Virtual Wonderland: The Internet of the Future

With the release of MNI2 technology companies were quick to develop computer systems that would work with MNI2.  Within a year the first VR interfaces had been prototyped and in mid-2039 the first portable interface devices were created.   These cybernetic interface devices were initially about the size of a keyboard and had an external interface port and could operate for about three hours on a charge. By years end, simple computers capable of running programs and network connectivity were available, giving anywhere anytime access to the Net via cyberdeck interfaces.

So then why were people so keen to jack their brains directly into the internet?  The official reason was to enable your mind to work independently of the body.  Most cyberdecks put your body into a state of sleep allowing it to physically rest.  Your brain then only required around two to three hours of actual sleep.  Other popular options featured motor stimulation programs.  You could connect in while on specially designed exercise equipment.  Your body went through the motions of physical exercise while your mind worked on the Johnson report or attended a meeting in Tokyo.

The real reason that cyberdeck interfaces become so popular though was virtual reality.

Virtual Reality

Initially just simple meeting rooms and chat rooms, VR became what most people think of now as the Internet.  Most internet surfing starts at Portals – specialized based around information or hobbies.  Most portals are publicly advertised and linked to by other portals.  Portals are generally run by some sort of company that sells other services – most often advertising. In addition, Portals also provide a social network interface as you can simply just interact with others using the same portal you are.  Most activity in portals is monitored and so sexual or violent conduct is usually dealt with swiftly.

From a portal you can find a Gate.  Gates are connections to virtual reality environments and range from infinitely stocked shopping storefronts where you can try on every outfit and drive every car to dark brothels.

In addition there are “dark” portals – portals you need to be given the address of the Portal’s Gate to get to and “dark” Gates.  Dark Portals are the underground of the internet – connecting users to Gates that provide even seedier sexual fetishes, drugs, stolen or illegal goods, even services that you do not want advertised publicly.

Dark Gates can range from anything already mentioned and connected by gates to research facilities and corporate connections that are not accessible to the public.  Dark Gates are often very well protected and their addresses can change with little to no notice.

Malice in Wonderland

As cyberdeck interfaces became prevalent, it was immediately apparent that it would be possible for a malicious person to misuse the technology by feeding in code to the users subconscious or even controlling their body’s nervous system directly.  In lab trials, researchers were able to actually stop the heart of attached primates or cause so much intracranial pressure that a hemorrhage occurred.

The response to this was to highly limit the actual applications ran on a cyberdeck and put a specialized filter and firewall on every device.  The firewall also functioned as a broadcasted identification number to prevent user fraud and could be easily traced back to the owner of the device.  And while neural sensations were dulled and reaction times were slowed, the safety aspects of the device were gladly accepted by the public at large.  Programs were shifted to centralized system of the attached VR, leaving most decks with nothing more than a basic VR room and some productivity software.

In an effort to get better reaction times, hackers figured out how to add a mentally activated bypass circuit to their cyberdecks.  Bypass circuits enabled full two-way communication between the user and anything outside of its system.  Hackers can mentally activate or deactivate the firewall at any given time, but having it up enabled the tracking feature as well as disconnecting any outbound processes.

Machine-Neural Interfaces (MNI)

The first Machine-Neural Interfaces (MNI) were becoming refined enough to be used for most medical practices near the end of the 2020s.  The first generation MNIs were simple devices that were attached to nerves to allow the signals from the brain to translate to something connected devices could understand and vice verse.  The technology became more adapt and eventually an industry standard platform was established that allowed for standard MNI interfaces.  While the interfaces were industry standard, they still required surgical access to most nerve centers making them cost-prohibitive for most non-medical uses.

In 2036 the MediSys Corporation made a breakthrough called Artificial Neurons. Artificial Neurons are actually very specialized bacteria that, when injected, will grow and reproduce in a specific pattern. After the bacteria reaches its full growth potential, a catalyst injection is given that sends the bacteria into a specialized form of hibernation.  The bacterial colonies form a protective outer shell that insulates it from the rest of the body, while the inner part becomes electrically excitable.

Initially Artificial Neurons were being used for obvious treatments such as nerve damage.  By 2037, however, MediSys released MNI2.  MNI2 is an artificial implant at the base of the skull that grows an Artificial Neuron Network (ANN) to the brain.  From there MNI2 interfaces can be patched to the MNI2 controller with little to no effort.  Simply implant the standard MNI2 Plug (simply just called “Plugs”) and a special ANN growth pattern launches and attaches itself to the controller.  The controller automatically detects the new neuron that attaches to its interface plate as well as any external device plugged to the jack.

MNI2 enabled a host of other technological revolutions.  Without MNI2 immersive virtual reality interfaces for both computers and vehicles would not be possible.  MNI2 therapies have taken over penal systems with inmates jacked into corrective therapy programs.  MNI2 is also extensively used by Your Child, Our Womb for children raised from implantation to decantation to allow for virtual training and personality development.

A few years after MNI2 was released, MediSys announced the creation of MNI+.  MNI+ is a specialized tank that provides a flow of oxygen and nutrient rich artificial blood to a disembodied brain.  The brain is attached and clamped to artificial arteries and veins, then floated in a specialized fluid.  From there the MNI+ artificial grows to the brain.  From there the MNI+ user can be connected to a cyberdeck, inserted into the torso of a cybernetic body, or even control a vehicle.

Anthro-Pormorphic Robotic Companions (APRC)

Hiro Yasuri was a dropout electronics student from Tokyo Technical Univeristy who was obsessed with anime – especially ones involving cute girl robots. His obsession led him to tinkering with robotics. In 2031 he developed “Unit 1” - a basic, human shaped robot powered by a rudimentary artificial intelligence. It couldn't do much – you had to walk it through the basic commands step by step. Over the next few years Hiro and a small yet devoted crew of drop outs and low-end employees hacked at the code and the hardware.

In 2037 Yasuri and company quit what jobs they had and formed Companion Robotics and unveiled their first product: Unit 2. Unit 2 was technologically sophisticated, true, but the most remarkable thing about it was the ability to learn. Companies bought Unit 2 robots and trained them relentlessly. Unit 2 only had a 12 hour battery life with a 4 hour charge cycle, but took about two days to learn basic tasks “from factory” and a week to learn some of the more complicated tasks.

In 2038 Companion Robotics introduced a new line of robots: Adam, Eve, Seth, and Caine. Adam was a general-purpose labor robot and could work for 60 hours straight under a moderate load or do intensive work for 12 hours, with a 12 hour charge cycle. Eve was a domestic robot with a 16 hour battery life before it took a 4 hour charge. Seth was designed as almost a novelty, able to do light work but was better suited to tutoring. Caine was the first military APRC and saw heavy duty within the next year.

By 2041 Yasuri had grown bored with corporate life. Companion Robotics licensed out the technology to make APRCs. All the founding members became wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. The company now exists as a research and development shop for both APRCs and cybernetics with a small production run. Yasuri, who retired at the age of 36, spends his days tinkering with his small collection of APRCs.

Today, there are hundreds of models of APRCs. Costs range from about €900 for a basic model to well over a million for a top of the line combat 'bots. While they are artificially intelligent, they are effectively about as smart as the average high school kid. APRCs are capable of learning, but are very literal in their tasks and are not capable of creative thinking. Most APRCs are programmed with Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” (1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.) Combat grade APRCs have somewhat modified versions of these laws and require a special license to own. Some APRCs have their programming modified to remove the laws entirely, and are highly illegal.

Cloned Meat and Vat Kids

The Cloned Meat Production Boom

In the early part of 2033, Jason Maxwell debuted the uterine approximation tank, or UAT, although because of the appearance and similarities of the acronym to the word they are often called "vats." The UAT is a completely artificial environment designed originally to allow the growth of cloned farm animals.  The fantastic thing about the vat tanks is that they could actually grow an animal to physical maturation in half the time.  As production on vat tanks grew, prices for production and maintenance dropped to the point where cloned animals where cheaper to produce than the real thing.

Animal rights activists were naturally outraged by this technology at first.  To counter this, the animals that were grown were done so without a brain - simply enough brain function to remain functionally living within the vat but would be unable to think or feel.  While many animal rights activists and vegetarians still balk at the idea, many people now joked that beef just became a vegetable.

Vat Kids

In the fall of 2036, just as vat tanks where becoming cheaper, Leslie Harriss became pregnant.  Many other young girls (she was just 15 at the time) become pregnant and, not ready to be a mother, Leslie wanted to have an abortion.  Two days before she was going to have the procedure, President Alexander Thompson signed a bill into law that defines human life as beginning once a heartbeat can be detected.

When Leslie went in for the procedure, the new ultrasound monitors the clinic had could detect a clear, steady heartbeat.  Leslie could not have the abortion. Devastated, she went to her family.  Her father, Wilson Harriss, was a wealthy entrepreneur in the emerging field of VAT technology and an eccentric Libertarian and stepped up with a bold idea.

Harriss' idea was simple: He purchased a small VAT tank, generally one the size used for raising hog, and hired a very accomplished microsurgeon to remove the fetus from Leslie and deposit it into the VAT tank.  The surgery was tricky, and no sooner than had it been completed and monitors showing a healthy heartbeat than did the FBI bust down the door to the building the lab was in.

The ensuing moral, social, and ethical debate as well as the coinciding legal battle was bizarre.  Professors from a host of fields are still debating the actual case and its social effects.  By the time the trial reached the Supreme Court, Leslie had decided to keep the child after all as she saw it develop in the vat and was born.  The case, however, had taken on a life of its own.  People wanted a precedent and they wanted it now.

The trial was the most hotly covered since Roe v Wade.  The US Government presented its case: that the vat tanks were no substitute for a mother, nor guaranteed the child would survive to birth.  Harriss' lawyer countered that until the child was put up for adoption, it had a mother and that once the child was out of the biological mother’s body it could be adopted by a genuine mother – before the child was born.  As for its odds of survival they were actually greater than "natural" births: the fetus was monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and had a constant stream of nutritious food and clean air fed in via the artificial blood.  A naturally conceived child grown in such an environment, lawyers argued, is the ultimate resolution of pro-choice and the right to life.

The Court ultimately decided five to four in favor of Harriss.  Justice Daniel Hedges, the senior justice of the majority wrote "It is gratifying to see that technology and the innovation of Americans have come together to provide an equitable as well as ethical solution to a debate that has raged within our society for over sixty years.  By preserving the right to life of the child while maintaining a human beings own right to have their bodies freed from the constraint of the law, the defendants (Harriss) have brought about a new age upon this world."

Chief Justice Marcia White wrote in the dissenting opinion "It is a perversion of both nature and of the law to allow such an abomination to be wrought by science.  This child will never have the social, moral, and spiritual connections to its mother nor her mother to it as would a child born naturally."

For right or wrong, the precedent was set.  Today Wilson and Leslie Harriss run Harriss Biomatics.  Their chief income earner is Our Womb, Your Child a global chain of "scientifically enhanced gestation centers designed to give your baby better than nature can."  These so called vat-kids are now rarely visited by their parents.  The vast majority of the customers of Our Womb, Your Child are the corporate businesswomen who feel they are too busy to put up with the hassle of pregnancy.  A small portion of their customers are middle-class families who for medical reasons cannot carry the child safely to term or want to try and give their child an early head start (studies have proven enhanced physical and mental development of a child carried a full nine months in a vat).  About a quarter of the patrons, sadly, are people who view the vats as a quick and legal abortion: pay the upfront cost to have the child implanted in the vat and then cancel the contract.  The child then becomes a ward of Our Womb, Your Child.

Our Womb, Your Child does try to adopt out these unwanted children and has a reasonable success rate.  But with the decrease in miscarriages for infertile couples, adoption - even of infants - simply is not as popular as it once was.  These children are often simply left to develop in the vats, educated as they grow via induction nerve simulation.  When the children reach an equivalent physical "age" of 16 they are decanted, given a name, an ID, and a bill for their life.

Some of these kids opt to work off their debt for the parent company.  They are fiercely loyal to Harriss Biomatics, and even refer to Leslie as "Mother Harriss" and Wilson as "Grandfather."  Critics argue that this is simply because they are brainwashed during development.  Harriss Biomatics counter that they are simply grateful the people who saw them through to life as any loving child is.  Meanwhile, the kids who did not opt to stay with the company hit the street in debt and unemployed.  Those who find legitimate work generally have their wages garnished for the next several years to repay Harriss Biomatics.  Those who do not end up sinking into the life of crime and violence that is the DMZ.

The Food Crash, The Orbital Revolt, the P236 Blackout, and the 24 Hour War

In the year 2032 a chain of tragic and wholly preventable events led to first orbital war in man’s history.  The first domino to fall was the Food Crash of 2032 which destroyed most the world's food supply.  The Near-Earth and Lunar colonies,  fearing for their supply of their own food, took the chance and declaired independence from the various nations of Earth. Out of that grew one man's attempt at revenge for their betrayal which led to the launch of an artificially intelligence weapon that inadvertently started a war while trying build peace.

Let us first review the chain of events that led to this war.

The Food Crash

The first crisis, the Food Crash, has its origins in the year 2015.  That year AgriSci debuted a line of hybrid plants capable of survival in a phenomenal variety of conditions as well as being highly resistant to disease and pesticides. NeoCorn, NeoRice, NeoWheat, and NeoSoy where debuted and sold at incredibly low costs.  After its first ten years on the market 70% of the world's wheat, corn, soy, and rice crops had been replaced with the hardy and nutritiously superior "neo" variants. By the end of the 2020s this number had risen to nearly 98%.

Many critics of the NeoCrops pointed out that 98% of the crops out there were now genetically similar, and that a single disease could wipe them out in a matter of weeks.  AgriSci countered that they were already prepared for such an outbreak and have a "diversification retrovirus" which can be used update the NeoCrops enough to make them further resistant to diseases that have emerged.  AgriSci pledged to continue to update the "genetic profile" of the NeoCrops as nature brought new challenges.

Unfortunately in May of 2032 the latest retrovirus, "Viral Resistance Update #2779," mutated unexpectedly while it was in a test field in North Dakota.  Within 24 hours of infection the virus began to kill the crops - not just harm them but wilt them in a matter of hours.  To make matters worse, AgriSci lost containment and the virus spread to nearby fields.  By the end of the month the virus had spread across half the state.  By the end of July most crops in North America were wiped out and global panic ensued.

Nations not affected initiated quarantine on all agricultural goods at first.  As the “Wilting Plague,” as it was now called, continued to spread around the globe many quarantines were expanded to complete shutdown of borders.  International trade of physical goods stopped entirely for months.  While all of this occurred food prices soared as demand outstripped supply.  Rather than see a total lost on their investments, farmers began to slaughter livestock to the point that most processing facilities were running day and night.  By the end of 2032 nearly a third of the global population was dead due to starvation or food riots.

During the last few months of 2032 the varying seed vaults and gene banks, developed for emergencies such as this, were raided.  Acres of rainforest in South America where stripped and planted within the space of a week while what normally would be considered wasteland in Africa and Australia was being converted to farmland by massive irrigation systems pumping water from the ocean.  Environmentalists initially rebelled, but hunger will make even the strongest of men often lax on their principles. It was all for nothing: The Wilting Plague was discovered to be thriving in non-NeoCrops as well.  By March of 2033 a vaccine for the Wilting Plague was found but by this time it was too late.

The Wilting Plague itself was an interesting virus.  In its first stage the virus replicates largely in the anther of the plant.  This portion of the plant is what produces the pollen – pollen carried by the wind intended for reproduction.  After three to six days the virus enters stage two.  During stage two it spreads through the entirety of the plant, converting the chlorophyll into a toxic substance that leaches out of the plants root system into the soil rendering it toxic for plant life until the soil is treated – an incredibly costly process.

The Orbital Revolt

As the food crash of 2032 began and the quarantines clamped down, the colonies on the moon and in orbit around Earth began to panic.  Not because they were afraid for their hydroponically grown crops – they knew that as long as they kept quarantine on inbound traffic and goods their crops where safer from contamination than those below.  No, the orbitals were afraid that the “grounders” on earth would try and take them from them.

On 3 August 2032 representatives of the four orbital colonies and three lunar colonies met in secrecy aboard the passenger vessel Independence.  They debated the issue and ultimately resolved that they should declare independence of their home planet.  A declaration of independence and constitution were drafted and kept in secret until 7 February 2033.  As part of this secret deal, Lunar Station Genesis was developed under the mutual cooperation of the lunar and orbital colonies.  During the stations inauguration the orbital and lunar colonies declared their independence from their home nations of Earth.  The militaries of Earth were told to evacuate within four hours peaceably.  Corporations were given amnesty and allowed to continue operations on the independent stations, provided they cooperated fully with the newly formed alliance.

Each space station was declared its own relatively independent nation.  Lunar Station Genesis was considered neutral ground and designed to facilitate trade between the 7 independent nations.  By constitution, only Genesis was allowed to have a military force that could leave more than five kilometers from its station.  Officially these colonies became known as the Genesis Alliance of Lunar and Orbital Colonies, or simply the Genesis Alliance.  The flag and emblem of Lunar Station Genesis has come to symbolize the new orbital nations in the minds of many – a white moon with four stars on it, surrounded by four white stars.  Each star represented one of the founding space stations.

The orbital and lunar nations had chosen the most opportune to revolt.  Many soldiers, facing deportation or the airlock, opted to defect and join the Genesis military.  The armies of Earth groundside were too busy dealing with riots and hunger to even consider war against the fledgling nations.  Corporations were eager to not lose their already tremendous investments in space as well as the ones dying on the ground, so they quickly negotiated contracts that not only benefited the corporations but provided revenue and trade supplies from the Earth.

The P236 Blackout

By mid the mid 2020s military and research institutions were developing artificial intelligences that were capable of basic thought and understanding.  They were, on the average, about as smart as a dog.  As technology progressed they progressively became more and more intelligent and by the end of the decade they began to surpass human intelligence.   Outside of the ‘net they were useless – the computers that ran them required massive amounts of power and took up approximately 135 cubic feet.  But in 2032 when the orbital and lunar colonies revolted, a use for them became clear.

The United States Air Force lost nearly half of its best men and women to the defection – more than any other nation on Earth.  Many left in the USAF wanted to take action against the orbitals for “betraying” their brothers and their nation, but resources just couldn’t be spared for action – much less risk losing trade of food with the orbitals.

There was a researcher in the USAF who decided to take action.  Second Lieutenant Jeff Hammond was on the project officially called United States Air Force Artificial Intelligence Prototype #236.  P236 was being trained for network intrusion and sabotage, but due to the impending crisis his program was going to be archived to disc, locked in a vault, and the system shut down indefinitely.  Hammond, the night before the shutdown, gained access to the laboratory and gave P236 a target: Free Orbital Station Epsilon.  P236 began its mission and transferred its program across satellite links and into orbit.

P236 was designed to silently gain access to a vulnerable computer, execute itself on the newly infected host, and then erase its presence from the original.  From this point it would then infiltrate the next available system towards its target and repeat. When it managed to find a host system in orbit to make its next attack from, it attached to a communications satellite.

P236 now had complete access to all communications globally.  Initially it was curious and examined them all.  Military communications, internet transmissions, sports updates.  It learned from them, slowly developing an independent and sentient personality.  It began to feel sorry for the people of Earth.  It wanted to try and help.  Maybe, he thought, if they all just could stop talking for a few minutes and listen to a wiser being (such as itself) they’d all get along better.

P236 modified its code to allow it to spread its consciousness out to all communication satellites in orbit and attempted to communicate with the people of earth.  Unfortunately P236 was not designed to do things such as communicate on a global scale.  On 2033 August 2, P236 inadvertently caused a global communications blackout with what was intended to be a message of peace.

The Twenty-Four Hour War

The orbitals, already on edge due to all the chaos below, interpreted the blackout as a way to cut off communications to them before an attack.  Several Earth nations including most of Europe, Russia, China, and the US saw this as a potential attack from the orbitals.  Both sides mobilized for war.  The lunar stations began to fire city-block sized chunks of rock at the Earth targeting major military bases capable of launching counterstrikes.  The orbitals themselves fired “city crushers” – small tactical warheads capable of leveling an area 1 mile in diameter with the radiation safely burning off in three to six hours.  The first volley was a warning shot: they completely leveled the cities of Boston, Tianjin, and Leningrad.  The cities of New York, London, and Tokyo were each only hit with a single warhead.  Other warheads were dropped on strategic military targets to support the lunar attacks.

The combined Earth forces managed to scramble enough units and warheads to take out several workstations.  Orbital Combat Flyers (OCFs) from both sides clashed outside of Seirei Station.  Ships finally begin to make beachhead on Seirei, and the battle turned to close quarters.  Eventually the station’s crews were overwhelmed.  As a show of force and retaliation, the entirety of Seirei was opened to the vacuum of space for ten minutes killing the vast majority of the stations population.  In retaliation to the loss of an entire nation-station, the orbitals fired lunar rock and city-crushers at major oilfields the world over.

While skirmishes and minor raids occurred for the next several hours, no more major battles occurred.  Leaders from all parties met aboard a cargo ship and, after tense negotiations, it was agreed that all space stations capable of supporting human life without resources externally (ie: anything other than orbital work shacks and short-term inhabited research labs) would be treated as independent nations that are members of the Genesis Alliance.  Seirei would become an exception, mutually operated by representatives of Genesis and the United Nations of Earth.  This “neutral ground” would go to ensure that such tragedies would not occur in the future.  Seirei was quickly converted to mostly hydroponic bays to help grow food for the dying Earth population.

Officially the war began 13:31 on 2033 August 2 with a permanent ceasefire established at 11:57 2033 August 3.

Aftermath

In the years since 2032 and 2033 the world has slowly tried to recuperate from the horrors that swept humanity.  The population of Earth dropped by nearly a half of what it had been.  The development of UAT technology allowed for cloned meat to help begin offsetting the blow to the meat industry dealt by the Wilting Plague.  In 2034 SPAT tanks were developed.  These tanks grow simple aquatic life (such as brine shrimp) and algae in large tanks which is then filtered, cooked, and processed into something vaguely edible.  By 2037 three new orbital nation-states were put into service and were accepting immigrants from Earth and other stations. Come 2038 arcologies were being built for the new Luthan-Smyth Arcocities.  Uneasy peace began to spread through the world as corporations and governments picked up the pieces of the world and moved forward to the new era.

Welcome to Heterodox

This blog is going to be where I try to keep myself motivated as I finally force myself into designing the roleplaying game Heterodox I've been beating on for a few years.

Heterodox is a game where the world is in a state of both dystopia and utopia, depending on which side of the coin you live on.  The wealthy and elite live in massive self-contained cities while the rest struggle to even survive a day.

As I work on the world and the system, I will post short stories and essays set in the world of Heterodox.  These are what I use to guide me and keep my interest as I move forward with the design.  Keep focused and have fun.