Post by Storyteller on May 30, 2015 14:43:33 GMT -5
The World of Tomorrow
The year 2035 might be startlingly different and amazingly similar to the world of today. This guide will provide a broad overview of the obvious changes that can be seen and experienced all through Union City.
Money, in all of it's liquid forms, has become 'credits' a credit is worth approximately three american dollars. Each person has an account tied to their ID and money is deposited and withdrawn from that account directly from their Secure Credit Card "SCC" Card.
This system requires that most transactions are done digitally. There are still forms of 'hard' money that people today would recognize as currency. These come in the form of Credsticks. They are essentially sealed USB memory cards that are encased in a hard plastic that have a predetermined amount of Credits digitally stored on them. When someone wishes to cash in a credstick, they must crack the plastic shell, which also acts as a security feature. People who are getting paid for work won't ever accept a cracked credstick, because until someone slots the Credstick into their SCC card, there is no way to tell if the stick has any currency currently on it. The Credstick's entire amount of credits is transferred to the SCC card at the time of slotting, they are simple devices and cannot be reused or have their total value of credits divided up to different devices. Those kind of transactions have to be done from the SCC card. Business often use these to pay their employee's to keep as much digital currency off of the net and more secure. Credsticks can also be encrypted so that only people with the proper protocol's can access the funds on the stick.
The field of Robotics and programming has exploded, thanks in part to the Drozonan war. New efforts in creating a sizable work force necessitated the building of the first Virtual Intelligence machines. These 'mechs' initially were programmed and built solely for the purpose of construction. Loaded with all of the code that would be necessary for them to carry out their programmed function by lifting heavy loads, welding and riveting beams, and following the instructions of their supervisors. Of course, in pure humanistic fashion, what was originally thought of was reevaluated and this lead to the UCPD issued mech's. These policing drones were programmed with the laws, regulations, and ordinances of the entire city. They are equipped with a completely nonlethal load of armaments, including stun blasters and flash bang grenades. They act as patrol units, and reinforcements to the human element. At first the appeal of these robotic police could not be denied. A police enforcement officer who cannot be bribed or intimidated. A police officer who did not uphold the 'spirit' of the law and ensured that every infraction was dealt with to the extent of the law. And if a UCPD drone was destroyed, there didn't need to be a funeral, no weeping mother, or left behind wife and children. It was thought for a time that the drones would entirely replace the UCPD. This effort was nearly immediately terminated when the general population realized how limited a VI police officer actually was. The mechs followed the letter of the law, no more, no less. For example, if the drones encountered someone carrying a weapon, the drone would completely ignore that individual, if the law stated that people are allowed to carry firearms in that neighborhood. Many of these slips indicate that the human element must remain in the field and the drones must act in a support and supplementary fashion. Another problem the drones face, is that while they themselves are not corruptible, bribe able, or otherwise subject to mortal temptation, the people who program them are. This became quite apparent when a Hero in Rorke's row scanned the memory of a destroyed drone, and located several gang members addresses, because the drone had been programmed not to patrol those streets.
What would the future be without Flying cars? Well, the future had them. Free reign to pilot the skies and travel unbound by roadways. Gone were the day of traffic jams and using the 'stuck in traffic' excuse for being late for work. And it lasted all of fourteen days. After the release of the flying car, nearly two thousand accidents occurred in the first week. All of them at high elevations, and at high speeds. Furthermore each of those traffic accidents involved some form of damage to real estate, as the crashing vehicles had to come down somewhere, and the explosions were very often close to high rise office or apartment complexes. With this in mind, flying cars were replaced with the more practical hover car. Cars are able to travel approximately twenty feet off of the ground, and no more. Drivers who have passed a ACDL (Advanced Certified Drviers Licence) Test, as well as members of the UCPD are permitted to fly higher then that.
Another advancement in the year 2035 is the invention of gene splicing and gene surgery. People could augment their personal appearance and traits with Animal Traits like a fox tail or cat eyes. Some individuals go to extreme with these surgeries to become as feral as possible. Gang members who opt for Gene surgery are particularity frightening, since they choose surgery options that make them appear beastly, and give them very enhanced abilities. Some individuals who underwent excessive gene surgery become unrecognizable as human.
In addition to the Gene Surgery that can be sought after to alter or enhance a person's abilities, cyber surgery can also be found readily available. If someone is injured and suffers from a lost limb, or bad hearing or eyesight, an individual merely goes to a Cyber Surgeon, to have the faulty limb replaced with a mechanical one. Limbs in this sense can also mean eyes and ears. More advanced surgery can be bought as well, giving the mechanical prosthetic's on board weaponry, or access to wireless networking. Gang members who opt for Cyber Surgery are particularity frightening. Surgeries can be preformed to grant individuals huge levels of toughness from things like armor plates, weapons attached to their prosthetic's.
