2014
- You surfed a porn site for wank fodder.
2096
- The events of
Chasing the Dragon
.
2123
- The gender ratio of infants throughout South America began to skew strongly toward females, with 1 male born for every 25 females. The male infants that did make it to term showed signs of strong hormonal imbalances or even genital feminization.
2124
- A mutated strain of the bacteria
Wolbachia
, capable of infecting humans, was discovered to be the culprit. Unlike previous strains, the bacteria proved to be highly infectious. It was also incredibly resistant to attempts at treatment. Worst by far, though, was the rapid pace at which the bacteria had already spread, and was still spreading. Doctors who had flown into South America to analyze and research a birth phenomenon unwittingly brought back a disease with no day-to-day symptoms.
2128
- Now coined "The Purge", the bacteria had infected an estimated 85% of the population of Northern America and Europe. The CDC released studies that heavily suggested that this mutation had been designed. Tensions began to rise between nations as males of every race became sterile or genetically incompatible with females.
Due to the incredible uncertainty
Wolbachia
brought, Russia became swept up in a call for the reinstatement of Communism. All-female leadership took over to great fanfare, and for several years very little else was heard from within it's borders as the great nation restructured itself "for the greater good of it's citizens."
2131
- As the bacteria ran rampant through the developed world, Russia broke it's own self-imposed isolation and began annexing neighboring territories in a bid to control vast natural resources as much as any remaining male population. In an emergency meeting, the EU unanimously passed a 'Mutual Defense' resolution. The threat of war with Russia loomed. Females were hesitantly conscripted on both sides as grunts in an effort to protect the male population, and an arms race toward alternate rank-and-file is quietly begun.
2132
- In March, a Russo-Chinese alliance was formally announced. The following day, China simultaneously invaded Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan. The US responded by sending carriers to Japan.
2134
- After 18 months of posturing and line drawing, a shooting war breaks out with the EU, the US, and Japan on one side, and China and Russia on the other. The forces of the EU suffered the worst of it as Russia is the first to unveil robotic soldiers. Although their versatility in combat left much to be desired, their hardiness and design created strategic problems that the Allied Forces would not soon be able to counter.
2135
- News leaks out from behind the new Iron Curtain that males have been nationalized, becoming property of the state. For the first time in centuries, human beings became property in a First World nation. Although the Allied forces are not able to turn the tide, their defense became much more frantic. The war slowed down to town-by-town, street-by-street blood baths.
2137
- The Russian invasion of mainland Europe reaches the northern shores of France. The British Isles became the sole holdout. Although the rhetoric and propaganda attempted to draw parallels to the second World War, their ability to influence the war was almost completely nullified. Even the once-lauded Royal Navy was reduced to a smattering of ships performing guerilla operations in the North Atlantic. Later that year, China released an engineered virus, decimating Japan's population. The entire island was quarantined. The US was left alone in the war.
2138
- First documented case of parthenogenesis in humans discovered. Post-Purge females began to spontaneously become pregnant and give birth without semen from a man. Although the pattern would not be visible for another decade, most females began to give birth on a three to four year cycle. Birth, new life, and it's perception gradually began to shift toward something common and regular rather than precious and born out of love.
2140
- Communist forces took control of India. In addition to the vast population, the Chinese also gained access of one of two Space Elevators in the world. Built at the turn of the century, the Elevator and it's twin in Ecuador were more than just the gateway to outer space; they also represented the possibility of incredible resources in the burgeoning field of asteroid mining. A rogue element in the United States CIA attempted to sabotage the communist-controlled Elevator in India with a tactical nuclear weapon.
Although the Elevators were designed with a structural weak-point at the base, the cables did not break away as intended. Instead, the massive structure rippled and broke 3,000 miles above the surface. As the counterweight at the far end dragged the station and it's 1,000+ inhabitants out into the vastness of space, the remaining cable snapped back into Earth's atmosphere. The kinetic force of the cable, as it struck down along the equator, was roughly equivalent to a series of nuclear bombs going off in rapid succession over the Arabian Sea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
2141
- Following a retaliatory nuclear strike at the US-controlled Elevator in Ecuador in which the structural weak-point functioned, The United States launches a full-scale intercontinental nuclear assault against Chinese and Russian targets. The United States believed that their superior stealth technology would allow the bombs to land before a return strike could be mounted, but within minutes, Mutually Assured Destruction failsafes across Asia signalled the end of the United States of America. Between the two waves of nuclear strikes and the unprecedentedly-massive cloud of debris kicked up by the fallen Space Elevator, no survivors on either side are able to assess the damage inflicted, and the Third World War comes to a sudden, violent end with no clear winner.
With all major governments having crumbled and much of the world irradiated, society collapsed. Global warming due to radiation caused much of the polar ice caps to melt, reshaping the world as we knew it and ravaging what was left with increasingly severe weather. The older generation, those who had seen the birth of Wolbachia, began to die off, and with them died the millennia-old hierarchy of the sexes. Gender population steadied, with males now only making up approximately 5.75% of the world. The vacuum of power and lack of a government-backed monetary system reduced most of world to a barter system.
The most valuable stocks of usable material, technology, and real estate were in the hands of corporations. A medical supply company with access to a full warehouse, a communications company with access to satellites; these were the new Captains of Industry. Access to these vital resources was ruthlessly controlled, demanding total obedience from any wandering souls in need. As time passed, these "company towns", built strategically away from the rich military targets that had been sure to be bombed, grew and grew. By 2150, domes were being erected to protect from the intense radiation and erratic weather patterns brought on by global warming. Shelter and food underneath those domes came at the price of forced labor. By 2160, most of these "company towns" had either completed their dome, or had been abandoned to merge corporate resources with neighbors who lacked what they had to offer but had completed their dome. By 2170, the average worker's quality of life had risen to something approximating pre-war levels, but at the cost of almost all civil liberties.
2175
- The Russian Republic forms in what was once Eastern Europe, as thousands of miles of land on either side of the Ural Mountains was rendered uninhabitable. The RR largely forms in response to and in opposition of the increasing, albeit localized, power of corporations within America. This new Russia is
also
heavily communist, with the government taking over all forms of production and distribution, outlawing capitalism of any form.
2179
- The hubs of civilization in America have begun to form into massive cities dubbed "Mega-cities". These Mega-cities create their own governments with major corporations acting as controlling councils. Non-compete clauses set up each corporation as it's own monopoly within a given city. Only the employees of these corporations are considered full citizens, despite every city gathering a vast number of 'huddled masses' that eke out a life in the lowest parts of these dizzying metropoli.
2181
- In response to the increasing influence of the RR, the American Mega-cities band together to form Conglomerated City-States of America.
2192
- Antigravity technology developed by the CCSA. Although it has nearly limitless applications, the developing corporation restricts it's availability almost completely for fear of it falling into Russian hands. In addition to that, the equipment required to power antigrav scales poorly with the antigrav strength. Beyond small prototypes, it's only application with current generation technology is allowing objects in high atmosphere to resist the Earth's gravity well, allowing for the first space elevator located away from the equator.
2195
- The first extraplanetary capture of an asteroid. The mission to begin this had been launched 70 years earlier. Although communication with NASA failed in 2145, the crewless craft continued to pursue it's purpose. The Asteroid itself, 887 Alinda, was towed into Earth's orbit opposite the Moon. It was never visible from the surface of the Earth.
2198
- The drone towing 887 Alinda was hacked and taken over. A crew of robotic workers was flown up onto the asteroid. Construction began as the asteroid was hollowed out for the material needed to build first the antigrav generators, and then the Space Elevator itself.
