DISCLAIMER: Due to the widespread
corruption of the Net and the major loss of stored data during the four Corporate Wars,
most of the information in this article should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Fourth Corporate War ended the world as we knew it, leading to civil
upheaval, the collapse of nations, megacorporations, and the global economy.
Be aware that data retrieved from the Old Net might be significantly corrupted
and some facts cannot be consistently corroborated from multiple so
urces.
We present this information in the hope of shedding some light on those events. Have
a good time and hail to the Free Net, friends! THE COLLAPSE OF THE OLD USA was one of the
major world events of the twenty-first century. Even if the modern United States or the New United
States, as they are called today-were to reunite with the Free States, it'd still be a totally
different country than it was fifty years ago. We could see signs of the
collapse years before it occurred. The first t
hree Corporate Wars,
fought between the years 1990 and 2016, strengthened the position of the megacorporations,
giving them more authority than most world governments
and the USA was no exception. Affiliations between politicians and corporations
ceased to be regarded as conflicts of interest. Rather, they were treated as advantageous
in the worlds of big business and politics. As the companies gained unfettered access to the
world's natural resources, environmental collapse and climate change
were inevitable.
Acid rain and dust storms caused by extreme deforestation soon became
the Americas' biggest problems. Those natural disasters were
accompanied by political ones. Thermonuclear war in the Middle
East turned that part of the world into a radioactive wasteland,
causing a global oil crisis. The US government tried to save itself by covertly manipulating European
and American stock markets, but this shortsighted strategy backfired
when that news was leaked to the public. Worldwi
de financial meltdown shook the economies
of almost every country on the globe, allowing corporations to gain even more power.
Meanwhile in the USA, a coup launched by the Gang of Four-a coalition of government
agencies-effectively ended federal democracy. Many states seceded, declaring
themselves "free states." That time also marked the emergence of Nomads
a new American social class of migrants in search of water, jobs, and safety
from political turmoil. Many cities and towns were deserted. M
ost sociologists agreed that the
Collapse was the worst catastrophe of the twenty-first century.
And then came the Fourth Corporate War. THE FOURTH CORPORATE WAR THE FOURTH CORPORATE WAR BEGAN AS A RACE
between two rival aquatech agencies. In late 2021, two oceanic
exploitation corpo rations, CINO (Corporation Internationale
Nauticale et Océanique) and OTEC (Ocean Technology and Energy Corp) vied for control over the
remains of a third corpo, IHA (Internationale Handelsmarine
Aktiengesellsch
aft). The rivalry was bitter, and hostilities
escalated rapidly after a brutal fiscal struggle. OTEC gained the upper hand by hiring
Militech to protect their security interests. CINO responded in kind and
contracted with Arasaka. Thus the Fourth Corporate War began,
otherwise known as the Ocean War. As is always the case in early
stages of corporate conflict, the first attacks were carried out discreetly some midlevel corporate
officials were assassinated, and some dirty information
was stol
en and revealed. Mercenary netrunners were hired by both sides, and they made dozens of attacks
on data caches and stock holdings, which wrought chaos on the global economy.
Those events forced NetWatch to place a temporary communication embargo
on Arasaka and Militech, but the security firms were
just getting warmed up. By the time Eurobank had successfully mediated
a truce between CINO and OTEC, the real conflict had transitioned to Militech and Arasaka.
By early 2022 a new struggle between
the security giants had begun,
known today as the Shadow War. This marked the second stage of the
fourth global Corporate War Conflict during the Shadow War phase
was more overt and brutal. Mercs and edgerunners flocked to the banners
of both security corporations, executing covert ops and raids on
military and research facilities. Despite the visceral nature of the conflict,
the deadliest battle actually occurred on the Net when corporate and mercenary netrunners
released a new genera tion of
devastating viral programs upon each other.
Some of this code continued to operate long after the death of its creators, leaving vast areas of
the Net irreparably dark and dangerous. By June of 2022, Militech and Arasaka
decided that niceties and subtlety were altogether no longer necessary, and the
conflict reached the third stage, called the Hot War.
Fighting between the two military corporations escalated to full-scale war.
Cities like Rio de Janeiro were literally reduced to rubble, their
p
opulations killed or made refugees. Global trade was paralyzed by
military action and market collapse. International trade routes were hit hard,
and piracy raged free and unchecked. As the flames of physical conflict burned bright, NetWatch struggled to protect the Net.
Weakened by the destruction of global servers and databanks and ravaged by
thousands of malicious viruses and demon class programs, the
Net as we knew it slowly died. Finally, the countries of the
world became weary of corpora
te conflict. Some governments openly blamed Militech
and Arasaka for the situation and withdrew their support for corporations, nationalizing their
weakened holdings in those countries. The Free State of Southern California seized
the Los Angeles headquarters of both companies. Texas and some European
countries soon followed suit. Arasaka Towers in Night City were the last of
Arasaka's American headquarters to fall, wiped out by a tactical nuclear weapon detonated
by a group of unidentified mer
cenaries. Some sources implicated the
so-called "Atlantis Group" including such modern legends
as Rogue, Morgan Blackhand, and Johnny Silverhand-but there wasn't enough
evidence to confirm the group's involvement. Morgan and Johnny were never seen again after
the Arasaka Towers incident, and Rogue has repeatedly
denied her participation in the operation. Under pressure from the Japanese government,
Arasaka finally conceded defeat at the end of 2023.
Militech emerged victorious, but was nearly
as crippled as their rival. POST WAR (2024 - 2035) THE WORLD TOOK MORE THAN A DECADE
to recover from globalwar, and the first few years were far from peaceful.
Riot and rebellion burned in every corner of the globe.
South America was still in political turmoil, and countries in Europe and Asia attempted to
revive global trade by regulating the surviving corporations in order to reestablish government
control after years of corporate hegemony. In the United States, President Elizabeth Kress
decla
red martial law in the parts of the country that remained under executive control.
Arasaka was consequently held responsible for the detonation of the nuke that had destroyed
the center of Night City, but rumors persisted that the Militech corporation
had funded the mysterious strike team and supplied them
with the portable nuclear device. Society demanded an explanation,
and President Kress exploited that sentiment to keep Militech on a short leash.
Although there was no hard evidence to impl
icate Militech,
the corporation's assets were nationalized by the US government and used
to strengthen federal rule. Some prominent and exonerated
Militech officials were offered lucrative positions in the
re-formed Department of Defense. This period marked the stagnation
of technological development. Corporations were struggling
to survive, and the governments both federal and local-focused
on internal affairs, suppressing civil unrest and
rebuilding their countries. Nomads became the li
feblood of the tech trade, scrounging through battlefields
and abandoned facilities, and smuggling restricted goods
in their heavily armed convoys. Despite her assurances, President Kress showed little interest in helping the
devastated Night City recover. In fact, allowing the crippled city to struggle
was the perfect way to bring the Free State of Northern California to heel.
Nevertheless, the stubborn residents of Night City refused to concede, and the arduous
process of rebuilding began.
Meanwhile, after years of
futile attempts to reclaim the Old Net from a rogue intelligent
system and self-aware combat programs, Net Watch established the so-called "Blackwall"
a virtual barrier between human and IS-controlled regions of the Old Net.
Given the magnitude of the operation, there may be some truth to the
conspiracy theories that NetWatch was forced to strike
a deal with the IS in order to build Blackwall. REUNIFICATION (2035-2069) THE NEXT THIRTY-FIVE YEARS were a slow return to
normality for the nations and
corporations of the world. Cities slowly began to rebuild as
trade routes were reestablished. Damaged infrastructure was repaired
and technology began to regain ubiquity. In the USA, many cities that were abandoned
during the Collapse of 1990-2016 were rebuilt and repopulated with government and corporate aid.
Corporations saw this as an opportunity to fix the negative public opinion
they'd earned after the war, and also to reestablish
influence over the culture
. Abandoned by President Kress and
the United States government, Night City was rebuilt by its citizens with
the aid of Nomads and smaller corporations. At the time, there was rampant speculation that
the government had made a scapegoat of Arasaka for the nuclear detonation, and this galvanized
corporations' tendencies toward sovereignty. It was the common opinion that citizens would
prefer to see the return of the Asian security giant than submit themselves to federal rule.
Conversely, the sit
uation in Europe did not go as well for the old megacorporations.
The established players, weakened by war, were contested by new upstarts that were backed
and controlled by European national governments. In Asia, the humiliated Arasaka faced
defeat with their head held high. The corporation spent a significant portion
of their assets on war reparations, but a few profitable contracts allowed
them to quickly regain their position as a leader in the weapon
manufacturing and security industries.
The setback still had lasting consequences,
as Saburo Arasaka reportedly faced internal opposition and a secret civil war began
to brew within the company's ranks. New individual, isolated Net networks
began to emerge mostly regional intranets. The few connections between them were carefully
controlled and closely supervised by Net Watch, but their authority was significantly
limited in Europe and Oceania. The new Net was less available
to public users and harder for netrunners to penetrate, a
s the
most important data was sequestered. UNIFICATION WAR/METAL WARS 2069-2070 AT END 2069, recently elected
president Rosalind Myers presented a unification
program to extend federal rule over the rogue Free States under
the pretense of strengthening the nation. Most of the independent American territories
opposed unification. Conflict was inevitable. The federal government of New United States
backed by nationalized Militech forces-declared war
on the loosely allied separatist states: Colo
rado, Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona,
Nevada, and Northern California. Washington, Oregon,
Idaho managed to remain neutral in the conflict at the price of some concessions
to the federal government. Although the Free States were secretly supported
by the Arasaka Corporation with weapons "security advisers." They were pressed hard by
NUSA forces, who were assisted by states that supported federal intervention.
This conflict, fought with the most cutting-edge military technology, became
known
as the Metal Wars. Night City avoided the fighting, but only barely. Northern and Southern California wound up on
opposite sides of the war, with the South allying with the United States government,
the North attempting to remain independent from federal rule,and the
people Night City holding their breath as they awaited
invasion by federal troops. In early 2070, an NUS Army
division advanced to the outskirts of the city, but invasion was prevented thanks to the quick actions
of councilman
Lucius Rhyne. Capitalizing on contacts made during a decade
service on city council, Rhyne beseeched long-shunned
Arasaka Corporation for protection. Within days, an Arasaka supercarrier arrived in Coronado Bay.
Mere hours later, NUS Army had withdrawn. Following Arasaka's open intervention, the
Treaty of Unification was finally signed by New United States and the Free States coalition,
ending the Unification War. Free States retained their autonomy,
but agreed to participate in new federal gove
rnment
and to cease hostilities among themselves. President Myers agreed to this solution, fearing Arasaka's increasing involvement
could result in escalating a conflict that the NUSA could not afford.
The Peace treaty-though unsatisfactory to all parties-was preferable to continuing
the war and risking another global crisis. In the aftermath of the war,
Night City was rededicated as an international free city,
independent from the laws and governance of the Free
State of Northern California
and the New United States. Night City paid for this liberty with the further
increase of megacorporate influence, as the corpos pumped money into the
revitalization of the city to establish a foothold on
the West Coast of the NUSA. The symbolic capstone of these
events took place in 2070, when Night City allowed Arasaka to build their
new American headquarters downtown on the site where
their previous building was destroyed in 2023. Night City prospered again, though that
prosperity was not e
njoyed by all. MODERN THREATS THE STABILIZATION OF EUROPE AND ASIA at the end of the Fourth Corporate War
and the Unification War didn't suddenly turn the world into a happy place
full of unicorns and glitter. Although the technological recession between
the 2020s and the 2040s lowered global pollution levels,
humanity still faces some serious threats. By now climate change is the greatest
and the most unpredictable. Hurricanes and tornadoes of enormous scale
and intensity have decimated populat
ions around the world.
Haiti was officially abandoned in 2062 after a series of vicious storms
ravaged the island nation. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians died
during the event and the exodus it caused, and the devas tation of the Caribbean Islands was later deemed to be one of the worst natural
disasters of the late twenty-first century. Desertification and drought
are even more dangerous, threat ening the entire
population of South America as well as regions in North
America, Europe, Afri
ca, Asia, and Australia. Clear
water is becoming scarce, and the situation hasn't
improved in the last few years. On the other hand, flooding is also frequent. In the last ten years floods have
destroyed parts of LA and Night City. The Netherlands lost one-third of their territory,
but thanks to the newest dam-building technology, they avoided completely
submerging into the North Sea. The Maldives were not so fortu nate: the archipelago sank entirely
about twenty years ago. These grim circum
stances led to significant soil
depletion causing famine that took hundreds of thousands of lives in Asia and Africa.
It was only by introducing hydroponic cultivation and vertical city farms that some urban
regions avoided total extinction. Development of cybertechnologies introduced
the problem of cyberpsychosis. Sufferers emotionally isolate themselves
from other people until human interaction eventually becomes emotionally aggravating.
That aggravation grows into contempt, and eventually vio
lence.
Although this mental illness has been recognized for half a century, and many
studies suggest that it's connected to the quantity of an individual's cyberaugmentations,
we still aren't sure what causes some individuals to be more susceptible to the
illness than others.. Nevertheless, cyberpsychosis remains a major health concern in
our technologically dependent world. To cap this list of woes,
we have a dangerous degree of social stratification, an enormous crime rate,
and migratory un
rest in almost every part of the world-but most of you are
probably already aware of that. You face it every day. Things
are far from being okay, and if we want to survive as a species,
we need to seriously reevaluate our value system. The question is: is it too late for that?
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