Welcome to Anson Martin's writing portfolio!
- Home
- One: Cyberpunk
- Two: Fermi's Failure
- Three: Wandering the Dark Forest
- Four: Beneath Scorching Rays
Throughout my time as being part of the tabletop roleplaying games sphere, one game has stuck out to me.
Cyberpunk, by R. Talsorian Games.
Here is a brief excerpt of a timeline set in R. Talsorian's world, involving the rises and falls of the city of Seattle.
--Timeline Begins--
1994
-The World Stock Crash of '94. The European Economic Community takes notice of American meddling in global stock markets, and the breakdown in security leads to the US government printing trillions, devaluing the dollar to the point of irrelevance. Mass rioting and poverty ensues.
-The Boeing Corporation loses most of its contracts with the US government, causing the Washington state government to lose significant revenue.
1995-1996
-The Collapse begins. The isolationist policies of the Gang of Four (composed of the CIA, NSA, FBI, and DEA), as well as a loss of America's traditional allies following the fall of the Soviet Union, causes the USA to collapse, and martial law to begin.
-The Nomad Riots. People who have lost everything take to forming packs roaming the roads, with a DIY, punk-like attitude. Many of them have bones to pick with the American government or the rising corporations.
-Increased forest fires throughout the Pacific Northwest cause lumber revenue to drop drastically.
-A Korean tanker leaves a toxic spill in the Puget Sound, killing the entire salmon runoff for 1996.
-Responding to the loss of lumber, fishing, and military contracts as sources of revenue, the Washington state government raises the corporate tax rate. The corporations then flee to Alaska in turn.
1997-2001
-The Quiet Anarchy. Washington state's government entirely collapses, and a poetically-described "quiet, despairing anarchy" rules. The Seattle municipal government is taken over by the Seattle Longshoreman's Union, led by Edouard Barthas.
The Wasting Plague arrives in the United States.
2002-2006
-Washington rejoins the US. Reorganized as a parliamentary state thanks to the political theory knowledge of the local elites, the US attempts to revitalize Seattle as a port thanks to the secession of California.
-The Food Crash of '02. Wheat crops are almost annihilated throughout the world, causing global famines.
-The Second Central American War begins, and lasts until 2010. This conflict is a complete disaster, and what finally spells the end of the Gang of Four (and martial law), which is traded in for MegaCorp-backed elections.
-The First Corporate War begins, and continues until 2006. A conflict between two aerospace companies attempting to purchase a bankrupt airline becomes the world's first war in which corporations are belligerents.
-The first human clone is successfully grown.
2007-2010
-Braindance is developed at UC Santa Cruz, allowing virtual reality experiences to become much more real.
-The Second Corporate War begins, and lasts until 2010. This conflict involved two fuel companies battling over territory in the South China Sea and around Siberia.
2011-2015
-The Network 54 Corporation owns 64% of all American broadcast media.
-Construction of the Seattle Floating Annex. This new floating area reaching across the Puget Sound from Seattle to Bremerton is a mass staging-ground for the Western Combined Operations Group of the US Army from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Bremerton is also annexed by Seattle.
-The Seattle Underground is entirely abandoned by 2015. It is mostly relegated to consumerist "ghost tours" and hideaways for people running from the law.
-A joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Neo-Soviet Aerospace Bureau reaches Mars.
-The first true AI is developed by the MicroTech Corporation.
2016-2020
-The Third Corporate War begins and ends in this period. Two groups of financiers engaged in a legal battle over a confidence scheme led to the first war fought entirely on the NET. Only 12 hours of actual combat occurred, for which the corporation Merrill, Asukaga, and Finch paid restitution.
-This reconstruction of Seattle has led to its recognition as the major port to Northern Asia. Trade with the Neo-Soviets, Japanese, United Korea, and China are all conducted through this port and its Floating Annex, creating a brief new golden age for Seattle.
-The Biotechnica Corporation prepares a wildlife replacement program for Washington state, which has been devastated by industry and natural disaster.
-The Prelude to the Fourth Corporate War, involving the bankruptcy of the aquacorp called IHAG...