2050

[mtmerrick]

Recently, i've been thinking about the future. No, not college or anything (well that too, but that's not what this is about) but technology. and politics a little. and then ideas started coming together, bizarrely when i was leaving the chase field parking garage last night. and by the time i got home, i had this in my head. completely thought through. so if you don't mind, i will introduce his RPG now.

disclaimer: this RPG may get violent! hopefully not too much, because i don't want it closed, but you have been warned.

disclamer2: yes, i am going to use a LOT of real companies. i own nothing here, nor do i pretend to. these names are simply included to give even more realism to it.

disclamer3: all the technology I mention is real and possible. This is not meant to be a sci-fi RPG.

disclamer4: I have NOTHING planned past the first massive post, so lets see where the story takes us, eh?

disclamer5: you may not like some of the things here (eg disney). these things are only to help the setting. or if they aren't, well hey, i'm not forcing you to play

disclaimer6: *is dragged away* what do you mean i have nothing left to disclaim? is disclaim even a word? hey let go of me! hey, give my computer back! you can't arrest me for making disclaimers!



2050.

the word politics does not really apply to governments anymore. It has not for some time. Governments are secondary to the much more important international conglomerate companies - Google, Virgin, Bloom. Technology's rate of growth has slowed down - the generation that reached adulthood in the 2020s were the last to bring true scientific progress. The generations had adapted to their technology so well that they lost the drive to do anything other than refine it.

That was when the companies took over. The old was replaced by the new. Within twenty years of Google's creation, the corporate giant known as Microsoft went bankrupt. Apple, one of the first companies to create personal computers, were loosing large amounts of money at that time, and discontinued their entire line of computers, instead focusing on media, the only way they have survived. In the process, this destroyed Sony. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. put most small resale stores, and even some larger ones, like Costco. All that remained were large department stores, giants like Amazon, and some select specialty or online stores. The Virgin Group took over space exploration, successfully placing all three existing Lunar colonies in lava tube skylights. These mining colonies provide a large amount of the raw material used in Earth's construction efforts. Bloom Energy monopolized electricity, buying exclusive rights to build and maintain nuclear reactors. Bloom also bought out many wind farms and solar plants, resulting in that one corporation owning 82% of the planet's power. Bloom also became the sole proprietor of  Radioactive Batteries, nano-nuclear self-regenerating power cells that  power all small devices. Google broke its vow against becoming a Internet Service Provider in 2019, where they launched their first internet-providing satellite. Though this was a major milestone in earth's history, it is largely disregarded - there are many other methods of faster internet. Satellite internet is used only by those who cannot afford faster methods, or are in some of the obscure locations, where, for one reason or another, other forms of internet cannot be accessed, because satellite internet can be accessed anywhere in the world. The Walt Disney corporation merged with Viacom in 2021, creating a massive media web that encompassed almost all television, movies, and music. Those are the companies that run the world.

Governmental politics. Outdated. Some may say obsolete. Countries, or in some cases continents, are treated as locales for marketing. Countries still have governments, but they are nowhere near as important as they were 50 years ago. Laws may change, but money is still the driving force – because governments have been weakened, anyone with a large enough pocketbook can get away with whatever they want. 62% of the planet is now considered first world. Africa was the first major “colonization� effort. Europe, China, and America's populations were overloaded, and, after Europe's complete economic failure in 2015 – where the entire continent was set back on its feet by Google – the three locales decided to take over most of the continent that they considered comprised of wasted land. Within ten years, the country of New Africa was created and growing at an incredible rate. China and Russia, seeing the success of this, decided to do something similar, settling the massive areas of unused land in Russia. Political history is not without its bloody conflicts though. The Arabic Wars that America fought from the 1990s to the 2010s, ended by a third party – China. China's economy and the U.S.'s economy were so intertwined, that when the war began dragging down America's economy, China suffered. In early 2013, China gave the U.S.A. a three day evacuation warning, and a massive monetary payment to stay silent until after the evacuation of US troops was complete. China then used two of its nuclear ICBMs and ended the war in one fell swoop. That was the second to last war in history – the last was the Cartel War in Mexico. When the Mexican Drug Cartels invaded the American Southwest, the violence was incredible. The war lasted three years, until 2015, when the United States took a large portion of Northern Mexico in a last ditch effort to end the war, that – to both sides surprise – worked. The cartels were disbanded, and Mexico fell into a three year depression that was eventually righted by Bloom creating massive manufacturing plants there. For twenty years since then, there has been relative worldwide peace.

Technology has not developed much in these decades, instead the existing technology has been refined. The entire planet is networked through the Internet. Things as simple as cars have large computers in them, including facial and vocal recognition. There is normally one large computer in a house, with a large amount of terminals hooked up, usually one per room. A personal device (PD, said “pad�) is a small rectangular touchscreen. Manufactured by Google, PDs are uniform devices with a 512-bit operating system, running on the Chrome AI operating system, and possessing molecular processors. Most children receive their first PD when they are around seven years old. 99.2% of first world citizens have a PD. PDs contain people's account numbers, can unlock their car's doors, and are in every aspect a personal, portable, supercomputer.
Since the Nuclear Stalemate created by China in the end of the Arabic Wars, Bloom has monopolized engines. Aircraft, most large seacraft, and some spacecraft are powered by micro-nuclear engines. All smaller vehicles have small Bloom Energy Servers powering them.



RULES:

standard RPG rules. =P


CHARACTERS:

Christopher Marks: CEO of Google (deceased) (NPC)

Marik Marks: Christopher Mark's 18-year old son, attending MIT. (mtmerrick)

John Maplen: Son of google's research chief, Marik's friend (NPC)

Elaine: Marik's girlfriend (skye)

Nathan Olberg: Acting CEO of google

more to be added....

[mtmerrick]

Marik Marks stepped out of the MIT front doors alongside his best friend from school, John Maplen. “Spring vacation. Dad wants me to go home for the whole thing.� he said, obviously disgruntled. John sighed. “'Least your parents want you back. Mine think I should stay here and study. They don't seem to see me, just my grades.� Marik rolled his eyes, and laughed. “your father is research chief of the Google. You know he's just busy. Plus, my dad already invited you over.� John chuckled, and said “yeah, I know.� Marik grabbed his car's door handle, felt the familiar vibration as it scanned his fingers, and opened the door. He hopped in, pressed a button on the dash, and the passenger door opened. “c'mon, lets go.�

* * *

Marik pulled up to his family's estate, and a massive gran spread across his face. He pushed open the car door, and went to embrace his girlfriend, who was there waiting for him. John rolled his eyes and followed after a moment. The smiled at him, and said “your dad wants you guys in the dining room quick. There are guest coming I think.� “Thanks Elaine� Marik said, and went in with his friends.

* * *

“Do you know who's coming?�
The three teens sat at the massive dining room table in silence.
“Do you have the slightest IDEA� Marik's father continued “how big this meeting is?�
The deafening silence continued.
“Of course you don't. The ENTIRE Virgin Board is coming! Either we make a deal here, or we loose millions.� He pointed a finger at Marik. “You have to be here. Your friends don't. If they stay, they shut up, period.�
John and Elaine exchanged glances. They had attended these dinner meetings before, and knew what was expected.
Marik's fathers suit pocket buzzed, and he swore as he pulled out his PD. Marik caught a glimpse of the front security cameras as his father tapped furiously. “Don't they know its fashionably LATE, not EARLY?!?!� he roared, as he walked away. Marik groaned. “Well, I'm gonna go change. If you guys are staying – which I have no idea why you would – I hope you brought a tux or a dress.� With a forlorn look on his face, he headed away. “I'm surprised how much he hates google� John muttered. Elaine shook her head. “he has no problem with Google� she said as she stood up “its corporate business he hates. He'd trade with your dad, sitting in a lab with the cool tech, in a heartbeat.�
“Guess I just don't get it then.� John said and sighed. “I'm gonna go eat in the kitchen. You?� Elaine shook her head. “I'll stay here with Marik.� “Whatever� John said, and headed off.

* * *

“So you're Chris's boy!� said yet another executive. Marik put on his best fake smile, and shook another hand. “yes. And you?�
The exec introduced himself, and then took his seat. Before another old guy in a suit could bother him, he took his seat, and became very interested in the napkin. Elaine slipped into the seat next to him, and smiled. “Ditch this as soon as possible?� Marik asked, and his girlfriend nodded in response. “surprised you came.�
“eh, they're not so bad.� she said, and Marik smiled.

* * *

The waiter cane around and filled up everyone's glasses yet again. Towards the head of the table, a group of execs had roped his father into a rowdy conversation about particle physics, and Marik glanced over to Elaine. At once, they stood up and slipped into the kitchens. No one noticed them. “alright, we're out.� Marik said in relief, pulling at his tie. As they went outside, Marik's pocked vibrated. Marik swore, pulled out his pad, and threw it in a fountain. “I wish all this technology would stop driving me INSANE!�
As if on cue, all the lights in the massive house went off, accompanied by a slight wave of force. . Exchanging panicked looks, Marik grabbed his PD out of the fountain. It was dead. “these things are waterproof!� Marik said “Elaine!� She grabbed her PD, only to find it dead as well. “what's going on?!?!� Marik ran inside and ripped off the front of the nearest terminal. “shorted out... oh god, someone puled an EMP on us!� Elaine's eyes widened even further. “An Electromagnetic Pulse bomb?�
“yeah.� Marik shook his head. “and an freakishly powerful one too, if it took out our pads.... Oh no... the reactor!� “the fuel would be ignited....� Elaine said in shock. “go somewhere, find a working pad, figure out what's happening.� With a nod, she went out the door, and Marik rushed down the stairs into the basement. Halfway down he could feel the heat of the inferno. Turning, he went back up. There was no way to put it out – the fire systems were on the same grid as the rest of the house, and would be shorted out. Running to the other wing of the house, he kicked down the door to the security guard's office, and grabbed a handgun off the rack. Slipping his only defense against whoever planted the bomb into his jacket pocket, he continued back to the dining room. Throwing open the door, Marik let a gasp of horror as he saw his father and most of the rest of the execs – Google's ad Virgin's – hopelessly drunk. Grabbing the arm of the only the sober man who wasn't out of his mind in panic, Marik grabbed his arm and said loudly “there was an bomb, and there's a fire in the basement, and its spreading! Help me get these guys outside!� With incoherent grunt of acknowledgment, the man helped drag out the drunks. As they dragged the fourth man out, they heard screams. “no... “ he muttered. Rushing back in, he found the dining room ablaze. He was about to go in, but a fiery beam fell out of the ceiling, and barred the door. “NO!� he screamed, but the man pulled him back, a look of horror on his face. “other doors?� he suggested, and Marik nodded. “R-r-right. Kitchen.� leading the way, the found the kitchen completely ablaze as well. “No....� he said, and slumped against a wall, completely defeated. “we have to get out of here!� the man shouted! “maybe there are fire trucks coming? Kid, SURVIVE!� Marik pulled himself to his feet “yeah, right.� he muttered, and they stumbled out of the building. One side of the mansion was already ablaze. Minutes later, a car pulled up, and Elaine hopped out. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, as she stared at disbelief at the blaze. The woman who was in the car came out and Took Marik by the shoulder. “your friend saw me coming down the road, flagged me down and told me what happened. Thank goodness the satellites are still working – every Google plant on the planet had something similar done at precisely the same time. The areas around the plants are all dead. I contacted the fire department using the emergency radio waves... I don't... think they'll... make it in time.� Marik couldn't even think straight – the only coherent thought was 'my father was in there'

* * * Two Days Later * * *

Marik sat at a table with several execs, two presidents, a prime minister, and five military commanders. Marik was still in shock, but he was aware that they were discussing possible culprits. The current prerogative was to declare war on Virgin, because they were there at the time and were close enough to remotely detonate without being detected, or possibly Bloom, as they had just been there to service the reactor. Someone had suggested that it could have been a terrorist, but the idea was dismissed. There was virtually no way an average citizen cold have pulled this off. Someone nudged Marik. “Son, I asked, do you know what business deal your father was working on?â€� Marik shook his head. “no idea. He kept his work to himself, and I didn't press for information.â€� A general sighed. “the drunks you rescued don't remember, and the sober man is suffering shock. Until then, the entire globe is on maximum alert.â€� Standing up, Marik asked “Can I go? I don't seem to be needed.â€� The table exchanged  glances, and one of them nodded. “go.â€�

* * * One Day Later * * *


Marik slammed his fist down on the table. “what do you mean you declared WAR?!??!� Marik screamed into the terminal's screen. “there's not even any proof Bloom did it!� “Marks, all the evidence points to them, a pre-emptive strike is the only way to guarantee global safety! And as your father's second-in-�Marik hit the off button on the screen before the man could finish. “the world just got a lot more dangerous� Marik said to himself. “lets just hope they don't pull out the ICBMs.�



Well? What are you waiting for? Choose a side, and get playing! Anarchy will rule this hemisphere in a week. You have been warned.

oh, and its quite possible Bloom Energy is innocent. well, we'll see i guess. *diabolical laugh*

[Teresa Lisbon]

OOC: Well, someone needed to get this RPG started... =P

-==IC: Elaine==-

Elaine paced back and forth outside of the room where Marik was doing a conference call. She heard him shout, and winced. He was under too much stress for one person to handle.

She cautiously opened the door and sat in a chair behind him, waiting for him to acknowledge her.

[lionytai]

OOC: Am I a character now?