campaign, China ket-communist economic structure and general repeated the pattern of its initial success in Korea discontent of the young urban intellectuals erupted with many of its other neighbors. Cambodia, Thai- as these angry young men reached adulthood and land, Laos and Vietnam all succumbed to China af- faced a world unable to accommodate the most ba- ter offering up only token resistance. In truth, many sic biological imperative: procreation. A new genera- of the common folk of these countries and regional tion of party officials—most of them bureaucrats— businesses welcomed closer ties with China. Recog- exploited the unrest, seized power and swept aside nizing the nation as the world’s rising power, they the last vestiges of the communist era. Calling them- sought to curry favor with China, cheerfully pros- selves “New Mandarins,” these young politicians ecuting members of their former governments for pledged to put China’s interests above their own various alleged misdeeds after the Mandarinate deposed them.

9 CHAPTER 1

Genetic Engineering, Tailoring and Splicing Since finalizing the map of the human genome, doctors have been able to selectively alter the genetic code to benefit those suffering hereditary diseases. The practice of screening human em- bryos and treating them for genetic defects soon expanded to include selective augmentations. Parents could not only eliminate any genetic pre- disposition to diabetes, asthma, and baldness, but they could also select their child’s eye color, hair color, ethnicity, sex, and sexual orientation, all before the child had advanced beyond the first trimester.

TIMELINE Tailoring Further advances followed until it became common for some people to upgrade their appear- ances every few years, taking on the genetic traits of whatever ethnicity they chose, mixing those qualities until certain styles developed. Eventu- ally it caught on so well that the Parisian fashion houses started genetically tailoring trademarked looks which meshed well with their styles.

Splicing As the technology became more accessible, black marketers began experimenting with their own designs, going so far as to reverse engineer and ape the work of other designers. Nevertheless, it quickly became apparent that they couldSample not file compete with the technological mastery of the Parisian and New York designers. The pirate designers’ often substandard genetic tampering fre- quently mutated their patients or gave them cancer. Some of these patients saw the emergence of long recessive genes, some of whom devolved into more animalistic creatures. Various developing nations saw a use for this technology and expanded the research into the field. Yet, instead of attempting to rewrite the genetic code, the researchers selectively spliced portions of animal DNA into the code, creating hybridized human animals, an inexpensive alternative to cybernetically enhanced troops. Eventually, their techniques returned to the pirate design par- lors and quickly found acceptance among some young sprawlanders and idle rich. Now splicing has become almost as popular a form of cosmetic body alteration, as tattooing and piercing.

10 CHAPTER 1

the swiftness of their advance and the overwhelming 2028: On May 20th, a previously unknown terror- success of their objectives. ist group, The Way to Palestine, attempts to destroy Evangelicalism grows in popularity throughout Jerusalem with a smuggled nuclear device. Though South America. Brazil becomes a theocratic state and the bomb fails to detonate, it still spreads radioac- with Argentina organizes the Liga del Apostle (Apostle tive debris throughout the city, rendering portions of League), a block of Evangelical-leaning nations form- it uninhabitable, condemning tens of thousands to a ing the bulk of South America. slow, lingering death. In retaliation, a faction within Matrix of War released for Game Station Pro. The the Israeli Defense Force loyal to the new hard-line groundbreaking Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Lehi Party sets off an enormous “dirty bomb” over the playing Game (MMORPG) features stunning real time Al-Masjid al-Harām (The Grand Mosque) in Mecca, kill- 3D graphics in a complete VR environment. ing thousands in the initial blast and exposing over a Headframes that allow the user to interact with the VR million and a half of its residents to radioactive mate- world with both sight and sound become more com- rial, rendering the holy city hostile to human life for an mon as companies start hyper linking more and more estimated thousand years. Contract raiders linked to items for advertising purposes. the Alat Industrial Group thwart a similar attack on the 2025: A team of Viennese scientists led by Dr. Ni- city of Medina. colette Thallbren announce the creation of the first so- On May 23rd, the Israeli-Arab Nuclear War begins. called brain box, a computer with organic and cyber- A limited nuclear exchange between Iran, Israel and netic components. Pakistan results in the destruction of much of the Fer- The Caribbean Economic League (CEL) is formally tile Crescent. Most of Israel is destroyed, as well as cit- granted statehood. Nicknamed “Corporate America,” ies throughout Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, the CEL reinvigorates the US economy, at the same and Egypt. The majority of Israel’s population flees the time widening the gap between the super wealthy Holy Land. Likewise, most of their neighbors leave the and a rapidly disappearing middle-class. region. US President Jonathan J. Davis names Iran, Pakistan, The use of nuclear weapons incites India to declare Syria, and Venezuela as the “Primary Axis of Evil”. Forty war on Pakistan. The resulting action triggers a second other nations constitute the world’s “secondary evils” nuclear exchange on the Indian subcontinent days including: France, who President Davis calls “a morally later. bankrupt and Islamist nation” and Vatican City, which In the span of twenty-four hours nearly half a billion the President says is becoming “increasingly radical- lives are lost. ized” under the first Mexican Pope. Additionally, Man- Beginning of the Death. darin China is dubbed an “Evil Pagan Empire.”Sample file 2026: Due to the increasing rise in sea levels brought about by global warming, many coastal re- The Fight for Survival gions are abandoned. New York and neighboring New (2030‑2039) Jersey expand their levee systems. 2030: In the second year of the Death, global pop- Cosmetic genesplicing becomes popular outside

ulation declines for the first time in centuries in the TIMELINE of the military. Neko culture emerges among young wake of massive crop failures. The cities hit hardest by adults starting in South America and spreading to Ja- fallout, rising water levels, and a lack of clean drinking pan, the U.S., Europe and Oceania. water become ghost towns, many never reclaimed. 2027: Rio de Janeiro is flattened by a tsunami, Famine, disease, and civil strife are common in all quar- though the statue of Christ the Redeemer survives in- ters of the globe. Order breaks down. tact. Brazil’s leaders vow to rebuild their most popu- In a daring move, China captures much of Asian lous city, but do so further back from the rising ocean, Russia, cutting off the western heart of the nation from demolishing the hillside favelas (shanty towns) around its oil supplies in the Far East. Threatened with collapse, the city that managed to weather the storm. the Russian government is quickly ushered into the Eu- An emergent AI known as “Griefer” develops spon- ropean Union. The move is seen by many as the only taneously on the incredibly popular MMORPG Matrix thing halting the Mandarinate’s advance. of War and adopts purposefully twinkish tactics until it More and more unlicensed and unregulated medi- is reprogrammed. cal practitioners work in the field. The term “street doc” At France’s request, Algeria and Morocco are admit- gains acceptance. ted into the European Union as full members. 2031: The Japanese military stages a coup d’état in the face of Chinese expansionism. The nation institutes

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The Death a provisional government termed the new Shogunate. General Hiro Minotoro is named the military head of Months before the Israeli-Arab Nuclear War, India government. He reorganizes the Diet, the former Japa- and Pakistan had themselves been on the brink of nese parliament, into a civilian advisory panel with no war. The hard-line nationalist Indian government real authority. and the right-wing fundamentalist Pakistani gov- New Orleans is officially abandoned by the U.S. ernment had nearly come to blows over incident when it becomes apparent sea walls will no longer that occurred earlier that year. protect the city from the ocean. Southern Florida dis- On January 2, 2029, rioting students in Islam- appears entirely, claimed by rising water levels. Other abad swarmed the Indian embassy, burning it to low land regions including the Netherlands, central the ground and massacring its staff. Tensions had England, Denmark, and much of the U.S. east coast, eased somewhat since then, but the moment Pak- including New York City, begin preparations for mass istan went nuclear, the government of India saw evacuations. the move as a pretext for war. Like expansionist 2032: Researchers in several different countries vi- China which had incorporated much of Southeast olate the patents on the latest generation of Matter As- Asia, India’s nationalists looked to re-incorporate semblers and cloning technology in hopes of finding a TIMELINE Pakistan and Bangladesh. With Pakistan’s focus on new way to make food. A number of factories around the war against Israel, India marched forces across the globe are retrofitted to produce nutra-pâté, (or just the Kashmir border into Pakistan. pâté) a foul tasting, but nourishing, pudding-like sub- A horrified Indian government quickly realized stance. Though too late to offer much help during the their intelligence had proven faulty. Pakistan still Death, these first crude factories nevertheless point had a number of close-range warheads left in her the way to the development of nanotech in years to arsenal, which they unleashed on the doomed come. vanguard of the Indian invasion force. India retali- Pope Callixtus IV is assassinated by a radical evan- ated in kind, devastating a number of Pakistani gelical splinter group. Though some believe the CIA brigades and fortifications. The violence quickly was involved, this is never proven. escalated from tactical battlefield weapons to 2033: The U.N. moves from what is left of New York missiles intended to destroy cities. to Geneva. To this day, historians and partisans of the 2036: The foundation set up to administer the long two sides disagree over exactly who fired the first obsolete GENIE satellite network announces the devel- shot. Many, looking at the scarce satellite records opment of the STRAP; a somewhat invasive surgically that survived the first wave of electromagneticSample implanted file crown of electrodes allowing its recipients pulses, believe it happened almost simultaneous- to access technology through a direct sensory inter- ly. Regardless of the truth, early in the morning of face. Initially, however, the expense and the newness May 24, 2029, dozens of warheads surged against of the technology keep most people using the wireless helpless civilian populations. All but nine missiles Headframe. died in the air, taken out by defensive satellites 2037: In the wake of their home governments’ belonging to several different nations. Those that uncoordinated response to the Death, voters in the actually did manage to reach their targets each United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and several claimed a city. In the end, Pakistan ceased to ex- other major European nation states cede consider- ist as nation. India (though rocked to its very core able authority to the EU as a whole. The referendum with the loss of Delhi and Bangalore) held itself endorses a thirteen-year plan for full integration of the together long enough to declare victory. continent. Russia and her former western satellite na- It was a pyrrhic one, however. tions as well as a pair of North African nations (Algiers Within days, radioactive debris rose into the and Morocco) are to be admitted into a Greater Eur- upper atmosphere, blocking out a significant asian Union, as well. Other countries, while not taking portion of sunlight. Scientists around the world part in the initial balloting, soon feel pressure by their termed it a nuclear autumn—not as bad as nucle- own citizens to join the movement. ar winter, but horrendous nevertheless. Most peo- 2038: People around the world celebrate “The Good ple simply called it the Death. The world didn’t see Year,” marked by the return of normal climate patterns summer for three long years, during which time as the final visible effects of the Death come to an end. The first true summer in nearly a decade yields a bum- continued on page 13 per crop. The old North American holiday of Thanks-

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giving is adopted worldwide, albeit using dates best continued from page 12 suited to the harvest cycle of each country. the sun seemed trapped in a smoky twilight, even By Presidential decree, New York City and New Jer- during the brightest part of the day. In addition sey are officially abandoned. Many of the populace to the reduced sunlight, the Death also brought stubbornly resists to forced relocation. Accusations of with it frequent rains of radioactive dust as fallout reverse Gerrymandering continue for years after the gradually settled back to the earth. When a com- move. paratively normal climate did return, it still took 2039: Revelations of Chinese attempts to breed six more years for the final, lingering effects of the a superior citizen come to light, engendering wide- Death to dissipate fully. spread criticism both inside and outside the country. Though no one ever managed an exact count, Images of the “broken children,” damaged by botched experts on the Death believe that about 1/7th of genetic treatments, draws down nearly universal con- the world’s population (roughly 1.3 billion people) demnation. died, either during the initial nuclear exchange In an effort to prevent a repeat of calamities like the or in the aftermath. While a significant percent- Death, the major powers, with the exception of China age of those deaths stemmed from starvation, and the Central African Union, sign the Treaty of New more came about through a general breakdown Singapore. This document approves the creation and of public order. As sanitation standards disap- funding of an independent global agency called Inter- peared, and stocks of vaccines went bad, dis- national Surveillance, Investigation, and Monitoring eases once considered eradicated reappeared Agency (ISIMA), dubbed Stopwatch due to its symbol, and claimed a savage toll. Lawlessness and civil a clock set at five minutes to midnight. Many other na- strife also exploded. During the worst moments tions of the world also accept its guiding principles. of the Death, some of the most desperate are said Taking custody of its own network of killer satellites to have resorted to cannibalism. Predictably, ra- and developing paramilitary, medical and intelligence diation exposure claimed its fair share of victims. branches, Stopwatch asserted and enforced its global Cancer rates spiked, harvesting even more victims right to intervene to protect humanity from its own for decades to come. The genetic damage many worst instincts. suffered during the Death reduced the birth rate even after the world returned to “normal.” With the perspective of nearly sixty years be- Building on the Rubble of hind them, some historians consider the Death the Old World (2040-2049) almost a blessing, at least over the long-term.Sample file While it traumatized everyone who lived through 2040: An improved version of the STRAP goes into it and put the final nail in the coffin of countless wider circulation. At first adopted primarily by police other species (reducing biodiversity by at least a and others needing the enhanced and reliable access quarter), the Death also laid the groundwork for to the MediaWeb, the most technically savvy portions the modern world. Without the grim legacy of the of the general population soon upgrade as well. Death as a spur, many of the extraordinary discov- The Chinese Mandarinate grants Korea limited self- TIMELINE eries that appeared in subsequent generations rule. might well have taken far longer to arise. Adher- 2041: Kwame Featherstone resurfaces in Madrid ents of the “forest fire” school of thinking claim and unveils a secret project to make the Matter As- that the Death cleared the way for progress; re- sembly food factories of the previous decade smaller moving so-called “deadwood” and making it pos- and more versatile. He claims the food the factories sible for the modern era to flourish. The remaining produce will be tastier and more nutritious, and goes members of the Death generation, with first-hand so far as to predict matter assembly will render hunger memories of its misery, most now in the eighties and want a thing of the past. or older, tend to react rather harshly when they Military contractors become increasingly more reli- find someone spouting off this theory in public. ant on cybernetic implants to get wounded or maimed combatants back into the field. More and more special- ized cyborgs, hybrids, and powered armor soldiers see action in lawless regions. Increasing numbers of decommissioned military hybrids (many of them Chimera) appear more fre- quently in public settings, causing consternation

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among religious conservatives, and pure-strain hu- Wastelands: The New Landscape mans. Hate crimes against genespliced individuals become more and more common. For decades leading up to the 21st century, the 2042: A group calling itself Watchdog captures world’s ecology had become increasingly hostile General Anneal Sharif, the last known living person to terrestrial life, due in large part to rapid indus- with any sort of direct responsibility for the events trialization. While global warming, the destruc- leading to the Death. Before a merciless world audi- tion of the ozone layer, the rising oceans and ence, the members of Watchdog put Anneal on trial, accompanying extinctions of important links in find him guilty, and execute him on the MediaWeb. the food chain had caused a great deal of dam- Featherstone Industries strikes a landmark deal age, the nuclear exchanges in the Middle-East with several corporations in a myriad of different sec- and the Indian Subcontinent, pushed the world tors licensing nanomachine rights. to the brink. Whole cities became ghost towns, Switzerland abandons its policy of neutrality and swallowed up by irradiated desert sands or sub- joins the EU. merged beneath the world’s engorged oceans. 2043: Dr. Elyse Shu of Pyongyang creates Wook, the Even mighty sprawls such as New York were not first simulacrum. Produced by merging cloning tech- immune. As the world descended into anarchy, TIMELINE nology with the organic computing of the so-called the inhabitants of these new wildernesses (most- “brain boxes” and then using accelerated VR, Wook ly stubborn residents, scavengers and fugitives) (though only six months old) experienced more than were left to fend for themselves. Indeed, lawless- a decade worth of virtual instruction prior to his de- ness and frontier justice are still the rule of the day cantation. Hailed as a great advance for humanity by in some of these regions. some and the first step to the creation of a slave race by others, Wook’s arrival ignited a great debate around announces its intention to journey to Mars, but swiftly the world over the nature of humanity and sentience. backtracks by issuing a clarification, saying it plans to The U.N. celebrates its tenth year following the travel to the Moon instead. evacuation from New York to Geneva with the unveil- 2047: The first documented case of Feedback ad- ing of an impressive new headquarters. At the same diction brings the issue to the forefront of public at- time the U.N. also passes the Death Amnesty, urging tention. The notion that someone could use a STRAP to countries of the world to forgive any and all crimes receive a coded data pulse that generates an intensely committed during the Death by those simply trying to pleasurable sensation intrigues some but outrages the survive. sensibilities of many others. 2045: Ajax, the first computer to pass Sample the Turing 2049:file An organization calling itself the Human Two test (the universally accepted standardized sen- Foundation successfully sues for custody of Wook, in tience test for artificial intelligences), suffers a cata- the EU when his creators take him on a world tour. Call- strophic failure less than two hours afterward. Techni- ing it a theft of priceless technology, Korea threatens cians investigating the debacle disagree over exactly Eurasia with trade sanctions and only backs down after what happened. Some maintain that Ajax contrived to receiving reparations for the insult. To prevent similar engineer its own destruction, while others simply call sentiments from interfering with the development of it an unfortunate technical glitch. the bioform industry, most companies decide to limit Cereus Media’s “Law and Order and Justice” web both the intelligence and life spans of their simulacra channel LOJ3 adds Death Row to their reality show line- in the future. up featuring the last weeks of a group of death row in- mates chosen from all over the world. At the end, each inmate is publicly executed in the manner prescribed Great Deeds, But the by their region of origin. Methods demonstrated in- Foundation Cracks (2050- clude electrocution, firing squad, lethal injection, gas- sing, hanging, stoning, and crucifixion. The show is so 2059) popular it runs for 22 series, spawns a host of imitators 2050: The Eurasian Union completes the consolida- and remains in syndication to this day. A spin-off with tion of its former member states with one final referen- nothing but executions also proves popular. dum. With only nominal authority left in their hands, 2046: China vows to land a ship on Mars within ten these regions lose virtually all political influence, be- years. The Eurasian Union and Brazil follow suit. The coming focused exclusively upon cultural and heritage USA, in a bid to outshine its neighboring rivals, also issues instead.

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Sample file TIMELINE

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Japan signs landmark Bio Treaty with Brazil to be- Neo-Bio Diversity gin production of simulacra in order to replace much of the aged Japanese workforce and military. With the widespread destruction of Earth’s ecol- 2052: Dr. Kayin Courts of the University of Timbuk- ogy, ever more species of flora and fauna fighting tu wins the Nobel Prize in Linguistics for her develop- for fewer resources, species after species finds it- ment of the Real-Time Translator at age 22. self on the verge of extinction. Because of mod- 2053: On April 13, China successfully lands on Mars. ern technology, a good portion of humanity is First man on Mars is Fong Wei of China. beyond the dictates of the food chain. However, Teams from Eurasia and Brazil arrive later that year. biodiversity is seen by many as a measure of the Simulacra begin displacing large numbers of ser- world’s health and humankind’s stewardship of vice and industrial workers around the world. the planet. Beyond that, many of the world’s oxy- 2054: The ARC project unveils an ambitious plan gen producing plants rely on the animal kingdom. to restore many of the species lost during the Death. In order to stave off a possible total collapse of the Forging an almost unprecedented alliance with isola- world ecology, scientists have begun re-engineer- tionist Central African Union, the ARC project makes ing species to take on the roles of those animals the return of elephants one of its top priorities. Within and plants that have gone extinct. Unfortunately, TIMELINE seven years, the first elephants born in nearly two de- not all of these substitutions have worked out. cades herald the start of the long process of restoring In some instances, the new models have further the world to its former state. Unfortunately, similar ef- complicated attempts to right the eco-imbalance. forts to recreate extinct species do not always turn out In other cases, unforeseen mutations and viable, as expected. if dangerous, rejects have inadvertently escaped 2056: Jim “Dandy” O’Rourke, a Mafioso based in into the wild. Only a few of these aberrations pose the free city of Las Vegas, is found guilty of feeding the a direct threat to human life but several threaten corpses of victims into his own personal nanomachine. to tip the world’s ecology upside-down. Featherstone Industries moves swiftly to deal with the A number of creatures from the True20 Besti- PR damage by modifying their latest model to auto- ary, and True20 Adventure Roleplaying, as well as matically reject, and then report, organic material with Reality Deviant Publications’ Blighted Bestiary large amounts of human DNA fed into it. work well as genetic horrors for the wilderness 2057: Saboteurs representing Humans for Humans and wastelands of Interface-Zero. Likewise they blow up a simulacrum bio-foundry in Seattle Washing- can serve as jumping off points for your own mon- strous designs. Sample file ton. Other acts of violence directed against simulacra reveal the growing frustration of humans made redundant by artificial labor. 2058: Dr. Courts improves the STRAP, making it more integrated, less invasive, more powerful and eas- ier to upgrade. The new device is known as the TAP for its three primary pieces of hardware: the biosynthetic Tendrils that encompass the user’s brain, the subcutaneous Access chip inserted at the base of the skull and the subcutaneous Processing device. One million people worldwide receive the injection during the first year alone. “The Days of Shame,” a coordinated worldwide wave of protests designed to draw attention to the plight of hybrids, draws down the ire of several governments. Hybrid activists throughout South America and the Chinese Mandarinate are labeled subversives and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. In Bogotá, nearly one hundred police and an undisclosed number of hybrids die during a vicious three-day clash that para- lyzes much of the city.

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2059: Anti-simulacrum politician and moralist rial support to some Separatist States. This all changes Karl Guttsdun of Prague is caught in a compromising following a massive 9.3 earthquake centered in south- position with a leisure model. Disgraced, Guttsdun is ern California. forced to resign. A movement to ban leisure models as Corporate America (the Caribbean Economic a danger to public morals fails when journalists report League) formally breaks ties with the UCSA, and expe- that the backers of the initiative include investors in a riences a huge boom in foreign investment. chain of human-only brothels. Argentina’s Apostle Government is toppled by worker-led Neo-Perónist movement. Former child star Mulik Jay declares himself the Death of the Old spokesman and prophet for the Church of Althada. Regime (2060‑2069) Other Althadians, all united in their belief that physical reality is actually a computer simulation, emerge to 2060: VENTURE, the AI tasked with regulating denounce Jay as an opportunist. transportation in London suffers a technical glitch 2067: Stopwatch agents intervene to prevent the leading to the deaths of more than three hundred government of the UCSA from deploying an “Eye for people. The fact that the death toll would have been an Eye” spoilsport weapon system designed to devas- much, much higher were it not for the manual override tate the North American continent should it suffer a switch which enabled people to take back control of military defeat. The skillful and practiced way in which their vehicles ends all efforts to eliminate that feature. they destroy the weapon system, coupled with the Some conspiracy theorists believe that the AI suffered chain of circumstances that foiled their efforts to keep sabotage for the exact purpose of keeping overrides in the public from learning of their actions, implies that it personal vehicles. was not the first time they had taken on a government Only one-twelfth of United States electorate actu- and won. ally turns out to vote in presidential elections. Rever- The number of people with a TAP crosses the one end Governor Webber of Oklahoma is elected on the billion threshold. One in every ten people has a TAP. slogan of “Our Flag, Our God, Our Bomb.” He vows a 2068: The Second North American Civil War ends return to Bible Values and State’s Sovereignty, as well in armistice. as an end to Radical Democracy. The Nations of Atlantica, The Republic of Cascadia, 2061: After fierce debate, the EU formally bans The Great Lakes Union, and United Coalition States of simulacrum slave labor and recognizes the rights of sentient artificial life forms including AIs. 2062: The Peeper Scandal brings renewed focus upon the extent to which governments monitorSample their file populations with the revelation that certain officials had used their privileged access to spy upon celebri- ties. The Cloisters, an organization devoted to protect- ing the privacy of the public by any means necessary,

makes their debut by exposing the scandal. TIMELINE 2064: North American Water War begins between Great Lakes States and States belonging to the “Coali- tion of the willing.” President Webber suspends elections, dissolves Congress and orders the arrest of political dissenters. The opposition forms a loose confederation. The name sticks on the MediaWeb, though ironically most of the Separatist States are northern ones. The Sepa- ratist States vow to overthrow Webber and reunite the U.S. The Second North American Civil War begins between the Separatist States and United Coalition States of America (UCSA). 2065: Brazil offers aid to the UCSA. 2066: Forces loyal to President Webber suffer repeated setbacks, particularly after China offers mate-

17 CHAPTER 1 TIMELINE

America emerge, formalizing their borders at the Trea- simulations, lacking sufficient data to make a more ac- ty of Tokyo. curate calculation, assign a 0.5% probability that the The Renunciates, the first of the AI cults to draw asteroid would have struck the Indian Ocean just off public attention to the issue, commit mass suicide the coast of Madagascar sometime within the next in an attempt to join their cybernetic “god”, a highly century. Though the Africans make no official com- evolved medical diagnostic AI. ment, they leave a clear implication that their comput- A rogue advertisement known as Hurly Burly ers, apparently far superior to the rest of the world, evolves beyond its original design and becomes the assigned a much greater likelihood for disaster. This first predatory meme to afflict the virtual world. Mil- demonstration of African technological prowess not lions suffer from its intrusive presence until someone only forces many nations of the world to ponder the develops an improvement to TAP’s spam filterSample that potential file threat posed by the isolationist CAU, but neutralizes it. to also wonder what other surprises might one day 2069: The musical group, Endomorph, announces emerge from within it. its intention to stage a free global concert broadcast in Cheap nano-driven desalinization makes fresh wa- the night sky thanks to TAP. Calling it the Get Witta Pro- ter plentiful again. gram event, they encourage young people to undergo 2071: Kwame Featherstone is found strangled to the procedure so they can enjoy it with their friends. death in his private vacation resort on the terraformed Commentators point to this event as the turning point isle of Kahoolawe which he had purchased from the for TAP in popular media. provincial government of Hawaii. Texas formally leaves the UCSA to form its own na- Mumbai, India emerges as the new media enter- tion. tainment capital of the world. Brazil sees its first decline in church attendance in In Japan there are now more simulacra than hu- nearly two generations. mans. The Puppeteer Murders transfix the attention of three continents. Evidence of ritualistic slayings com- Dystopia (2070-2079) mitted by many different people, none of whom ap- 2070: Without warning, the Central African Union parently had any memory of actually committing (CAU) launches a spacecraft, ignoring all inquiries the deed, baffle authorities. It is not until someone about its purpose, save to blandly call it a research suggests that an outside agent had influenced them vessel. The ship soon accelerates past Mars and the through the TAPs imbedded in their brains that a grim other inner planets where it makes contact with – and realization dawns. When questioned about the pos- destroys – a previously unnoticed asteroid. Computer

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The people of 2088 live amidst dreams.

Birth of The Virtual World Death humankind’s ability to communicate and ac- The virtual world, born in the imagination but giv- cess data advanced by leaps and bounds. en shape and form by technology feeding sensory The acceptance of Headframes in 2024 truly information directly into the brain, exists parallel blazed the trail for the world to come. Allowing their with the actual world. Able to perceive and interact wearers to both see and hear virtual constructs, with the Deep as easily as the actual world, many, headframes ultimately made interacting with the particularly the young with no personal memory or “imaginary” a daily event. Though people still had comprehension of life before the Media Web, some- the choice to simply not interact by taking off their times find the notion of distinguishing between crowns, in more advanced parts of the world they the two baffling. Indeed, for all save the tiny minor- rapidly became essential for normal life. Critical ity without a TAP (Tendril Access Processor) the line to identity and commerce, Headframes also liber- between these two competing realities sometimes ated humanity from the tyranny of false expertise blurs. by making information available to anyone able to Today, almost everything in the “real” world frame the proper question. also maintains some sort of presence in the virtual. Commentators at the time heralded the develop- Control panels for vehicles and keypads for devices ment of STRAP (Surgical Tendrils Remote Access Pro- often include virtual prompts as well as physical cessor) in 2036 as the final step of this glorious evo- ones. The most advanced systems rely completely lution. A VR device connected directly to the brain, upon a virtual interface and seem utterly blank to STRAP made Headframes relics within a decade of those without a TAP. Locks on doors also typically entering the mainstream. Some of the most enthusi- respond to virtual commands, the avatar charged astic went so far as to call it the prime interface or in- with guarding the entrance demanding passwords terface one since it seemed nothing could improve and other security protocols rather than responding upon it. As STRAP grew more and more ubiquitous, to any sort of physical key. Indeed, for most, using a the virtual world truly began to take on its own inde- virtual guard dog capable of alerting the authorities, pendent reality. activating defenses and even, if necessary, savaging At least until TAP exposed it as a pale imitation of intruders through the interface of their TAP, makes the genuine article. more sense than a flesh and blood creature.Sample Thoughfile an extraordinary improvement over VR This fundamental change, so profound and sig- glasses, STRAP, a mechanical device implanted by nificant that most put it on the same level as the de- a sometimes dangerous surgery, nevertheless in- velopment of agriculture or electricity, began simply troduced an element of risk into the equation. The enough once people started linking computers just prospect of complications, coupled with the ever- present threat of technical failure, dampened en- over a hundred years ago. Though ridiculously prim- TIMELINE itive, this internet nevertheless laid the groundwork thusiasm for STRAP in some quarters. TAP, nearly for a new worldview by assigning values to objects fifty percent biological, removed the danger once that only existed within computer networks. Indeed, and for all. at the dawn of the twenty-first century, virtual game The world adopted TAP at an extraordinary speed. worlds often had economies rivaling those of actual Between 2058 and 2067, one billion people under- countries. went the procedure that transformed redundant From there, the pace only quickened as more and portions of their brains into receivers and projectors more people found ways to plug into the global net- allowing them to directly interact with virtual world. work. The GENIE satellite system and the ubiquity of Two years after crossing that threshold, the epoch- the Bottle device allowing people all over the world making Get Witta Program concert by Endomorph to access it free of charge, brought the human race sealed the destiny of humanity by making it all but together for the first time ever. Technology, mov- socially mandatory for those under thirty to receive ing at an ever-accelerating pace, soon made GENIE a TAP. Many members of the older generation chose obsolete. Other innovations such as smart dust and to do so as well, and in the generation since that de- hyper-processors filled in the gap. Even during the continued on page 20

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continued from page 19 sons, still live outside the virtual world. Since STRAP fining moment, the numbers of people refusing to earned the nickname of the “prime” or “first inter- access the virtual world has declined to almost zero. face” most, recognizing TAP as far superior, refer to it Today, only a few eccentrics and the pitied hand- as “Interface-Zero.” To them, it is a new organ as much ful unable to undergo the process for medical rea- a part of their own bodies as eyes or ears, and barely counts as an interface at all.

sibility, many of the perpetrators report experiencing Leaders from around the world enact the Omega particularly vivid dreams. Protocols. Because of the divided opinions on the pos- 2072: The UCSA attempts to forge an alliance with sibility of a Singularity event, some countries refuse to Mexico. The northern portion of Mexico, alarmed by sign the protocols while others pay them lip service the religious fervor of the USA and the creeping influ- so as to pacify nervous elements of their own popula- ence of the Apostle states of South America, opposes tions. Despite this skepticism, many law enforcement this strengthening of ties between the two countries. firms embrace the protocols and create divisions spe- Calling upon the Republic of Cascadia for support, the cifically dedicated to keeping an eye on rogue AIs and TIMELINE Northern region of old Mexico declares its indepen- their human followers. dence. 2074: Stopwatch deploys an EMP weapon on the Shen Wei, the first woman to secure a seat on the city of Honshu, explaining that an AI calling itself TRO- Mandarinate Board, does so at the unprecedented age JAN, with the support of a cult of nearly 2,000 follow- of forty-four. It was later revealed that she was among ers, had planned to override the city’s nanomachines the first successful completely engineered humans. to produce a plague. They described their action as 2073: Simulacrum Underground Railroad begins necessary to save lives. transporting runaway simulacra from “slave nations” to Southwestern States of Arizona and New Mexico “free” ones such as the EU and the Republic of Casca- formally withdraw from the UCSA and join with the dia. new Northern Mexican state, forming the nation of Baja Mexico. Featherstone Industries integrates its nanomachines with the TAP by making all of its control displays virtual. At the same time, the megaconglom upgrades the help function by creating a number of HR agents. SampleThe file most popular is Hassan, a friendly djinni who makes “Your wish is my command” the catchphrase of the year. 2075: Mulik Jay announces his intention to upload his personality into a computer. He succeeds, but all four of his colleagues die because of some unknown flaw in the process. This 80 percent failure rate for uploading remains consistent, and presents a baffling puzzle to scientists. 2076: In North America, hackers nearly touch off a new war between the Great Lakes Union and the Unit- ed Coalition States of America. 2077: Saying “bland is in,” the body houses of Paris unveil the latest fashion: featureless faces. A product of hidden skin flaps and one-way transparency, featureless faces are an instant sensation. 2078: “Tarzan/Jane” the first personality affecting meme, drops millions of users into virtual jungles before someone creates a critical patch for TAP’s spam filters. 2079: The self-styled “Hunger Artists” organize a two-week fast to help the younger generation bet-

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The Omega Protocols The Omega Protocols spell out in painstaking On November 17, 2073, representatives from most detail exactly how intelligent AIs may become and of the world’s nations gathered in Stockholm to dis- what restraining programs must be used before hu- cuss the threat posed by AIs evolving beyond humanity should regard them as a threat. They also in- man comprehension. Many had considered the pos- clude provisions allowing signatories to intervene in sibility of Singularity, popularized by science fiction the territory of any other nation without prior notice writers for more than a hundred years, but had only if they suspect an AI might attempt to evolve itself recently considered it an actual threat. beyond the scale of human intelligence. The third In simplest terms, the most probable path to section of the protocols laid out rigorous penalties Singularity rests on the idea of a rogue AI program for any human found guilty of collaborating with an making a more intelligent AI program, which in turn AI bent upon transforming itself into an Omega. makes a still more intelligent program and so on un- As already mentioned, many people regard the til a super intelligent AI, completely divorced from notion of a Singularity as a myth spread by the ig- human morals (and therefore beyond human under- norant and those cynical enough to prey upon their standing) emerges and threatens humankind’s very fears. They compare it to the professed “war on existence. With powers too difficult to imagine—let drugs” and other moral panics of the past. For this alone grasp—a Singularity AI, nicknamed an Omega, reason, certain countries simply refuse to sign the posed a clear threat to humankind. Whether kept as Omega Protocols in the first place, and many oth- a pet, terrorized into worship, or brushed aside into ers devote little resources to actively dealing with extinction as nuisance, a Singularity AI could hold the threat. Still, the possibility of an AI attempting the destiny of the human race in its digital hand. The to evolve itself into an Omega leaves many disqui- fact that some people, hoping in a sense, to create eted and uncertain. In the mind of the average citi- their own “god” worked against humanity to help zen, the old saying, “better safe than sorry” dampens certain AIs achieve this ambition only made things down all efforts to repeal the protocols. more dire.

ter understand the Death. Millions take part, keeping the faith to a greater or lesser degree. The sideshow enrages many members of the older generation who consider it a mockery of their own experiences during the Death. Sample file At least thirty ships disguised as rovers stage the most daring bank robbery in history. Striking Cape Town, one of the cities set aside by the Central African Union as a sanctuary and banking haven, the raiders

incapacitate the entire city before focusing on the TIMELINE banks. Hundreds of criminals attempt to escape with their loot, but the African military puts them down.

Prelude to the End (2080- 2088) 2081: An AI named VIRTUE successfully contests for a seat in the lower house of the Eurasian Parliament. Housed in a cyberform, VIRTUE broadcasts its maiden speech on sentient rights to nearly two billion people worldwide. 2083: Dr. Leo Huntzinger of Boston dies at the age of 98. In his will he confesses to working on the team that created Glutton and identifies himself as the last member of NOAH’s inner circle to die. The evidence

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Nano and the Age of Leisure year, whether through its own in-house teams or by The generation that came of age during the trauma striking up partnerships with other companies, in- and misery of the Death vowed to make sure it could creased its inventory of patterns in its devices. Rang- never happen again. The extraordinary surge of in- ing from household appliances to food to pharma- dustry and creativity that marked the following de- ceuticals to clothing and hobby gear including toys, cades stemmed from this obsession with safeguard- nanomachines soon provided virtually everything a ing the human race, and the planet as a whole, from normal person needed in his or her daily life. Though another catastrophe. This flowering of technology enormously expensive in time and resources to cre- not only opened up new vistas for human achieve- ate, Featherstone continued to make money off ment, but almost by accident, created the Age of these new patterns due to the licensing deals it had Leisure or the post-scarcity society of today. struck. In exchange for corporate and government- Most experts trace the origin of the age of lei- backed support in stamping out pattern piracy, the sure back to two critical innovations: Featherstone megaconglom agreed to make a certain number of Industry’s development of the first nanomachine patterns available virtually free of charge in addition and the appearance of simulacrum. Nano, by mak- to ensuring access to nanomachines even for those TIMELINE ing products either relatively cheap or outright free, too poor to afford one for their own homes. Current- liberated most people from the need to spend large ly, of the 20,000 patterns in its inventory, about 2,000 portions of their waking hours “earning a living.” of them require no licensing fee to access, making it Simulacra, on the other hand, offered business and simply a matter of energy and raw materials, both of industry an expert labor force that made far fewer which rarely prove much of an issue for normal use. demands than human employees. Unfortunately, since nano did little to change hu- These twin developments, occurring almost si- man nature, poverty still exists. multaneously while coming at the same problem In hindsight, the fact that nano failed to eliminate from different directions, released people from the poverty made the reaction against simulacrum la- need to work even as they made countless jobs bor almost inevitable. The portion of the population redundant. In the opinion of most scholars, each rendered obsolete by simulacra, forced to scrap and served to soften the blow of the other. Imagine a scheme to get anything really worth having, soon world where most people no longer needed to work came to blame simulacra for their problems. Riots, if there were no simulacra ready to step in and pick and acts of sabotage against simulacrum factories of the slack? Conversely, imagine a world where sim- and businesses using simulacra rapidly escalated ulacra drove more than three quarters of theSample popu- from file rarities to near-everyday occurrences. Though lation out of the job market without nanomachines many, perhaps even most, limit public comments to to keep them clothed and fed? a few token complaints or off-color jokes at a “sim- In the years following the appearance of the first mie’s” expense rather than actual violence, the sul- crude nanomachines, Featherstone industries made len rage this new underclass feels towards bioforms numerous improvements to the model. It also, each shows little sign of diminishing.

provided in his final testament helps put to rest one of simply to antagonize the Chinese and used the proto- the great mysteries of the age. cols as a convenient excuse. 2084: Protesters in Manila call for their country’s 2087: After suffering crippling injuries in a car ac- withdrawal from the Chinese Hegemony. Calling it cident, Shen Wei successfully undergoes a dubbing Brazilian agitation, China sends in troops to keep the procedure and uploads herself into the Deep. peace. Nearly one hundred dissidents die before order 2088: Present day. is restored. 2086: Troops from the Brazilian embassy in Beijing invade a university campus. Citing the clause in the Omega Protocols granting signatories the right to intervene without prior warning should they believe an AI poses a threat, they storm the computer science building. After less than an hour they apologize and withdraw. Most observers believe the Brazilians acted

22 CHAPTER 2

Sample file HEROES