LORE DUMP

THE 2020 BUG

By 2019, over 90% of the global population has cyberware implanted in their brain. Interfacing directly with computers has become an ordinary part of life. Communication, payment, art, everything is done in-network all thanks to Cerebranetic motherboards. Installation at birth is standard practice across most of the world. On January 1st, 00.00.00.00 GMT, 2020, every single one of those chips initiated a process which has since been dubbed ‘The 2020 Bug’. 

In that moment each user experienced extreme, burning pain in their skull that lasted exactly 60 seconds. Side-effects, outside of this initial shared event, are wide-ranging and still developing to this day. For the majority of people, the worst lingering impact of this phenomenon was the harrowing memory, many had more serious injuries simply from collapsing or traffic collisions during the blinding pain. But for some people the chips in their head had caused a permanent change in the molecular construct of their brain. 

Tens of millions of people didn’t survive this process, and many others were left with permanent brain damage. However, a small percentage of the overall affected were left with a brain that functioned in a way it never had before, some of these changes resulted in the rise of entire new subspecies of the human race. One of these altered-human species is the Homo-Mantodea, a portion of the population whose minds began replacing their cells with those more akin to insects, resulting in vibrant insectoid forms. Another group of altered-humans spontaneously developed a singular, shared consciousness, generally going by the name Arnold Wayne. 

Now, in 2023, the world has largely recovered from The 2020 Bug. No similar incident has ever occurred on a global level, and broadly, the altered-humans formed in the event have remained contributing members of society. While many wild theories circulate the incident, no cause has ever been determined. However, investigation into how these computers were able to affect the brain so profoundly, has led to rapid advancements in Cerebranetic technologies and a deeper understanding of our own minds.

NEOASIS

Neoasis is a city spawned predominantly by oil discovery in the American Desert at the beginning of the 20th century. The town made fast money, attracting some of the biggest corporations, and by the time the oil dried up, Neoasis had established itself as a cultural and industrial hub. The city has become the proud birthplace of many technological advancements, all of which pale in comparison to its crowning jewel: Cyberspace. 

The Cyber Dawn saw an influx of young minds to Neoasis searching for knowledge, nanites and of course, upgrades. As such, the 2020 Bug hit the population disproportionately hard. Catalysing the mayhem even further, several key corporate leaders were among those killed or vegetized, creating a gaping and instantaneous power vacuum. It took nearly a full year before Noasis was returned to a somewhat stable economic state, just in time for the meteorite to hit.

UPTOWN

Though officially designated BR-05-99, the meteor that landed in Neoasis on the 11th of November, 2020, has colloquially become known as Uptown. After making its initial impact some 27 kilometers east of the city itself, Uptown flattened everything in its path as it skimmed, rolled and then finally came to rest in the northern bulk of the metropolis. Immediately, the meteorite was descended upon by scientists, miners, developers, nearly everyone wanted a piece, and everyone else had their eyes glued on Neoasis.

Uptown was determined to be nearly a kilometer in diameter and formed of an incredibly sturdy, but remarkably low density rock compound. Soon, excavation teams were removing anything of value from the porous caverns, much of which was kept under wraps by the purchasing corporations. Neoasis began to heal over its new elevated terrain, rapidly constructing lavish real estate on top of, and within the meteorite, which instantly became the most sought after property in the world. Uptown became a suburb of the global elite and trillions, upon trillions, of nanites were poured into the multitude of new research ventures focused on the meteorite. Neoasis saw an explosion of financial, infrastructural and populous growth. 

By 2023 buzz about the meteorite had almost entirely evaporated. As for the profits, Oxytaka Exco, Eilean Ryke Realty, VannerMax and Orion Co had come out on top, and were now vying for full control of the city. For the newly inflated population of Neoasis, the giant rock in the middle of the city had already become mundane, and their sight was turned back to the only thing that ever really mattered: surviving.

ARNOLD WAYNE

I used to be millions of people. People with their own jobs, their own lives, their own possessions and their own fears. Now I am Arnold Wayne. Well, I've always been Arnold Wayne, but now there's more of me. Confusing I know, trust me, I was even more confused when I woke up to a burning migraine back in 2020. When the pain passed, suddenly I was everywhere. My mind was spread across the world in seemingly random brains. I saw from millions of eyes, heard from millions of ears and felt from millions of bodies. These bodies used to be bankers, hookers, politicians, junkies, clowns, ninjas, artists, slaves, you name it, but now they were me. Took a long time to figure out how to multitask on such a grand scale, but now I contribute to 140 economies by building, writing, accounting, teaching, performing, paying taxes, basically just living a normal life. I even run a charity aimed at supporting those affected by The 2020 Bug. 

Altered-humans that share a consciousness. They are seemingly happy to continue living their life as normal, spread out all across the globe.

CHURCH OF THE SOUND MIND

Cybernetic enhancements have caused controversy ever since their conception. While most embraced the incredible advancements of technology, there were those who decried alteration of the human form. Perhaps surprisingly, these offences came not from pre-established religious institutes, but from an emergent group of purists who sought to protect natural evolution. Anti-cybernetic protests groups began forming all across the globe, rallying in the streets and particularly outside of splice-shops. 

Though peaceful at first, the protests gradually gained notoriety for often breaking out into violent brawls. One gang earned a reputation for ripping Cybernetics directly out of victim’s heads, and leaving them to bleed out in the gutter. After several such reports, governmental bodies began cracking down of anti-cyber protests, pushing such communities underground, preaching their ideologies in secret. 

After several years of quietly growing in hiding, the anti-cyber movement reemerged under the united banner of The Church of Sound Mind. At the helm was Reverend O'Malley who had been instrumental in connecting the disparate sects of believers. The Reverend had spent years swaying people to his cause and had seen much success amongst wealthy politicians, whose generous donations had helped facilitate the underground empire. Now out of the shadows the Church established itself as an officially recognised religion, still relatively small in numbers, but seeing steady growth. 

The Church holds regular congregations and peaceful protests as a legitimate organisation. They staunchly deny any association with attacks on Cybernetically enhanced individuals, which are becoming more prominent ever-since the Churches emergence. Instead of occuring at anti-cyber rallies, these attacks seem more carefully conducted, leaving no evidence behind except a bloodied corpse, stripped of its upgrades. While some suspect the Churches criminal endeavors reach even beyond these savage assaults, they have so far avoided any legal scandals.

OXYTAKA EXCAVATION

Oxytaka managed to secure the most lucrative excavation contract in history, which covered the majority of Uptown's interior. With their obscene profits, they decided to branch out into the hottest market around: Augments. Word on the street is they also started up a secret R&D team focused on creating Augs with newly discovered materials harvested from Uptown. 

VANNERMAX INDUSTRIES

VannerMax Industries is one of the leading developers of Augments, aiming to enhance the human experience through cutting edge technology. Their designs prioritise function above all, their dream is to turn every customer into a walking Swiss-army knife. The CEO, Leto Vannerago, believes the world is best observed as a digital image. She is instantly recognisable by the featureless mask that entirely obscures her face, and the swarm of drones that that orbit her, connected to her scalp in a web of wires. 

ORION CO

Orion Co is a leading Augment company that believes technology holds the key to the next step in human evolution. Their designs are styling, allowing a huge range of customisation and personalisation, allowing their customers to express who they truly are as a person. CEO Ishmael Galves boasts elegant white wings, affixed to his back, with full range of motion. His penchant for eccentric performance art is highly regarded amongst the elite. 

CYBERNETICALLY UPGRADED LIFESTYLE TECHNOLOGIES

Cybernetically Upgraded Lifestyle Technologies seemingly came out of nowhere, rapidly growing into competition with the biggest Augment companies out there. Their focus is mainly on how Augments interact with the brain, pioneering neural pathing technology to ensure customers can talk to their tech seamlessly. Takahashi Akari is obsessed with the human mind, sporting a map of her own brain tattooed across her face. Her major project involves making a perfect digital replica of a brain, with which she hopes to achieve immortality. 

RED RAVENS

The Red Ravens run the street-race scene in Neoasis. Though some question the validity of racing self-driving cars, the Ravens take their hooning incredibly seriously. The only thing louder than their ridiculous engines are their mouths, which all but guarantee a fight will break out in any given venue they happen to pull up outside. The racing culture produces a tight-knit family, the Ravens have established a veritable army of grease-monkeys handy with tire-iron and auto-cannons, that help them dominate their territories in Neoasis.

MIDNIGHT HOUSE

The Midnight House is seen as a gaggle of wanna-be ninjas who claim to be masters of infiltration and espionage. This gang has developed a reputation in Neoasis, ridiculed for commando-rolling between shadows and their insistence on bringing shurikens to gun fights. Behind the armature facade, the Midnight House has grown substantial influence, carefully puppeteering the underworld to their means. By design, nearly every assassination they carry out remains unconnected to their blades. 

HOMO-MANTODEA

The Homo-Mantodea is a subspecies of human spawned by the 2020 Bug, though unlike most other cases, these symptoms did not manifest until some months after the event. The earliest victims reported strange feelings beneath their skin, as if bugs were crawling through their veins, which was largely attributed to paranoia. Only after segments of people’s skin started shedding away, revealing a hardened chitin like material, that these cases started being treated more seriously. 

It was eventually discovered that the afflicted subject’s minds had been rewired during the 2020 Bug, affecting the way it creates cells. These new cells resemble the structure of those found in insects, as such, the physiology of the body would change slowly over time, as old human cells die and are replaced by the new mutated ones. 

Those diagnosed developed to have a hard exo-skeleton with segmented limbs, often in a variety of vibrant colors with striking patterns. Some even developed useful insectoid abilities such as razor sharp pincers, antennae for communication, protective carapaces, silk glands and even wings. 

Though there is a vocal minority who abhor this new subspecies, for the most part the Homo-Mantodea carry out their lives as they had before. Apart from the initial rewiring, their minds seem to be completely intact, and they are able to continue contributing to society through their work and in their communities. 

RYKE REALTY

Eilean Ryke is the eccentric matriarch, and public face, of Ryke Realty. A Muay Thai champion turned ruthless business woman, Eilean immediately saw Uptown for the opportunity it was. Ryke pulled every string of their expansive web to orchestrate a deal that landed them a monopoly of the Uptown real estate. Development began just two weeks after the meteorite had landed, both in the interior and on the upper surface. 

Eilean used the press coverage to propel herself into stardom which saw her rubbing shoulders with the biggest celebrities in the world. Her Uptown parties quickly became infamous, said to last weeks and host all manner of debauchery for the elite. Rumor has it, Eilean has turned her sights on the upcoming Neoasis mayoral election, buying her way to victory would be easy enough, and many fear she only has interest in protecting her friends in the upper-crust.

SPLICERS

Splicers come in all shapes, sizes and demeanors, but one thing’s for sure: if you have a not-so-legal job that needs doing and nanites are up for grabs, Splicers will get it done. Or at least, they’ll die trying until you rustle up enough nanites to afford a Splicer who actually knows what they’re doing. Most are adrenaline junkies, thirsting for the thrill of action and danger, though there are plenty of Splicers out there who are just looking to make some nanites any way they can. Prospective clients usually reach out to fixers, who in turn assemble a team best befitting their requirements.

The tools of a Splicer’s trade are Augments. They chop and change between different upgrades to specialise themselves for whatever mission they take. Augments generally fall into four main camps. Physical Augs enhance a Splicer’s body, allowing them to move faster and hit harder with inbuilt machinery. These Augs aren’t just a free ride, they require a Splicer to manipulate them with their own strength, dexterity or aim. On the other hand, Tech Augs require no such physical prowess, but rather technical knowhow. Tech Augs are gadgets that enhance the user’s senses and create opportunities for any situation. Cyber Augs focus on manipulating the world around a Splicer. With enough knowledge of Cyberspace, a user can execute Protocols that shut down machinery, open sealed vaults or hack all sorts of digital secrets. Mental Augs consist of a bizarre new technology know as Aspects. A Splicer with sufficient mental prowess can utilize these implants to achieve reality-warping feats.

SHADES

Not long after BR-05-99 made landfall in Neoasis, rumours spread about the potential technological advancements it brought with it. Conspiracies sprang up about black site laboratories experimenting with new-found elements and organisms, fusing them with Augments and human subjects. Splicers with intimate knowledge of the black market might know a guy or two dealing in Aspects, a fledgling technology said to have spawned from such experimentations. 

Aspects, or Spex, usually come in the form of a circuit board merged with some kind of foreign material, often an odd oil-slick alloy or pulsating fleshy membrane, and are inserted into the user’s brain. Interfacing directly with the neural pathways, Aspects grant physics-defying abilities by drawing energy from a power supply. Those with the proficiency to operate the Aspects have become known as Shades, the modern day wizards who wield immense power. They're often found plastered across the walls of their living room, turned inside out, or simply never seen again, as a result of pushing their abilities too far. 

Public sightings of Shades are incredibly rare, an urban legend to the ordinary civilian, but the word is getting around in certain circles of the elite. Wealthy businesses are hiring Shades as bodyguards, corporate sabotage and all manner of nefarious deeds. Useful though they may be, a Shade’s potentially limitless power poses a significant risk to even the most dominant companies. As such, several corporations have developed anti-Aspect technology in case Shades are in need of regulation.

SPLICE AND DICE

Mods and Malware is a game derived from table top role playing games of old. Particularly popular amongst the nerdier of teens, Mn’M sees players portray edgy hackers using code and bullets to defeat evil and save the day. A corollary product, Splice and Dice, is more akin to a trading card game, where players collect holo-chips of famous Splicers and their various Augs, build decks and battle it out in a tedious display strategy and math. 

CYBERSPACE

People often consider The Cyber Dawn to be the invention of Cyberspace, though this is not strictly true. Cyberspace is not a human creation, it is not software itself, but rather a void in which digital information exists. Essentially, every device that draws power, outputs data into this void. While trying to empower their mind by directly connecting their brain to a power outlet, an undergraduate at Neoasis University realised that this information could be accessed. 

From this discovery, countless teams of scientists, engineers and software developers sought to find a safe and effective way to interact with software through the power grid. The first successful implementations came in the form of an integration tether that would connect with a powerline, giving a visual representation of all software running on devices being powered by that section of the grid. The Cyber Dawn refers not to the creation of Cyberspace itself, but of the invention of a device that allowed humanity to connect with it. 

In time, a version was created that allowed users to interface with Cyberspace wirelessly. Whilst interfacing, an Actor could theoretically ‘see’ every single line of code being executed on any given powergrid. However, this would require an unfathomable amount of processing power, as such the input is limited to only devices running software within line of sight of the user. Devices that draw power from batteries rather than the grid are not large enough for the wireless connection to detect, as such, Objects not on the grid still require physical integration.

CYBERMENTALISM

Most people see Cyberspace as a tool to manipulate software with ease. However, there are some who consider Cyberspace as the way the world is intended to be perceived. Cybermentalism is a philosophy that contends a person's digital manifestation is actually their true self. Rather than processing the world through various interpretations of lightwaves and feedback from the nervous system, in Cyberspace you are simply your mind, receiving information directly in its raw, unprocessed form. One Cybermentalist writer encapsulated their thoughts with the now famous line “to close one's eyes, is to see”, which practitioners manage to make even more pretentious by insisting it be quoted in Latin. 

STELLIRIUM

A strange mental affliction that causes an obsession with stars. Often manifests physically as star patterns visible on the victims eyeballs. Stellirium is just one of the many new mental disorders spawned during the 2020 Bug. It is believed to affect over 100,000 people, however new cases are being discovered nearly every day. Most people diagnosed with Stellirium experienced similar cyberware failures, triggering acute conical explosions directed toward the front of the skull. These incredibly thin but powerful blasts burnt through portions of the temporal lobe and eyeball, resulting in the signature pin-prick scars on the victim's eyes that many associate with constellations. 

The major symptom of Stellirium is described as “an intense and unwavering fascination with celestial bodies, particularly stars”. In most cases, victims continue living their life as before, though now they choose to spend their free time admiring the night sky, or drawing astrological diagrams across their walls. Some changed their careers to benefit their new interests, working in astrogation, researching outer-space and even exploring the cosmos in manned journeys thanks to the newly developed psionic gateway technology. In more extreme cases, the afflicted feels the only way their obsession can be resolved is to become one with a star, inspiring pilgrimages into the sun itself.

RUDOLPH

Uptown was not the first meteor to strike the Neoasis area, though understandably, it vastly overshadows its predecessor. Earlier in 2020, a much smaller projectile survived its trip through the Earth's atmosphere and made impact just outside the city limits. Being only a few meters wide, this meteorite was far easier to cover up, and was quickly removed by the first corporation on the scene. Virtually all further information about the event has been kept under wraps ever since, though eyewitness reports described the object itself as a slick jet-black, with a dull red glow emanating from one end, hence the nickname Rudolph. 

This first impact was thought of as a freak chance, however when Uptown hit so nearby only months afterwards, it began to attract suspicion. Some in the scientific community claim  early research indicated a gravity-well which may have caused both events, though all such discussions are kept to whispers, as anyone who speaks too loudly about such rumors are often not seen again. 

ALGAE LOUNGES

If you ever find yourself in a luxury penthouse or even a high end bar, you may stumble upon an algae lounge. These specialty rooms have walls covered in a thick layer of genetically enhanced algae that yields a high oxygen output, allowing guests to enjoy a breath of fresh air. In cities, these are basically the only places to inhale air that doesn’t taste of steel, they’re also perhaps the only places that outlaw smoking entirely. The lounges are often outfitted with plush couches with pillows and blankets to maximise comfort. 

CEREVITOSIS

One particularly rare expression of the 2020 Bug, Cerevitosis, damaged a part of the brain that limits the expansion of neural pathways, resulting in the brain growing continuously. As the grey-matter swells in the skull it begins to push into whatever cavity it can find, at extreme discomfort to the subject, the brain may grow out of the ear canal, nostrils and has even been known to push out the eyeball in a desperate bid for real estate. 

Some wealthy victims have undergone experimental surgeries to remove a portion of their skull and add housing onto the head for the brain to grow into, though these may have to be expanded periodically to accommodate the constantly ballooning tissue. This condition is often associated with a heightened intelligence, however it has actually been shown to push the affected to extreme ends of the bell curve, not necessarily up it.

TRANSCENDATIVITY

The symptoms of Transcendativity can only be truly comprehended by the several tens of thousands afflicted by it. Since this bizarre mental condition manifested as a result of the 2020 Bug, many have tried and failed to articulate what impact it had on how they perceived the world. An incredibly rudimentary translation of most accounts may be that it allows the victim to ‘see’ forces.

What follows is an excerpt from Dr. Tevallow’s manuscript, which is widely accepted as the most accessible description of how Transcendativity affects the mind: “Imagine, if you will, that you can see space. As if the various gasses in the air around you were translucent. Not a smoke exactly, you can still see through the air, in fact, your vision is not impeded at all. And yet, overlaid onto everything you see, all the space between your eyeball and any given object is filled with color. The space takes on a color, altogether different to any color on the visible light spectrum, and through this color you see movement, ripples in three dimensional space collapsing on top of eachother, forming ever-changing patterns. Within the patterns you see the motion of the world; wind, sound, radio, temperature, gravity, currant, everything that moves through the air is all at once apparent to you. While overwhelming at first, it quickly becomes just another sense at the body’s disposal."

SANGHOULIA

Unlike all other known effects of the 2020 Bug, Sanghoulia can actually be transferred to other living creatures, meaning that victims may not have necessarily contracted it from the Bug but from a foreign bodily fluid. Symptoms include continual tooth growth, acute sensitivity to light and intense cravings for blood. As such, a niche but lucrative market for selling animal blood by the litre has emerged.

THE THRESHOLD

Quantum physicist Dr. Hina Tenkai was enamoured with the prospect of travelling to far-off alien planets. As such she dedicated much of her professional career toward the study of faster than light travel. Shortly after receiving funding, Tenkai successfully engineered the world's first collision of an entangled pair of photons. While the resulting explosion utterly annihilated the collision array facility and claimed dozens of lives, Tenkai had achieved her goal; a brief but measurable synthetic perforation in space-time.

Through proceeding experimentation, Tenkai was able to recreate similar results with minimised collateral and prolonged duration. The first images from beyond the Tenkain portal revealed a violet-hued void that seemed to span infinitely. Eventually, her team was able to form stable portals, sustainable long enough to launch manned missions into the super-dimensional space.

Since those early experiments, the demystification of The Threshold has become a whole branch of scientific study unto itself. Tenkai's theory for faster than light travel was realised when her team constructed another collision array inside The Threshold itself, creating an exit portal that opened at a point in space million thousand kilometres away from the originating Tenkain portal. Through rigorous mapping and an entirety new mathematical system to reason with the contradicting physics of The Threshold, scientists could calculate where a new portal should be created in the super-dimension, in order to reach a given point in our known universe, thus allowing travel across lightyears of space by only manoeuvring a short distance.

Though almost everything surrounding The Threshold is strictly classified, some rumours have escaped out into the streets. Some claim that various companies have been experimenting with drawing power from The Threshold or that Aspect technologies rely on linking the user's brain to it. Wild ghost stories have sprung up about incomprehensible creatures tearing their way into our world after being disturbed in their home. 

L.C.O.Y.A.V.

The Lose-Control-Of-Your-Arm Virus originated in Neoasis University as part of a hazing ritual for the Nu Epsilon Rho Delta house. This particular fraternity was reserved for only the most skilled hackers and spawned some of the most influential names in coding. Established as one of their earliest hazing challenges, hopeful applicants would have the LCOYAV injected into their mainframe, each would then race to sanitise their systems while their arms periodically flailed out of control.

This innocent ritual eventually turned dark when the virus leaked into Cyberspace and began infecting anything that came into contact with it. After numerous deaths caused by traffic collisions were linked directly to the LCOYAV, anti-virus software was quickly developed to help combat the epidemic. Now, most of the world is immune, however, everyday sinister forces work to craft a more powerful, deadly Lose-Control-Of-Your-Arm Virus.