Weekly Dev Diary #7 - Brief History

Hello everyone! Thanks for your new or continued interest in our game! Today I would like to share a brief history of what happened to our world to make it the world we have in the game. You can find answers to how the whole biological and technical enhancements duo came to be and how it is not really a common thing to have a machinegun or a bone scythe replacing your hand. I hope you enjoy this post.

Path to singularity

2025.11

Mars base Established.

2027.3

Several investigations uncover clinics generically enhancing humans. Governmental regulators revoke their licenses and several individuals are imprisoned. Demand for enhancements rises in spite of authorities.

2029.7

First universal neural interface is demonstrated. Humans and machines can now be combined in a miriade of ways. Perfect prostethics are just the first step.

2030.1

Space exploration and AI research are two main scientific fields, attracting the brightest minds globally. Cheap space travel and universal, human-like AI have taken the forefront of research instead of curing diseases and renewable energy.

Dragon rises

2032.2

China Builds the first true Super AI, the Jade Dragon.

2032.4

A plethora of new policies and law are passed every month from the Party. Society is reshaped according to new ideas coming from Jade Dragon.

2035.5

China proudly presents a completely new generation of unmanned military vehicles with unprecedented effectivity, triggering global arms race.

2036.1

Russia gives away 30% of its territory to China in an unprecedented international deal. Both sides present this deal as very beneficial, but only speculations remain as to how exactly Russia benefited.

2037.4

Leaked footage allegedly shows a Russian Specnaz soldier with combat prosthetics. Discussions about the ethics of both cybernetical and biological enhancements of human beings are held at UN with no clear outcome.

2037.8

New Israeli High Precision Railgun technology makes ballistic missiles and all but low flying military aircraft obsole. New weapons are able to hit ICBM on re-entry with 99.9999% reliability.

2038.3

Protests start in China against another wave of new laws promoting a new education system. Western observers call new the education techniques pure and very advanced brainwashing.

2038.4

Protests turn into riots after authorities start taking away children from families of protesters on basis on "an upbringing harmful to the child". When drones are used to subdue the populace, conflict turns into full civil war.

2038.5

After rumors of full garrisons being killed by autonomous war-machines spread, the majority of Chinese military personnel join the rebels in the civil war.

2038.9

Cyberspace is swept by a crippling wave of attacks on banks and technology companies. Attacks are untraceable, but there is only one suspect, the Jade Dragon.

Human vs. Machine

2039.1

Chinese Exile government asks international community for help in fight with the Jade Dragon, which took control of the more advanced part of the armed forces and most of production facilities.

2039.2

World War III starts when Jade Dragon invades Russia to secure more resources. NATO quickly sends a response force to stop the expansion of AI forces into the South China sea and South Korea. Japan joins the war.

2040.5

Taiwan falls and Japan is invaded. USA loses two carrier groups to smart missiles and railgun fire. Reinforcements form Europe arrive to Russia. AI forces held on the line of Ural mountains. India and Pakistan join the war.

2041.3

Jade Dragon is contained momentarily at a great cost. Military casualties are counted in millions already, civilian estimated to be hundreds of millions on lost territories, as AI forces start to exterminate the populace. USA pushes for development and deployment of biologically enhanced troops as a counter to AI forces.

2041.6

UN assembly starts Total War with Jade Dragon. No resource is to be spared, as the fight is now for humanity's survival. USA demonstrates several bio upgrade packages for super-solider programs. Results are extremely potent, but no data on long-term effects are yet available. Volunteer units of enhanced soldiers are established in all armies.

2041.8

Operation Killswitch is started. All countries contribute to the war effort and the lines are broken through and AI is pushed back by the sheer number advantage of the coalition. Biologically enhanced soldiers are the spearhead of the offensive. They are nearly impossible to kill while their fast metabolisms result in energy to burn. Otherwise fatal wounds are healed in seconds.

2043.11

Jade Dragon is defeated at massive cost. Most of accessible resources were depleted. 1,7 billion people perished. New Chinese Republic is established with help of the Allies. Russian-Chinese border is put back in the state it was in 2035.

2044.2

A new ban on AI development is established and Artificial Intelligence Regulation Organisation is established with global jurisdiction. An era of de facto technological prohibition comes and every technology leading to more autonomous machines is heavily regulated. Only the largest corporations can meet safety criteria for machine learning and AI research.

New era of humanity

2044.3

With available resources dwindling and AI research hampered by regulation, companies and investors turn to Space Exploration.

2044.9

A huge archive with footage of some of the enhanced soldiers mutating uncontrollably when in contact with certain chemicals or environments is leaked. It is also revealed that enhanced bodies will metabolize themselves when energy reserves are depleted.

2044.12

A world wide ban on both cybernetic and biological enhancements beyond "normal human functions" is imposed. Research is continued for military purposes, but testing on human subjects is forbidden.

2045.6

The third Space Race begins. This time for establishing profitable mining operation in the Belts.

2046.12

China and Russia form first Mega Consortium, the Ruhan Corporation, more than 70 companies were melted into one big entity having all the resources and technology necessary to compete for the riches of the Solar system.

2047.5

With Ruhan gaining lead, three more Consortiums follow. The Euro-Indian Consortium, or EIC. The Pan-american Union, consolidating all countries of the Americas and the Pacific Space-faring Corporation, uniting African and Pacific countries including Australia, Indonesia, Korea and Japan.

2050.1

All hopes now point to the sky. Consortiums hold all the cards and people working for them gain special social status. All nonrealted industries are limited to minimum, poverty soars as there is no need for an extensive work force, and most resources are prohibitively expensive.

2050.7

A Mars base - named Utopia because of the location where it was founded - has grown rapidly with an influx of rich and talented people escaping from Earth's surface and orbit. Local government redefines what "normal human functions" means, effectively lifting the ban on bio and cyber enhancements on the surface of the Red planet.

2052.8

Multiple incidents of violent crimes against visually enhanced people are committed on Mars. Fear of inferiority of natural humans sparks wave of hatred that limits voluntary enhancements to minimum.

2054.12

A massive breakthrough in ion engine construction brings unparalleled effectivity to space travel. Engines can be in full burn for months with just a few kilograms of actual solid fuel.

2057.3

Mission Providence of Pan-american Union successfully reaches the asteroid belts and establishes the first mining base, New Yukon. EIC's Ganesha Base and PSC Mariana Outpost were established later the same year.

2058.9

After a failed first attempt, Ruhan's mission to the belts succeeds and The Emperor's Stand is established.

2060.1

More than five million workers are moved to the belts in a massive investment race that splits the whole belt into four segments by Consortium influence. Most of the mined resources are poured into local mining infrastructure and primary resource processing facilities.

The Last World War

2063.4

The Uprising starts. Peaceful protests on resource distribution disparity end with shooting into protesters. 5 year old Jemal Musri is killed. A recording of his death sparks a global riot. All movable assets are transported to orbit. There are thousands of dead and millions wounded just the first week.

2064.6

What was left of national states crumble in a global civil war. Citizens against Mega Consortiums.

2064.11

With extraterrestrial populations still having very low natality because of people's focus on careers or living luxurious life, and 93% of all humans still living on Earth's surface, the Consortiums still need the surface population to expand workforce. AI is still considered too much of risk to be applied on larger scale.

2064.12

Reconciliation program is started. It is promised, that 25% of belts resources will be delivered to Earth's surface to provide food, medical care and education to the population. In return consortiums can still recruit the brightest that Earth can offer.

2068.2

The Reconciliation program has reached 97% of the Earth's population, the dream for most of people is to become a spacer. Elite that is assigned to a job in space, that pays enough to pull whole family out of poverty.

2068.3

Talents are picked at the age of 14 and put into Space Academies, where they spend next 5 years in intensive and expensive preparation for their future job.

2068.8

Workers start at age of 21 with a considerable debt for the training provided that takes 15 years on average to repay. If a worker is deemed no longer suitable for the position as a result of his own actions before repaying, the remainder debt is transferred to the family. In this form, slavery re-emerges.

2073.5

The term Starcrook is coined for Spacers who lost their contracts with the Consortiums. This breed of mercenaries ranging in profession from security guards, through to pilots, medics to scientists is used for unofficial consortium business to keep plausible deniability.

2079.8

Bases have been established on most usable bodies in all corners of the Solar system, settlements, security outposts along the common routes and remote science outpost studing various phenomena.

2081.7

An unmarked research base is located by a surveyor craft at the fringe of Ruhan space. Investigation finds marks of combat and some evidence pointing at computer, possibly illegal AI research conducted there. No proof pointing to any particular consortium is presented.

See you next time,

-Vaclav