By John Snead
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The Maoist dynasty collapsed in 2018. Unrestrained corporate capitalism and the economic chaos after the collapse of the Three Gorges Dam pushed an already-strained and highly corrupt system to its limits. A loose alliance of rural revolutionaries and university activists took power and set about creating a more traditional regime, better connected to Confucian benevolence and paternalism.
These new leaders formed the New Chinese Empire, or NCE, in 2022. Key power would henceforth lie in the hands of well-trained scholars who pass competitive examinations which test knowledge of everything from the Chinese literary classics to modern psychology, information theory and economics. Over all these scholars rules the Light of Wisdom, an Emperor elected by the scholars from among their ranks. The Emperor rules for a twelve-year term, and is bound by charter to a single term and to heed the advice of the scholars who appointed him.
In reaction to the commercial excesses of the previous dynasty, the NCE restricted outside trade and concentrated on building an infrastructure that would address the needs of the entire population. This isolationism proved to be a great boon — as the Aberrant War began to devastate most of the rest of the world, China went from being a world power to a quiet nation busily modernizing and biding its time. By 2030, many Chinese aberrants had departed for nations they considered to be more exciting and advanced. In 2035, the Chinese formalized this policy and excluded all aberrants. While this decision produced a few retributive attacks, China was largely spared the horrors that hit the United States and Western Europe.
The troubles continued to worsen and by 2045, the NCE government realized that the world was headed towards catastrophe. Unable to compete against the ever-more powerful aberrants on Earth, Light of Wisdom Pang Tan decided to expand into space. With initial plans that ranged from possible evacuation to Luna or Mars, to using orbital defense platforms to target and destroy dangerous aberrants Tan initiated the Great Leap Upward. Most outside sources greatly overemphasize the famines and other problems produced by this move, but China's enormous move into space did result in some resources being diverted away from the populace and into the space program.
The Chinese launched the first astronauts to Mars in 2053, and in 2054 began constructing a series of orbital factories and space colonies that were also equipped with secret caches of fusion missiles for use against dangerous aberrants. The increasing chaos on Earth forced the Chinese to issue the Ultimatum. Once the aberrants departed, the NCE was faced with the long task of rebuilding and dealing with the consequences of the destruction caused by the aberrants and the troubles produced by the Great Leap Upward.
— Radio Communication between The Light of Wisdom Lin Huan and Orbital Commander Han Feng Date: 9:7:2061
• Han (16:51:09): Madame Empress, our latest orbital scan indicates that the aberrants have all departed. We have won. I give thanks that your wise policy succeeded and saved our world.
• Light of Wisdom (16:52:31): Congratulations commander. Issue the order to stand down. Also, prepare to return to Earth. In three days there will be a celebration to honor this day, and I desire your presence.
• Han (16:53:23): Madame Empress, the world is now in chaos. Sensors and radio traffic indicates that there are at least seven on-going wars at the moment. Might I humbly suggest that you could do much good if you used our present might to help bring the rest of the planet to its senses. Without your wise leadership, backed by the power of our orbital armada, it could be many decades before the world is again at peace. With one word, you could end all this madness.
• Light of Wisdom (16:55:40): Stand down, my brave commander. The scholars and I have given this matter much thought — I mourn for much of the world, but for now China is safe. How long would that safety continue if we attempt to rule the world? The aberrants have just departed; everywhere people will be looking for a new enemy to blame for their many troubles. If I announce that China is their new liege, we will become that enemy. We could destroy any town, village, or city, or even the entire world. However, what shall we do about suicide bombers or angry military leaders with dangerous aberrant-made weapons?
If we had not acted as we did, the world would have perished. That worry is over, and China's safety is dearer to me than even the lives of my own children. We shall not risk that safety when there are other options. The barbarians shall fight and die, and eventually they shall find peace. Until then, we shall be safe and prosperous.
• Han (16:56:58): Yes, Madame Empress.
For the next decade, China concentrated on overcoming the legacy of the Aberrant War. In 2072 China again led the world in space with construction of the first interstellar vessel. While many outsiders stated that the Khantze Le Gu mission was merely a vast international public relations effort, in actuality it was primarily a task designed to provide the Chinese people with a sense of purpose and accomplishment. In addition, it was meant to ensure that humanity in general and the Chinese people in particular would be spread too far for any disaster to ever again threaten their survival.
One of the most striking things about China is the lack of large arcologies. Relatively few Chineses cities needed to be rebuilt after the Aberrant War. While arcologies spread over much of the rest of the globe, behavioral engineers in the Chinese government have determined that the many isolated levels found in these large structures serve to exacerbate cultural and sub-cultural fragmentation and to decrease a sense of national and civic unity. The vast majority of the Chinese population still lives in old-style, single-level cities and towns rather than huge mega-structures. Every settlement with more than 5,000 residents is connected to the nationwide network of maglev trains, while in cities, public transport is provided by a large number of free SI dispatched, automatic taxis, large hover busses and private vehicles.
Careful public planning forestalled the Urban Schism. Almost forty percent of China's population still lives in farming villages and rural towns of less than 5,000 inhabitants. The combination of Neo-Confucian morality and modern social psychology convinced the scholar-officials in charge of behavioral planning that a large, prosperous rural and farming class acts as a powerful social anchor, protecting both stability and traditional virtues. As a result, the government makes certain that all of these settlements receive their fair share of the nation's prosperity.
Prices on agricultural goods are set so that all farmers receive a scholar's evaluation of the fair price for their labor. Villages also receive electricity, full OpNet access, powerful computerized agricultural equipment and modern clinics equipped with well-trained physicians and the latest medical technologies. To prevent isolation, low cost hover busses can carry the inhabitants to nearby cities and maglev stations as well as delivering any advanced consumer goods the inhabitants wish to purchase. While many rural teens wish to spend a few years living in large cities, more than 65% of them move back and return to their rural roots. Urban youth programs also regularly send urban-born youth out to spend several summers living and working on farms. The head of the Bureau of Semiotics claims that these programs are one of the primary reasons that China's rate of teenage crime is far lower than that found in most other nations.
Even before the Ministry made telepathy and other psionic powers available to the Chinese government, the Office of Semiotics and the Bureau of Social Statistics tracked and remedied behavioral problems with advanced technological and psychological techniques. Even more than in most other advanced nations, all public spaces in Chinese cities are monitored by a host of tiny microphones, cameras, and other sensors. While data gathered from these sensors is occasionally used to solve various crimes, their primary purpose is to monitor the general tone and mood of public interaction. Sophisticated SIs, aided by highly trained behavioral engineers, constantly monitor the vast amount of data received from all public places.
Some behavior engineers refer to this process as listening to "the music of the city." All is well when neighborhoods are peaceful and harmonious. However, if this "music" becomes harsh or discordant, behavioral engineers immediately look for possible sources of disturbance. Solutions range from low-level subsonic broadcasts and the placement of carefully designed and highly effective mood-altering murals to improving local housing and working conditions, sponsoring local festivals, or simply providing economic incentives for new businesses to move into the problem area.
Sometimes problems call for more sophisticated or specialized treatment. In such cases, the behavioral engineers in the Office of Semiotics often call upon Ministry telepaths to help locate the exact source of the problem. Chinese social psychologists established long ago that individuals who are severely depressed or habitually filled with feelings of anger or helplessness can spread these feelings to their neighbors through non-verbal communication and trace amounts of pheromones.
To combat the spread of such destructive feelings, Ministry agents sometimes travel through various neighborhoods, searching for individuals who exhibit highly elevated levels of negative emotions. Once they locate the particular people in need, researchers look for any obvious cause of the individual's distress while counselors approach them and provide physical assistance and psychological aid. These interventions can consist of everything from short training sessions in skills like anger management or overcoming shyness to aptitude and interest testing followed by career training.
Actual censorship of information forms only a small part of the behavioral interventions practiced by the Office of Semiotics, though it attracts most attention from abroad. Freedom of expression is not a right in China. The Chinese government believes that certain types of information can harm both individuals and society. Social science and, more recently, telepathically aided psychological research provide compelling evidence that at least some of these claims are correct.
The heart of the Ministry's censorship efforts is their monitoring of the OpNet. Advanced SI programs scan every piece of text and every still or video image entering the Chinese portion of the OpNet for objectionable content. Well-established programs remove banned items and record the identities of Chinese citizens trying to post them. These SIs are limited in both function and ability. If the programs encounter any questionable material that they cannot easily classify, they rapidly pass it over to one of the Office of Semiotics' many thousands of human censors for final approval.
These censors must perform exceptionally well on the demanding Civil Service examination and pass periodic psychological tests. This review process ensures that all censors are stable enough to be exposed to a nearly unending stream of potentially dangerous information. These devoted and strong-willed individuals serve as a firm bastion between the Chinese people and the numerous dangers that unrestricted access to information can produce.
There are four basic types of censorship:
• Factual Censorship: All news is screened for content before it is released. The vast majority of this screening is done to ensure that only factual information is presented. In China, it is illegal attempt to pass off rumor, lies and unsubstantiated reports as fact. While the Chinese government has no objection to its citizens hearing bad news, censors minimize public anxiety by ensuring that anything presented as fact is actually true.
• Political Censorship: Political censorship is actually the rarest of the various types of censorship. Since the Chinese government holds its position to be a sacred trust, factual reports of misconduct by government officials are important public news. Irresponsible government officials are publicly tried and no effort is made to conceal such trials. However, unproven accusations of government misconduct cannot be freely broadcast, although individuals are free to discuss such accusations privately. Widely broadcasting or distributing such accusations is illegal. Anyone who believes that they have evidence of governmental misconduct is expected to report is to the Office of Official Investigations, where the complaint will be carefully reviewed. All such reports are kept confidential until the validity of such accusations is determined.
Since the NCE is not a democracy, and ordinary citizens have little direct voice in politics, most Chinese pay little attention to politics. Nevertheless, some individuals carefully follow the actions of their favorite or least favorite government officials. Political discussions are perfectly legal at home or in private clubs. While ordinary political discourse in public places like restaurants and bars may be frowned upon, they are not punished in any way. However, unlicensed public speeches on political topics are illegal.
The censors at the Office of Semiotics recognizes that all political actions have rational motives — anyone found to be making such speeches will be asked to explain their behavior. Depending on the reasons, the individual may receive special instruction on the duties of ordinary citizens, they may be given psychological help or they could even be encouraged to attempt to pass the civil service exam, or recommended for a minor post in the government. In practice, the vast majority of the information subject to political censorship consists of statements made about China by foreign journalists and politicians. The Office of Semiotics specifically forbids the distribution of the following types of media: Foreign or domestic speeches or articles whose criticisms of China are based more upon opinion than fact, articles that state lies or partial and misleading truths about China (including deceptive articles that portray China in a positive light) and any media that reveals state secrets.
• Social Censorship: Chinese social scientists have proven that certain types of media produce socially harmful effects. In China, overly graphic violence, especially in V-R games is illegal because of the increased levels of violent behavior it produces. Similarly, any work of fiction or other text or images that contains elements proven to promote violence, social unrest, gender or racial prejudice or criminal behavior is censored. Many speeches by many foreign fringe political parties are completely banned, as are all positive portrayals of terrorism or aberrant cults. However, most novels and holovids are merely edited to remove excessive violence and blatant glorification of criminal behavior. While some outsiders complain that Chinese made holovids are somewhat tame, their use of suspense and imagination as a substitute for vivid portrayals of pain and gore are widely acclaimed by many sophisticated foreign viewers.
• Technological Censorship: Because of the great potential for abuse, technological censorship is regarded as the most important type of censorship and the individuals responsible for this form of censorship are the most carefully monitored. Most technological censorship simply involves preventing unauthorized Chinese citizens from gaining access to dangerous chemical or biological techniques that can be used to produce deadly weapons. Censors also attempt to prevent anyone from broadcasting any information on relic technologies created by aberrants. Project Rewrite destroyed most potentially useful information on powerful devices from the Aberrant War, but every few years data on hazardous forbidden technologies turns up in some long forgotten archive, or even in the personal effects of someone's dead relative. Since such technologies sometimes literally have the ability to kill millions, the technological censors not only suppress the information, they also usually send out agents to track down the sources of this information and to convince the individuals who first attempted to disseminate it of the error of their ways.
Almost every Chinese citizen recognizes that value of censorship, and most are sincerely grateful that brave government officials work night and day to keep them safe from lies, terrorism and social unrest. However, this realization does not prevent many Chinese, especially young people from resenting that fact that they are not able to freely watch or play all of the many holovids and V-R games sold in other nations. Few people attempt to evade the factual and political censorship lawns, and anyone attempting to evade the technological censorship laws is widely considered to be a dangerously insane criminal. On the other hand, many Chinese have seen or even purchased a banned holovid, novel, or V-R game. Censors realize that such minor infractions are endemic, and punish owning or voluntarily viewing an unedited holovid with a minor fine and a lecture. In practice, social censorship is aimed at reducing and not eliminating exposure to socially dangerous material. However, violations of any of the other censorship laws are treated far more seriously.
Subject: Change in anti-terrorism plans
From: Tsui Lee, head of the Office of Semiotics, Technological Containment Division
To: All Office of Semiotics Programmers and Data Examiners
Encryption: DSE
Transmission type: textfile
Date: 19:02:11 9:18:2022
Beginning on 10:1:2022, we will no longer continue to distribute the current "Hot-Secrets-1477" message detailing a realistic but non-functional method of creating a deadly nerve gas. A recent decline in downloads of this article, combined with a drop in requests to obtain the fictitious compound "Bright Dragon drain pipe cleanser" indicates that the fact that this message is issued by us as a method of capturing would-be terrorists has become widely known. However, all offices are urged to continue flagging and tracing any requests for "Bright Dragon drain cleaner".
On October 1, we will also begin supporting a new article "Improved Removal Methods-08429". This article provides a seemingly real method of creating a powerful fuel-air explosion. The resulting bomb actually only produces a very small self-extinguishing fire, but the plans should fool most rebels without highly specialized knowledge. Any requests for "5.5 mm octagonal orbital steel tubing" directed to any manufacturing firm comes from someone who has read this article and desires to build the bomb described therein. Data-mining protocols should be reconfigured to include this character string and all variants by October 1. Treat anyone making such requests with standard Potential Violence protocols.
The other pseudo weapons and pseudo hacking articles appear to be uncompromised and will all continue to be regularly distributed on appropriate OpNet sites.
As a result of the government's behavioral monitoring, most Chinese are well adjusted, healthy, highly educated, happy, and law-abiding. China is far safer than many other nations. The rate of murder and other violent crime is one-tenth of that in Brazil or Australia, and even the rate of burglary, shoplifting, and petty theft are well below levels in most other nations. The Chinese government does not limit the ability of its citizen's to travel abroad because it is confident that they will see the benefit of the Chinese way of life. Most do — very few Chinese people immigrate to other nations, and many who leave return within five years.
This known safety affects daily life in many ways. Most people are fairly casual about locking their doors and chaining up their hovercycles. While theft does occur, it is usually solved and the goods returned within a few days. Similarly, most NCE residents think nothing of walking alone late at night — the chance of them being mugged or otherwise attacked is miniscule. The fact that many other nations are far less safe is a constant source of amazement to most Chinese. The Chinese government is more than happy to allow the less graphically violent foreign-made reality-drama holovids to be shown in China, because these depictions of real-life events allow viewers to see just how much safer China is than the rest of the world. Chinese who visit other nations also quickly realize that they live in a nation that is far more polite and honest than most other countries.
Despite these advantages, China is not paradise, even from the point of view of its planners and governors. Some residents resent the government's paternal protectiveness. Also, gambling and non-harmful intoxicants are all legal, and overindulgence in these vices is a serious social problem in some regions. Despite the efforts of the government, the organized crime Triads still earn large amounts of money though blackmail, buying and selling stolen goods, offering illegal high stakes-gambling, banned holovids and even contract killing. Fearing retaliation, many victims of Triad crimes avoid going to the authorities. Often the government only uncovers evidence of Triad activities when scans by Ministry telepaths reveal that someone is hiding information about a crime committed against them.
In 2061, China saved the world from destruction or conquest by increasingly insane aberrants. Many within the Chinese government continue to feel a responsibility for protecting the world, especially for protecting it against aberrants and other external threats. In the United Nations, China is one of the leading proponents of maintaining strong defenses against outside threats, and is now at the forefront of the effort to plan and execute a first strike against the vast Coalition starship.
China does not openly attempt to control the actions of other nations, or to dictate their policies. But, it is the richest most powerful, most populous and one of the most prosperous nations in the world. Its orbital navy is second to none, and its military is a mighty force to be reckoned with. Although its actions following the Ultimatum proved that the Chinese government has no desire to rule the world, leaders of every other nation realize that if their actions ever significantly threaten the safety or prosperity of China they could face vast and terrible retribution.
In keeping with the nation's neo-Confucian philosophy, the NCE government regards itself as the protector of the Chinese people, and to a lesser extent of the entire human race. This attitude lies at the heart of the government's policy of strict information control. Government officials realize information can be as dangerous as any weapon, especially in an era that is experimenting with self-replication nanotechnology, advanced biotech and occasionally alien devices and relic technologies originally developed by inhumanly intelligent aberrants.
Subject: Dangerous Relic in Hangchow
From: Ruth Yu, field agent, Technological Containment Divisions
To: Tsui Lee, head of the Office of Semiotics, Technological Containment Division
Encryption: SPE
Transmission type: textfile
Date: 11:31:46 2:10:21
Our informant proved to be correct and we arrived not a moment too soon. Hua Biao, an engineer with Tien Consolidated managed to find some White Code relic technology data on a 91-year-old microfiche stored in that company's basement. The fiches were stored in with old personnel records, which is likely why they were missed in the original information sweeps. This data concerned methods of generating power by inducing minute quantities of matter to spontaneously convert into antimatter. This procedure produces large amounts of free energy, but the same techniques can also be used to create exceedingly dangerous bombs and other weapons. As with most aberrant relics, the process can also easily become unstable, destroying the power plant and possibly several dozen hectares of the surrounding landscape.
A quick surface scan revealed that Hua Biao was the only person working on this project. Since his profile indicated that he was properly socialized, if somewhat foolhardy and overconfident, I openly approached and identified myself. I informed him of the dangers of this particular line of research and showed him holovid footage of experiments with related technologies. He responded appropriately and agreed to give up all copies of the data. He also did not resist when I requested permission to erase the technical details from his mind. In addition, he asked me to personally thank the person who revealed his suspicious activities. Once I explained everything to him, he was as scared of aberrant tech as any other sane person. He will not require additional corrective therapies.
In general, the Chinese people support their government in these efforts. Many of the oldest generation of Chinese remember the dark days towards the end of the Aberrant War, when insane being of near godlike power killed millions. The Chinese people live with stories of aberrant cultists in Europe, memories of the powerful and dangerous technologies the aberrants used, and the knowledge that a sufficiently skilled group of info-terrorists could cause deadly havoc in any city in China. Such events and possibilities have convinced the vast majority of the Chinese population that they require the protection of the benevolent and protective hand of the government.
The government also carries its paternalism to law enforcement and the treatment of criminals. In general, Chinese civilians are rarely punished for crimes. Chinese social scientists and therapists assume that all crimes have underlying social and psychological causes, ranging from poverty, to poor emotional control and mental imbalance. Criminal therapists use advanced psychological techniques and numerous forms of practical assistance to treat crimes ranging from possession and distribution of illegal data to theft or murder. In severe cases, Ministry agents supplement these techniques with telepathic Psychbending.
Anyone who has successfully completed these therapies is given a series of psychological tests to ensure that they no longer suffer from their previous problem. Most subjects pass these tests on the first try and are proclaimed to be completely cured all antisocial tendencies related to their crime. They are then free citizens who possess no openly accessible records of their crimes. On rare occasions repeated treatments are necessary to ensure a complete cure. Those rare individuals whose problems cannot be fully treated are given the option of either incarceration in a humane but high security isolation facility until they can be cured, or cryonic freezing until a cure can be found.
However, with greater power comes greater responsibility. Government officials who commit crimes, especially those who abuse their special privileges suffer far harsher punishments. Officials committing minor crimes, and lower-ranking officials who commit somewhat more serious offenses are merely given far more thorough treatments that identify and cure all potential antisocial tendencies, including those unrelated to their actual crimes. However, serious abuses of power or any non-trivial crimes committed by high government officials are punished by several years of hard labor before treatment is given. Any high official guilty of extremely serious crimes like premeditated murder, or any government official who uses her position to aid aberrants or gain access to illegal aberrant technologies is executed. On average, there is only one such execution every four of five years. These events are deeply solemn occasions where both the government and the populace are reminded that China's leaders are held to a higher standard of accountability than her ordinary citizens.
The horrors and devastation of the Aberrant War produced profound political changes in Asia. The nationalist independence movements of the 20th century crumbled as residents of many small nations realized that only states that could defend themselves or obtain the services of a powerful defender could be considered truly safe and free. Many small Asian nations sought China's the protection, either from mad aberrants or from the bloody conflicts that followed the end of the Aberrant War. Since the aberrants returned before renewed nationalist feelings could become too strong, there is currently little protest against China's paternalism. The residents of most of China's Autonomous Regions realize that they and their nations would be far more vulnerable without China's aid and protection.
Today, Korea, The Malay Republic, Mongolia, Taiwan, Tibet, and the Philippines are all Autonomous Regions under China's control. These nations are largely independent. They can all set the majority of their own laws, and several, including both Taiwan and the Philippines, have democratically elected governments. However, all Autonomous Regions must allow China to determine their foreign policy and to monitor and control external trade. Also, while the governments are largely independent, to maintain peace, order, and harmony the Ministry's telepaths and behavioral intervention agents have just as much authority in these nations as they do in China.
Except for Ministry agents and other members of the Offices of Semiotics and Psionic Security, residents of the various Autonomous Regions rarely see any evidence of direct Chinese interference in local affairs. Their own governments set taxes, make and enforce laws and decide internal policies. As in China, the Office of Semiotics makes certain most through subtle and indirect means that the residents of these nations are all well-adjusted, content, peaceful, and productive citizens. As a result, rates of violent crime are low and most people possess a high degree of civil responsibility.
All of the Autonomous regions retain their own language and culture. While everyone is encouraged to learn Mandarin Chinese, knowledge of this language is not mandatory, and even in Korea, the most sinified of the various Autonomous Regions, the inhabitants maintain their distinctive Korean identity and display a high degree of national pride. Most residents of these nations see China as their benevolent protector, while most Chinese view the Autonomous Regions as useful buffer zones between China and the physical and ideological threats posed by the outside world.
Despite the best efforts of the Office of Psionic Security and the Office of Semiotics, dissent — sometimes violent — still exists in both China and the various Autonomous Regions. In 2104, Filipino terrorists blew up the headquarters of the Office of Semiotics in Quezon City, killing more than 200 people. These rebels enjoyed widespread popular support, and the Philippines seemed ready to begin a war of independence against the Chinese.
The Chinese government was considering sending in troops to maintain order, when some of their agents discovered the telepaths lead by Rebecca Bue Li. When Bue Li joined forces with the Chinese government, support for Filipino nationalist groups largely evaporated. Today, Rebecca Bue Li's position has helped insure that the Philippines enjoy extremely favorable trade relations with China. Also, the Office of Semiotics worked to rebuild Filipino nationalism so that its current focus is on the importance of both the Philippines and various Filipino nationals like Proxy Bue Li in the Chinese sphere of influence. Unfortunately, rumors of Proxy Bue Li being seriously ill have upset a great many Filipinos, and several groups are now demanding both contact with her and information on her present condition.
Subject: Re: The Filipino Reaction to Information on Rebecca Bue Li
From: Carlos Magsyasy, Philippines Division Director, Office of Semiotics,
To: Mary Wang, Senior Department Head, Office of Semiotics
Encryption: DSE
Transmission type: textfile
Date: 19:22:41 30:9:2022
She's really dead? We must act very carefully here — some of the local radical groups will see her death as an opportunity to start their independence movement all over again. If we wait too long or handle the announcement incorrectly, they'll be talking about conspiracies or even murder. Our predictions indicate that they could use this strategy to obtain the support of at least 15% of the local population. Based on our analysis of the current situation, we should handle this matter by having her do several official interviews on general matters of Filipino policy to let the public know that she is still interested in their situation. After that, she should personally make the announcement of her own death. Done correctly, this will generate an appropriate mixture of awe and sympathy and could reinforce the local Government Loyalty Quotient by at least 7%. Approaches that do not involve considerable amounts of direct communication with her are far riskier. I know that the current situation is difficult for her and that she is exceedingly busy, but we greatly need her aid resolving this situation.
Korea has been governed by two charismatic dictators since the last days of the Aberrant War.
The current dictator, Madam Mary Hoon, has ruled Korea for the last 30 years. She was chosen for this position by the previous dictator, Park Doo Jung. Chairman Jung became a popular hero in 2044 when he helped kill several dangerous aberrants, and there was little resistance when he seized control of both North and South Korea in 2046. Like her predecessor, Ms. Hoon is widely loved — images of her are found in almost every house. As the subject of everything from popular songs to OpNet sites that carefully follow her tastes in clothing and food, she is the single most popular individual in Korea.
While many scholars within the Chinese government are uncomfortable with the authoritarian nature of Korean government, it functions in an efficient and mostly humane manner. As a result, instead of attempting to introduce another form of government, the Office of Semiotics helped Chairman Jung select his replacement and continues to use behavioral engineering to both support Ms. Hoon and to make certain that her government maintains the proper treatment of the populace.
The residents of many Western nations see Korean cities adorned with murals and statues of Ms. Hoon and assume that Korea must be a rigid and oppressive state. In reality, the general degree of freedom is similar to China and the standard of living is almost as high. However, Korea is not without its problems. Chairman Jung was a devout Christian whose faith was based upon a combination of Calvinist belief in the value of self-denial and hard work, and the 20th Chinese missionary Watchman Nee's doctrine of total submission to higher spiritual authorities.
Because of the widespread movement to emulate him, Chairman Jung's private beliefs have since become the dominant ideology throughout Korea. As a result, workdays are long and efficiency and productivity are considered to be more important than comfort or safety. Currently, work-related accidents are far more common here than elsewhere in the Chinese sphere of influence. Although many workers are unhappy with these practices, anyone who objects is considered by most Koreans to be both weak and lacking in proper religious devotion.
Several members of the Office of Semiotics have proposed plans to reduce the ascetic and puritanical nature of Korean society, but their proposals have so far been over-ruled by Rebecca Bue Li's insistence that the Ministry not interfere with legitimate expressions of religious faith. Since her death, Bue Li has played a less active role in Ministry decision-making and so the current head of the Office of Semiotics is planning to implement a series of limited anti-ascetic programs in the near future.
Although their accident rates remain high, the fact that many Koreans willingly work themselves to the edge of exhaustion has resulted in an unprecedented level of productivity for the Korean electronics and aerospace factories. This same strong work ethic is also extended to all portions of civic life. Public festivals where citizens demonstrate their athletic prowess, volunteer work crews that tirelessly work to keep Korean cities clean and safe, and large public choirs who sing of their devotion to God are all important parts of Korean life.
Unfortunately Korea also suffers from numerous social problems, While Chinese government ensures that the 21% of the population who are followers of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, or shamanic animism are free to worship as they wish, religious intolerance and unofficial religious persecution are far from uncommon. This attitude of intolerance has also created a small but fanatical group of dissidents. Unlike rebels and political dissidents elsewhere in the Chinese sphere of influence, these groups only direct their activities against the local government — most are strong supporters of the NCE and would greatly prefer direct Chinese rule.
Acts of deliberate violence are rare because of the dedication that both law enforcement officials and the citizenry have in tracking down crimes, especially crimes against the state. However, these dissidents have grown quite skillful in arranging incidents that seem to be accidents. With activities ranging from industrial sabotage to disrupting traffic and causing temporary interruptions in OpNet and electrical services, these terrorists hope to create sufficient resentment and discontent to fuel a popular movement to reform Korean government and society. Recently, several members of the Korean branch of the Office of Psionic Security have become sympathetic to the rebels' goals and are currently being overly lax in attempting to pursue incidents that resulted in no injuries or deaths. The head of the Chinese Office has just sent additional personnel to help stop the dissidents.
Tibet and Mongolia have been under Chinese rule far longer than any of the other Autonomous Regions. Tibet has been under Chinese rule for more than 150 years and Mongolia was the first Autonomous Region to come under NCE protection. As a result, most residents of these regions are exceedingly comfortable with Chinese rule. Also, both Mongolia and Tiber are strong supporters of the present NCE government.
When the NCE came to power in 2018, Tibet gained far greater freedom and self-determination than they had previously enjoyed under the heavy hand of the PRC. Today, the Dalai Lama is the official ruler of Tibet. When the NCE government came to power, Mongolia was in the midst of a serious economic collapse that had lead to a brutal civil war. In desperation, a coalition of Mongolians who opposed this war asked China for aid. Using economic pressure, China stopped the war, and in 2026, Mongolia became an Autonomous Region of China. As a result of their long association with China, almost everyone in both Tibet and Mongolia can speak and read Chinese as well as their native language, and most citizens of both regions see the NCE as the body that keeps their nations safe from external threats and outside interference.
Today, Mongolia is a highly prosperous modern nation that is ruled by a council composed of the heads of various tribal groupings. It has benefited greatly from the resources provided by the recent lease of Eastern Siberia to the NCE. This lease ended a mild economic depression in this nation and the new prosperity has effectively silenced the vast majority of dissidents and potential rebels. Today the great metropolis of Ulanbator is one of the most prosperous cities in the region, and every day almost a dozen ships leave for various orbital stations, Luna, Mars, and the asteroid belt. There is now a strong and growing Mongol presence among both Martian colonists and asteroid miners.
Tibet's economy is far from robust, and the continuing economic troubles have produced a rise in dissatisfaction with the NCE. Members of the local branch of the Office of Semiotics are currently working with the NCE government to attempt to help bolster this nations ailing economy, but the existing problems have already persuaded a small number of the more devote and militant monks to begin a campaign of passive resistance and minor sabotage against the Chinese. Local members of the Office of Semiotics and the Office of Psionic Security are now working to identify the leaders of the growing anti-Chinese groups and to attempt to convince these monks to begin working with the Chinese to help Tibet.
Although, it lacks the special privileges granted to both the Philippines and Korea, the Malay Republic is one of the most loyal of the autonomous regions. In 2060, the Malay Republic was completely devastated when the Aberrant Dragon's Eye used its powers to transform most of the inhabitants of Kuala Lumpur into an army of semi-human warriors under its control. Historians point to the Kuala Lumpur disaster as the turning point in China's decision to issue the Ultimatum.
After the Ultimatum, the Chinese moved into this region, executed the remaining mechano-beastmen warriors, quarantined the inhuman Kuala Lumpur hive, and restored both order and essential services to the remainder of the nation. Now that all of the death traps and relic technologies have all been removed or destroyed, Kuala Lumpur stands as a testament to the true depths of the horror of the Aberrant War. Every child in the Malay Republic is taken to view this twisted ruin when they are in public school. Today, the Malay Republic is one of China's staunchest allies. Malay support of China became even stronger since 2104 because Chinese soldiers have successfully repelled several aberrant incursions into the ruins of Kuala Lumpur. Although they retain their previous democratic government, China has heavily influenced Malay culture, and every child learns to speak and read both Chinese and Malay. With a population of only 8 million, Malaysians now make up almost 20% of the highly trained normal soldiers that the Office of Psionic Security uses in continuing effort to destroy all Asian aberrants.
China has a reputation for being strict and authoritarian, and most residents of democratic nations like Brazil, Australia, and the UAN believe the Chinese government oppresses its people. Outsiders who actually visit China learn that such stereotypes are largely incorrect. Like most residents of fully democratic nations, the Chinese people have total freedom of movement. Residents who are not involved in highly sensitive national security work or wanted for questioning regarding a crime are free to travel to other provinces, nations, or even worlds. Most visitors quickly realize that the reason most Chinese do not leave China is because they are happy here, and feel a great deal of loyalty and patriotism for their country.
The Chinese government is happy to let outsiders visit. When entering the country, visitors must endure a brief but extremely thorough scan for unauthorized data or technologies. Tourists are prohibited from bringing in any unauthorized information, and visitors who are guilty of distributing unauthorized information are fined, deported, and forbidden from ever returning. However, anyone who is not carrying such items is free to enter China so long as they are not a wanted criminal, a known aberrant cultist, or someone who has been convicted of any violent or information-related crimes.
Outsiders rapidly notice that China is an extremely peaceful, polite and prosperous society. Most Chinese citizens speak several languages and are happy to show travelers around their cities or towns. The con artists, entrepreneurs and other clever individuals who cluster around obviously wealthy visitors in many Asian nations are largely absent since such behavior is considered to be anti-social. Instead, teens that are eager to prove that they are socially responsible adults frequently act as guides for newly arrived visitors. Teens who gain recognition for being particularly helpful to visitors are given public awards for being good citizens.
The Ukraine recently invaded the Russian Federation and captured a strip of territory more than 100 km wide, including the industrial city of Smolensk. This attack has also put the Ukrainians less than 400 km from Moskva. The Russian Federation has asked China for assistance. NCE public opinion is strongly against declaring war upon the Ukraine and the government is currently pursuing peaceful solutions. However, the NCE must strike a fine balance between asking for so many concessions that the Ukrainians refuse, and asking for so few concessions that the Russian Federation repudiates its alliance with China and requests the return of its Siberian territories. Since the Ukrainians are reluctant to return any of the territory they seized, there now seem to be few options other than war.
Subject: The Ukrainian Problem
From: The Light of Wisdom Chen Yuwen
To: Shen Laing-shi, Ambassador to the Russian Federation
Date: 21:11:58 12:3:2122
Encryption: DSE
Transmission Type: textfile
Our latest efforts to bring this situation to a peaceful resolution have failed. The Ukrainians are unwilling to return Smolensk. Unless you are able to convince the Russian Premier to agree to the Ukrainians keeping both Smolensk and half the land they took, there will be war. Current socio-military predictions indicate that the Ukraine would retaliate in kind if we began orbital bombardment. Even if faced with the threat of overwhelming force, they would still likely destroy at least one Russian or Chinese city. That risk is unacceptable, so the war must be waged on the ground. To preserve the harmony of our own people, we will involve as few Chinese troops as possible. In three days, 2,000 military commanders, 10,000 VARGs and a large shipment of advanced weaponry will arrive in Moskva.
Our current plan is that if the next round of negotiations fail we will have our military advisors take joint control of the Russian forces, and begin training the Russians troops in the use of the new weapons and VARGs. These maneuvers would take place close to the new border, in the open. It is our sincere hope that the Ukrainians will back down when they see evidence of our commitment to help the Russians. If not, our commanders will direct the Russians troops, while 120 Ministry operatives engage in covert activities designed to confuse the enemy and destroy their leaders. Inform the Russian Premier of these plans as becomes necessary. We are counting on your judgment and wisdom to bring this problem to a swift and satisfactory conclusion.
The war with the aberrant invaders on Khantze Le Gu has been going on for more than a year and Chinese forces are gradually wining. Currently China is in command of the entire military operation, although both the Æon Society and UN troops and advisors are assisting them. Their most effective tactics consist of intensive ground warfare combined with fusion bombing of aberrant strongholds and regions that are heavily tainted. The cost in money and lives has been heavy, and in more than one case the Chinese have bombed inhabited towns. However, only settlements that were primarily composed of individuals loyal to the aberrants and sub-aberrant mutants have been destroyed. Aberrant leader Yog Deth is now believed to be dead, and his rival Kali has retreated to a network of deep glacial caves near the north pole. Current estimates suggest that total victory will be achieved in less than a year. Unfortunately, unless the aberrants decide to open a warp to another world and depart, all estimates suggest that the battles to destroy Kali and her supporters will be extremely fierce and that the cost in equipment and lives could be extremely high.
However, victory over the aberrants will only be the beginning. The land and the people that were conquered by the aberrants must then be cleansed of the taint left behind by the aberrants. The numerous sufferers of taint diseases found in the occupied zones are being treated and isolated. All sub-aberrant mutants and anyone who shows signs of having a taint disease that could spread into full-scale eruption are painlessly euthanized.
The landscape itself presents a more difficult problem. Almost 10% of the land area recaptured from the aberrants is tainted in a manner similar to the land on the edges of Blight in the FSA. Norca and Qin biotechnicians are currently working on a way to create biotech microbes that will literally devour the taint and return the land to its pristine state. Although progress has been very limited, the biotechnicians are confident that they can eventually succeed. Since this same technique could then also be applied to the FSA Blight, the potential profit from this endeavor is quite high.
Nearly a year ago, Diana Kadmon, the nova ruler of the world Eden offered her services in defeating the aberrant invaders on Khantze Le Gu. Initially, the Chinese refused this offer, confident that they could quickly retake the capture territory. However, Kali's entrenched position and the problem of the tainted land have made several high government officials reconsider this offer. Kadmon has promised that her people will not only destroy the aberrants within a week, but that they will also either cleanse or remove all tainted land within a month. Since total victory is predicted to cost the lives of at least an additional 4,000 soldiers and 10,000 civilians, and indications are that the tainted land will take at least a decade to restore using biotech-derived methods, several government officials, including Ministry field director Pei Yin Chih are all willing to take the Edenites up on their offer. Although few Chinese trust the Edenite novas, an increasing number are coming to believe that the fact that they share mutual enemies is sufficient reason for at least a temporary alliance.
In March of 2122, Clairsentients detected the Chinese comet-ship Yangtze as it entered the Procyon system. Originally launched in 2086, it was launched towards a world that was later determined to be too inhospitable for human life. Today, these colonists have been relocated. 30,000 of the crew of 90,000 have decided to settle on other extrasolar colonies, primarily on Karroo and Far Nyumba. Since Khantze Le Gu is currently off-limits for settlement, 10,000 of the remaining colonists have decided to return to cold stasis until it is safe to colonize, while the rest are forming the nucleus of an Æon Society sponsored attempt to colonize the world of Erebus, orbiting Beta Canum Venaticorum. Since the native sentients inhabit only two of the world's three major continents, the Æon society has decided to colonize the third continent, as part of their mission to study and help repair the damage done by the recently departed Coalition Ark. In a rare display of international cooperation, both China and Brazil are working closely with the Æon society to coordinate this effort.
Several journalists have jokingly commented that Southeast Asia exists to provide a contrast to the calm and orderly Chinese way of life. Such comments apply especially well to Greater Siam.
Greater Siam consists of Thailand, most of Laos and portions of Kampuchea. In the aftermath of the Aberrant War, Thailand was considerably less devastated than its neighbors, and the king of Thailand annexed these nations for their own protection. Since this time, Greater Siam has become the premier economic power of Southeast Asia.
Greater Siam is now a democratic monarchy. The queen is a figurehead who serves primarily as a popular public figure. Her only real power is her charisma and her ability to command a small portion of government funds for use on public works and civic improvement projects. The rest of the government is elected and functions as a typical parliamentary democracy.
Even more than elsewhere in Asia, Greater Siam is a place where everyone gets the government they can afford. When seeking help from the government, people are expected to pay the official they are talking to. These payments apply to everything from asking the police to help you retrieve stolen property, to having a government official approve your building permit — greater payments results in better or at least faster service. While many outsiders talk about this practice as bribery, most Siamese consider these payments to merely be another cost associated with government, a compensation for the fact that they pay extremely low taxes. In the vast majority of cases, people who pay no bribes will still receive the service they request, but paperwork that could be taken care of in a few hours could easily take many weeks to process. As a result, even the poorest Siamese pays a small fee when seeking help from the government.
Many government officials take the individual's wealth into account. A small bribe from a poor person often produces greater results than a similar bribe from someone wealthier. Also, obviously wealthy people who pay small bribes often end up treated little better than people who pay no bribes. Middle or upper class foreigners who either refuse to pay bribes or who pay small bribes typically get the worst service of all. While Siamese customs is moderately efficient, someone wealthy who attempts to enter the country without paying an appropriate bribe can end up being strip searched and left to wait in a bare room for up to a day before being allowed to enter Siam. Emergency services and anything involving maintaining human life are always free, but afterwards it is considered polite to pay the people who provided the aid.
— by Lynn Van Thieu, for the Siamese News Service, February 18, 2010
Today marks the second anniversary of the coronation of our Queen Sirikit Adulyadej. I think we should pause to reflect on the role of women in modern Asia. Much has changed in the last century. Clearly reliable contraception and the transformations accompanying the change from a traditional agricultural economy to a modern high tech one both helped women achieve social and economic equality. However, I believe the single most important fact to have been the coming of the Aberrants. Not only could everyone see that there were women who could level buildings with a gesture, humanity as a whole was forced to work together to drive off these monsters and then to rebuild from the ruins together. A few years ago, this was made even clearer by the appearance of the Psions. Psionic latency knows no boundaries of gender.
As a result, today we are ruled by Queen Sirikit, Naoshi Toshiro is the Nihonjin Premier, and in China the head of the Ministry is Rebecca Bue Li, and. They are three strong and dedicated women in positions that a century or more ago would only have been held by men. One holds office due to ancestry, another by democratic election, and the third because of some mysterious inborn quality, but all three are women who are now able to hold positions of power and respect because of the various changes in Asian society.
Siam is a unique example of technological and cultural blending. Siam's close economic ties to China, Brazil and Nippon gives it easy access to both the latest biotech and all manner of Nihonjin hardtech. No stigma attaches to either form of technology. Residents make use of whatever works best for the particular situation. Advanced Nihonjin biosculpture are popular among the young, but so are various forms of simple bioapp implants.
In addition to being a popular destination for tourists from all nations, Siam is also one of the premier sites for the manufacture of some of the most popular consumer goods. New technologies may be developed in Nippon or bred in Brazil, but the Siamese factories rapidly develop low-cost versions that are sold to members of the middle and lower classes everywhere. Having recently pioneered cheap, disposable bioapps to temporarily alter everything from mood to skin color, the owners of the Siamese autofactories are always looking new advances to exploit.
The local capitalist ethic, combined with a widespread impatience for government regulations, means that Siam has few laws restricting new technologies. However, even here there is a demand for goods that fall outside the law. Almost 15% of the nation's largest businesses have close ties to groups that produce and smuggle goods made in illegal factories in Burma's Shan State or stolen from the Nihonjin zaibatsu. A complex network of bribes, blind drops, and highly paid couriers keeps law enforcement officials from stopping more than a small fraction of the trade in these goods.
The nation's general prosperity and the Queen's public works ensure that no one starves. However, Siam approaches free-market capitalism far more than any of its neighbors. Its prosperity and low taxes allow the accumulation of very large fortunes, while many of the poor must make do with low paying menial jobs as service technicians and manual laborers. This same economic disparity means that most Siamese cities have more than their share of pickpockets, con artists, and petty thieves. Some estimates place the value of the stolen goods sold in Bangkok at more than 10% of the value of the legal goods sold there.
Bangkok remains the capital city of Greater Siam, and with a population of over 7 million, it is the largest city in Southeast Asia. It is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Asia. While the Siamese government makes certain that Bangkok is a generally safe and orderly city, it remains a place where visitors can purchase literally anything. Legal commodities include skilled licensed prostitutes of all genders, a multitude of real and fake gemstones, the latest Norça drugs, and even Nihonjin cyberware. These goods are freely available for anyone with sufficient funds. Although the government would like to change this fact, Bangkok is also a place where visitors can purchase most types of illegal goods, including well-trained attack Benjibeasts, various code Indigo bioapps, illegal weapons, and mentally conditioned human slaves.
However, while many tourists expect seedily dressed criminals to be selling attractive slaves on every street-corner, the reality is far different. Even the wildest portions of the expanded Patpong entertainment district consist almost exclusively of thousands of entrepreneurs selling a dizzying array of completely legal goods and services. While rumors of illegal goods abound, actually finding them requires both a passing knowledge of the criminal underworld and large quantities of money.
Despite the fact that the two governments are exceptionally different, relations between China and Greater Siam are normally fairly cordial. The Chinese recognize that the government of Greater Siam has neither the people nor the resources to maintain a high level of control over their nation. Also, the Chinese government is most concerned with the Chinese people, and rarely worries about conditions in Siam, as long as it poses no threat to China.
Most Chinese people regard Greater Siam as a nation continually on the verge of total anarchy. The fact that information and technology from all over the world is freely available, and that Bangkok is said to be a city where almost anything can be had for the right price is considered an abomination to most Chinese, and a titillating opportunity to many others. Every year hundreds of thousands of Chinese visit Siam.
Almost all Chinese citizens assume that anyone visiting Siam is seeking some illicit good or service. The Chinese government makes no effort to restrain such visits. However, any Chinese citizen who visits Greater Siam can expect an exceptionally thorough search when they return, and people who visit Siam regularly are sometimes given basic psychological tests to determine that they have not developed any unhealthy or pathological behaviors. The Chinese government generally regards Greater Siam as a useful safety valve where Chinese citizens can indulge in forbidden activities without the risk of bringing dangerous information or harmful practices into China. However, the NCE government is determined to make certain that Siam never becomes a threat to China.
In return for permitting easy tourism and not pressuring the Siamese government about restricting various illegal practices, the Chinese government reserves the right to send in telepaths and other agents in to track down dangerous technologies and any practices that threaten to harm Chinese citizens, like slavery and the sale of intoxicants that produce lethal or permanently damaging effects. Happy to avoid the necessity of directly confronting the well-armed criminal syndicates responsible for most of these activities, the Siamese government permits both periodic monitoring and raids, as long as the Chinese avoid disrupting tourism and legitimate commerce.
Ministry agents are a common sight in the less savory sections of Bangkok, and Chinese patrols and strike teams regularly hunt down aberrants in the jungles and mountains of Greater Siam. Since many of the jungle patrols also stop at local villages to provide medical services and similar humanitarian aid, they are quite popular with most rural Siamese. However, in Bangkok, Ministry agents are normally viewed with the contempt many urban dwellers have for law enforcement officials attempting to curtail popular but illegal vices.
China and Greater Siam also have close economic ties. To avoid the strict regulations the Chinese government places on new consumer technologies, several prominent Chinese companies test market their new products in Greater Siam. The Chinese government keeps track of the way in which these new technologies are used and abused and bases many of its decisions on whether or not to permit the introduction of a new technology upon these results.
When the oppressive ruling cabal known as "The Generals" were all devoured by an idealistic but heavily tainted Aberrant in 2009, Burma returned to being a quiet, largely agricultural state. During the early days of the Aberrant War, the democratic government became increasingly isolationist. As a result, this nation was largely spared the horrors of the mid-21st century. Since then, Burma has remained a moderately prosperous but relatively isolated nation with close ties to China.
Today Burma is a democratic agrarian nation that remains largely self-sufficient. Inexpensive automation and widespread OpNet access give even the least prosperous farmers a relatively high standard of living and access to a wealth of education and entertainment. To outsiders, Burma seems a somewhat anachronistic place that has been mostly bypassed by both the renewed Aberrant War and the wonders of biotech and most other 22nd century technologies.
While Burmese citizens are free to leave Burma at any time, any who leave for more than a year lose their citizenship. Also, visits by outsiders are strictly controlled. No one visiting Burma can stay for more than a week, and their activities are monitored at all times by a radio tracker they must wear at all times. Unlike some other nations that use similar devices, these trackers contain neither microphones nor cameras. However, if they are removed for any reason, the tourist is tracked down, fined and immediately deported.
The exception to Burma's peaceful isolationism is Shan State, the rugged mountainous jungles on the Siamese border. Although technically part of Burma, Shan State is practically independent, and is the headquarters for numerous illegal and semi-legal criminal operations. In isolated jungle compounds, secret underground factories and carefully concealed laboratories, organizations ranging from Siamese criminal families, to Chinese Triads and several branches of the Yakuza create dangerous drugs, build illegal technologies and engage in all manner of gray and black market research.
Although few outside of Burma know the truth, these criminal syndicates are the primary reason for Burma's continued isolation. Though a complex series of bribes and alliances, the groups that control Shan State work to ensure that Burma's isolationism continues to have both popular and governmental support. These same bribes and secret agreements are also the reason that the Burmese government purposefully ignores the activities of these illicit groups as long as they do not directly harm the Burmese people. In addition, the Burmese government refuses to cooperate with outside governments and law enforcement agencies that wish to investigate the activities in Shan State.
One of the primary reasons the Chinese government maintains close relations with Burma is to help it monitor the activities of the illegal labs and factories in Shan State. The Chinese government realizes that many of the goods being produced there are essentially impossible to suppress. However, permitting these labs to remain in Shan State allows the Chinese to easily monitor them. The Chinese government offers bribes and incentives to both the Burmese government and the criminal gangs to help keep the results of the more dangerous technologies both expensive and difficult to obtain. In addition, the Chinese also monitor the activities of the labs closely so that they can eliminate the most dangerous technologies through a combination of bribes and surgical strikes by highly trained teams of covert operatives.
In most of the world, genetic modification of humans is illegal or at minimum highly regulated. However, researchers in Shan State have reconstructed most of the lost Human Genome data and have been putting this knowledge to use since the turn of the century. Using special genetic surgeries, various illegal clinics can give anyone with sufficient funds fully biological equivalents to the anti-poison implant, enhanced vision implant, and implanted gills (see page XX). Recently they have also been able to duplicate both the electric touch and medical nanotechnology implants. Since they are both difficult and new, the cost for these last two modifications is ••••• •.
In addition, these clinics also create genetically engineered children for wealthy clients. Although these clinics have not yet been able to reliably create psionically latent children, they can produce individuals with hereditary versions of all of the above modifications, as well as children with enhanced physical and mental capacities (in rules terms these children have 7/5/3 for Attributes, instead of the more normal 6/4/3). While these clinics are all located in Shan State, individuals interested in obtaining their services normally contact their representatives in Bangkok and arrange safe passage to the clinic. Outsiders without such previous arrangements often end up dead or kidnapped and held for ransom.
Composed of Vietnam and the eastern-most portion of Laos, Funan is halfway between a nation and a single gigantic, low-density city. This region has become both a biotech wonder and one of the major centers of entertainment and popular culture in the far east. While Kampuchea is the hub of far-eastern drama, and fine arts, Funan is where everyone goes to listen to the latest music and holovids and to purchase the latest biotech marvels. Siam concentrates on producing and selling low cost, easily affordable bioapps and other technologies. However, Funan is where the wealthy come to enjoy the luxury of life in the anima-dominated biotech-filled future, while less wealthy residents and visitors save their money for short stays in the wondrous new living hotels or single pieces of the latest biotech. Funan is also the home of more than three dozen Qin diplomats and scientists who enjoy the warm tropical climate and provide aid and assistance to the local biotech engineers.
Influenced by both China and Siam, Funan has a unique dual-house government. One branch consists of scholars chosen by competitive examination, while the other house is elected from among the ranks of the ordinary citizens. Since all schooling and all campaign funds are paid completely by the government, literally anyone with sufficient intelligence or charisma can become a high government official of either house. Funan has also emulated many of China's social programs. Everyone living in Funan has free access to education, modest but comfortable biotech-created housing, food produced in the nation's mechanized farms or food vats, and medical care equivalent to Gamma Level Vitakinetic coverage. However, in return all visitors and citizens must pay a high tax on all luxury goods and services. Since only electronic credit transactions are legal in Funan, this tax is computed automatically and rises with both the cost and the degree of luxury represented by the purchase. For example, when purchasing a biotech yacht, almost 60% of the price consists of taxes.
The most distinctive feature of Funan is the lack of any definable cities. Instead, this nation consists of a vast array of small to medium-sized settlements connected by free maglev trains. In the nation's more developed areas along the Siamese border, these settlements have largely grown into one another, producing an effect that has been described as midway between a single enormous city with a vast amount of green space and a jungle dotted with small arcologies, small towns and skyscrapers.
Realizing the futility of attempting to police hundred of miles of jungle, Funan also has fully open borders. Instead, the primary limit on entering the country is that it is impossible to purchase anything without a registered ID card. These ID cards keep track of all electronic transactions, debit the appropriate taxes and contain wireless locators that both keep track of the user's movements and provide a miniature electronic map for all users.
While a number of nations keep track of the locations of all citizens and visitors using electronic trackers, Funan's commitment to freedom and open government means that the signals for every citizen can be freely tracked by anyone using the computer built into their own ID card. In practice, any resident can determine someone else's location in seconds. Since any card that is cut off from outside communication for more than 30 minutes temporarily deactivates and must be reset at a government office, most residents simply accept that their location is always a matter of open public record. However, because of this ability to constantly monitor everyone's position, Funan has considerably fewer publicly mounted cameras and microphones than most other advanced nations.
Using technology first developed in Brazil, Funan has an increasing number of buildings that are actually alive. Based on South America floral biotech designs combined with Qin expertise, there are now hotels, office buildings, apartment complexes and wealthy private homes that are living, fully reactive, self-cleaning and repairing entities. All of these buildings are created and sold by the government to raise funds for a program designed to produce affordable version of this same technology. Externally, these structures look like any other building, except that their external walls normally appear to be made from brightly colored living wood.
Residents or visitors provide a minute tissue sample, which is used to literally introduce the building to the individual. Once this has been done, the person need merely place her hand upon one of the many glowing sensor strips running along the walls. When touching these strips, resident can alter the lights and the temperature, the color and texture of the walls, and even the shape of the numerous pieces of built-in reactive furniture. In the most recent buildings, residents can even access the building's advanced computers and experience full-sensory V-R entertainments merely by placing their palms on the armrests of specially made chairs. Telepaths who have lived in these buildings claim they have a rudimentary sentience similar to that found on Leviathan jump ships. Several noetic researchers claim that these buildings may eventually attain human-level intelligence.
Although many futurists predict that these building will soon become the most common form of housing in the world, there are currently less than three hundred, and each one had to be specially grown with the aid of both psions and Qin bioengineers. As a result, living or working in these living buildings is now a luxury reserved for the very rich or a brief but fantastic vacation for members of the middle class.
Most Funanese see themselves as the bastion of humane freedom in Asia. As a result, there is a widespread sense of rivalry with both Greater Siam and the NCE. To the Funanese, both China's strict censorship and Siam's rampant capitalism seem overly extreme. Funan's government continually attempts to balance the dual goals of freedom and social responsibility. While most Funanese are merely content to be living in a free and prosperous society, a number of them are also firmly convinced that their system of government is the best in the entire world. Every year there are both private and official proclamations, OpNet articles and long-winded speeches describing the benefits of the Funanese system and pointing out the flaws inherent in all other forms of government. This tendency towards political boosterism has given the Funanese a somewhat moralistic reputation, but the vast majority of these speeches and articles are confined to the academic and political realms.
Most Funanese are quite proud of their country and take great pains to ensure that it remains beautiful and pleasant. As a result, people are quick to alert the authorities about any situation were people or property are threatened. Most citizens will also actively intervene in such crimes. While the government does little to enforce laws against minor offenses like littering, graffiti writing or failing to keep publicly visible property clean and tidy, anyone who performs such actions is certain to be openly criticized by most Funanese. Similarly, the Funanese pride themselves on being an open and hospitable people and most are more than happy to act as guides and assistants to newly arrived tourists, children, the elderly, or anyone else who looks like the require assistance.
Visitors rapidly discover that this spirit of helpfulness and public spirit has produced a number of unique institutions. Many Funanese consider the fully automated restaurants and cafes that are common elsewhere to be both sterile and uninviting. However, moderately priced establishments can rarely afford the luxury of hiring human servers or cooks. Instead, upon entering a largely restaurant or similar establishment, visitors will find that some Funanese simply act as unpaid servers and assistants for a short while, until they are replaced by others who wishes to help out. Performing such actions is considered to be part of being a good citizen.
However, while citizens of Funan are quite tolerant of most forms of diversity, solitude and misanthropy are both considered to be serious vices. Anyone who is unwilling to be helpful, social and friendly to strangers is thought to be both rude and unmannered. While such people would receive counseling and advice in China, in Funan, they often become increasingly isolated from those around them, and eventually many of them either immigrate or spend increasing amounts of time on the OpNet, dealing with virtual communities where their eccentricities are more acceptable. As a result of the stress that such ostracism produces, almost 2% of Funan's population are recluses who suffer from No Touch Syndrome. While this is far less than the number of these people found in Nippon, it is the highest percentage found anyplace else in Asia.
Kampuchea is an independent protectorate controlled by Funan. In 2065, Greater Siam conquered both Kampuchea and Laos. While the Laotian people quickly accepted Siamese rule, the inhabitants of Kampuchea resented their new rulers, and in 2083 they waged a desperate war for independence. In 2085 Funan stepped in and negotiated a settlement, where Greater Siam kept the western third of Kampuchea, while the remainder became an independent protectorate of Funan. Today, Kampuchea is considered by most people to be nothing more than a semi-independent portion of Funan. Although Kampuchea maintains its prince, he is little more than a figurehead. The actual government consists of a mixture of locally elected officials and Funanese scholars.
Once it recovered from the war, Kampuchea rapidly became the fine arts capital of Asia. It is a small prosperous nation that many visitors compare with Bohemia. In an effort to boost both its economy and its reputation, Kampuchea has imitated a number of Bohemia's policies, including open citizenship and lower taxes for artists and musicians.
While the majority of Kampuchea is a quiet and prosperous rural nation, the capital city of Phnom Penh is currently the film capital of Asia. The gorgeous local scenery, combined with the large numbers of skilled actors and willing extras all combine to make Phnom Penh an ideal location for creating high quality holovids. Also, sculptors, textile artists, jewelers, painters, calligraphers, and other skilled craftspeople frequently move here from all over Asia. Although these people pay no taxes, taxes on the sales of such goods more than make up for this lost revenue. In both China and Greater Siam, having wedding clothes and jewelry made in Phnom Penh is considered a mark of high status.
Aided by several powerful aberrants, Russia regained much of the wealth and power it lost in the late 20th century during the first decades of the 21st. It even weathered the early phase of the Aberrant War quite well — its few remaining powerful aberrants had grown reclusive and merely avoided human contact. Instead of spreading death and destruction like so many others, these strange beings transformed uninhabited portions of Siberia into strange arctic kingdoms. Then, in 2050 Leon Borsov became president and inaugurated a campaign of systematically destroying all aberrants in Russia. While this program was highly successful, the allies of the dead aberrants began a concentrated series of attacks on the Russian Federation. By 2060, half of Moscow was in ruins and a quarter of the population of St. Petersburg drowned when an aberrant caused the Neva River to flood the entire city. In 2061, shortly before the Ultimatum, aberrants destroyed several aging fission plants, spreading radioactive waste across the Russian countryside.
By the end of the Aberrant War, the Russian Federation was one of the more heavily impacted areas. Civil war, famines, and general social unrest remained until Katrina Casanova seized power in 2075. Her faction of moderate technocrats restored order in the Federation and attempted to bring Russia into the modern era by inaugurating a massive space program. Unfortunately, the economy was unable to support this level of investment in non-essential services, and by 2100 Russia only possessed a single small orbital manufacturing station. Since this time, a lack of foreign investment, poor infrastructure and the fact the government has been unable to significantly reduce the power of the large and powerful organized crime syndicates has kept Russia poor and isolated.
Since 2075, the Russian Federation has been an odd mixture of autocracy and democracy. While there is an elected Senate, the Premier is personally selected by the previous Premier and rules until she wishes to retire. The Premier is in charge of most foreign policy and can veto any action taken by the Senate, but a two-thirds majority of the Senate can override these vetoes and a 90% majority vote can even depose the Premier. Although the later step has never occurred, the Ukrainian invasion, combined with growing unrest at Russia's poor economic status is fueling growing unrest among the populace. In the wake of the Ukrainian attack, the normally apolitical Russian people have been increasingly agitating for social and economic changes. The next election will be the summer of 2123, and unless current conditions change, UN and Æon observers predict that the Russian people will elect a far more active and militant government.
Subject: Re: Instability in the Russian Federation
From: Emma Bailes, European Terrestrial Office
To: Vasili Kreblenka, associate, Proteus Advisor
Encryption: DSE
Transmission type: textfile
Date: 9:31:17 11:15:2122
We need to help resolve the Ukrainian crisis as soon as possible. In Moskva membership in radical nationalist groups is up 30% and still climbing. Since most of these groups are also religious extremists, with beliefs ranging from ultra-orthodox Christianity to militant atheism, I think we could end up with anything from open factional violence to an organized campaign against foreigners and religious minorities. The Russian people aren't happy and they are looking for someone to blame. Fortunately, the Chinese also recognize this problem and they're working closely with us on this problem. A number of Ministry agents have recently infiltrated the most radical and dangerous groups. I worry about the Chinese government's motives in this situation — they could easily use these problems as an excuse to turn the RF into a virtual puppet state like Korea, but even that looks better than what might happen if we don't do anything.
Our best hope is to resolve the problem with the Ukraine and to use increased foreign investment to improve the economy here. To make this work, I need regular reports from all our Ukrainian operatives. Can you bring pressure on the UN to help resolve the problems and encourage foreign investment? No one wins if this situation goes critical.
During the last months of 2121, tensions on the border between the New Ottoman Empire and the Ukraine almost boiled over into war and the Ukraine began massing for an apparent attempt to acquire some highly fertile NOE land. However, by the spring of 2122, that situation was resolved by skillful peace efforts by the NOE's president Rukh. Instead, the Ukraine staged a surprise attack on the Russian Federation and captured a 100-kilometer-wide strip of territory along their border. The furthest reach of this attack captured the small but prosperous industrial city of Smolensk, putting the Ukrainians within 400 km of the Russian capital of Moskva. Claiming that the captured land had traditionally belonged to the Ukraine, the Ukrainian government took this region in three days and now maintains that it has no ambitions to attack any other portions of Russia. Since Russia lacks the resources to successfully repel this invasion, it has appealed to China to help defend its borders. Currently the Chinese are negotiating with the Ukraine. Everyone in the region is now aware of the strong possibility of open warfare between China and the Ukraine in the near future.
Subject: Local Leadership
From: Park Jae Hee, Russian Advisor, Office of Semiotics,
To: Mary Wang, Senior Department Head, Office of Semiotics
Encryption: SPE
Transmission type: textfile
Date: 15:47:11 21:11:2022
The Senate's popularity continues to drop, and Premier Vasilov is beginning to show signs that he is unable to handle the dual problems of rising internal tensions and external conflict. The latest figures place the Governmental Loyalty Index at under 30% and still falling. At this rate, the election will be extremely chaotic. If the Ukrainian situation continues to deteriorate, open revolution is possible by mid May. We can't allow this to happen, and we may have an answer.
The various nationalist groups are still highly fragmented and no unified leader has emerged. However, the head of The New Order of the Serpent is an extremely charismatic young woman named Frania Kolski. In addition to being sincerely interested in a firm but peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian problem, her blend of christo-pagan ritual and scientific materialism puts her in the unique position of being potentially acceptable to most of the other major factions and splinter groups. Our analysts give her a 68% chance of being the head of an anti-government coalition before the end of next year.
However, she was also raised in Moskva and is from an old and wealthy family. Given the importance Premier Vasilov places on family, he could easily have considered her to a suitable replacement if her politics were different. The best solution we can find to the current problems is to Psychbend Vasilov into stepping down and appointing her to be his replacement. Probes of her mind suggest that she will accept, and will suitably moderate her views when faced with the task of actually being in charge of Russia.
With her in charge, the Loyalty Index should rise to at least 60% and we should have time to work out a suitable solution to the invasion without having to worry about local unrest. Scans of Vasilov show that he is both a suitable subject for manipulation. I am fully confident that the process can be done both completely without his knowledge, and without anyone close to him suspecting that any such alteration has occurred. We would accentuate his growing desperation for a while and then arrange a secret meeting between the two of them. All I need to proceed with this plan is your authorization.
The Eastern half of Siberia was effectively rented out to Chinese interests in 2114. While many Russians are unhappy about the lost of valuable resources caused by this treaty, most also realize the Russian Federation lacks the funds to exploit more than a small fraction of this area. In addition to the numerous physical difficulties involved in living and working in this harsh near-arctic climate, Siberia has effectively been an ungoverned region since the Aberrant War.
When Russia's economy collapsed in the 2050s, the Siberian cities and mining stations were abandoned. Nomads, bandit gangs, and other stateless, highly mobile peoples took over this bleak and inhospitable region. Until the treaty with China, these peoples herded caribou, raided the infrequent truck caravans and sold mined metal, reclaimed scrap and stolen property to buyers in Mongolian border settlements and Russian cities. These nomads also purchased and stole numerous weapons and other useful technologies. After a few abortive attempts to pacify these peoples, the Russian Federation gave up, and was more than happy to rent much of this land to the NCE.
Since 2114, the eastern portion of Siberia has been the site of an ongoing pacification campaign. After the nomads lost several major open encounters, they began an ongoing program of sabotage and terrorism. Because most of their operations take place under the cover of snowstorms or during other inclement weather, even China's powerful spy satellites have been unable to identify or track the individuals responsible for these actions. Also, the nomads in eastern Siberia have been receiving significant aid from allied tribes in Russian controlled western Siberia. Most individuals who are involved in the Siberian resistance effort periodically retreat over the border into western Siberia to avoid Chinese patrols. Since the occupation of eastern Siberia is far from popular in the Russian Federation, the Russian government has so far been reluctant to permit Chinese patrols to enter Russian controlled territory to apprehend these terrorists.
Currently, the Chinese government is attempting to supplement its patrols by offering substantial rewards to anyone who captures or provides information about any anti-Chinese rebels. The Office of Semiotics is building a series of rural schools to educate and train the nomad's children, in the hope that these young nomads will become productive Chinese citizens and not violent rebels.
In the early 1990s Japan's economy collapsed and showed no signs of recovery. N-day in 1998, when the first novas openly erupted, signaled the beginning of Japan's sudden and phenomenal recovery. Japan was the first government to openly hire novas to perform research, public works, and law enforcement. In addition to recruiting 70 of Japan's novas, the Japanese government also recruited more than a hundred outside novas, including more than 40 of the brightest hyper-intelligent novas. By 2008, Japan was the technical leader of the world, as well as once again being one of the world's most prosperous nations.
When a significant number of novas went mad in the third decade of the 21st century, Japan ejected or secretly killed any nova with erratic behavior and began a crash program to uncover the reason for their increasing instability. By 2035, tests allowed scientists to discover which novas were most likely to become dangerously unstable. Since there was no way to prevent or reverse this growing madness, any Japanese nova who failed these tests was secretly executed.
These strict and highly secret measures protected Japan from the many problems experienced by other nations during this turbulent era. As a result, there was a massive influx of refugees into Japan. Between 2022 and 2047 over ten million refugees entered Japan. These joined the three million outsiders who came to Japan as contract labor between 2005 and 2022. While many came from Korea, the majority emigrated from Australia and the United States. Although many more wished to come to Japan, the Nihonjin government forced all prospective immigrants to pass a series of medical, intelligence and aptitude tests, and only allowed in those individuals who were deemed both genetically and intellectually fit. These new immigrants became a vast pool of inexpensive skilled labor that further helped fuel the growing Nihonjin economy. Although non-Nihonjin residents were openly treated as second-class citizens, most new immigrants were simply grateful to escape the horrors of the outside world.
Worried about having the resources to support them, and concerned that dangerous aberrants could also attempt to secretly enter Nippon, in 2047 the government decided that the only answer was to close the nation's borders and cease all direct contact with the outside world. When Nippon closed its borders, it did not exile any of the novas who had remained sane and loyal. However, it publicly removed all other novas and allowed the outside world to think that there were no remaining novas on these islands. When the Chinese issued their Ultimatum in 2061, the Nihonjin novas still did not leave. No one outside of Nippon knew they were there, and by this time, their efforts were essential to retaining the high standard of living possessed by post-isolation Nippon.
This decision forced Nippon to remain isolated, since both the government and the novas worried about the consequences if the outside world discovered that there were still several hundred novas living in Nippon. In the aftermath of the Chinese Ultimatum, the Nihonjin government believed that if the presence of these novas was uncovered, Nippon might well face orbital bombardment.
Unknown to the entire rest of the world, the most powerful of these Nihonjin novas worked with a few other powerful and sane novas still living in the solar system to create a powerful quantum barrier around the solar system. These novas also continually patrolled the vast area near this barrier in an effort to make certain that the mad aberrants were not able to return and threaten the Earth.
During its period of isolation, Nippon's scarce natural resources, combined with the previous massive influx of refugees forced the government to adopt drastic measures to maintain the islands' standard of living. Between 2047 and 2059, the Nihonjin government used advanced technologies and powerful novas to first extract all valuable minerals from the landscape and then transform over 90% of the surface area of the Nihonjin islands into a single massive arcology. When this enormous project was complete, the islands' population of 180,000,000 was all housed in comfort and there was room to easily house an additional 70,000,000 inhabitants.
Nippon's isolation continued until 2103. Early in this year, the Colony's forces attacked the powerful novas who maintained the quantum barrier around the solar system. In the ensuing battle, 179 of Nippon's 211 novas were killed, including all of the powerful novas capable of both interstellar travel and maintaining the quantum barrier. With the vast majority of their protectors gone and the certainty that earth would soon face aberrant attack, the Nihonjin government ended their long isolation and began making plans to help coordinate Earth's defenses. In desperation, they commenced preparations to reveal the existence of their remaining nova allies, and to offer to let these novas help protect the entire Earth. Then, in 2106 the psions suddenly revealed their presence.
Initially, the Nihonjin novas were intensely interested in the new psions, thinking them some new variety of nova. However, they soon discovered the incompatibility of quantum and subquantum powers. Then, in 2107, nova scientists working in the Tokyo Academy of Advanced Studies conclusively proved that noetic biotech was designed by unknown extraterrestrial sources and derived from extraterrestrial genetic material. The Nihonjin government realized that while the psions might be a great aid against the attacking aberrants, they could easily be the vanguard of some new form of extraterrestrial attack. To guarantee that Nippon would remain safe from a possible future sneak attack by the alien-controlled psions, the zaibatsu scrapped its plans to reveal its novas and continued the decades of secrecy about their presence. Due to both the perceived risk of noetic biotech and the danger that the psions could detect the presence of the Nihonjin novas, all noetic biotech was banned from Nippon and visits by psions were carefully regulated and controlled.
The Nihonjin novas realized that while overuse of quantum powers was one way of gaining dangerous levels of taint energy, many novas simply attracted or produced this energy regardless of how little or much they used their powers. While Nihonjin researchers could do nothing to reduce the amount of taint a nova had accumulated or even reduce the risks of acquiring taint, they did develop tests that could determine which novas naturally produced or attracted high levels of taint energy. Researchers discovered that around one person in 250,000 possessed the proper genetics to allow them to transform into a nova. Further testing revealed that among the Nihonjin population, only approximately one in 5,000,000 humans could transform into a nova that would not eventually accumulate dangerous levels of taint. In 2060, a spin-off of this research also produced a technique that allowed physicians to permanently remove an individual's ability to erupt. This same process also destroyed any ability for the individual to become a psion or a paramorph. While Nihonjin scientists cannot reverse the effects of become a psion, nova, or paramorph, they can prevent someone from ever gaining any of these transhuman powers.
Since 2060 the Nihonjin government has conducted genetic testing of all citizens. These tests are now done when a child first enters school, and all unusual individuals are marked for later enhancement, or are given advanced retrovirus therapies to suppress all possibility of eruption. Everyone who shows the potential to become a low-taint nova is given the choice of either having their powers induced in controlled circumstances that would minimize taint, or having all potential for their powers eradicated. Since the government was eager to acquire more novas, these fortunate individuals were given strong social and financial incentives to become novas.
The existence of these novas is the Nihonjin government's most carefully guarded secret. No one outside of the highest level of the government and scientists who are performing quantum research or are working alongside nova scientists knows of their existence. Everyone else, including the majority of the artificially enhanced superiors is completely unaware of the existence of these novas. While Nippon's carefully isolated databanks were barely affected by either the destruction of the OpNet or Project Rewrite, all non-secure records were altered to indicate that the vast majority of novas had left Japan by 2057 and the remainder willingly departed in 2061 to help save the world from nuclear attack.
In Nippon information about the nova era is still quite accessible, primarily because of the limited impact of Project Rewrite. While all Nihonjin hate and fear the returning Aberrants, many of them still are aware of the wonders of the early nova era and the vast amount of good these novas did for Nippon. As a result, most Nihonjin greeted the recent revelation of the nova-run colony on the planet Eden with considerably less skepticism than the citizens of most other nations.
Eden is also of extreme interest to the Nihonjin novas and the researchers working with them. Since the Eden novas have clearly managed to safely trigger eruption in far more than one person in 5,000,000, the Nihonjin government is eager to send scientists to Eden to exchange information. Also, some in the zaibatsu now hope that if stable relations can be established between Earth and Eden it might eventually be possible to safely reveal the existence of the Nihonjin novas and end the long period of secrecy.
Unknown to everyone other than a select few novas, scientists and government officials, novas are still erupting in Nippon. On average, one is induced to erupt every two to three years. Storytellers can create these characters as NPCs or even allow them as PCs, using the rules in Aberrant with the following modifications.
• Maximum permanent Quantum is 4, and maximum Mega-Attribute rating is 4. These are permanent maximums, and Nihonjin novas can never exceed them, either during character creation or later with experience points.
• 20 nova points.
• Initial Taint is 0.
• Initial Node rating is 0, and can never exceed 2.
• Nihonjin novas cannot purchase tainted Quantum, powers, or Mega-Attributes.
• Automatic rating of 3 in Dormancy, and the merit Taint Resistant.
Zaibatsu employ all newly erupting novas in Nippon.
Testing of the entire Nihonjin population began as soon as researchers developed a process could detect individuals with the potential to erupt into novas. This same process allowed scientists to determine if the individual would erupt into a sane and stable nova or one who would eventually become dangerously tainted. Almost 20% of the entire Nihonjin have been tested when a drug regimen was developed that could destroy an individual's potential to erupt. This drug, known as Kaga-2, was used on everyone who displayed potential to erupt as a tainted nova, as well a far larger number of individuals (approximately one person in 25,000) who displayed anomalous genetic markers that have recently been discovered to indicate the potential to become psions, protopsions or paramorphs.
As testing and use of Kaga-2 continued, nova scientists searched for ways to increase their numbers and to allow larger number of individuals to safely erupt. While they made little progress, in 2071 nova scientist Kayoko Nakamura, a hyper-intelligent nova with the ability to directly control entropy, discovered a way to safely induce anyone with any of these unusual genetic markers to become a new type of enhanced human. Such beings, dubbed superiors, lacked all quantum or psionic powers but were significantly physically and mentally superior to ordinary humans.
Since it also removed all potential to ever become a dangerous aberrant, this procedure, known as the Nakamura Process is used on the majority of individuals with unusual genetic markers. While it could theoretically be used on all such people, in practice, it is only used on approximately 75% of them. The other 25% are found to be too physically or mentally unfit to survive the process sane and in reasonable health. These unfortunates simply have all potential for genetic enhancement destroyed by the previously developed procedure.
Currently there are over 7,000 Superiors in Nippon. These enhanced humans work as scientists, engineers, test pilots, diplomats, physicians, detectives, special forces soldiers, bodyguards and in numerous other challenging and difficult occupations. While several governments and psi orders know that the Nihonjin government uses enhanced agents, they generally attribute these agents' unusual abilities to advanced cyberware. A few individuals within the Æon Society understand the true nature of the superiors, but have been unwilling to widely disseminate this information. Since Nippon reopened it borders in 2103, over three hundred superiors have secretly left Nippon and now live elsewhere. However, none of these renegades has openly revealed the secret of their origin. As a result, no one outside of the tops ranks of Nihonjin government and the Æon Society knows the truth about the superiors.
Subject: (no subject)
From: Max
To: Whitley
Encryption: RPH/x9
Transmission Type: textfile
Date: 11:14:24 12.15.2122
You know, it's time to be getting the truth about Nippon out — everything else looks ready.
In 2085 it was abundantly clear to both social scientists and the Nihonjin government that Nippon was in serious trouble. The island's isolation and the conversion of the entire nation into a vast arcology had produced a number of serious harmful side effects, including the rise of numerous conditions like the Total Allergy, No Touch and Ant Farm Syndromes. Unable to open up the island without risking the exposure of the existence of the Nihonjin novas, zaibatsu embarked on a project to provide challenging new frontiers for the Nihonjin population. Initial efforts were directed to constructing undersea habitats. While these new environments seemed to help their populations, such improvements were quite limited. In 2093, the government embarked on their most ambitious plan ever. With the aid of several of their most powerful novas, Nihonjin researchers identified several nearby habitable worlds and used nova-created warps to secretly begin colonizing of one of these worlds.
Subject: New Interstellar Colony Site Needed
From: Margaret Kasuga, Director Nova Operations Command
To: All Star Project Members
Transmission Type: Textfile
Encryption: DSE
Date: 08:21:11 5:18:2093
As of today, we are going to need to choose a new colony site. Beta Canum Venaticorum is now officially off-limits. The nova Rushing Mountain recently entered Tertiary Singularity. She's not taint-mad, but she now has her own agenda and is no longer predictably interactive. Our last communication with her indicated that she had claimed this world as her own and had begun transforming some of the local animal life into fully sentient semi-humanoid inhabitants. She mentioned something about playing a game of "civilization". Regardless, this world is no longer suitable and anyone having any contact with Rushing Mountain should immediately report it to Nova Operations Command.
We are currently investigating several other worlds. Iota Pegasi now appears to be the best candidate. There is extensive glaciation at the poles but it is otherwise ideal. In addition, that system contains a rich asteroid belt and several other large rocky planets with abundant natural resources.
During the next decade, more than 120,000 people were transported to this new world. These colonists were carefully selected and included more than 2,000 Superiors. Once novas had created the initial infrastructure, the transport of personnel was accomplished using a nova-built device that created an artificial warp to this world. The existence of this entire project was kept strictly secret, but the government planned to eventually release information that they had utilized relic aberrant technology to create a portal to another star and open the world to wider colonization by the Nihonjin people. However the warp gate required frequent adjustment and repair by its nova creator and the government wished to keep the device secret until human and superior scientists could at least understand the device well enough repair and adjust it and to present papers on the principles behind its operation.
This ambitious program collapsed in 2103. The world was cut off when the Colony's forces killed the nova responsible for creating the warp gate. These mad aberrants also killed all other novas capable of interstellar travel. The backlash of the destruction of the most powerful novas destabilized the warp gate and cut off the world of Restored Hope from all contact with Earth. Fortunately, the last messages exchanged indicated that this world was safe from the returning Aberrants.
This is a world of many small to moderate sized islands. The three biggest continents are no larger than Australia, and there are numerous archipelagos. The poles are extensively glaciated, but the majority of the islands are located in the warmer temperate and equatorial regions. In the 19 years since Restored Hope was cut off from contact with Earth the colony has thrived. Anyone visiting this world will discover a vibrant democratically run society composed of both normal humans and superiors.
System Data
Sun: Iota Pegasi
Sun's Spectral Type: G4
Number of Planets in System: 8
Number of Gas Giants: 4
Number of Asteroid Belts: 1 (2.1 AU from Sun)
Planetary Data
Name: Restored Hope
Source: Nova Survey
Planet Mass: 0.91 Earth
Equatorial Diameter: 9,800 km
Planetary Gravity: 0.84 G
Water Coverage (Earth = 0.75): 0.89
Atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen, trace gases
Rotation Period: 26.3 hours
Indigenous Life: variety of animals, vegetables, microbes
Population: 140,000 (2,500 Superiors)
Closest Distance to Earth: 37.8 light years
Primary Satellites: three moons
The Nihonjin government, known locally as the zaibatsu, is technically a democracy. The Emperor is a ceremonial figurehead, and the elected Diet rules the nation under the direction a Prime Minster who is chosen by the Diet from among the ranks of their members. However, individuals who are appointed to their positions and are not answerable to or often even known by the voters control much of the Nihonjin government. Also, the populace is not encouraged to be interested in politics and all prospective Diet members are hand-picked by the current government.
The New Freedom Party has controlled the Nihonjin government since shortly before the Quarantine. Their upper ranks know about the Nihonjin novas and the superiors, and only give this knowledge to individuals who subtle psychological testing shows can handle the responsibility of knowing the truth. As a result, while it appears to be a democracy, in actually the Nihonjin government is a self-perpetuating oligarchy that has very few checks on its powers. Also, since Nippon has excellent, freely available medical care and the longest average life spans of any nation on Earth, several of the oldest members of the Diet have been in power since 2040.
Nippon is like no place else on Earth. Almost the entire land area of all four islands is part of one giant arcology, the largest one ever created. Created to hold up to 250,000,000, its population is now slightly less than half of that.
One of the oddities of modern-day Nippon is that at first glance it looks like an exceedingly cosmopolitan and diverse nation, especially compared to the era before it closed. Today, almost 15% of the Nihonjin population is visibly non-Asian. However, while law protects their rights, individuals who are not of pure Nihonjin descent, especially those who do not look Nihonjin, are treated as a second class citizen. Blue or green eyes and blond, brown, or red hair are almost never seen in the halls of the prestigious Tokyo University or in positions of corporate or governmental power.
Many rebellious young people of pure Nihonjin descent frequently express their disapproval of the current system and their solidarity with the native-born gaijin by dying their skin, hair and eyes "foreign" colors. Within the past decade, this fad has spread outward to include completely unnatural colors like green or fuscia. Much to the dismay of the older generation, teens with blue or pink hair, silver eyes and many equally odd combinations are growing increasingly common, especially among the nation's large middle class.
Subject: Current Demographic Trends
From: Akio Reynolds, head of the demographics and prediction working group
To: Hosomi Matsuhara, Director Ziabatsu Long Range Planning Division
Transmission Type: Textfile
Encryption: SPE
Date: 6:27:2120
I've gone over the latest figures. Average Nihonjin life span is now 156 years, up 2 years from 2115, however projected increases are still unlikely to do anything more than slow the gradual decline of our population. The birthrate is simply too low to sustain a viable population. Financial incentives to have children have helped, but make only a small difference. The current birthrate is down to 1.23.
Part of our current problem is resistance to the reproduction regulations. The plan to remove these laws has been thoroughly analyzed, and unfortunately proved likely to be impractical. If we remove them entirely, the rate of Total Allergy Syndrome will double, and the majority of births will occur in problematic households that will further increase the levels of Ant Farm Syndrome and push up the murder rate. Social conditions will worsen, and within two decades population collapse and social unrest will enter critical levels. Informing people of the true reason behind the fertility laws will not have as drastic an effect, but public morale will plummet.
I regret to inform you that the only possible solution that we can find to the population crisis is to permit immigration. The problems of cultural dilution and the inability of much of the population to deal with outsiders are more manageable than any other alternative we can find. Honored Director, I implore you to accept this suggestion. If we do not allow immigration, the population will fall below the level necessary to sustain a viable society by 2170. I deeply apologize for failing to discover more promising suggestions.
Nippon is widely considered the most artificial culture humanity has ever produced. On top of the fact that everyone lives inside a vast, carefully controlled arcology that more than 75% of the population has never left, Nippon also uses robots more widely than any other nation. In addition to the household and cleaning robots commonly found in houses worldwide, many Nihonjin have robot pets, and even robot companions. A number of individuals with No Touch or Total Allergy syndrome have SI robotic children and companions to allow them to simulate controlled and safe interaction with other people.
The first such robots were first developed more than thirty years ago, and within the past two decades they have also become popular among healthy Nihonjin. In 2112, the number of robotic children surpassed the number of actual children. Robots are also extensively used for telepresence interactions. An increasing number of Nihonjin purchase robots that can be controlled using a full VR suit. Using these robots, sufferers of No Touch syndrome can interact normally by putting on VR suits and sending robots out to act as their eyes, ears, and hands. In the best models it is difficult to distinguish between teleoperating a robot and actually being there. A number of wealthy Nihonjin also use these robots as a risk-free way to engage in highly dangerous sports like armed gladiatorial combat, Russian roulette or daring acrobatics performed without a net. Many of these robots possess enhanced strength, speed and agility to allow their users the experience of performing physical feats that are impossible for normal humans.
Teleoperated robots are also sometimes used in crime. Using highly encrypted transmitters, some criminals employ human-looking robots with enhanced physical capacities to intimidate blackmail victims and to perform robberies and assassinations. Since such robots are highly resistant to damage, special police carrying powerful weapons and wearing light or mini VARGs are normally called out to deal with these problems. While some law enforcement officers work to stop or destroy the robot, others attempt to trace the robot's signal to its source and physically apprehend the individual who is operating the robot. When all else fails, officers will attempt to discreetly follow the robot back to where it is depositing its illegally gained goods. Recently a few criminals have begun programming advanced SI-controlled robots to act as armed bodyguards, assassins, and even thieves. Fitting a SI-controlled robot with deadly weapons or programming it to attack humans is a serious offense punishable by electronically monitored indentured servitude and partial memory erasure.
Nippon has better hardtech than anyplace else and its advanced science allowing citizens to live 20% longer than most other humans. Despite all of these advances, the population is declining and more than 25% of all Nihonjin suffer from No Touch, Ant Farm or Total Allergy Syndrome — more than 10 times the rates of any of these conditions found elsewhere. A large portion of Nippon's resources are devoted to dealing with such people.
Sufferers of No Touch Syndrome are unable to psychologically deal with physical contact with another living being, and most have great difficulty even being in the same room as another person. Ant Farm sufferers loose all ego and conscious volition and exist only to fulfill their expected duties and responsibilities, while Total Allergy syndrome is stress-induced a condition that results in most complex organic compounds producing severe allergic reactions in sufferers. As a result, contact with plants, animals and anything other than a small range of extremely simple foods can be fatal.
Since only about 20% of the sufferers of these various syndromes can ever be cured, large portions of the vast arcology have been set aside for both the No Touches and sufferers of Total Allergy Syndrome. In some of these sections, the No Touch's need never leave their apartments — advanced service robots deliver all of the necessities of life and perform all forms of routine maintenance. In the Total Allergy sectors, almost all potential allergens are excluded and SI medical robots diligently monitor the activities of all residents. Residents only venture outside of the carefully sealed airlocks of the Total Allergy zones while wearing special filtration suits that purify the wearer's air and prevent everything else from coming in contact with the wearer.
In many ways, those who suffer from Ant Farm Syndrome are the easiest to deal with. The only serious problem that they face is the high rate of suicide if they are ever unable to fulfill all of their many obligations. Most Ant Farm sufferers are fitted with special biomonitors designed to alert medical personnel if the wearer begins to exhibit the strong physiological responses that normally accompany any serious lapse in social obligations. With sufficient counseling and drug therapy, most Ant Farm sufferers can be made to forget the incidents that produced life-threatening trauma.
While the majority of sufferers of these various conditions are productive members of society, the expense of dealing with them is high, and more disturbingly, very few of them ever have children, further exacerbating this nation's declining population. Also, in the two decades since contact was resumed with the outside world, Nihonjin physicians and psychologists have realized that even many apparently healthy and well-adjusted Nihonjin would be classified as suffering from various minor to moderately severe conditions in other nations.
For example, psychological testing has shown that approximately 35% of Nihonjin who do not otherwise suffer from obvious medical problems are psychologically unable to live in a less controlled and artificial environment. Vitakinetic Proxy Matthieu Zweidler has offered to send in psionic medical teams to help resolve Nippon's many medical problems, but the Nihonjin government has so far rejected this proposal. However, as the rates of all of these problems continue to rise, an increasing number of government officials are seriously considering this option.
Last year, the Qin offered an even more controversial solution to Nippon's medical problems. Qin bioeingineers believe that they can create a series of permanent bioapps, similar to the popular Qin Math Polyp, that could moderate and control the psychological and mental problems associated with these various syndromes. Many in the ziabatsu are strongly against accepting this offer, but others point out that Qin biotech is clearly different from human biotech and is not derived from the same unknown alien source. However, the long-term effects of using these proposed bioapps is not known and so debate on this volatile issue is likely to continue.
Amidst all of Nippon's hardtech wonders, this nation also maintains one stable connection to its traditional past. The imperial family is the same as it has been for more than a millennium. In the center of the Tokyo sector of the Honshu arcology, the 115 hectares of the Imperial palace remains pristine, untouched and even unroofed. Here Emperor Kazuhito lives with his family. Although he is only able to walk in the palace's extensive gardens while wearing a special filtration gear, he regularly supervises the palace's dozens of gardeners and grounds keepers. He also personally tends several genetically engineered hypoallergenic bonsai. In the palace grounds more than twenty palace guards train themselves rigorously in the arts of Kendo (traditional Nihonjin sword technique) and Kyudo (traditional Nihonjin bow technique) as well as learning to use advanced VARGs and other modern weapons. Currently, the leader of the guard is a superior named Sayako Tanaka, who has trained her guards well enough that in their off-time two of them have won national Kendo championships.
The influence of the Emperor also extends well beyond the influence of the Imperial Palace. On the outskirts of the Tokyo sector, more than 200 hectares of open land is used to grow rice and vegetables for the Imperial Palace, while 3 kilometers of the Nagara river remains unchanneled and open to the outside air in order to allow the Imperial fisherman to catch carp and other fish to feed the palace in the traditional manner. Holocards of fisherman in their traditional grass skirt and straw sandals, using cormorants to fish for the Emperor's dinner in a river that is surrounded by all sides by a vast arcology are one of the most popular tourist images of Nippon.
In a nation that has in all other ways lost touch with both it's past and the physical world, the Emperor and the antique ceremony that surrounds him remains Nippon's one firm tie with its own traditions. As a result, imperial ceremonies are incredibly popular. Tens of thousands turn out every years to celebrate the Emperor's birthday, and VR tours of the outer gardens of the Imperial palace are so popular that many people have gone on the same recorded tour dozens of times.
Almost half of the vast Nihonjin Arcology is uninhabited. Numerous empty corridors still have limited water and power, decades old furnishings, but no legitimate residents. However, criminals, rebels and the insane inhabit many of these sectors, as do the members of various fringe political parties and radical religious sects, including psion worshippers and a few aberrant cultists. Although exact figures are impossible to determine, current estimates suggest that over 4 million people live in these empty sections of the Nippon arcology.
While many are simply scavengers who forage for a meager living among the litter and garbage of previous residents, the Yakuza also maintains a strong presence here. The Yakuza is a centuries-old organized crime syndicate that makes money offering illegal good and services to the Nihonjin people, and by extorting money from wealthy individuals. In some of the wild sectors the Yakuza act almost like a government, demanding taxes and requiring residents to perform various minor criminal acts for them. In the areas closer to the inhabited zones, the Yakuza uses the wild sectors as a place where they can live without being observed and to which they can retreat to easily evade official pursuit.
The wild sectors are typically dimly lit, with broken fixtures and much general decay. In some places, the artificial animals and plants still function, but often erratically. There are numerous urban legends about how various artificial animals from the wild sectors have gone "feral" and begun attacking and killing humans. While this has actually happened on a few occasions, in the vast majority of such cases, the creatures were reprogrammed to act as guards or killers by one of the residents of the wild sectors.
Most law-abiding Nihonjin wisely avoid the wild sectors. Occasionally foolish or adventurous teens venture there on a dare or to run away from their restrictive family lives, but most return within a few days or weeks. The wild sectors are widely known as the place to go to purchase prohibited goods, and illegal services, including contract blackmailing and murder for hire. However, most Nihonjin know them mostly from are most various adventure holovids, where dedicated law-enforcement officials and brave private detectives travel there to apprehend dangerous criminals or to prevent serious crimes.
Psi and psions are becoming increasingly popular among the Nihonjin youth. Large numbers of them, especially in the undersea Nihonjin communities, are rebelling against their elders' distrust of psions and biotech. Psi Nippon is the name of the general movement, and has also been adopted as the title of the largest of the various pro-psion clubs that can be found meeting on various OpNet sites and in schools and homes throughout Nippon. Currently the Nihonjin government is considering making openly advocating of Psi Nippon principles illegal, but fears that such suppression will only make this movement more popular have so far forestalled this possibility. More than a hundred young people belonging to Psi Nippon have taken vacations away from Nippon for the express purpose of having themselves tested for psionic latency. Since more than 95% of all Nihonjin are tested for unusual genetics as infants, and all who test positive are either awakened as novas or superiors or have all such potential suppressed, none of these youths have proven to be latent. The Nihonjin government realizes that the movement will become far more popular if any member of Psi Nippon actually gains psionic powers. Therefore, the government is attempting to ensure that no one who was born and raised in the Wild Zones has a chance to leave Nippon for latency testing. Fortunately few such people have the funds necessary to travel abroad, but the government continues to monitor this situation.
The Nihonjin government has also been working to isolate Psi Nippon's influence from the majority of the Nihonjin people. The Makaro-Shima deep colony recently became the unofficial Psi Nippon stronghold in large part because the government secretly arranged to have individuals with Psi Nippon sentiments transferred there. Currently many Psi Nippon sympathizers are eager to move to Makaro-Shima, and the ziabatsu is more than happy to grant such transfer requests. The ziabatsu is even considering permitting the importation of biotech and psion testing in Makaro-Shima, while simultaneously restricting travel and commerce between this deep colony and the rest of Nippon. In effect, this undersea settlement would become a separate state loosely controlled by Nippon and a safety valve for pro-psion sentiment.
While immigration is still largely impossible for anyone who cannot prove they have relatives on Nippon, there is a small but growing tourist trade. Unlike non-Nihonjin residents, foreign visitors are treated with great politeness and respect. However, they are also kept away from the lower class and wild sectors and will have difficulty getting a true picture of life in the Nippon arcology.
Visiting Nippon requires an extensive background check and medical tests. No one with any potentially dangerous diseases or the potential to become a nova is allowed in. Also, all biotech must be strictly quarantined, and anyone with implanted biotech must either remove it, or they will not be allowed to enter. The new psion and biotech detectors at the Okinawa port and in all air terminals prevent the admittance of unlicensed psions or unquarantined biotech.
All foreigners are also fitted with special audio-video wrist transmitters. These transmitters function as links to both emergency services and to Yoshida, the vast tourism oriented SI that acts as a computerized tour-guide. However, they also serve to keep track of the location of all tourists. Non-psionic tourists are free to turn off the cameras and microphones on their wrist transmitters, but actually leaving their hotel without wearing it results in an efficient tour guide finding the tourist and informing them that they must wear their transmitter for safety. Visiting psions have these transmitters physically locked onto their wrists, and their transmitters have cameras and microphones that cannot be turned off. Any psion who attempts to circumvent these measures is arrested, given a stiff fine, and immediately deported. Any tourist who attempts to enter the wild sectors, or to go anywhere near the areas where research on novas or superiors is performed is immediately found by a smiling and helpful tour guide who will politely but firmly lead them elsewhere.
Realizing that their nation could face total annihilation if the truth about their connection with novas is revealed, the zaibatsu are exceptionally careful about secrecy. Anyone who accidentally learns any of these secrets is either recruited or has all memory of this knowledge erased using powerful nova-made devices. Advanced lie detectors allow Nihonjin interrogation experts to determine how much someone knows, and if they are sincere in their willingness to keep these secrets. Anyone who deliberately attempts to publicize the zaibatsu's deepest secrets is killed. If killing the individual would be too difficult or suspicious, then the individual's dangerous memories are erased. In many cases, these would-be traitors are also deliberately driven insane to further discredit any information they may have previously have released.
While the zaibatsu realize that some percentage of people involved in this endeavor will eventually want to leave Nippon. Any superior or other government official knowing the truth about the Nihonjin novas is hunted down and killed if they attempt to defect. Most individuals who consider defecting first ask to be reassigned to lower security assignments. Such reassignment always involves all knowledge of present-day novas being erased. These individuals are then able defect without risking their lives. As a further security measure, anyone who is recruited to work with the novas must first pass advanced psychological tests to determine their loyalty to Nippon and whether they are likely to ever reveal what they learn. These tests are always performed before the individual is ever informed of the actual nature of the work they will be performing.
To help explain the advanced technology involved their most advanced cyberware, the Nihonjin government has helped popularize several cover stories. They currently pay skilled fiction writers to produce OpNet texts purporting to show how the Nihonjin government has a secret alliance with an unknown benevolent alien species. While few people actually believe these tales, their existence causes many people believe that only fools would claim that the Nihonjin government has secret connections to inhuman beings.
To help divert anyone who actually gets close to the truth, there are also a few government documents that describe the existence of intelligence-enhancing drugs and cyberware that are both based on relic aberrant technology. Since these documents are protected by deliberately poor computer security, they are the most likely to be found by dedicated hackers and skilled spies. Most superiors who are not deemed reliable enough to be told the truth are given access to these seemingly real documents, which also explain how these same drugs and cyberware can be used to transform a small number of suitable people into superiors. Most other governments know of the contents of these documents. The fact that they believe Nihonjin researchers are working with relic aberrant Technology disturbs many people high in the Chinese government, but not enough that they are willing to cause a diplomatic incident.
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