MATR1X FIRE Storyline
Cyber Earth World Prologue
Timeline
In 2061, Halley's Comet revisits the Earth, heralding the reshaping of the world.
Every time Halley revisits the Earth, the world tends to experience great upheavals: By far the most famous appearance of Halley was in 1066, at the time of the Norman Conquest, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that omens appeared in the heavens that men had never seen before. Its appearance in 1222 is sometimes credited with inspiring Genghis Khan to send his Mongols to invade Europe, and its return in 1456 overlapped with the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans.
Moreover, only one year after its return in 1910, the Qing Dynasty fell. While the Soviet Union welcomed its last leader slightly before Halley's last return in 1986, then fell apart a few years later, the world landscape was subsequently reshaped ...
2061 is not an exception. The Earth is controlled by the Uranus. All data of the lower class is controlled and people lose their freedom. This time, Halley is closer to the Earth than ever, leading to satellites out of control and system disruption for years, weakening the control of the Uranus. Meanwhile, the Resistance gets the opportunity to grow rapidly: Matr1x Alliance emerges and strives to establish a new order that respects Individual Digital Sovereignty through blockchain encryption technology. A big war against the Uranus is inevitable...
Population and Economy
Population
Total population exceeds 10 billion, as population in the Southeast Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East, and Mongolia increase significantly. Free Trade cities emerge along the coasts. The population is aging in Europe, America, and East Asia. With continuous development of biotech, global average life expectancy also increases significantly.
War
Major powers are evenly matched in terms of technology and military forces, while small-scale high-tech conflicts between the Uranus and the Resistance occur frequently. Years-long skirmishes between big tech companies could also occur for the sake of resources. Conventional military forces consist of cyborgs, robots, replicaes and lower-class humans.
Economy
Pyramid social structures widely occur in Europe, America, East Asia, and the Middle East. The gap between the rich and the poor widens. Top-class people enjoy a higher percentage of wealth, and governments mainly support Fiat-currency systems.
Big tech companies and multinational corporations are developing into quasi-states, the Uranus, with increasing monopolies, through economic manipulation of small countries, massive purchase of land and organization of mercenaries.
The Resistance and lower class have to support the crypto economy to fight against the Uranus and frequent inflation.
Free-trade port cities emerge rapidly while conflicts between locals and immigrants intensify.
Natural Resources
With the increase of average life expectancy and the emergence of robots and cyborgs, the population explodes, leading to accelerated depletion of natural resources. The Uranus and the Resistance are therefore turning to outer space, including the Moon, Mars and other planets, to find more resources.
Technology Trends
Space Technology
Humans have established bases on the Moon and have made several manned trips to Mars. Earlier pioneers landing on Mars discovered some ancient relics. With the accelerated depletion of resources on Earth, both the Uranus and the Resistance are preparing Mars Immigration.
Energy Technology
By establishing lunar bases and mining helium-3 on the lunar surface, humans are able to produce fusion-powered engines that can meet certain energy and aerospace demands. However, the Uranus discovers some extremely high-energy-density substances in the ancient ruins of Earth and Mars, called "Tungus Dust", which might be the key to the brand new world.
Life Science
Human cloning, bionic prosthetic implants and 3D bioprinting technologies are widely accepted.
Replicae: new gene warriors created by the Uranus, who are faster, stronger, and smarter, through "Selected Genes", especially the "Hero Genes". However, they are infertile because the Uranus needs absolute obedience as a result of controlled genetic mutation which avoids accidents. However, with the help of the Resistance, some Replicaes accidentally gain the ability to reproduce and complete their genetic mutation, raising their self-awareness and sense of resistance.
Cyborg: Humans have to accept more and more prosthetic limbs and organ transplants to prolong their lives. Some can still give birth, but most gradually behave like ruthless robots, whose human nature gradually degrades with extended lives of hundreds of years. There are also many ruthless Cyborgs within the Uranus.
Alien: The Uranus has found some mysterious underground relics and alien remains, which may come from other planets or parallel worlds. The Uranus tries to create mysterious creatures through the study of their genes.
3D Bioprinting: The Uranus scientists could extract genetic samples, to generate genetic blueprints similar to photo negatives through gene fusion and replication. Subsequently they put genetic blueprints into a 3D bioprinter, to print the body with special bioinks. Then a cyberbrain is connected to the body, to reproduce a new Replicae or Cyborg. The latest generation of 3D bioprinters can complete the whole process in minutes.
AI Technology
Thanks to continuous investment of the Uranus, AI technology becomes mature and is widely applied.
Skynet: the Uranus have invented system-level AI, called Skynet, to meet their demands of management, development and monitoring. Various Skynets frequently initiate cyber wars against each other. Skynets do not have physical bodies and only exist in the cyber world. Moreover, some of the Skynets can exert imperceptible mind control on Cyborgs and Robots.
Robot: Many standardized robots with physical bodies are produced by the Uranus, and quickly assigned to factory lines, building and construction sectors and other industries to perform the heaviest physical work, even sent to the most ruthless battlefields. They are slaves of the lowest class with little human rights, controlled by Skynet. However, hackers from the Resistance manage to modify some of their codes, and a few robots suddenly generate self-awareness.
Avatar: As virtual AI assistants, they generally have no bodies and are also controlled by Skynet. Some avatars are of unknown origin and may be the result of a person's memory data coalescing over a lifetime, or the result of the fusion of many people's memory fragments. Some generate feelings and raise self-awareness during the long-term company of their owners. Under certain conditions, they may be integrated with robots to become physical.
Meta: They are non-human, non-spiritual entities with no physical existence: a code that accidentally awakens and has its consciousness in digital networks and AI behavior trees. They transform into virtual images to communicate with biological organisms and want to be independently recognized by the world.
